October 2026 – Truxton Is In Shaw

Truxton Resident- Ralph W. Aldridge (1916-1995) Q St

Ralph Aldridge at graduation. Source- Ancestry. Credit- WJEverdale

Ralph Waldo Aldridge was born in New York City on June 8, 1915 to Charles H. Aldridge and Margaretha Josephine Geider. There is already a Truxton biography of his father here.

His family lived at 214 Q St NW a WSIC home for White families. In 1920 he lived with his parents and 1 year old brother Frank because he was 4. Ten years later, for the 1930 census, he was still at 214 Q with his parents, brother and 8 year old sister Margie. That year he graduated from Langley Jr. High.

By 1937 he had left Washington DC and lived in Norfolk, Virginia where he got married. He was 21 and his bride was 20 year old Virginia Louise Wilkins. In 1938 his father died.

He died in 1995.

Ralph W. Aldridge with Kay. Source- Ancestry. Credit WJEverdale

Thousands of people have lived in the Truxton Circle neighborhood for over 100 years and they have thousands of stories. The goal of the Truxton Circle History Project is to find every man, woman, and child who lived in the neighborhood using every available source. The Project uses the 1880-1950 censuses, the power of Ancestry and every other online resource to discover and uncover neighborhood history.

Truxton Resident- Thomas Dyson (1923-1989) O St and Hanover Pl NW

This is a followup to a post about two other Thomas Dysons in Truxton Circle. Those other Thomas Dysons were property owners. This Thomas Dyson is a kid.

Thomas Roland Dyson (yes same name as NJ Ave Thomas Dyson) was born August 9, 1923 to Roland Dyson and Julia Louise Wills in Washington, DC. He appears twice in Truxton Circle in the census.

To confuse matters the father, Roland Dyson, also went by Thomas R. Dyson. This is the same name as NJ Ave Thomas Dyson, who also was found to go by Roland Dyson. The father Roland Dyson was listed as Thomas R. Dyson on the death certificate of his and Julia Wills’ 15 month old daughter. In 1921 their daughter died of rickets when they lived at 1023 New Jersey Ave SE. The August 13th, 1923 edition of the Washington Daily News announced Thomas R. and Julia Dyson had a son.

In the 1930 census the younger Thomas Dyson was 6 years old. He lived with his parents, Roland and Julie Dyson at 45 O St NW. That year a sensational and tragic crime occurred in his home. His parents were hosting a party at their home. A 16 year old student from Armstrong High School attended and 15 minutes after her arrival, her 40 year old lover (statutory r@pist) arrived with a friend. The 16 year old stabbed the 40 year old and he died. The story was reported in the Afro-American and the Norfolk Journal and Guide.

The tragedy may have impacted the family because in the 1940 census young Thomas Dyson was living with relatives and not his parents. Instead he was living with his widowed aunt Mary Fantroy (72), cousin Elesires Wills, and several lodgers at 52 1/2 Hanover Pl NW. But mother and son were living together in 1942 when he registered for the draft. They lived at 1117 5th St NW.

October 1944 Thomas Dyson married Elsie V. Foggie. The couple appeared in New York on West 111st Street. The census has him as being NY born. Thomas worked as a plate grinder for a photographer and it appears a co-worker doing the same work lived with the couple as a lodger.

Thomas Dyson died December 1989. If the Find A Grave is correct, he is the father of R&B singer and actor Ronnie Dyson who worked on Broadway,

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Thomas Dyson 1645 NJ Ave and 36 Bates Street NW

There were a few Thomas Dysons in Truxton Circle. And researching this one, I’ve had to reassess my previous histories regarding Sidney Dyson of NJ Ave and the WSIC sell off of 36 Bates Street.

In the census there was a Thomas Dyson born around 1924, who lived in Truxton Circle in 1930 and 1940. I will refer to him as Thomas Dyson #1. There was a Thomas Roland Dyson who owned 1645 New Jersey Ave NW with Sidney and Charles Dyson from 1946-1955. I’ll call him Thomas Dyson #2. Lastly, there was a Thomas Dyson who was married to Ella Dyson and in 1951 they purchased a WSIC property. That man will be Thomas Dyson #3. They could all be the same person, or two the same, or three different people.

As this is the Black Homeowners of Truxton Circle, I’ll give a quick recap of Dyson #2’s and Dyson $3’s ownership.

Regarding 1645 NJ Ave NW, in April 1946 Charles, Sidney and Thomas Dyson purchased the property from the Washington Housing Corporation. The three men got a loan with the institution that sold the property to them for $13,250 at 6% interest. In 1951 Charles Sidney Dyson sold his interest in the property to Sidney Dyson, his father. In 1954 there was another loan, $1,088.39 at 6% interest, from the Washington Housing Corporation where the three Dyson men all signed for it. They defaulted on the debt from 1946 and in 1955 there was a trustees deed and the Washington Housing Corporation reclaimed the property.

For the Bates Street property, Square 615 lot 249, Ella and Thomas Dyson purchased half of the property from Colonial Investment Co business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans in December 1950 (recorded Jan 26, 1951). The Dysons borrowed $1,900 from Colonial Mortgage Copr officers/trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman. Then in July 1953 the Dysons transfer the property to Ella Butler, who could have been Ella Dyson. Continue reading Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Thomas Dyson 1645 NJ Ave and 36 Bates Street NW

Truxton Resident- Louis J. Graser (1875-1955) 140A Q St NW

Louis John Graser was born the son of German immigrants, Christian and Catherine Graser on November 6, 1875 in Washington, DC. Looking at his parents’ ages from the 1880 census, when the family lived at the edge of Shaw, he may have been a surprise baby. His mother would have been about 42 years old, many years after many women’s fertility window had closed.

In 1899 Louis married Nellie Harleston in the District of Columbia. The couple lived with Nellie’s family in 1900 on the 1200 block of 6th St NW. Louis worked as a tailor.

Louis was able to support his wife and their son on a tailor’s wages and live at 140A Q St NW in one of the WSIC homes for White tenants by 1910. Nellie kept house while Louis worked at a shop on F St downtown.

140 Q St NW

It was more of the same for the 1920 census. Louis worked as a tailor for wages. Nellie kept house, and their son Gordon (17) lived with them as their only child. But Gordon being on the edge of manhood was gone by the 1930 census.

Gordon between 1920 and 1930 had become a clerical member of the Episcopal church. In 1938 he was the rector for Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Anacostia. When he received a new appointment in 1940 to Holy Trinity in Melbourne, FL his parents followed him. In the 1940 census, Gordon was the head of household, over his sixty-some year old parents. Louis was still tailor, but had been unemployed for several weeks.

When World War II broke out and there was a draft, Gordon was in Buffalo, NY. According to his registration his mother was living with him. So from that we can assume his father Louis also lived with him in the St. Anthony rectory.

Gordon had relocated both his parents earlier when living in Yakima, Washington in 1935. So it seems fair to say the unmarried Gordon was supporting his parents in their old age.

In 1950 Gordon L. Graser was the priest for a church in Denver, CO and had his parents, Louis and Nellie with him. They lived, most likely, in the rectory with a hired hand, David Romero. At this point in his life Louis was 74 years old and unable to work.

According to an obituary in the Evening Star, Louis J. Graser died on a Monday on May 9, 1955 in Long Island, NY. He was survived by his wife and their son the Rev. Gordon Louis Graser.

Truxton Resident- Frank H. Payne (1878-1942) North Cap and Bates St NW

Frank H. Payne was born November 27, 1877 or 1878 or Nov 7 1881 in Washington, DC to Laura Hill and Charles Payne.

Frank first appears in Truxton Circle in 1900 at 1308 North Capitol St NW. He was listed a being a single 21 year old plumbers apprentice. He lived with his widowed mother, adult siblings, one sister Fannie and 2 brothers and a boarder. Noticeably, a few doors down lived some other Paynes.

In 1905 he married Mary Matthews, the daughter of Irish immigrants.

In the 1910 census he was living with his wife Mary, not in Truxton Circle. He was 31 years old and working as a shop plumber.

In 1920 he was back in Truxton living in the WSIC rental homes set aside for White tenants at 202 Bates St NW. At this point in his life he was still a plumber. This time the couple had two daughters, 9 year old Helen and 8 year old Loretta.

In 1930 Frank was 52 years old and still working as a plumber. His adult daughters were still living with him. In 1931 while still living at home and working as a clerk, daughter Helen got married in NY state to drug clerk Francis X. Richardson, who also lived in DC.

By the 1940 census Frank Payne had moved out of Truxton and was living on the 100 block of Rhode Island Ave NE. It appears he had retired and the only one working in the household was remaining daughter Loretta who was a stenographer. Their lodger Franklin Cole was 6 years old, so he too was unemployed.

December 28, 1942 Frank Payne died. He was survived by his wife Mary E. Payne, and daughters Loretta M. Payne and Helen E. Richardson.

Truxton Resident- Grace Jones (1896-unk) 1st and P St NW

Am I just looking for Truxton residents who share names with famous people? Maybe.

Famous Grace Jones starred opposite Roger Moore in View to A Kill. To my knowledge she never stepped foot in the neighborhood.

The Truxton Circle Grace L. Jones was born as Grace Louise Butler, daughter of Henry and Josephine Butler in DC August 1896. In 1910 the family lived in Truxton Circle at 304 P St NW. Her father was a driver for the government. Her mother was a cook at a cafe. She was was 13 years old and an only child.

She married George Jones when she was 20 years old in April 1917. The 1920 showed that she lived at a second unit in 304 P St NW with her husband George who worked as a messenger for the government. Grace worked as a cleaner for Pullman cars.

By the 1930 census the couple moved to 1532 1st St NW. Grace was still cleaning railway cars. Her husband worked as a laborer for the government. She had her mother living with them, but they were not supporting her, as her 50 year old mother worked as a government charwoman. They also had a male lodger who worked as a messenger.

In 1940 it was just Grace and her mother Josephine. Her husband George was not in the home at the time. George died in 1941.

And that’s where the trail ends. Unless she was White Passing and wound up in a rooming house in Baltimore in 1950. Being the only child of her parents and not having any children, the chance of someone reporting her death to the papers was lower. From her husband’s obituary, I did not get the sense that they were plugged into a greater community that would have marked her passing.