The Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) was a late 19th century charitable capitalism experiment that ended in the 1950s. This blog started looking at the homes that were supposed to be sold to African American home buyers, after decades of mainly renting to white tenants.
114 Q St NW was a house neighboring the WSIC houses. Let’s take a look at it.
Above is a 2004 photo of 114 Q St NW to show the lot number, but unfortunately lot 815 only goes back to 1971. So it requires some sleuthing.
Okay looking at a 1919 map 114 Q sits on lot 808. Looking up lot 808, the names Charles H. and Louise J. Wesley are on a 1922 document so looking up Charles’ name, it brings up lots 17, 26, 808, & 815 from 1922-1971.
Lot 17 only brings up a 1971 document # 1971024238.
Lot 26 has a lot more going on because it includes lots 806, 807 and 808. Looking at the various documents, the Washington Sanitary Improvement Co (WSIC) does not appear. However the Washington Loan and Trust Company, which is WSIC adjacent shows up for a loan.
Lot 808, shows 5 documents ranging from 1924 to 1930 for the Wesleys.
Lot 815 begins with document # 1971024238 with Charles Wesley’s name and continues to the present. The 1971 document shows that Charles and Louise sold their home to the DC Redevelopment Land Agency for $12,000.
Charles H. Wesley was involved with a lot of property transactions. So I have to limit it to Sq. 552.
- December 1922 Margaret A. and William E.G. Penny sold 114 Q St NW to Louise and Charles Wesley. The Wesleys borrowed $2,250 from trustees Vernon D. Acree and William V. Mahoney.
- February 1924 the Wesleys borrowed $7,100 from trustees Ralph P. Bernard and Guy H. Johnson.
- June 1927 the Wesleys took out 2 $500 loans from trustee George Francis Williams.
- June 1927 the Wesleys paid off their February 1924 loan.
- May 1930 the Wesleys were released from their December 1922 loan.
- June 1930 the Wesleys took out a $4000 loan from the Washington Permanent Building Association.
- June 1930 the Wesleys were released from their two June 1937 loans.
- November 1945 the Wesleys were released from the June 1930 loan.
- November 1971 the Wesleys sold the property to DC RLA.
I’ll leave it at 1971.
Looking at a 1930 census, Charles and Louise were African Americans living at their home, they owned at 731 Fairmont Street NW, with their 2 daughters and his mother.
When I ventured over to the profession I see that Mr. Wesley is Dr. Wesley at a university. Time to check the Google. Dr. Rev. Wesley was the former president of HBCU Wilberforce University, wrote books with Carter G. Woodson, and while in DC was a professor at Howard University. He has a very impressive biography.
Did he live in Truxton Circle? I’m going to say no. The 1930-1940 census the family lived on Fairmont.
The 1950 census showed Dr. and Mrs. Wesley in Wilberforce, OH…. which explains why nothing much happened with the property in the late 1940s and till 1971. In 1942 he went to serve as Wilberforce University’s new president. Later he served as a college president for Central State University till 1965. It seems he came back to DC to serve as the president of Carter G. Woodson’s Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now ASALH) and he died in 1987.