Mari – Page 34 – Truxton Is In Shaw

The History of the Negro Church- Chapter 1 The Early Missionaries and the Negro

Carter G. Woodson, a Shaw resident, living and working on the 1500 block of 9th St NW, created Negro History Week. This later became Black History Month. Last year I reviewed Carter G. Woodson’s Mis-Education of the Negro. I thought I would review his other book The History of the Negro Church this year.

I’ve read the first chapter. I want to find who edited this thing and do bad things to their grave. If Dr. Woodson edited it, then, this is evidence that authors should get someone else to edit their work.
I’m going to start with something from the book’s preface:

Whether or not the author has done this task well is a question which the public must decide. This work does not represent what he desired to make it. Many facts of the past could not be obtained for the reason that several denominations have failed to keep records and facts known to persons now active in the church could not be collected because of indifference or the failure to understand the motives of the author. Not a few church officers and ministers, however, gladly cooperated with the author in giving and seeking information concerning their denominations.

Given the current lack of popularity, compared to Mis-Education, I will say he had not done his work well. It is a hard read.

My summation of chapter one is that Blacks were a second thought to European missionaries. When they did get around to bringing Christianity to those of African descent into the New World there was a resistance because of an unwritten law (no citations) that once slaves became Christian, they would need to be freed. Catholics didn’t try hard enough and Protestants were more successful at evangelization to Blacks in America.

The one thing I learned reading this chapter was that Quakers taught African American slaves to read in Virginia and North Carolina.

I just wish there were citations for this piece of information and that gets to my first pet peeve. This book is 100 years old and historians of this period have a bad habit of not providing citations to back up anything they wrote. In the copy I have, I do not see end notes, nor is there a bibliography at the end. I blame the time period.

The other pet peeve I’ve revealed early on, was the need for an editor. This was not written for a general audience. It has the charm of a graduate dissertation. He uses $4 words when a $.25 word would do. He’s overly wordy as if he’s getting paid, per word, like a Raymond Chandler novel. The deep need for an editor, someone to strike out some sentences and suggest a better way of making a point, just annoyed the heck out of me.

I just discovered there is an audio book of The History of the Negro Church from December 2020. I will try to listen to this and maybe I’ll do more than 2 chapters this month.

Rando Shaw resident – S. Larnardo Acker- 614 S St NW

I was doing something else and there is nowhere to put this guy. But it is Black history month, and this fellow is Black.

I came across S. Larnardo Acker as I was working on another project and would have moved on, but I was trying to figure out if he was a Larnardo S. Acker and if I had the right person. One of the documents I came across was a marriage certificate and lo, I came across his marriage certificate listing his, and his bride’s (Ms. Bessie L. Hill) address as 614 S St NW.

Currently the New Community Church has 614 S St NW as its address. It might have been an apartment building. They both lived there, maybe they met there, running into each other at the end of the work day, exchanging pleasantries, discovering they both hailed from Mississippi, and a romance blossomed. Or they were shacking up and decided to make it legal. Or they were already married and the first one didn’t stick?

Who was Samuel Larnardo Acker? He was a Sargent in the US Army who served in World War II. He was born May 5, 1909 in Picayune, MS (or Hancock, MS depending which doc you go by). According to the 1910 census he was one of six children. In the 1930 census he was a student attending the Prentiss Normal and Industrial Institute, a Black college which no longer exists. Looking at the census it appears he and a long list of students were living with the school’s founders, Jonas Edward Johnson and Bertha LaBranche Johnson.

In the 1940 census he and his wife Bessy/Bessie (in NY records he married a Bessie Lisker in 1924) lived at 529 Florida Ave NW on the LeDroit Park side of Florida. The lived there with their 9 month old daughter Dorothy. He worked at the Library of Congress, as part of the WPA, as a Research Editor. A year later he worked as a Junior Clerk Typist for the War Department. He and Bessie later had a son, Larnardo Menelik Acker, in 1942. In the 1950s he was mustered into the US Marines (Co C 1St Engr Bn 1St Mar Div, Mri 6 Pearl ), I don’t understand how the military works so….. The Army record I could find makes it look like he was in the typing and secretarial group.

In 1954 the family was living at 1913 Frederick Place SE. But a few years later, in September 1956 Bessie, who was an undergraduate nurse at the Emergency Hospital (where’s that?), died. She is buried at Arlington with Samuel Larnardo, who later died in 1966. Their graves are next to each other.

It’s Black History Month- Thank Shaw’s Own Carter G. Woodson

It’s February so that means it’s Black History Month. I think I will make this an annual thing, where I look at the “Father of Black History” Carter G. Woodson. He picked a week in February for Black History Week, then that week turned into a month and ta-da we are in Black History Month.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson (PhD, Harvard, 1912) noticed there was a lack of history documenting and telling the story of Black Americans in America. So he saw a problem and then fixed it. Quoting the NPS biography of Dr. Woodson, “The public knew very little about the role of African Americans in American history, and schools were not including African American history in their curriculum. He worked tirelessly throughout his life to remedy this problem, becoming nationally recognized as “the Father of Black History.” ”

Dr. Woodson lived and worked at 1538 9th Street NW, which is in Shaw. This would explain the statue, if you missed it, at 9th and Rhode Island Avenue NW. And the National Park Service historic house.

To celebrate the month I had pondered the idea of looking at his 1912 book The History of the Negro Church, because last year I did a deep dive of his Mis-Education of the Negro. There are some problems. For one the first book I ordered had type so small I could not read it. When I did order a book these older eyes could read, I discovered the book was very boring. I have discovered that The History of the Negro Church is in the public domain (yay), on the Project Gutenberg site and may have the Kindle read it to me. I seriously looked at Fivver for audiobook narrators. On the other hand I could just wait for the next round of DC Humanities grants and have them chip in for an audiobook production of Woodson’s public domain works. Feel free to steal this idea.

Instead this year, I’ll do one chapter or more chapters (not the whole book) of The History of the Negro Church, a second review of Mis-Education, other Dr. Woodson related posts and a Truxton Circle related African American history book that was pretty good. I may do a few WSIC posts and one or two 1930 Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle.

WSIC- 1900 Resident Owners of Sq. 552-George Adams-120 Q St NW

There weren’t too many resident owners on Sq. 551 (bounded by 3rd, Q, 1st and P Sts NW). As I mentioned in the post about Sophia Hess, there were only two. Sophia Hess, at 145 P St NW, a 65 year old single woman of German heritage. She owned 0552 lot 7.
George Adams, at 120 Q St NW, was a 40 year old African American laborer. He owned 0552 lot 26-west 20. Sophia’s post went a little long, so I am giving George Adams his own post.

I have confirmed his home ownership in the 1902/1903 General Assessment.

So who was George Adams? That’s a good question because I could not find enough solid information. In the 1900 DC city directory there were about 11 George Adams. One George W. Adams at 120 Q St NW. The 1900 census tells me he was born in Maryland in February of 1860.

There was another George W. Adams in DC around the same time, who owned a lot of land. I don’t think he is the same guy. The other George Adams was married to Bettie Elizabeth Adams, our George Adams was unmarried.

His mother, Alice Adams, lived with him and she is the woman who connects George to Lycurgus Adams another property owner on the block. In the 1860 census relationships were not mentioned, so there are 15 people in the Adams’ household in Bladensburg, MD, Alice and Lycurgus among them. Lycurgus could have been George’s uncle, but it is unclear.

WSIC- 1900 Resident Owners of Sq. 552-Sophia Hess

In earlier posts I was looking at the block the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company did not own, that it would later own. I wanted to look at the owners of Sq. 552 prior to WSIC ownership to see what the story was there.

There weren’t too many resident owners on Sq. 552 (bounded by 3rd, Q, 1st and P Sts NW). I thought I had more, but that was an error on my end.

The 1902/1903 General Assessment, is not always correct (dead owners), nor does it provide the minute (my NOOT) info that is as enlightening as the Recorder of Deeds records. There were two (according to the 1900 census):

145 P St NW– Sophia Hess, a 65 year old single woman of German heritage. Owned 0552 lot 7.
120 Q St NW– George Adams, a 40 year old African American laborer. Owned 0552 lot 26-west 20.

So who was Sophia Hess? She was born in Washington, DC in December 1835 and her mother was Mary Elizabeth Gebhardt Hess (d. 1869) whose name the property was in. Looking at Mary Hess’ will, she left the property to her children Sophia, William and Catharine. sigh. That’s probably why it was still in Mary’s name. Sophia never married.

In 1880 she lived at 145 P St NW with her adult siblings. William Hess was her older brother and listed as being a boarder. He was a German born 62 year old and noted as being a maimed and illiterate laborer. Frederick was listed as her brother. He was a 45 year old carpenter. Lastly, her sister Catharine was a 39 year old housekeeper. Sophia was a 48 year old clerk for the Government Printing Office. All were single.

In the 1900 census, Sophia was still working at the GPO, still at 145 P St NW, and living with siblings. William was not in the picture, but Frederick the carpenter, then 60 years old, and sister Catherine remained with her.

Sometime between 1903 and 1909 the property became part of the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company’s portfolio. In 1906 according to the city directory she was at 145 P St NW. By the 1910 census, she had moved to 1611 Lincoln Ave NE. She lived there with her sister Catherine and a grand-nephew Karl H. Townsend. At the age of 70 she was still working at the GPO, as a folder. Her grand nephew was 19 years old and worked as a clerk for the Department of Agriculture.

She was still in Eckington during the 1920 census at 1611 Lincoln Ave NE. There she lived with a nephew, a niece and two grand-nieces. And at the age of 83, she still worked at the Government Printing Office.

In 1925 she died at 1611 North Capitol St NE (could be Lincoln Ave NE?) from a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 91. She is buried at Glenwood Cemetery. She never married.

I’ll get George Adams in another post.

A Program for Bates Street 1968- Updated

This is the 3rd version of this post because I realized that the images did not transfer when I moved this from a Blogger environment to WordPress. So the links did not work. This post aims to fix that.

Although this does not mention the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company, it is about the houses the WSIC built, plus another block. Below is a 2008 post where I misremembered the name of the 1968 report, which I have below the fold. The report, A Program for Bates Street, is just 12 pages with a few pictures of residents, has mentions of rehabilitation and new construction. Fast forward, this was under Marion Barry’s tenure so it got halfway done.

I have the 1968-1974 (the dates I’m unsure of) brochure of “A Plan for Bates Street” in PDF form. It’s a big file and because it is so large, I’m not posting here. However, I will mail it to folks who ask (offer expires in 30 days). Basically, like the title says, it was the government’s plan for the two blocks of Bates, to improve the housing.

Continue reading A Program for Bates Street 1968- Updated

1900 Resident Owner of Sq. 551-1615 3rd St NW- Frank P. Glorius

I see the name Glorius and I think, George, the florist who owned all of square 519. But this is Frank.

I still have no idea if/how he was related to George Glorius.

He was born in Germany and immigrated to America in 1882. He married another German, Frederika (Freida) Sauter in February 1887 in Washington, DC. They did a great job of not getting enumerated in most censuses. They show up in the 1900 census. In the 1910 census the occupants of 1615 3rd St NW are FP and Mary Glorius. I did not find them in the 1920-1930 census.

The land records aren’t particularly helpful, except they do give another interesting spelling of Mrs. Glorius’ name. The Recorder of Deeds online records start in 1921 and the first document for 1615 3rd St NW (0551 lot 62) was a 1928 release for the payment of a October 1894 debt. Frederica Glorius’ name was spelled Fredericka. The next two documents were from 1935, a trust and a deed. There are a ton of people named Glorius, which hint to Frank P. Glorius’ death. More about them later.

Frank and Frederica Glorius’ death was interesting. They both died on March 26, 1932. The Evening Star wrote that they died “suddenly”. Another March 27, 1932 Evening Star article revealed more. They both died in their sleep, at home, at 1615 3rd St NW, from carbon ~~dioxide~~ monoxide. Because of their age and the paper’s mention that hinted at a lost fortune, I’m suspecting it was an act of suicide. Here I will quote from the article:

Once Wealthy Builder and Wife Found in Home Victims of Fumes
The asphyxiation of Frank Glorius, once a wealthy builder, and his wife, Frieda, both between 75 and 80 years old. who were found dead yesterday in their gas-filled home at 1629 Third street, was being investigated last night by Acting Coroner A. Magruder MacDonald.
Meanwhile, arrangements for the funeral of the elderly couple, both of whom were in poor health, were being made by officials of the Carpenters’ Union, which had been helping them for the last three or four years.
…….
Mr. and Mrs. Glorius were found when police, summoned by residents of the neighborhood, who had traced the odor of gas, broke open a door of their dwelling.
…
Both Mr. and Mrs. Glorius came here from Germany years ago. They settled at the Third street address and at one time owned virtually every house in the neighborhood.

Other articles after their death dealt with their estate handled by a Frederick F. Schnieder. The papers nor the land records say how the following were related to Frank and Frederica but they were heirs. They were: Amalia Glorius, Eleonore Glorius (wife of George Glorius), George Glorius, Heinrich Christian Glorius (aka Brother Livinius), Joseph Glorius, Juliana Glorius, Maria Glorius (wife of Joseph Glorius), Theresia Kahlmeier/Kuhlmeier, Marie Elisabeth Liszkowski, Emma Elisabeth Senge, Anna Elisabeth Theuer, Hedwig Amalie Theuer, and Heinrich Robert Theuer. None of the Sq. 519 George Glorius were married to an Eleonore. However Ignatius George Glorius (1866-1901?) was married to an Eleanore/Eleanora (1868-1935). Most of the people on this list, I did not have enough info on them to figure out their relationship with Frank P. Glorius.

1900 Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Solomon Basey- 1603 1/2 3rd St NW

I have a template for my Black home owners series. Since I am dealing with the Sq. 551 3rd St owners, and Solomon Basey was Black, here we are.

When I looked for Solomon Basey in the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America site, which allows me to search the Evening Star and other DC newspapers (for free). I found this ad:

I gather that Solomon Basey who was an African American shoemaker who lived at 1603 1/2 3rd St NW was feeling the end was near and sold his earthy possessions to his step daughter. In the 1900 census Mr. Basey was only 48 years old. It was harder to be older 100 years ago.

In the 1900 census he was a widower and lived with his sister Julia Washington. He had married Ellen Carey in 1896. It appears she died (or quietly divorced).

Flipping through various DC city directories between 1878-1906 Solomon Basey shows up at 406 Franklin St NW, 1603 1/2 3rd St NW, and 510 O St NW. The O St address may have been his shoe and boot shop.

Happy Accident-1900 Home Owner- 1603 3rd St NW- William Saunders 1822-1900

I honestly meant to to get resident home owners of sq. 552, for the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company. Because I had incorrect info in my own spreadsheet, which I need to clean up, I wound up researching people who were not on Sq. 552 (3rd, Q, 1st, Bates, and P St) but 551. It also means that the spreadsheet on TruxtonCircle.org is incorrect too.

I discovered my accident when looking at the 1902/1903 General Assessment for Sq. 552 for a William Saunders. I found William’s wife, Martha Saunders over on Sq. 551, (where Mt. Sinai, the NW Co-op and FL Ave Park sit). She had two lots. She owned, 551 009-Background, and 551 00G.

Then it dawned on me that the 1600 block was up one block.

William Saunders was a TC resident, and he has a Wikipedia page (my 3rd TC resident with a wiki) so we have a new blog post.

William Saunders lived at 1603 3rd St NW. According to the 1880 census, he lived there with his wife Martha, and his adult children George W. and Belle. By the 1900 census, it was still him and Martha, and Belle, along with four adult grandchildren with the surname Reeves.

According to his Wikipedia page he “was a botanist, nurseryman, landscape gardener, landscape designer, and horticulturist.” He was the United States’ chief experimental horticulturalist and Continue reading Happy Accident-1900 Home Owner- 1603 3rd St NW- William Saunders 1822-1900

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And I have no idea of what I’m doing.

I’ve been approved to add Google ads to the site. I’m trying to figure out how to not put them all over the place and be obnoxious. If you don’t see anything, good. If you see one or two ads, good. If they are all over the friggin place, not good, and tell me.