Truxton History – Truxton Is In Shaw

Wandering into the 1950 Truxton Circle Census

I’m writing this more as a note taking exercise.

My very outdated website- TruxtonCircle.org has the 1880-1940 census info on it. The 1950 census came out in 2022 and I did not update it, because in 2002 I had a grant and was single. Now I have a family and no grant.

But I do need to get the 1950 census in a spreadsheet and use the data to write more stories about the history of the neighborhood. This will be slow plodding as a 1 woman show.

Although Truxton Circle is in Census Tract 46, it is made up of several enumeration districts and that is what I have to pay attention to when gathering data. Looking at the 1950 Census Map :
ED 63 covers squares 614 and 615
ED 64 covers squares 550 and 551
ED 65 covers squares 507 and 519
ED 66 covers squares E 509 and 520
ED 67 covers squares E 510, 521 and 552
ED 68 covers squares W 553 and 553
ED 69 covers square 616
ED 70 covers squares 617 and 618
ED 71 covers squares W 554, 554, and 555

I should do this for the other censuses ….censi? Because I swear I’m missing a street here and there.

Black Church Owners of Truxton Circle: Bishop Verda B. P. Braxton- 244 P St NW

I was thinking about house churches. One was the Phanelson Memorial True Church of God Apostolic at 244 P St NW. In the realm of Protestantism, they are in the Pentecostal neighborhood. Pentecostals are the more energetic version of the body of Christ.

This blog noted when the property was for sale in 2008. However, looking at Redfin and the Recorder of Deeds, it did not sell until 2021. Normally, I like to end my house/people histories in the 1970s and 1980s, because I’d rather not write about living people. But the Bishop for this church passed away in 2020.

In my last house history for 244 P St NW was for Frederick B. Turner, who sold the house to Ernest Clinton Winfield in 1947. Ernest Winfield sold the house in 1961 through Margaret Hartung who sold it to Efteia and John M. Swagart. In 1962 the Swagarts sold it to the Progressive Investors Corporation. In December 1973, the president of the Progressive Investors Corporation, James C. Brown and its secretary, Raymond K. Brown, transferred the property to James C. Brown. The next year, 1974 James and wife Mary sold the property to Verda Belle Braxton and daughter Elverda LaVerne Braxton-Thomas.

The Braxtons borrowed $19,950 from HUD, via Lawrence A. Epter & Associates. In 1978, via Lawrence Mitchell, the property was taken out of Verda Braxton’s name and placed solely in Elverda Braxton-Thomas’ name. In 2000 Elverda borrowed $78,000 from America’s Wholesale Lender (yes, that’s the name) which she satisfied in 2016. June 11, 2020 Elverda disclaimed her interest in the property as the surviving joint tenant, since the death of her mother that same year. It seems her mother willed the property to the Phanelson Memorial Apostolic Church Inc. No big deal, because Elverda represented the church when it sold the property to the current owners in 2021. Elverda died October 2022.

So who was Bishop Verda B.P. Braxton? She was born Verda Belle Phanelson May 18, 1927 in Powhatan, West Virginia to Alfred Phanelson and Bishop Esther Phanelson. I am reminded that Pentecostals are very open to female leadership and running churches can be a family business for non-hierarchical denominations. When she married Alphonso James Braxton in Roanoke, VA in 1949, she was working as a hospital maid and he a laborer.

In 1950, according to the census, she was living with her widowed mother in Roanoke with her newborn son Alphonso (aka Phanelson A. Braxton, died 2021). She had her 2nd child Elverda in 1953 in Washington, DC. According to a February 16, 1957 Washington Afro-American article she was a clerk-typist for the Walker-Thomas Furniture Co. when the company integrated its staff. Skipping a few years, public records have her address as 244 P St NW in the late 1980s and mid 1990s. So she qualifies to be a Black Home Owner of Truxton Circle. In her obituary, it reads “She served as Bishop and head of the church for over 38 years.”

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Mrs. Ethel and Dr. Arthur McKinney- 1519 1st St NW

This is the third Dr. Arthur McKenney post here and hopefully it will be a good biography and house history. He’s been featured in 2018- Black Home Owners of 1940: Dr. Arthur B. McKinney and 2021- Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Arthur B. McKinney, which appears to be the same post warmed over.

I guess my problem was there were two Arthur McKenneys AND Dr. McKinney’s name was spelled McKenny and McKenney.

Searching for Arthur McKenney in the DC Recorder of Deeds and I don’t see anyone for square 615. But when searching for Square 615 lot 233, I find a McKinney. An Arthur B. McKinney. It is in document 192203180040 where Arthur signs over the property to his wife Ethel T. McKinney in 1922.

In 1928 Ethel took out a loan with the Oriental building Association for $5,000. It was solely in her name. That same year Arthur was released from a 1918 mortgage he signed for when he was single. Ethel was released from her mortgage in 1948. Then she took out another loan in 1955 with the same building association for $3,500, and paid it off in 1961. Ethel sold the house to… sigh… George Basiliko in 1972.

By also tracing Ethel I see she also owned lot 231, where her father in-law Samuel McKinney lived. In 1922 Ethel T. and Arthur N? McKinney sold 1515 1st Street NW to Samuel A. McKinney. But by 1933 Samuel had died and Arthur’s and Ethel’s name were on the deed as next of kin selling the property to Albert F. Adams. Also on the deed were Guilford McKinney, unmarried; Lewis B. McKinney and his wife Blanche E. McKinney; James E. McKinney, unmarried; Bessie T. Austin of Alexandria, unmarried; Walter V. McKinney, unmarried; and Evelyn G. McKinney, of Chicago, unmarried. And just for good measure Arthur B. and Ethel T. McKinney signed a Quit Claim Deed as well. In 1935 there’s a foreclosure document, however I did not locate the accompanying mortgage that it was based on the 1515 1st St NW.

Arthur Bancroft McKinney was born November 21, 1888 to Samuel A. and Della McKinney in the District of Columbia. In the 1910 census he lived with his parents, siblings Bradner, Stella, James, Bessie, Walter V, and Ralph L at 63 P St NW. Also in 1910 he graduated from Miner’s Normal School. He attended Howard Medical school. December 4, 1920 Arthur married Ethel T. Albert. By that time he was already a practicing physician.

Dr. McKinney died in October 1946. In his obituary he was hailed as a “Pioneer District Civic Leader.” The November 2, 1946 Afro-American described his unfortunate death. Apparently, he had been a patient at the Freedman’s Hospital for 4 years. An attendant had filled and put him in a bath. The attendant left him and during that time, the water drained out and in attempting to fill it back up, McKinney turned on the hot water and was burned. He died before anyone could help.

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Blanch and Archie Young- 217 P St NW

Looking at the WSIC home buyers we look at Blanche and Archie Young of 217 P St NW. In WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 217 P Street NW, in December 1950 (recorded February 5, 1951) Colonial Inv. Co. partners Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 217 P St NW to Archie S. and Blanche M. Young. That same month, the Youngs borrowed $3,000 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman. Then in April 1958 the Youngs lost their half of the property to foreclosure and via an auction, the property was returned to Evans, Taube and new Colonial Inv. Co partner Harry A. Badt.

There’s not much on Blanche Marie Adair Young. She was born around about 1927 in the District according to marriage and the 1950 census records.

Archie Sylvester Young was born September 28, 1913 to Etta E Willard and George A. Young in Washington, DC. His mother died in 1934 at Gallinger Hospital, the hospital where he worked as an orderly. Her death left his father, also an orderly, Archie and his brother Maurice Franklin Young. Their father remarried in 1935 to Laura Louise Matthews.

217 P St NW, Washington Dc 2004 — 217 P St NW, Washington DC 2004

He used to have other brothers. In the 1920 census the family lived at 1652 B St NW. The father worked as a porter and mother worked from home as a laundress and they had 4 sons under the age of 8. Percy the eldest, was born in 1913 and died as a 16 year old laborer in 1929. His other brother Charles died at the age of 15, when Charles was shot and killed by a White House policeman August 18, 1932, whilst prowling around the cop’s home. The family lived at 116 16th St NE, and the cop at 214 17th St NE. Charles’ obituary said there were sisters, but no sisters appear in the 1930 census for the family.

In 1940, for the draft of World War II, Archie was a self employed single man. He was working for himself as a painter. 1946 he married Blanche Adair. In the 1950 census the couple was listed as being roomers at 634 M Street NW. Blanche kept house while Archie worked as a painter. But this census claims he was born in South Carolina.

The trail runs cold after 1950. They did not buy another house in DC after the foreclosure. Archie died September 11, 1992 in Maryland.

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Helen and Nathaniel Lee- 135 Bates St NW

I’m looking at some of the foreclosure victims of the WSIC house sales and this post features Helen M. and Nathaniel Lee who purchased half of 135 Bates St NW.

photo of property

December 1950 Evans, Levin and Taube sold half of 135 Bates St NW to Helen M. and Nathaniel Lee. They borrowed $2,525 from Colonial Mortgage Corp. trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman. Then in August 1954 they lost the home to foreclosure.

The Lees’ lived at 1613 10th St NW in 1950 before buying part of 135 Bates. That house no longer exists. Nathaniel lived there with his wife, Helen, and their four children (under 5 years old), his sister in law and four lodgers. Nathaniel worked as an awning repair man.

Nathaniel was born January 19, 1923/1924/1925 (the year varies with source material) in Raeford, North Carolina to Ruby Morris and Tom Lee. His father, a farmer, died in April 1931. When he was a teenager in 1940 he lived with his aunt and uncle and a whole mess of other relatives in Raeford, working as a farm hand.

In 1945 Nathaniel married Helen Delouse Moore in Washington, DC. During the Korean War draft he was working as a machinist for the awning company.

After the foreclosure it does not appear that the Lees purchased a home in DC. But from Nathaniel’s December 1985 obituary, it appears the family mostly relocated to Paterson, NJ in 1962 where he ran Lee’s Market in addition to other work. He was survived by four sons and two daughters, his mother, many grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Memory Lane: Front yard tent

I went on Google Street View to figure out which block this photo below came from.

The purple townhouse in the middle now has a popup extra floor and a rooftop deck.

Google Street View allows you to look at earlier dates, so I went back to 2011, when 1609 had the outdoor tent and showed several men socializing under it. The neighbors at the purple house were doing the same, under their own tent.

Black Homeowners of TC- Frank and Earlene H. Fowler -131 Bates Street NW

I already did the foreclosure story and now I am looking at the other owners, who did not face foreclosure, Frank and Earlene H. Fowler of 131 Bates Street NW.

I’m going to start with Earlene. She was born Agnes Earline Hailstork November 4, 1915 in Virginia. Her mother was an 18 year old housekeeper and her father unknown. In 1946 she married Frank Fowler. In the 1950 census she worked as a clerical worker for the V.A. and lived with her husband Frank, a laborer, and their 3 sons, all under the age of 3 on the 2100 block of 18th St NW.

There was another Black Frank Fowler in the area, and I don’t trust the family tree, so this is the end. I will say one of their sons, Larry, kept close.

WSIC Foreclosure story- James C. Gordon of 131 Bates Street NW

See the original post WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 131 Bates Street NW to see the house history of the location. I noticed something when I looked at some of the people who were foreclosed upon with the WSIC houses. Some of them were old and they died and there was no point of keeping up with the mortgage payments for a property with limited value. Other times, people had other homes and let the WSIC go.

This is very short. James C. Gordon does not appear as a Black man in the 1950 census. So the genealogy route came up blank.

Neither is he in the DC Recorder of Deeds beyond the house on Bates Street.

But he does show up in the newspapers for driving poorly and hitting an electrical pole. According to the April 14, 1952 issue of the Washington Evening Star, he and his wife Sophia* were driving from Culpepper, VA and Mr. Gordon started dozing off. When he awoke, he saw a traffic light, hit the breaks and swerved into a pole. He was thrown from the car and a live wire landed very close to him. He was sent to Arlington Hospital and later booked for reckless driving.

Later in 1952 Florie’s name was taken off the property. I suspect the accident may have strained the marriage. The November deed, where Florie’s signature can be seen, also has Colonial Mortgage Corp officer Abraham Levin as the notary.

*That was the name given and the address was 131 Bates Street. So either she went by another name (more likely) or he got a new wife or Florie was a family member.

WSIC- The Black Unit Block of O St NW

The Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) had a lot of rental units in Truxton Circle, but they were segregated. The White tenants were on Bates St (unit to 200 block), 3rd St, 200 block of P Street and the 100-200 block of Q Street NW. The Black tenants were segregated way over on the unit block of O Street, where their White renters would not see them.

I haven’t gathered the info for the 1950 census for Truxton Circle, but I have started. While collecting information about the sale of WSIC homes to African Americans in the TC, I took a look at the Black units to see if any of the Black tenants decided to buy. I’ve already did a post about the Edmunstons who bought their unit.

The Burtons also purchased their unit at 40 O St NW. Nellie and John R. Burton lived there as far back as the 1930 census. In the 1930s the father John A. Burton was a barber, Nellie, the mother was at home and John R. was a student. Nellie died in May 1956 and two years later their half was foreclosed upon. During the 1950 census John R. was the head working as a clerk for the US government. He was at 40 O St with his wife Mary L. who was a stenographer, their 6 year old son and mother Nellie who was at home. It appears Nellie dealt with child care, freeing Mary to work outside of the home.

A few months after purchasing 40 O Street NW with his mother, he and his wife Mary Louise Burton, purchased 116 53rd St SE in Marshall Heights. This house had two mortgages. The first was $3,250 with a lender and the second was $6,600 with Riggs Bank. In 1956 John and Mary bought 5212 East Capitol St NE. This also came with two mortgages, the first being $3,500 and the second $2,000 with the same lender.

There were a few who purchased WSIC units, just not theirs.

Ethel and Malvern F. Jackson purchased half of 24 O St NW, but lived in 18 O St NW when the 1950 census was taken. In the 1950 census Ethel was a 58 year old widow living with her son Malvern, daughter Nathelma and son-in-law William Ewell. At that time Malvern and Nathelma were the only adults working. He was worked at the post office as a postal clerk. She was a printer’s assistant at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. In 1954 the Jacksons sold their half of 24 O St NW back to the sellers. That same month Malvern purchased 631 Gallatin St NW with his wife Genevieve. They were able to borrow $9,000 from the Jefferson Savings and Loan/ Lincoln National Bank and $3,950 from other trustees.

Ethel’s daughter and son-in-law purchased half of 30 O St NW. Like her brother, Nathelma and William Ewell sold the house back to the sellers in September 1954. There was no evidence the couple purchased anything in the District of Columbia. At one point in time Nathelma lived in Silver Spring.

Roxie A. Jackson was a 40 year old widow who lived with her 20 year old son and 78 year old uncle at 46 O Street NW and working as a charwoman. Her son Mark worked for a dry cleaner. When the WSIC units came up for sale, she bought 32 O St NW. In 1952 Mrs. Jackson sold her half to Ruth and Charles Rodgers Hawkins, who then sold it to Mrs. Helena Isabel Ash. The Jackson loan got paid off and all was well. She disappears from record after that.

WSIC- Robert G. Weightman of Colonial Mortgage Corp.

I think I have most of the major players who were involved with the sell of the WSIC houses, except Robert Weightman.

Colonial Investment Co. was headed by president Nathan Levin. The VP was Nathaniel J. Taube, who also served as the president of Colonial Mortgage Corp. and the treasurer was James B. Evans. Abraham H. Levin was the legal advisor and general manager of both Colonial Mortgage and Investment, as well as Nathan’s brother. Harry A. Badt was appears in the records after Nathan Levin’s death in 1956. Prior to that Badt was the treasurer in charge of building inspection for Colonial Mortgage.

Abraham Levin and Robert G. Weightman’s names appear in the loan records for the WSIC homes sold to Black home buyers, as well as the foreclosure documents. So three paragraphs in, who was Robert G. Weightman?

Robert Gillain Weightman was born 12/11/1906 in Philadelphia to Helen Hoskin and Robert G. Weightman (1877-1909). He was baptized in the Episcopal church in 1908. In 1930 he was 23 years old, married to wife Eleanore and working as a credit clerk for a gas station in Camden, NJ. In the 1940 census he was living at 800 Talyor St NE, with wife Eleanore and 8 year old son James. At that time he worked as an accountant for a finance company. During WWII he remained at 800 Taylor St NE working for Security Finance Co.

Looking at the 1950 census the family had moved out to Chillium, MD in PG county. He was working as an accountant but for a real estate company. We can guess the company was Colonial Mortgage Corp.

Weightman only appeared in the local papers with Abraham Levin for foreclosures.

Weightman moved back to Pennsylvania and there he died in 1994.