Category: Truxton History

According to the 1900 Census Richard Thornton lived at 1520 3rd St NW. It’s the house with a porch in the middle of block where Bates St terminates, not the weirdo yellow house. According to the 1902-1903 Washington City General Assessment, he owned a lot of lots on Square 521.

But looking deeper it appears there are two Richard Thorntons, Senior and Junior. Going back to the 1880 Census we find the elder Richard R. Thornton (1835-1888/1898?) and the younger Richard Henry Thornton (1868-??) at 1520 3rd St NW.

There were a number of people at 1520 3rd Street in 1880. There were six people in the house: Richard, his wife Clara (nee Taylor, 1828-1913), their 3 daughters, Fanny, Patsy and Florence, and son Richard H. In 1900 Richard H. was the head of the family. He lived there which his 1st wife Vandelia (nee Copeland) and mom Clara, along with another household, George Green, his wife and daughter.

RR Thornton had several other properties on the block. In 1905 he (then a dead man) owned lots 4, 14, 18, 19, and 20. His son RH Thornton owned lots 15 to 17, which is odd, because 1520 3rd St NW is lot 17 on Square 521. Since many of the lot numbers have changed, I needed to go to the Library of Congress’ maps.

On the General Assessment page lot 4 was split into a north and a south. They were both one coal yard.  Lots 14 to 20 were Thornton owned. Looking at the map, according to the map notations lot 17 is 1522, so off by one. If the current addresses line up with some current and past lot numbers, then the Thorntons owned 1514-1526 3rd St NW. These were properties with renters and family members.

So around 1888 we all assume Richard R. died from the date of his will (req. logged in Ancestry Library). In the will he left 111 O St NW to his daughter Fanny Williams. His 2nd daughter Patsy Bradford got 1526 3rd St NW. His youngest daughter, Florence O. Thornton, was to get 1514-1516 3rd St NW after the death of her mom. Richard H. was to get 1520-1524 3rd St NW after the death of his mom Clara. That is what shows up in the 1905 General Assessment for Richard H. The properties for the female members seem to have gotten stuck in their father’s name.

But we’re not done with the last will and testament of Richard R. Thornton. On the 3rd page he mentions Grace Johnson, and describes her as, “(my daughter and wife of Dennis Johnson)”. I looked at Dennis Johnson in my last post. His wife Grace, shares the same maiden name, Taylor, as her mother Clara. I’m sure there’s an interesting story there. Grace was to get $300 from the sale of the coal yard.

I don’t know if Richard R. Thornton rented out the coal yard or ran a business from it or anything. His occupation on the census was “laborer”. Was he being modest? Looking at a 1887 city directory, he was running a laundry at 1514 3rd St NW. So in addition to the rental properties on 3rd St, he had a lot of things going on. When he left the world, despite not being able to read or write, he left property for his wife and children. Since he also served in the Civil War, it appears he left her a pension.

I know I’m supposed to kill my darlings when writing but I found something which makes me wonder what happened. Richard H. shows up on a Syracuse New York marriage certificate. In 1933 he’s a 61 year old chauffeur marrying a 47 year old domestic named Florence Van Alstyne. It was the second marriage for both. He had land. He was a landlord. I guess I’ll have to investigate.

I don’t think I have home ownership data for 1880. So I moved on up to the next census year where there was home ownership info, 1900. And it was here I found Mr. Dennis Johnson, who in 1880 was a laborer, in 1900, a teamster, and 1910 an “express man”. What’s an express man?

Interesting thing. All through the censuses 1880 to 1910, his address remains 1528 3rd Street NW, where he lived with his wife Grace (nee Taylor) Johnson. During certain years, they lived with their daughters Lena and Lulu, and nephew Horace Williams. By 1910 Johnson was in his 60s so he probably died before the 1920 census.

His daughter Lulu married a man named Washington Fitch and they lived at 1528 at least to 1935. She was a seamstress. Her husband was listed as a fireman in the 1930 census.

I found proof of Dennis Johnson’s ownership in the 1905-1906 General Assessment. He owned  lot 13 on Square 521, which is the SSL number for 1528 3rd St NW. Looking at the Recorder of Deeds records, the earliest (they start in 1921) shows the widow Grace Johnson and her daughter Lula Johnson Fitch borrowing $500 in 1935 from the Washington Loan and Trust Company, later Riggs Bank. Lula/Lulu continues to use the property as collateral in the 1950s. I’m not sure what happened, because I don’t see evidence of her selling the property. There is some exchange in 1961, but Ms. Fitch is not a party.

Update: She probably wasn’t a party because she was very likely dead. I found this on the Court Listener site:

Gladys Jane Dial v. Charles W. Johnson, Administrator, Estate of Lula Johnson Fitch, Deceased, 259 F.2d 189 (D.C. Cir. 1958)
This opinion cites 1 opinion.

1 reference to Consolidted Electric Lamp Company v. James P. Mitchell, Secretary of Labor, International Union of Electrical, Radio and MacHine Workers, Afl-Cio, Appellee-Intervenor, 259 F.2d 189 (D.C. Cir. 1958)
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Sept. 18, 1958 Cited by 0 other opinions

Gladys J. Dial (1921-1993) was an African American woman who is currently at Arlington National Cemetery. According to Social Security info, her mother is listed as Lula B. Fitch but her father as James S. Vaughn. I don’t know what the story is there. Then there are these notes “Nov 1940: Name listed as GLADYS DIAL; Sep 1941: Name listed as GLADYS VAUGHN JONES; Aug 1946: Name listed as GLADYS VAUGHN; Apr 1967: Name listed as GLADYS JANE DIAL; 08 Apr 1993: Name listed as GLADYS J DIAL ”

It was Gladys Dial who sold the property in 1961.

 

According to the 1900 census James S. Boswell was an African American policeman who lived at 219 Q/Que Street NW with his wife Hattie. It was just them. But in that same structure/address were 2 other households, one headed by a widow Tina Jones (Mrs. Benjamin Jones), and other with Leroy Jackson and his wife, along with several boarders.

At first glance the other residents of 219 Q St NW seem unrelated. But looking at James and Hattie, I found that he married Hattie Shelton in May of 1892 in Washington DC at the 3rd Baptist Church on 5th St. The spinster sisters of the widowed head of the 2nd family at 219 Q were Phyllis and Hester Shelton. This leads me to believe that these were James’ sister-in-laws living under his roof, but in a separate unit. The 3rd household, the only connection is a 4 year old Lillian Boswell listed as one of the several minor children, with different surnames, living with Mr. Jackson who are listed a boarders.

But that’s not the tragedy.

Fast forward to the 1910 census and the Jacksons are gone, but the then 4 year old Lillian Boswell is now a 14 year old Lillian Jones, having been adopted by the widow Tina Jones. Not a tragedy, but a blessing. The Widow Jones adopted another girl, an 8 year old named Ruby. The Shelton sisters were still there along with a 20 year old nephew, Robert Jones.

So what’s the tragedy?

You have to learn about Hattie and James for that. They were both born in 1866, James in Virginia and Hattie in DC. As I mentioned, they married in 1892. James was a laborer, like so many Black men at this time. Yet, in 1895, he became a policeman with the Washington, DC police force. Shy of 10 years on the force he was promoted to Class 2…. whatever that means, in 1904.  In his record there are citizen complaints against him. I should write another post just on the complaints.  One could say they were racial, in nature, as the complainants were white and they did bring up then Pvt. Boswell’s color. But that wasn’t the tragedy. The tragedy was in 1912 when Ofc. Boswell was diagnosed with stomach cancer. His doctor, Dr. W. Thompson Burch, spouse of the suffragette,  wrote that Boswell contracted the disease in the line of duty.  He retired June 29, 1912 with a monthly pension of $50 a month. He died July 9th, a week or so later.

It’s sad, but that’d not the tragedy.

After his death, Hattie had to petition for a widow’s pension. Her physician, Dr. Simeon Carson, at the Freedmen’s Hospital informed the MPD that she was forced to get back on her feet, after 14 months of bedrest, due to the death of her husband.  When she appeared before the pension board on August 7th, she was in no shape to have been going anywhere. And before she could collect on her husband’s pension, she died that same month. And that’s a tragedy.

James and Hattie Boswell, born 1866, died 1912.