Housing – Truxton Is In Shaw

Memory Lane- 1640 4th St NW

This is from 2016

I could add context, but I don’t need that headache. I already posted my opinion.

WSIC-1950s sell off- 45 Bates Street NW-Revised

I need to clean up the data on this old post from 2022. This was before I started noticing a pattern with the WSIC houses. I’m just going to focus on the property history and not the individuals.

From my last post, I mentioned I would look at a property that was transfer from the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) to three men, who then sold it to a person marking the exit of WSIC from Truxton Circle in the 1950s.

45 Bates St NW is on square 615 in Truxton Circle. During the time of WSIC’s ownership it sat on lot 134. Currently it is now lot 292.

I don’t have the exact date when WSIC came to posses 45 Bates and other homes on the block. In 1903 parties (George Sternberg and George Kober) involved with the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) owned many lots on Sq. 615. So fast forward to June 1950 and the property is transferred from WSIC to the Washington Loan & Trust Company, then from the Washington Loan and Trust Co. to business partners Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans. The business partners borrowed $3 million dollars for Investors Diversified Services Inc. of Minnesota.

photo of property

So let’s get onto the property history:

December 1950 Colonial Investment Co. (represented by James B. Evans, Nathan Levin, and Nathaniel J. Taube) sold half of 45 Bates St NW to Kathleen S. and William W. Johnson.
December 1950 the Johnsons got a mortgage from (not named) Colonial Mortgage Co.’s trustees, Abraham H. Levin (Nathan‘s brother) and Robert G. Weightman for $2,400.
December 1950 Evans, Levin and Taube sold the other half of 45 Bates to George M. and Olivia V. Davis.
December 1950 Mr. and Mrs. Davis borrowed $2,400 from Levin and Weightman.
October 1961 the Davis household was released from their mortgage.
December 1961 the Johnsons were released from their mortgage.
July 1970 Kathleen transferred the property to William W. who in the next document transferred it to Florence Ann Johnson.
1970-2013 lots of stuff happened that I don’t care about.
December, Friday the 13th, 2013 Olivia V. Davis Estate, apparently represented by heir Sterling A. Richardson, who transferred it from the estate to himself.
January 2014 Richardson sold his 1/2 of 45 Bates to Cameron Properties of DC, Inc.
2014-2017 lien drama.
August 2017, Eric M. Rome, who was representing the estate of Florence A. Johnson-Morrison (who might have died in 2014) and Cameron Properties of DC, Inc, sold the whole property to 45 Bates Street NW LLC.

Detective Stories with AI- the 1700 Block of New Jersey Ave NW- White to Black

Yes, Mari found a new toy. I’m going to take a little break from the deep research while I clean up the data. Playing with AI made me realize that the WSIC posts aren’t uniform in the information they give, so I will need to fix that. In the meantime, here’s an old post, where I had Grok write it in the style of Raymond Chandler. It is a hoot.

The street stretched out like a tired old dame, worn thin by time and the heavy tread of too many soles. New Jersey Avenue NW, a name that carried the weight of a forgotten promise, sat in the shadow of Truxton Circle, where the air hung thick with secrets and the ghosts of yesteryear lingered in the brickwork. It was 1920, and the odd-numbered side of the 1700 block was a pale-faced affair—white renters huddled in their rowhouses, clutching leases like lifelines. By 1930, the tide had turned, and the block was a sea of brown faces, Black homeowners staking their claim on a piece of the American dream. The shift wasn’t no accident, no gentle drift of fate. It was a deal, cold and calculated, with the scent of money and desperation trailing behind it.

I dug into the dirt of it, the way a PI might sift through a dame’s lies to find the truth. The census told one story—white to Black, a decade’s flip of the coin. But the land records, they sang a darker tune. Around July 1920, M. Harvey Chiswell swooped in like a vulture in a cheap suit, snatching up 1707 to 1715 from Charles W. and Amy S. Richardson, then 1717 to 1721 from Ella S. Du Bois. She kept going, greedy fingers closing around 1725 to 1731 and 1733 to 1741 from Mason N. and Ada F. Richardson. The whole stinking stretch of New Jersey Avenue fell under her shadow, a monopoly built on deeds and dust.

Come August, the Evening Star piped up—H.A. Kite was set to patch up 1701 to 1741, a repair job to pretty up the bones of those old houses. But Chiswell wasn’t holding onto her prize for long. She flipped them fast, like a grifter unloading hot goods. September saw 1701 go to Grace L. Jackson for $4,100, a loan stitched up tight with W. Wallace Chiswell and Kite’s names on it. October rolled in, and 1707 went to Susie J.R. Johnson, 1711 to Maria Jones, 1713 to Frank E. Smith, 1717 to Mayo J. Scott and his wife Sarah, 1719 to William H. Randall and Katie. The list ran on—1715 to Fred H. and Hester Seeney, 1709 to Julia G. Holland, 1703 to Amelia Green by December. Every sale inked with Chiswell’s mark, every loan tied to her web of trusts, 6% interest bleeding the buyers dry.

The block wasn’t just sold off—it was carved up and fed to a new crowd, African Americans stepping into homes that white folks had fled. The why of it hung in the air like smoke from a cheap cigar. Maybe the old tenants saw the writing on the wall, the neighborhood tilting toward something they couldn’t stomach. Maybe Chiswell saw a profit in the shift, a chance to cash out before the winds changed again. Whatever the game, the 1700 block morphed into a testament to grit and gamble, a place where dreams were bought on credit and paid for in sweat.

I lit a cigarette and stared down the street, watching the shadows play across the rowhouses. The sell-off was a heist dressed up as progress, a shuffle of papers that rewrote lives. Truxton Circle didn’t care—it just watched, silent as a dame with too many secrets, while the block turned over like a card in a rigged deck.

1920 to 1930- White to Black- 1723 New Jersey Avenue

1700 Block NJ Ave NW, 1930. Brown= AfAm residents; White= No data

In this series of looking at the odd numbered side of the 1700 block of New Jersey Ave NW from 1920 to 1930, I decided to look at the other end of the block. The change from 1920 to 1930 for most of the block was from white renters to black home owners. My post The sell off of the 1700 block of New Jersey Ave NW pretty much explains the why.

White Renters

The Gray family were the only renters in 1723 New Jersey Ave NW in 1920. It was headed by George Abbott Gray, a 53 year old house painter. He lived in the home with his wife, 52 year old Sarah Ellen (nee Peters) a German-American housewife, their adult children and a roomer. Son George Leslie Gray was a 25 year old machinist and daughter Emma RW a clerk at the War Department.

The census prior Emma lived at 1723 with her grandmother Harriett A. Gray a 69 year old widow. It was just those two, sharing the address with the Lamb family. Her father, mother, brother, and maternal grandmother were living not far away in LeDroit Park at 666 Elm St NW.

The senior George Gray died in 1925, so he would not appear in the 1930 census. The widowed Sarah Gray lived with her daughter Emma who was a clerk for the US Veterans Bureau. Son George L. Gray was working as an auto mechanic and living with his wife Edna at 660 Kenyon St NW.

Black Homeowners

The earliest document for this house appears to be a deed from August 25, 1924 where Robert Oscar Underwood, acting as executor of the estate of Robert DuBois Underwood transferred the home to Clara M. Ward. I am left to assume Robert D. Underwood was the original purchaser from the Chiswells who developed and sold the 1700 block row of homes to African Americans.

Clara Ward appears to have been working as a go between as in the next document, on the same day, Ward transferred/sold the home to Mary L, Johnson and Fannie C. Stewart. Johnson and Stewart took out a loan for $1,850 from trustees WC Prather and Robert W. Savage. The next year, on October 7, 1925, Johnson and Stewart sold the home to Cora B. and Ernest Boozer. The Boozers borrowed $2,625 from trustees Lucie R. Pollard and Arthur C. Proctor. It was the first of seven mortgages before their heirs sold the home in 1966 to East Coast Equities Inc. Earlier in 1963, Ernest Boozer’s name was removed from the property as the couple had divorced. Cora Boozer died in Rock Hill, SC on June 6, 1965. Her brother Fielding Robinson Jr , was her heir, along with his wife Mae.

Cora Bell Robinson Boozer, was born in Columbia, SC August 8, 1910. Frank was also born in Columbia, SC but in 1899. In the 1930 census Cora and her husband Ernest lived with half a dozen lodgers. Frank was a 35 year old barber and Cora worked as a servant in a hotel. Their tenants included a janitor, a laborer and an elevator operator.

1920 to 1930- White to Black- 1721 New Jersey Avenue

White Renters

There were three households living in 1721 New Jersey Ave NW in 1920. There were the Burgess family, the Matthews family and the Burtons.

Let’s start with the Burgess family. It was headed by William F. Burgess, a 33 year old chauffeur. He lived with his wife Annie and their three children, Della (10), William E (8) and baby Boyd R. Prior to living on New Jersey Avenue the family lived at 723 Morton St. NW during World War I. Continue reading 1920 to 1930- White to Black- 1721 New Jersey Avenue

1920 to 1930- White to Black- 1719 New Jersey Avenue

White Renters

1719 New Jersey Ave had two households living in the town home in 1920. One was a single person, 72 year old widow Harriett A. Gray. The other was the Hessler family.

Harriett Gray was born in 1848, possibly in the District of Columbia. Unfortunately, there was more than one woman named Harriett A. Gray born in 1848. The other one was born in Maine, another in Illinois. She was living alone and did not have an occupation. If she was related to the Gray family living at 1723 New Jersey Av NW, then she is Harriet Ann (nee Abbott) Gray who died in 1929.

The Hesslers or Heslars were a 29 year old father, 31 year old mother and their 7 year old son Earl. James Kelly Heslar was born February 16, 1891 in Brown, Ohio. In 1910 he was a single teacher in Ohio. He married Mollie Caldwell in 1911. At some point he moved to Washington, DC and worked as a clerk for the War Department. By 1930 the family was back in Ohio where they owned their home.

Black Homeowners

William H. and Katie Randall bought 1719 NJ Ave NW from M. Harvey Chiswell around October 1920. Katie and William Herbert Randall were the owners up until 1960. Between 1922 to 1960 the Randalls took out 9 mortgages. In a 1970 loan with the Perpetual Building Association, the borrowers were William E. and Janice B. Randall. Those Randalls lost the home to foreclosure in 1973.

William Randall was born February 2, 1888 in Washington, DC. He married Katie Pauline Thomas September 4, 1920. In the 1930 census William was an independent ice dealer. They lived there with adopted daughters Lillian N. (9) and Audrey V. (7). They also had a lodger, 26 year old Lewis Chase who worked as a government messenger. In 1940, William, but this time W. Herbert, was working as a ‘delivery boy’. He died in 1949. In the 1950 census Katie was living at 820 L St NE with 29 year old niece and former foster daughter Lillian M. James, and 5 & 4 year old nephews William E. Thomas and Kenneth I. James. It’s unclear to me who William E. Randall was to the couple.

1920 to 1930- White to Black- 1717 New Jersey Avenue

White Renters

There were two families living at 1717 NJ Ave NW in 1920, the Dalzells and the Britts.

The Britt family did not form until 1914 when Walter W. Britt married Elsie F. Hopkins. In 1910 Walter was a 23 year old soldier at Ft. Meyer in Virginia. In 1920 he was a superintendent in the insurance industry. Elise was a stay at home mom for their 3 year old daughter Lillian Custis.

There appears to be no record of the Dalzells (or Datzells as they are spelled in the 1920 census) in the 1910 census. It did not help that the head, Howard Hays Dalzell lied to the census taker about his age. Howard was born July 1878 in Ohio. In 1901, Howard worked for the Census Office. In 1920 he wa a clerk working for the Treasury Department. His wife Kathryn worked as a binder at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, They had 2 boys, Howard Depue (7) and James (5). Howard D. was baptized at Western Presbyterian.

The Dalzell family was a little different after leaving NJ Ave. By the 1930 census, Howard H. had died in 1928. They had moved to Arlington and the widow Dalzell worked as a clerk for Treasury, like her husband in 1920, and they owned their home. In 1940 they moved back to DC, where Howard was a the head with his wife, her brother and his mother.

Black Homeowners

October 1920 M. Harvey Chiswell sold 1717 NJ Ave NW Mayo J. and Sarah Scott. The Scotts financed the purchase from W. Chiswell and Harry A. Kite. But in January 1924 the Scotts lost their home to foreclosure and Samuel Kite, Harry A. Kite‘s brother, was able to get the home in an auction. Anne Todd Kite and Samuel E. Kite Jr. borrowed $1,700 from trustees G. Percy McGlue and William P. Normoyle. January 1924 the Kites sold the house to Ida Dorsey.

May 1926 Mrs. Ida Dorsey borrowed $400 from FW Hill. March 1927 the Kites and Mrs. Dorsey were released from the Scotts’ 1924 mortgage. Between 1929 and 1944 Ida Dorsey Scott she takes out nine more mortgages. October 1951 Ida Dorsey Scott sold the home to Charles L. Poles.

Between 1951 and 1961 Poles took out three mortgages before his estate (he died) sold the house in 1962 to Frank J. Marcellino. Marcellino owned the property until 1989.

As a side note, Rev. Ida D. Scott died at DC Village in 1956. She was survived by siblings Mrs. Agnes Fleming and Jerry Tyler and foster daughter Gwendolyn Wade.

1920 to 1930- White to Black- 1715 New Jersey Avenue

White Renters

According to the 1920 census 1715 was occupied by the Perkins family. It was headed by 39 year old machinist Brooke. He lived with his wife Florence Moore (nee Shettle), a 35 year old sales woman at a bookstore, 13 year old daughter Florence E., mother Eliza Isbelle McComas Shettle (65) and aunt Anna McComas (55) who worked as a clerk for the railroad.

Here I notice the household has a couple of working women.

The Perkins family of parents and daughter were at 1715 in 1910. However then, Brooke was the manager of a grocery and Florence M. was a stay at home mom to her three year old daughter.

Jumping from 1910 let’s see where the Perkins were after leaving New Jersey Avenue. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins lived at 520 Park Road NW with mother in law Mrs. Shettle. Mrs. Perkins’ career may have improved as she moved from sales lady to an auditor. Mr. Perkins was still a mechanic. Their daughter, became Mrs. Raymond Calvert Firor, sometime after he divorced the last Mrs. Raymond Firor in 1928. In 1930 Mr. Firor’s wife was listed as Betty, a 23 year old bookkeeper. By 1940, she was the mother of two Firor children.

Black Homeowners

Continue reading 1920 to 1930- White to Black- 1715 New Jersey Avenue

1920 to 1930- White to Black- 1713 New Jersey Avenue

I’m getting back to some other land records related posts. The DC Recorder of Deeds is changing up its website, putting stuff on the cloud. I’m not keen on the new format. It’s a pain. So I’m trying to write these up before March 1st.

The White Renters

In 1920 the Irish-American Tobin family lived at 1713 NJ Avenue NW. It was headed by James Edward Tobin, a 54 year old stone cutter. His wife, Jennie, maybe Mary, I’ll get into that later, was a 48 year old housewife. Both of their parents were Irish born. They lived there with 31 year old daughter Bertha Edith (later Bertha Huber) who worked as a cashier for a dairy.

There is some confusion about the wife. James was previously married to Mary Jane Dowling, who died in 1910. According to the Washington Herald she died April 3, 1910 at 1713 New Jersey Ave NW. Looking at marriage records, James and Jennie Dowling married May 13, 1885. One could assume Mary Jane was Jennie, but Mary Jane died in 1910, so who was that Jennie occupying the role of wife in 1920? It appears she was Jennie Brun White, who in 1910 was married to BG (Basil Grigsby) White and living in Brentsville, VA and was the mother of Raymond White (1895-1947).

Head and shoulders view of James Edward Tobin photograph — James E. Tobin (1864-1938). Source: Find A Grave

James died in 1938 at the age of 72 in Arlington/Cherrydale, Virginia, where the couple had moved to by the 1930 census.

He was survived by Jennie B. Tobin, son William H. Tobin of Hyattsville, MD; daughters Nora E. Fanning and Bertha E. Huber of Washington, DC.

The Black Homeowners

According to previous research, Frank E. Smith purchased 1713 October 1920.

Looking at the DC Recorder of Deeds records, in 1923 Novella M. and Frank Edw Smith Jr. sold the property to Ernest W. Hensley. In 1925 Alice E. (nee Conley) and Ernest W. Hensley took out two loans from the United States Savings Bank (trustees W.E.G. Penny and Wilbur H. Zepp) totaling $4,500. Later the Hensleys sold 1713 to George W. and Hattie R. Johnson.

June 1925, the Johnsons and Frank Smith were released from the mortgage Smith took out in 1920.

The home remained in the Johnson family until 1987 when the executor of Julia Moxley Johnson’s estate was sold. Julia was the widow of George Johnson Jr. George Sr.(died April 6, 1938). Sr’s death was reported in the April 8, 1938 Evening Star page 12. I would have a link, but the LC is also changing up its website and there is no permalink for particular pages in a paper, but I can give a link to that day’s edition.

With names like Smith and Johnson, I am unwilling to do the genealogy search for these people. But I thought with a death year, I could try looking for George Johnson. I found a death notice for Robert Daniel Johnson who lived and died at 1713 NJ Ave (but not on the 1930 census) and died May 1, 1931.

The Johnson men were drivers. George W. Sr. was a 48 year old driver for what looks like an electric construction company. George W. Jr. was a 25 year old taxi cab driver and 26 year old nephew Vernon Gilmore was a chauffeur for a private family.

There were 5 people in the house. George and Hattie (41), their two sons George (25) and Joseph I. (13) and nephew Vernon.

Julia Moxley was 28 years old when she married George Johnson Jr. in 1934. Julia Johnson died May 1980, if I have the right Julia Johnson.

Earnest or Ernest Wagner Hensley was an Alabama born clerk working for the Federal government in 1920. He and wife Alice lived at 780 Harvard Ave NW in the 1920 census where they lived with 4 year old daughter Alice K (1915-1930). Ernest was described as a tall slender Black man for his WWI draft card. Around 1917-1918 he and his wife lived at 1823 6th St NW. During WWII they lived at 2111 Flagler Pl. NW and he worked at the post office at North Cap and Massachusetts Ave NW. In the 1950 census he and Alice were still at 2111 and he was still working for the USPS.

He died September 1974. As far as I can tell he was not related to Ernest Wagner Hensely III.

The Washington Sanitary Improvement Properties

Finally, we have come to the end of the WSIC sell off. If any Truxton Circle properties have been missed, please reach out. A total of 187 properties have been examined.

Below is a map of the properties in bright green.

It may seem like a small number of houses, but they are in the heart of the neighborhood and give Truxton Circle one of its distinct architectural features, the 2nd floor bay window.