Truxton Is In Shaw – Page 26

WSIC-1950s Sell Off- 41 Bates Street NW

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.

I have looked at 43 Bates St NW and now 41 Bates Street NW and have noticed a pattern so far. The pattern is this, the two flat structure is sold as a group of other Truxton Circle and other DC WSIC properties to three business partners. Those business partners, with a particular lender, would sell 1/2 of a house to buyers. Within a year or so that half was foreclosed upon. If the buyers didn’t face foreclosure they sold the properties back to the surviving original businessmen and their family who then sold the property to George Basiliko, who the Washington Post called a slum lord.

So let’s see the pattern in action:

WSIC indirectly transfers the property to (lot 136) Nathan Levin, James B. Evans, and Nathaniel J. Taube in 6/16/1950 in large package
Levin, Evans, and Taube sell 1/2 of the property to James W. Morgan 1/26/1951
1/26/1951 Morgan borrows $5,050 from the only trustees I’ve seen in these purchases, Abraham Levin and Robert G. Weightman
12/17/1953 Morgan loses the property via foreclosure
Property returns to Levin, Evans and Taube…. normally it goes to the trustees who lent the money
2/9/1954 Levin, Evans & Taube sell half interest of property to Hattie Mae Davis
2/9/1954 Davis borrows $3,037.29 from Levin & Weightman
5/5/1954 Levin, Evans & Taube sell the other half interest to Cornwallis and Vora M. Mitchell
5/5/1954 the Mitchells borrow $2,986.78 from Levin & Weightman
Davis loses her half of the property 8/24/1955 to foreclosure
No document, but one will assume the foreclosed property returned to the family & business interests of Levin, Evans & Taube
8/5/1959 the family & business interests of Levin, Evans & Taube (Badt, Evans, Taube, Levin and Wagman) sell package of properties to real estate man George Basiliko and his wife
1/8/1965 Mitchell sells the remaining half to Basiliko

Since Cornwallis Mitchell is a unique name I bothered looking him up. In the 1950 census he was a North Carolina born African American man living in an apartment in Shaw with his wife Vera and daughter Alise. In the 1930s and 1940s he lived at 441 N St NW, Apt 25 with wife Deborah (remarried?). He died in 1958.

WSIC-1950s Sell Off- 43 Bates Street NW

At the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th a company began with the idea of buying and building sanitary affordable homes in Washington, DC. That company was the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) and their experiment in charitable capitalism came to an end in the early 1950s. This blog will attempt to look at the Truxton Circle area properties sold off from WSIC to regular people.

Attempt. The 45 Bates St NW post had some confusion and lo, this one isn’t any better. Once again it appears they sell the one property to two different people and goodness gracious, I am confused. But let’s try to sort this out.

So like 45 Bates Street the Truxton Circle (and other parts of DC) lots owned by WSIC are sold off in one big lot to three men, business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans for $3 million dollars in June of 1950.

They sold a one-half (1/2) interest in 43 Bates Street to Mrs. & Mr. Elizabeth and Neal Nelson on January 26, 1951. The Nelson’s borrowed $2,525.

photo of property That same day the business partners sold the other 1/2 interest to Mrs. Irene Brown, Mr. James E. Rogers and his wife Perlina Rodgers. The three also borrowed $2,525 from the same trustees as the Nelsons, Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman. However their ownership didn’t last very long and they went into foreclosure in September 1952.

Hickman and Bernice Leathers replaced the Rogers and Brown, buying 1/2 interest in the property in October 1952. The borrowed $3,173.94 from trustees Levin & Weightman. Their ownership only lasted until March 1954, with another foreclosure.

I’m just going to note. Something doesn’t feel right about this. Something feels, predatory. Okay, back to the land records….

In April 1954, Levin, Taube, and Evans sell the one-half interest to three ladies, Leotta Francis, Isabell and Rosalie Forde. They borrow $3,186.77 from trustees Levin & Weightman. In January of 1958, the ladies sell the property back to Nathaniel J. Taube and James B. Evans and new partner, Harry A. Badt.

With two foreclosures with the other half of 43 Bates, I wondered how long the Nelsons lasted. They lasted until March 1958, with a foreclosure.

And then it gets more confusing.

In an August 1958 deed, Harry A. Badt and his wife Jennie sell off several parts of properties, of which one-half interest of 43 Bates NW is one. They sold 1/2 of 34 Bates St NW, 1/2 of 55 Bates St NW, half of 43 Bates St NW, half of 34 O St NW, half of 1216 Carrollsburg PL SW and 1/4 interest in 1235 Simms PL NE to four people. Of the set, Rose Levin got 3/9th interest, Lawrence L. Levin got 2/9th interest, Myron S. Levin also got 2/9th interest, as wells as Ruth Wagman with 2/9th interest.

In 1959 George Basiliko, whom the Washington Post referred to as a “slum lord”, bought a slew of Bates Street and other Truxton Circle properties from the heirs of and remaining living owners of the original 3 businessmen. There were a lot of people and a number of properties, but in short, 43 Bates was one of the properties in this batch. George and wife Sophia Basiliko borrowed $73,500 for the group of properties from Telsyndicate where James B. Evans and Nathaniel Taube were the trustees. This document was followed a few months later by an agreement binding the Basilikos, Evans and Taube and Telsyndicate, noting the Basilikos secured funding from the Perpetual Building Association.

George Basiliko, owned the property until the late 1970s? I can’t find a deed transferring the property but the next owner appears to be DC’s Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA). And there was that whole scandal in the 1970s forcing Basiliko to sell off his Truxton Circle properties.

1940s Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Dorothea/ Dorothy Wilson-Young- 402 R St NW

So this is a bit of a prequel to the Virginia Wilson post. I probably would have done a Dorothy Wilson post already if she was listed as an owner in the 1940 census. But she wasn’t. She was noted as a renter instead, even though she owned it since 1931.

In the 1940 census 33 year old widow Dorothy Wilson was listed as the head of household at 402 R St NW, and a renter. At that time she worked as a maid at the Y.M.C.A. She lived in the house with her 65 yr old widowed mother Bell (Belle), and her 27 and 29 year old bothers Clinton and Raymond. These brothers show up in Virginia post and eventually get their names on the property.

So in March 1931 Doretha (her name gets spelled various ways) Wilson purchased the house from Frank and Iva M. Pratt. She borrowed $1,900 at 6% in her name from trustees P D Holmes & M C West. Ten years later in 1941 Dorothea (noting that Doretha was incorrect) borrowed $2,500 from the Perpetual Building Association and $685 from trustees Thornton W. Owen & Louis Yudelevit at 6%. That year she closed out her initial 1931 loan. She paid off the smaller 1941 loan in 1946. The larger 1941 debt was cleared in 1953. But before that, she added the names of six of her siblings to the property in 1946 for lot 813. Then again for lots 67 and 68 in 1953.

One of those six siblings was Virginia Wilson.

In the 1950 census, her sister Virginia was the head of household. Doretha/Dorothy Young was living with family at 1619 R St NW in Apt# 600. She and husband George Young were living with niece and nephew, the Wootons.

One last note regarding Dorothea Wilson, she had married and in the 1953 was going by Doretha Young. When the family sold/ transferred the property to their nephew Michael Jay Wooton, Doretha was one of the surviving siblings to transfer the property in 1975 document # 7500008198.

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Virginia Wilson- 402 R St NW

Grr. It’s another one of those complicated family properties.

Okay, let’s do this. If you’re new to my blog, I look at the census, I find the names of African Americans who owned property in the neighborhood now known as Truxton Circle, and I write about it. Sometimes I find semi-notable people, notable adjacent people, but most times everyday people, like you.

I was able to link property ownership of 402 R St NW to Virginia Wilson by looking at the Recorder of Deeds’ records and the 1950 census. So in the 1950 census Virginia Wilson, a single Black 32 year old nurse was listed as the head of the household. She lived with her sisters Willie Beatrice “Willie B./ Williebee” Wilson, Rosa Frye, brother Percell Wilson, 1 year old nephew Michael Wooten and a roomer, William Bell.

Virginia Wilson came to own the property as one of several relatives of Dorethea/ Dorothea/ Dorothy Wilson, who owned it alone prior to 1946. This then had me looking at Dorothy Wilson who appeared at 402 R St NW in the 1940 census, as a renter. I will write a separate blog looking at her. As I wrote earlier, this is one of those complicated family properties.

Dorothea Wilson made it complicated when she transferred the property via Belle Wilson (her mother) on July 30, 1946 to the following relatives: herself, Virginia Wilson, Rosa E. Frey(Frye), Clinton Wilson, Leroy Wilson, Raymond Wilson, and Willie B. Wilson.

I noticed Percell Ray Wilson wasn’t listed. He died February 20, 1953, and was probably excluded from the 1946 deed because of his lack of employment. Looking at his entry on the 1950 census and his World War II draft card, he was not employed either of those times.

photo of property

Percell’s obit provides the information needed to show that Clinton, Raymond, Virginia, Willie B., and Doretha Wilson and Rosie Frye. So everyone on the 1946 deed are siblings. Why dear Lord, why? The obituary also mentioned he was the brother of Mrs. Mary Boswell and Nellie Blount and the uncle of Elizabeth Wooten and Herbert Blount. That’s somewhat important later.

Another, but minor, complication is where the property sits. It sat on lots 67 and 68 and 813. The same year Percell died, Doretha Wilson transferred lots 67 and 68 to the sibling group, which included Virginia, in August 1953.

Siblings Rosa Frye and Willie Beatrice Wilson took out a loan on the property in August of 1955. It was for 1683.36 at 6% interest from the Bank of Silver Spring.

And then nothing until 1975 when Michael Wooton becomes the new and sole owner of 402 R St NW. Remember little Michael the nephew from the 1950 census?

I’ve tried looking for more biographical information about Virginia, but I’ve gone down many rabbit holes and came up with nothing. So I will end it here.

WSIC-1950s sell off- 45 Bates Street NW

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

First Taube, Levin and Evans sell 45 Bates St NW to William W. Johnson and his wife Kathleen S. Johnson on January 26, 1951. But then there is a deed of the Taube, Evans and Levin selling lot 292 to George M. and Olivia V. Davis February 5, 1951. Later documents don’t seem to clear up the ownership. In 2001 DC Water and Sewer sent a water sewer lien to a Johnson and Davis. Loan documents appear to say the Davis and Johnsons both had a 1/2 interest in the property. Oh brother.

Since Johnson is a common name I was able to find some information about the Davis’. In the 1940 census there was a George M. Davis married to an Olivia V. (nee Birdsong) Davis living on the 2000 block of Flagler NW. They were listed as white. He was a painter, she was a maid in 1940. They lived with their 4 year old daughter his 87 year old widowed mother-in-law.

Funny thing. Looking at their marriage record from 1924, the couple was ‘colored’, not-white. In the 1930 census, the couple living in Stonewall, VA with George McKinley Davis’ father, is listed as being Black. Then in the 1950 census an Olivia V. Davis is the head of the household, living with her husband George Davis, the painter, at 2261 12th St NW. In 1950, they are Black. I would say the 1940 census was a fluke if it weren’t for other documents stating that George was white.

Who knows? Race could be considered a social construct, based on real phenotypes.Maybe they could pass. Or maybe there are a couple of George M.s married to Olivia V.s out there to confuse the matter.

WSIC-1950s sell off

I’m not sure where I’m going with this but I am looking at the end of the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC). The end meaning when the company, or what the company turned into, exited from the history of Truxton Circle and sold off it’s properties.

I became aware of the sell off in a 1952 article in the February 13th Evening Star and a bunch of newspaper searches where their Truxton Circle properties were auctioned off in the early to mid-1950s. I shared one document in my post WSIC-1950 Big Old Property Transfer, where WSIC transferred their property to the Washington Loan and Trust Company. What I didn’t do is look at the next document (#1950024327) from the same day on June 16, 1950 transferred it from the Washington Loan and Trust Company to three fellows, Nathan Levin, James B. Evans, and Nathaniel J. Taube.

That same February 13, 1952 article mentions Levin, Evans and Taube (Tauber) buying some 850 properties from WSIC. In my next post I’ll look at one TC property sold to a regular person.

Comparative White DC Home Owner- Capitol Hill- Levi & Francis Wellons- 517 3rd St SE

Normally this blog looks at African American home owners in the Black Homeowners of Truxton Circle series. But for comparisons’ sake we’ll look at white home owners during the same period, in the same mortgage “redlined” zone F1.

Earlier we looked at Bessie and Matthew Woods who owned 517 Third St SE up until 1943. Then followed the Garbers, and after them, now the Wellons.

photo of property

In may 1949 Levi and Francis Wellons bought 517 3rd St SE. They used a loan from the Metropolis Building Association for about $7,000 and a $5000 loan from trustees William H. Boaze and Bernard Kretsinger. And then they sold it in 1956 to Charles Walker and Walker’s wife and mother. No excitement here, they bought a house, got 2 loans and seven years later, sold it. The end.

Levi Thomas Wellons Jr, was born May 20, 1915 in Southampton, VA to Levi Wellons Sr and Sallie Mary Rose. In 1936 he married Frances Winter and they had several children. In 1940 Levi, Frances, their children Rose and Levi III, lived around the corner at 214 South Carolina Ave SE with his in-laws. In the 1950 census, it appears the house is in 3 units and the Leeds family is in Apt 1. The Wellons were still on S. Carolina Ave SE with a new son, William.

Hum, it appears I’ve made an assumption. I’ve assumed that the Wellons were resident owners. They were, sort of, and I don’t feel like hunting down proof that they lived in the house. They lived on the block. Close enough.

The Wellons had ownership, part or full, of the following lots on Sq. 0765: 21, 22, 75, 77, 801 and 802. A quick look at the land records and it appears they unloaded most of their property on this block in 1959.

They eventually moved to Maryland. I don’t know what happened to Mrs. Wellons but Levi remarried. He died in 2007 in Deale, MD.

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Bennie & Edna Evans- 1602 4th St NW

Bennie L. and his wife Edna Evans owned 1602 4th St NW for a short period, from 1944 to 1950. They were there long enough to appear in the 1950 census living on 4th St. So this will be short.

photo of property

The Evans purchased the property May 4, 1944 from Nick and Helen Basiliko, the brother and sister-in-law of George Basiliko. The Basilikos show up frequently in the real property records. As a part of the purchase they were able to borrow $1,950 at 6% interest from trustees Herman Miller and J. Vernon Thomas. Six years later, they sold it on July 20, 1950 to Louis and Rena L. Rosenthal.

They were there in such short time it is hard to locate good information about who the Evans were. In the 1950 census, Bennie worked as a janitor for the railroad. Edna appears to have been a stay at home mom to their children Bessie Mae (16 years old) and Arvin (10 y.o.).

They had 2 roomers. Here I will note 1602 4th St NW has a basement unit with it’s own exterior entrance. I should also note their names are William and Lucille Robinson. There is a strong possibility that these may have been relatives. There is a record of Bennie Evans marrying Etta Robinson in Kershaw, SC in February 1934.

Bennie Leslie Evans was born September 28, 1904 in Camden, SC. At some point he moved over to 207 Randolph Pl NE. He retired with a Railroad pension and he died March 26, 1988.

History of the Negro Church- A Dull Report

So in prepping for February 2023, I have finally finished Shaw resident and father of Black History, Carter G. Woodson’s, History of the Negro Church. Good lord this book is boring. I’m just yawning at the thought of writing anything about it.

Sadly, this book is not as engaging as the Mis-Education of the Negro. But there are some useful parts, which unfortunately require getting through the tedious parts of the book to appreciate.

Bishop Richard Allen By Dsdugan - Self-photographed, CC0, Link

One of the biggest things I got out of it was that African Americans were organizing and establishing and operating churches and preaching in America prior to the Civil War. Slavery and emancipation where major themes in the book. It is also Methodist heavy.

Thinking of this book makes me wonder if there is an alternative approach to Black history, which tends to be focused on the period of slavery. It is so much so, one may be left with the impression that African Americans didn’t do anything until they were emancipated, either by running North or with the Emancipation Proclamation.

There are gems, but you need to dig through a lot of dullness to get to them. When February rolls around, I’ll try not to bore anyone. Well, no more than I normally bore you.

Comparative White DC Home Owner- Capitol Hill- Clarence Garber- 517 3rd St SE

Normally this blog looks at African American home owners in the Black Homeowners of Truxton Circle series. As a way to see if what was going on for Black mortgagees was normal, or not, I am comparing them with white home owners. I am looking at blocks that were over 90% white in 1950 but also in the same “red lined” zone, which was F1.

Earlier we looked at Bessie and Matthew Woods who owned 517 Third St SE up until 1943. There was a period when Clarence Garber owned 517 3rd St SE Bessie, after the death of Matthew from 1939-1943.

The co-ownership seemed a little unusual and I tried to find a connection between between Laura Bessie Mae Moffatt-Davis-Woods-O’Donnell (thrice married) and Clarence Anthony Garber or his wife Buelah Mae Armentrout Garber. The connections were scant. Bessie was from Loudon County VA, the Garbers from Stauton, VA. They do not appear to be related. Nor were they neighbors during the 1920 nor the 1930 census.

photo of property

Clarence A. Garber came to own the house in 1939. Let’s recap what happened from the Woods’ post:

In 1939 there were a series a deeds. Documents 1939037405 and 1939037406 transferred the property from Matthew and Bessie Woods to Bessie Woods and Clarence A. Garber, via Edward J. Berdaus. In 1943 the property was transferred to George A. Brennan and there was a note that Bessie’s name changed to Bessie O’Donnell. The next document, #1943027651, transferred the property from Brennan to Clarence A. and his wife Beulah M. Garber.

Upon the removal of Bessie’s name from the property and Clarence and Beulah Garber being the sole owners, they got a loan. The day they both became owners, October 28, 1943, they borrowed $3500 from the Washington Loan and Trust Company. Their ownership ended when they sold the property to Levi Thomas Wellons Jr and his wife Frances on May 6, 1949.

The Garbers show up in the 1940 census. In 1940 Clarence was a 31 year old carpenter living with his wife Beulah, a stay at home mom to their 2 sons, Robert and Fred. They also had two lodgers, Catherine Uhrig and Bessie M Woods, not yet O’Donnell. Bessie was part owner of the house in 1940. The house is large enough to be 2 units with an English basement below.

The Garbers had family in the neighborhood. Clarence’s father, Anthony Garber (also a carpenter) lived over at 122 5th St SE. During the 1930 census, the newlyweds Clarence and Beulah lived there with newborn Robert, along with sisters Ruth & Pauline.

After selling 517 to the Wellons, who will be covered in another post, the Garbers bought 3025 24th St NE a few days later on May 10, 1949. They owned it until 1956. Clarence died in 1988 in Huntingtown, MD. Beulah died in 2000 and is buried in Prince George’s County Maryland.