Truxton Is In Shaw

1627 New Jersey Avenue NW has been reviewed before, when it was owned by another African American owner, Ernest Lomax the plumber. There was a strong connection between the Lomax and Downing families, not reviewed before.

So a quick recap- Ernest Lomax first appeared at 1627 NJ Ave NW in the 1919 city directory. He married a woman named Mamie and in the 1930 census her relatives, the Downings lived with them. Ernest Lomax died April 17, 1941. In 1946 the property was transferred to Mamie M. Lomax, and her male relatives, Edward H. , Elmer H. and Leon E. Downing.

Because of the connection via Mamie Downing Lomax I took another look at the land records from Lomax to Downing.

Mamie Downing was born September 1880/1879 in DC to Horace and Sophia Garnett Downing. In the 1880 census they lived at 211 L St and the census taker identified them as Black (as opposed to mulatto). In the 1900 census the family, including 13 year old brother Edward Horace Downing, lived at 172 Pierce Street NW. Their 47 year old father was a restaurant waiter, Mamie was a dressmaker and Edward was a lamplighter. In 1905 Mamie was a Federal employee working at the Bureau of Engraving & Printing as a Printers Assistant, making $1.50 a day. The 1910 census had them at 124 Pierce St NW and without Edward being there, they were perceived as mulatto. Edward was there at some point because the 1909 city directory has him there. I’ll do Edward’s bio after the fold.

In the 1913 city directory, Mamie Downing shows up at 1627 New Jersey Ave NW. So does father Horace, listed as a bartender and brother Edward, who was working for the Government Printing Office. Mamie was still working at the Bureau of Printing & Engraving. Looking back at the land records, in June 1922, Ernest Lomax, paid off a 1912 mortgage with the Washington Loan and Trust Company. Lomax purchased the house in April 1912. In 1913 the Lomaxs were living elsewhere (337 L SW & 211 G St NW).  By 1920, Mamie and Ernest are married.

In my post about Ernest Lomax, I assumed his much younger wife moved her relatives in with her. Apparently, they were there all along.

As mentioned previously, Ernest died in 1941. In 1946 there are two deeds to transfer the property into the names of Mamie and her brother Edward and his two sons, Elmer & Leon.

In the 1940 census the ‘renting’ residents of 1627 NJ Ave NW are Robert Downing (a previously unmentioned brother) who worked for the Govt. Printing Office, as head of household; his wife Ethel; Edward, also working for the GPO; Edward’s wife Virginia; and Herbert E. Lomax, the son of the late Ernest Lomax, a laborer.  I do wonder what the dynamics of that household was. In 1944, Herbert E. Lomax was living at 406 Eye St NW when he married Gertrude Mills. Herbert died 01/05/1949 at 406 I Street NW he had no children. Mamie died October 14, 1949, her funeral was held at the Nineteenth St Baptist Church.

By the 1950 census, Edward Downing is the head and after the death of his sister, Mamie, the owner of 1627 NJ Av NW. So let’s now look at Edward. Continue reading Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Edward Downing- 1627 New Jersey Ave NW

I found an earlier post when the house was up for sale in 2005. Also this property was at one time owned by the Broadus family until they lost it in 1927.

January 1948, Olinian A Hollaway purchased 1611 New Jersey Avenue NW from Percy and wife, Valentine Waddill. Mr. Hollaway took on a $4,500 debt with trustees at 6% interest, and paid it off in September 1964 when he and his wife, Natalie, sold the house to Collier & Vogel Inc.

Usually for every trust/ mortgage there is a release noting the end of the debt. Sometimes when I don’t locate the corresponding release or trust, it is usually something that got lost with fat fingers or bad OCR. I had a release for the Hollaways and did not see an obvious trust. After they sold in July 1964, there were two releases. The first, from September 17, 1964 paid off a 1948 $5,000 trust between the Waddills and the Perpetual Building Association. Olinian’s name doesn’t show up anywhere in the original document. However, the document was part of the January 1948 sale.

Since Olinian is such an unusual name, it was fairly easy to look up his history. When we first find Olinian in the 1950 census on New Jersey Ave NW, he is a clerk working for the city post office. His wife Natalie was a stay at home mom caring for their, then 9 year old, daughter Janice. They lived with two older men, roomers.

Olinian Arthur Hollaway (sometimes spelled Holloway) was born September 6, 1907 in New York City. He served in the New York National Guard, 369th Infantry, off & on between 1928-1930, as a musician. According to his service card he was a deserter, twice.

Olinian married Natalie Clementine Cooke in June in 1939. Very soon their daughter Janice was born in 1940. The family lived at 2025 4th St NW in the mid-1940s. In the 1940 census they lived at 2715 Georgia Ave NW. Janice was not listed.

After selling 1611 NJ Ave NW they bought 413 Jefferson Street NE.

Olinian died in 1985. Natalie was a widow for a very long time until she too passed on May 10, 2010. Despite being dead the house on Jefferson Street is still in both parties names and paying taxes. Since their daughter would be the logical real owner,  and she was born pre-WW2,  I’m not going to get my undies in a bunch about the senior citizen homestead exemption the Hollaways have.

I should be pretty much done with the Broadus family. But Bessie Broadus was listed as the head of household in 1950, so let me tie up this loose end.

I already went over most of the Broadus family history with the ownership of 1607 NJ Ave NW being in the Broadus family for about 100 years. Just a reminder, Wallace Broadus’ ownership can be traced back to 1919. He may have owned it before then. Then Arvid and his siblings owned the property.

Bessie Broadus was Wallace’s sister. As far as I can tell her name did not appear on the property. But she was a member of the family that owned 1607 New Jersey Ave NW, so close enough.

Bessie Broadus was born around 1899 to Berry and Louise Broadus. She worked at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. And she never married.