WSIC Related- 130 Bates Street NW

Well this is not a Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) house. But I’m going to give it the WSIC treatment because our fav Greek slum landlord, Geo. Basiliko shows up, as does the Bates Street Associates.

photo of property

Let’s see what happens with 130 Bates St NW, starting with the 1st DC Recorder of Deeds doc:

  • August 1937 Martha E. Aue borrowed $2,700 from the Metropolitian Building Association (trustees Melvin F. Bergmann and Edmund M. Emmerich).
  • August 1937 Aue was released from a 1920 mortgage with trustees Patrick J. Welshe and Charles Schafer.
  • June 1951 Aue sold the home to Mary A. Furnary.
  • June 1951 Furnary borrowed $4,500 from the Liberty Building Association (trustees Louis C. Dismer, Julius A. Maedel, and John H. Stadtler).
  • July 1951 Aue was released from her 1937 mortgage.
  • May 1952 Furnary sold the property to Donald Quarles.
  • Quarles borrowed $4,415 from trustees Howard F. and Robert A. Humphries at 6% interest. Half of the amount was for Furnary and the other half for Rebecca M. Smith.
  • July 1952 Quarles and his wife Earline, transferred the property to Robert A. Humphries, who in the next doc transferred it back to them.
  • March 1962 the June 1951 Furnary loan was foreclosed upon and for $5,600 George Basiliko was the winner of the auction.
  • March 1962 Sophia and George Basiliko borrowed $4,800 from the Perpetual Building Association (trustees Junior F. Crowell and Samuel Scriverner Jr.)
  • July 1970 the Basilikos were released from the 1962 loan.
  • October 1980 the Bates Street Associates Limited Partnership, with Haley-Makielski Associates, George Holmes Jr. and Jack W. White sold the property to Delores W. Manning and her daughter Lawanna Manning.

I will leave the property history there. So let’s look at the people involved ending with the Basilikos.

Mrs. Martha E. Aue shows up in the 1936 DC City directory at 130 Bates (Ancestry says 30 Bates). Martha Rollins married William Aue in 1898. The 1950 census showed that she was a white widowed 74 year old female living with her 47 year old son Raymond Henry Aue and a roomer. Both she and her son were listed as unable to work. On his WW2 draft card he was listed as being blind. Raymond died that year and Martha died in 1958.

Mary A. Furnary was a bookkeeper at a Real Estate Firm according to the 1950 census. She lived with her parents who were Italian immigrants.

Unfortunately, there were two Donald Quarles in DC in the 1950s. One white, one black, and neither one I can connect to Earline.

This is not a WSIC house. It was not owned by anyone associated with WSIC nor the Colonial Investment Co, which purchased the WSIC rentals.

WSIC Related House- 127 Bates Street NW

So I thought this was a WSIC house. It wasn’t built as one.photo of propertyFrom the picture above of 127 Bates from 2004, the lot number is 0821.

Cool.

Whelp. The record for that lot goes back to 2013. So to the 1919 map

1919 map from Library of Congress
1919 Baist Map of section of Square 552

127 Bates Street NW appears to have been Lot 804. The record for that lot end in 1929.

Mmmkay. So the alternative lot number is 25, but that covers a lot that stretches from Q St to Bates. And there was a lot going on with lot 25, but I am going to follow Frank and Frances Hild who owned lot 804. In 1928 they sold to Leon S. Oppenheimer and Elmer B. Young. But Oppenheimer and Young also bought portions of lot 25 from Consiglia and Frank Frazzano. And it remains confusing and messy.

Then I jump to the 1950s and the Washington Sanitary Improvement Co buyers Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans of the Colonial Investment Co. They are selling lot 805, which is 125 Bates; lot 811 which is on Q St; lot 819 & 820 which appears to also be 125 Bates.

Working from the other end, the earlier name attached to lot 821 is Dorothy L. Clemons, she seems to have owned 127 from 1981-2014. A 1981 financing statement has 127 Bates associated with lots 819 and 782. We never see lot 782 again. Clemons purchased 127 Bates, as lots 819 & 820, from the Bates Street Associates Limited Partnership. The Bates Street Assoc. Ltd. got the property from the Dc Redevelopment Land Agency.

The title information is a little messy. What I can tell is that it was owned by the Colonial Investment Co., DC RLA and the Bates Street Associates.

1920 to 1930- White to Black- 1709 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.

photo of property

Looking at a previous post I wrote:

1709 NJ Ave NW (Sq. 507, lot 14) sold to Julia G. Holland by M. Harvey Chiswell around September 1920. She also had a loan/ deed of trust between her W. Wallace Chiswell, H.A. Kite for $2,800 at 6%, secured by M. Harvey Chiswell.

It’s been a while since I’ve done this, so this is the pattern: I look at the white renters then the black homeowners.

White Renters

There was only one household mentioned in the 1920 census for 1709 NJ Ave NW, the Nolan family. The head was a 47 year old Irish-American bricklayer named James Joseph Nolan. Julia (nee Woolridge), his wife, his 84 year old mother Mary M. Nolan, and their two sons Victor (17) and Fredrick (9). Victor worked as a mechanic at the Navy Yard.

The family was at the house for the 1910 census. Then it was headed by 73 year old, retired contractor, James Francis Nolan. Mary, James J., Julia, grandsons Victor and James F. Jr. Little James F. could be Fredrick.

When Mary M. Nolan died in 1924 the Washington Times reported that she lived at 1223 8th St NW. The family was at 1252 10th St NW for the 1930 census. They were still renters and a multi-generational household. Victor was married and in the home with his wife Cornelia and daughters Miriam(5) and Margaret (3).  James and Victor were working as bricklayers and James F. a stacker? at the Patent Office. Julia died in 1936 and their address was 1543 3rd St NW. and her funeral was at Immaculate Conception. In 1940 the Nolan family were listed as homeowners. But this time Victor was the head, working as a clerk at the Post Office supporting his wife, two daughters and his father.

James died in 1947. At that point he was living at 9505 Biltmore Dr, Silver Spring, MD.

Black Homeowner

Julia C. Holland purchased the home at 1709 New Jersey Ave NW.  In the 1930 census she lived at the property with her daughter Thelma Holland and four lodgers. Also in 1930 she took out a loan with trustees EK Coleman and Leo Kahn. The next loan, which was taken out in 1941, noted that Julia had died. For a 1965 loan, the paperwork noted that Thelma had died and her estate had passed to Julia A. Henderson. Julia A. Henderson was already dead or incapacitated and her estate run by Thomas O., Carl O., and John E. Henderson. This ends with the 1966 sale by successor guardian Preston H. Harris to Harry W. and Max. M. Goldberg.

Julia C. Holland was renting a place with her daughter Thelma at 1519 11st St. (NW?) with her mother Laura Clark and mother in law Agnes Holland in the 1920 census. In 1920 she worked as a charwoman for the US government. The two older women worked as laundresses.

It appears that Julia Clarke Holland died in April of 1933 and her funeral was held at Asbury M.E. church. Her husband John R. Holland died in 1919 and his funeral was at the same church. She was a member of a couple of women’s fraternal organizations who attended her funeral.

It seems Thelma married Thomas O. Henderson, which explains all the Hendersons who were in charge of her estate. They were her children. Thelma died in 1956 and like her parents, her funeral was held at Asbury M.E. Church.

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 129 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.

Looking at WSIC properties they tend to have a pattern where the properties were sold to a three business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans as the Colonial Investment Co. for $3 million dollars. Those partners sold to African American buyers. There was usually a foreclosure. Then the property wound up in the hands of George Basiliko and or the DC Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA). photo of property

Let’s see what happens with 129 Bates St NW:

1919 Baist Map. Portion of Sq. 552

Well. When I look at lot 822 I don’t see anything that goes back to the 1950s. When I look at a 1919 map and see that it is lot 803. I don’t see anything past 1931.

The name associated with the property in 1931 are Beatrice W. and Leon S. Oppenheimer and Elmer B. Young. They sold it to General Realties Inc. And they sold it to the Washington Loan and Trust Company on behalf of the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC). WSIC then sold to Evans, Levin and Taube.

I see sales of 1/4 of lots 819 and 820, which is lot 805, now 822. But I can’t narrow  So let’s go backwards. Start with lot 822 and trace it to Delores S. McDaniels who was the first person to own lot 822 in the system. Her ownership ranges from 1981-2006 and the records show lots 25, 820, and 822. In 1981 she got the property from the Bates Street Associates Limited Partnership. That hints that it may have been owned by slum landlord George Basiliko and maybe the DC RLA.

So let’s look back at lots 819 and 820. A 1971 condemnation order has those combined lots for 129 Bates St NW. The problem I have associating those combined lots with 129 Bates is that I see 1/4th portions, which makes sense for 125 Bates Street which is currently the four unit Truxton Condominium. Also 125 Bates is in the right spot, west of 123 Bates which is lot 818.

The titles are too messy for me to do a decent tracking for this address. I give up.

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 121 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.

Looking at WSIC properties they tend to have a pattern where the properties were sold to a three business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans as the Colonial Investment Co. for $3 million dollars. Those partners sold to African American buyers. There was usually a foreclosure. Then the property wound up in the hands of George Basiliko and or the DC Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA). Then there were the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.photo of property

Let’s see what happens with 121 Bates St NW:

  • April 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 121 Bates NW to Horace R. and Mary F. Jones.
  • April 1951 the Jones borrowed $1,900 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • April 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 121 Bates St NW to Arthur and Elizabeth Little.
  • April 1951 the Littles borrowed $1,900 at 6% interest from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • March 1953 the Littles of 121A Bates got a rare 2nd mortgage from trustees Roland Brown Jr and Jacob Sandler for $1,038.97 to pay Consolidated Eng. & Dist. Co. Inc.
  • July 1954 the Jones lost their half to foreclosure. Evans, Levin, and Taube regained possession of the property via an auction.
  • June 1959 as part of a larger property package, new owner Badt, Evans, Taube, their wives and Levin’s survivors sold the foreclosed half of 121 Bates St NW to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • September 1967 the Littles were released from their mortgage with Levin and Weightman.
  • June 1974 the Littles sold their half to George Basiliko.
  • August 1978 Sophia and George Basiliko sold 121 Bates to Bates Street Ventures Partnership.

I’ll end this with 1978. There was one foreclosure and it wound up in the hands of Basiliko but not the DC RLA.

WSIC-1950 Sell Off-119 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.

Looking at WSIC properties they tend to have a pattern where the properties were sold to a three business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans as the Colonial Investment Co. for $3 million dollars. Those partners sold to African American buyers. There was usually a foreclosure. Then the property wound up in the hands of George Basiliko and or the DC Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA). Then there were the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.photo of property

Let’s see what happens with 119 Bates St NW:

  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 119 Bates St NW to Mazine W. and William N. Jackson.
  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) the Jacksons borrowed $2,150 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 26, 1951) Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 119 Bates St NW to Lois L. and Lorenzo Hobbs.
  • December 1950 Mr. & Mrs. Hobbs borrowed $2,150 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • April 1953 the Hobbs lost their half to foreclosure. Evans, Levin and Taube got the property back via an auction.
  • April 1953 Evans, Levin and Taube resold the foreclosed property to Bernice R. and Romus Smith.
  • April 1953 the Smiths borrowed $2,672.55 from trustees Levin and Weightman.
  • August 1953 the Jacksons lost their half of the house to foreclosure. Evans, Levin and Taube got the property back via an auction.
  • August 1953 Evans, Levin and Taube resold the foreclosure to Ellen N. and Stuart G. Johnson.
  • August 1953 the Johnsons borrowed $2,918.26 from trustees Levin and Weightman.
  • May 1955 the Johnsons lost their half of the house to foreclosure. And once again Evans, Levin and Taube get it back via an auction.
  • November 1961, as part of a larger property package, new owner Harry A. Badt, Evan, Taube, their wives, and Nathan Levin’s survivors sold part of the property to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • June 1971 the Smiths sold their half to George Basiliko.
  • Between 1971 and 1978 the property was transferred to the Bates Street Ventures Partnership from Basiliko.

I am not sure if there is any relationship between the Bates Street Ventures and Bates Street Associates. Anywho, there were several foreclosures and it wound up the the hands of Basiliko.

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 123 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.

Looking at WSIC properties they tend to have a pattern where the properties were sold to a three business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans as the Colonial Investment Co. for $3 million dollars. Those partners sold to African American buyers. There was usually a foreclosure. Then the property wound up in the hands of George Basiliko and or the DC Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA). Then there were the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.photo of property

Let’s see what happens with 123 Bates St NW:

  • April 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 123 Bates St NW to Clark E. and Mattie E. Otey.
  • April 1951 the Oteys borrowed $1,900 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • April 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 123 Bates St NW to Joseph B. and Lucille Robinson.
  • April 1951 the Robinsons borrowed $1,900 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • October 1954 the Robinsons sold the property back to Colonial Investments’ owners.
  • August 1958 the Oteys lost their half of the property to foreclosure. New Colonial Investment Co. new partner (Levin died) Harry A. Badt, Evans, and Taube regained ownership via an auction.
  • March 1959 the Colonial Investment Co partners and the Levin survivors, in a larger property package, sold their interest in the property to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • 1971-1978? or sometime before, as I cannot locate a document, Basiliko sold 123 Bates to DC RLA.
  • July 1978 DC RLA had a contract with the Bates Street Associates for many Truxton Circle properties.

The story of the Bates Street Associates is a whole other post on its own. So there is one foreclosure and then the usual story with Basiliko and the DC RLA.

Sometime I’ll put up some biographies of the owners if their name was unusual enough (no Smiths, or Jones or Johnsons). In this case I’m looking at Clark Ellis Otey who lost half of 123 Bates to foreclosure. He was born April 25, 1913 in Bedford, VA. In 1939 he married Mattie Ethel Penn and in 1940 lived in Bedford where he was a waiter and she worked as a cook. In 1948 they lived at 752 Euclid NW in DC and Clark was working as a clerk for the government. They managed to avoid the 1950 census. Looking at the DC Recorder of Deeds, they did not buy any other DC properties.

It appears they moved back to Bedford. Clark died in 1986 at the age of 72 in Bedford. Mattie also died in Bedford in May of 2005. It appears they did not have any children.

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 34 O 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.

Looking at WSIC properties they tend to have a pattern where the properties were sold to a three business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans as the Colonial Investment Co. for $3 million dollars. Those partners sold to African American buyers. There was usually a foreclosure. Then the property wound up in the hands of George Basiliko and or the DC Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA). Then there were the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.

photo of property

Let’s see what happens with 34 O St NW:

  • May 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 34 O St NW to Pearle E. and Thelma L. Staggers.
  • May 1951 the Staggers borrowed $3,125 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • May 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 34 O St NW to Angie O. and Edward M. Smith.
  • May 1951 the Smiths (not the band) borrowed $3,125 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • February 1953 the Staggers lost their half of the house to foreclosure. Evans, Levin and Taube regained ownership.
  • April 1953 Evans, Levin and Taube resold the foreclosed half to George E. and his wife Willie Strother.
  • April 1953 the Strothers borrowed $3,797.55 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • September 1956 the Smiths lost their half to foreclosure. Newer Colonial partner Harry A. Badt, Evans and Taube regained ownership via an auction.
  • November 1961 the Colonial partners, their wives and the Levin survivors, as part of a larger property package, sold half of the property to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • April 1969 the Strothers were released from their mortgage and owned their half of the home free and clear for many years.
  • July 1971 Basiliko sold his half, as part of a larger property package, to the Housing System Development and Construction Corp.  It seems.
  • April 1978 Basiliko was able to sell this and other properties to Freeman Home Improvement, Inc.

I’m to end this in the 1970s because tracing ownership gets messy.  This story includes two foreclosures and Basiliko ownership. It does not wind up in the hands of the DC Redevelopment Land Agency.

Memory Lane: Elections at Dunbar

Election Day at Dunbar Senior High School. Taken November 2006.

We used to vote at this ugly building.

WSIC-Related- 114 Q 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.

114 Q St NW was a house neighboring the WSIC houses. Let’s take a look at it.

photo of 114 Q St NW. Washington, DC 20001 in 2004.

Above is a 2004 photo of 114 Q St NW to show the lot number, but unfortunately lot 815 only goes back to 1971. So it requires some sleuthing.

Okay looking at a 1919 map 114 Q sits on lot 808. Looking up lot 808, the names Charles H. and Louise J. Wesley are on a 1922 document so looking up Charles’ name, it brings up lots 17, 26, 808, & 815 from 1922-1971.

Lot 17 only brings up a 1971 document # 1971024238.

Lot 26 has a lot more going on because it includes lots 806, 807 and 808. Looking at the various documents, the Washington Sanitary Improvement Co (WSIC) does not appear. However the Washington Loan and Trust Company, which is WSIC adjacent shows up for a loan.

1919 Baist Map. Portion of Sq. 552

Lot 808, shows 5 documents ranging from 1924 to 1930 for the Wesleys.

Lot 815 begins with document # 1971024238 with Charles Wesley’s name and continues to the present. The 1971 document shows that Charles and Louise sold their home to the DC Redevelopment Land Agency for $12,000.

Charles H. Wesley was involved with a lot of property transactions. So I have to limit it to Sq. 552.

  • December 1922 Margaret A. and William E.G. Penny sold 114 Q St NW to Louise and Charles Wesley. The Wesleys borrowed $2,250 from trustees Vernon D. Acree and William V. Mahoney.
  • February 1924 the Wesleys borrowed $7,100 from trustees Ralph P. Bernard and Guy H. Johnson.
  • June 1927 the Wesleys took out 2 $500 loans from trustee George Francis Williams.
  • June 1927 the Wesleys paid off their February 1924 loan.
  • May 1930 the Wesleys were released from their December 1922 loan.
  • June 1930 the Wesleys took out a $4000 loan from the Washington Permanent Building Association.
  • June 1930 the Wesleys were released from their two June 1937 loans.
  • November 1945 the Wesleys were released from the June 1930 loan.
  • November 1971 the Wesleys sold the property to DC RLA.

I’ll leave it at 1971.

Looking at a 1930 census, Charles and Louise were African Americans living at their home, they owned at 731 Fairmont Street NW, with their 2 daughters and his mother.photo of 731 Fairmont St NW, Washington, DC in 2004.

Larger memorial image loading...When I ventured over to the profession I see that Mr. Wesley is Dr. Wesley at a university. Time to check the Google. Dr. Rev. Wesley was the former president of HBCU Wilberforce University, wrote books with Carter G. Woodson, and while in DC was a professor at Howard University. He has a very impressive biography.

Did he live in Truxton Circle? I’m going to say no. The 1930-1940 census the family lived on Fairmont.

The  1950 census showed Dr. and Mrs. Wesley in Wilberforce, OH…. which explains why nothing much happened with the property in the late 1940s and till 1971. In 1942 he went to serve as Wilberforce University’s new president. Later he served as a college president for Central State University till 1965. It seems he came back to DC to serve as the president of Carter G. Woodson’s Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now ASALH) and he died in 1987.