Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Christina A. Mack

Okay let’s get back to the blog’s usual material, church surveys and a quick look at African American home owners.

There are only a few records for 107 O St NW where Christina A. Mack lived. She was listed as a home owner in the 1920 census. The problem with the address is that it is one of those places in the TC that no longer exists and has been absorbed into another property. It is now part of Armstrong’s campus.

Portion of Sq. 553

So there are three records for 107 O St NW or Sq.553 lot 129. The first is a release, not a deed, from 1924 and it seems to transfer the property from Christina and Thomas W. Mack to Albert F. Fox a trustee. The other two documents were deeds, one for 1930 and the other for 1931 which transferred the property to the District of Columbia.


In the 1920 census Mr. Thomas Mack, her husband is missing. She is listed as married and the head of household. The only other Thomas W. Mack is her 12 year old son. But with the land record we know he exists.

Mrs. Mack seems to only appear in the 1920 census. I could not locate her in the 1930 census nor the 1910 census. There is a reason why I couldn’t find her in the 1930 census, she died June 1925. After going another route, I found her and her son and daughter, living with her brother Eli Brooks and his wife in 1910.

I was able to find out what happened to Christina by looking for her son Thomas W. Mack (Jr?). His World War II draft card showed him living at 801 N St NW with his sister Eunice Viola Rabb. I also noticed on his draft card the words “Deceased” written at the top.

Black Home Owners of TC- George W. Turner

In the 1920 census George W. Turner lived at and owned  218 P St NW (Sq. 553, lot 0089). He was (Culpeper) Virginia born carpenter who lived with his wife Lizzie B.(nee Wallace), his nephew William T. Turner and brother in law Moses J. Woods.
photo of property
The land records have him purchasing 218 P St NW in 1922 from the survivors of Herbert A. Gill. Then not a whole lot happens. It appears that Turner did not borrow against the house. There is a document in 1922, then the next record is from 1954, when he sells the house to pool hall owner Harvey Washington Banks and his wife Nettie Lee Jackson Banks.

Prior to 218 P St NW he lived at 1026 New Jersey Avenue NW with his wife and nephew William T. Turner in 1910. Before that, according to the 1900 census, he and Lizzie lived in Culpeper, VA with their 11 year old daughter Rosa and brother in laws Major J. and Russell Wood. In May 1898 he married Lizzie in Alexandria, VA.

He was living with his wife and other relatives in the 1920 census. In 1930 he was listed as a widower and was just him and his brother in law, Moses. In 1930 he was 60 years old and like Jesus went from carpentry into ministry. The next census, the 1940 census, he did not list any occupation. His brother in law was replaced by a family of lodgers, the Hensens of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York.

 

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: James R. Clark

Hey, another waiter from 1920.

photo of propertyJames R. Clark was listed in the 1920 census as a widower waiter living at and owning 238 P St NW. But according to land records he didn’t get the property in his name until 1922. The land records are a little confusing.

There a deed from 1922 transferring Sq. 533 lot 0102 from other tenants at that address to Mr. Clark. Document #192206230090 dated June 23, 1922, transferred the property from Alberta Cunningham, Harry F, Dorothy, Marie and Robert C. Kendrick, Blanche and John J. Lynch to Clark. Alberta and her husband Warren Cunningham were also at 238 P St NW in the 1920 Census as renters. Mr. Clark’s roommate was Robert Kendrick.

The land records only go as far back as 1920-1921. There is proof that James Clark lived in the neighborhood before 1920. His 1917/1918 World War I draft registration had him living at 238 P St NW with his wife Mary M. Clark and working at the Harrington Hotel.  The 1914 and 1915 city directories have him at the same address, as a waiter. Prior to that in 1910, he was at 415 U St NW.

His ownership seemed short lived. Later that year in December of 1922, Clark sold the property to William T. Overhall. In the 1930 census, William T. Overhall is listed as the African American owner of 238 P St NW. And like James R. Clark, he too was a waiter.

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Frederick B. Turner

Currently 244 P St NW is the Phanelson Memorial Apostolic Church. I took a quick look at the 1957 Church Survey and this structure was not a church then. But back in 1920 (or maybe before) it was the home of Frederick B. Turner, an African American waiter, and his family.Looking at Sq. 553, lot 99 records it looks like Frederick Booker Turner and his wife Irene Amelia (nee Malone) borrowed money in 1921, 1924, 1932, and 1947 using their home.

In 1920, Frederick Turner lived at 244 P St NW with his wife, lived with their daughter Geneva V., sons Leon Lovelace and Leonard Frederick, and his brother I Garland Turner. In 1930, the family household included Mr. Turner’s mother Annie Shade Turner, a new son Frederick (Jr?) and daughter Antionette Mae (side note- she wound up marrying 4 times by 1978). By 1930 it appears his brother moved on. Another, very slight change, Mr. Turner went from being a waiter at a hotel to being a waiter at a restaurant.

Mr. Turner died in December of 1966 according to the Social Security death index, somewhere in the 20010 zip code. Mrs. Turner died April 13, 1978. He seems to disappear after the 1930 census. He pops up in 1941, and is still a waiter, but we get the name of the restaurant where he worked.

In 1947, the Turners sold the property to Ernest Clinton Winfield, a Black native Washingtonian, after paying back their debt to the Washington Loan and Trust Company. Mr. Winfield borrowed $7,500.00 from the same institution when he purchased the property.

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Emma Ashton

Note- This was sitting in my draft folder. I don’t know why. It’s probably lacking some information, but I don’t know what.

Mrs. Ashton lived at 1405 1st St NW in Truxton Circle. She was not the only person to live at that address in 1920. I count about 14 people living there. It’s a modest house, so I’m not sure how one could crowd 5 households of that many people in that house.

Mrs. Emma Ashton, an African American widow of Ludwell Ashton had lived at 1405 1st St NW since 1900. In the 1900 Census she’s at 1405, living with her 75 year old widowed mother Adeline Brooks, who was the owner, her husband and their sons, Kellogg B. and Leonard A. Ashton. In 1920 the roles had changed, Emma was the head and the owner and her then 93 year old mother wasn’t.

Emma Ashton does not appear long in the Recorder of Deed’s records. There are several financial records for 1922, which aren’t particularly clear to me. She could have extended some loans, but I’m not sure. This period lasted between 1922 and 1924. It appears that she lost lot 11 (on Square 616) in 1934 and lot 816 in 1929.

Looking for an Emma Ashton for all of DC uncovered other property she owned in Truxton Circle, 302 Florida Ave NW (0519-0072) and 14?? 1st St NW (0553-0122). It appears she sold the property on 1st St in 1922 to Gertrude E. Holmes.

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Garland E. Carr pt.2

Sorry for the delay. Stuff happened.

So Garland E. Carr was a co-owner of 1520 1st St NW, with his mother and sister in 1922. The Carrs do not appear in the 1920 nor the 1930 census. They owned the property between 1922 and 1935.

In 1918 Garland was a farmer living in North Carolina when he was placed (not sure if drafted) in the military. In 1919 he returned from France and the answer to how do you keep them on the farm after they’ve seen gay Paris, is you don’t.

On June 11th 1922 Garland did something and was listed as living at 29 Massachusetts Ave NW. So what happened was, Garland Carr, being a vet tried to claim disability. His claim was denied and he was very displeased. So displeased that he returned to the Veterans Bureau office that denied him and (I’m going to quote the Evening Star) “had bored a hole through a window sash and thrust burning paper into the building  because, he said, his claim for disability was not allowed and he could not get no money from the bureau. The fire burned out when the paper was consumed.”

Garland Carr (center) arrested for trying to blow up Veterans Bureau, 6/21/22 SOURCE: Library of Congress. National Photo Company Collection.

I get why he did it. My mom was a vet and I remember her struggles with the VA. But it was still a crime. He may have spent a year in prison for it.

He may have spent a year in prison. He moved on with his life. During Word War II he was a self-employed contractor.

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Garland E. Carr pt.1

Garland-E-Carr-June-21-1922
African American Truxton Circle Property Owner- Garland E. Carr

I did not find Mr. Garland E. Carr via the Census, like I normally look for African American TC home owners. No, this one came to me via someone doing history at the National Archives looking at another topic of which Mr. Carr was involved. What Mr. Carr did I will wait until later to reveal.

A few months after this picture was snapped, his mother along with his sister Genevieve R. Patrick became owners of 1520 1st St NW. This was Square 552 lot 165.

Later in 1936 Elizabeth Carr sold it.

In my next post I’ll talk about what Mr. Carr did to have his picture taken.

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Arthur B. McKinney

Parts of this are from a previous post I published some time ago. I’m revisiting this African American home owner, to add more information.

I had given up on Mrs. Annie Newsome (or Annie Newsone in the 1940 census) who was listed as the head of household and married. She appears in the 1930 census with a different possible birth year. So I gave up on her and decided to look at a professional man who might have more information about him.

Dr. Arthur B. McKinney abducted from Freedmen's HospitalDr. Arthur B. McKinney abducted from Freedmen’s Hospital Sat, May 15, 1926 – Page 2 · The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) · Newspapers.comSo I chose Dr. Arthur B. McKinney of 1519 1st St NW from the 1940 census. From the little clip above, Dr. McKinney was involved in some odd little caper in 1926 where his brothers abducted him from Freedmen’s Hospital and took him to his mother’s house at 1515 1st St NW. A Della A. McKinney, widow, is listed as a home owner in the 1930 census at that address.

In the 1920 Census, Arthur B. McKinney was a 31 year old doctor living with his mother Della at 1515 1st St. NW. Looking at Ancestry’s family tree, his full name was Arthur Bancroft McKinney. He married Ethel J. Thornton in December of 1920. They apparently had no children. But the family tree fails to note his siblings as Samuel A. and Della McKinney had 5 sons, 2 daughters, a daughter-in-law, and a grandson living with them in 1900 at 63 P St NW. Continue reading Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Arthur B. McKinney

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Arthur McKenny

There is another African American Arthur McKenny in Truxton Circle. That other Arthur is a McKenney (with an ‘e’) and a doctor and I will repost him a little later.

This Arthur McKenny lived at 1401 1st St NW with his wife Ellen and adult daughter Minnie in 1920. In 1870 he was a farm laborer in Falmouth, Virginia. In 1900 he was living at 424 Washington St, which seems to be around the corner of the 700 block of 4th St NW. In the 1900 Census, he was living with his 60 year old mother Annie Coach (Minnie Thompson in the family tree), his wife and daughters Minnie and Mary Ellen.

Image not foundThe problem with Square 616, is that there are old lot numbers and newer lot numbers and they all seem to get jumbled together. But let’s try to do this. Looking at the Recorder of Deeds the earliest document is a deed where Arthur and Ellen sell lot 813 (also lot 11, just to confuse people), which appears to be 83 O St NW, in 1922 to David L. and Mary Ellen Cooper. Mary Ellen….. huh. Continue reading Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Arthur McKenny

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle- Ernest H. Saulter

Image not found
1919 Baist Map

Today’s African American Truxton Circle resident from the 1920 Census who owned their home is a thirty-three year old express man named Ernest H. Saulter. He lived at 30 P St NW with his wife Ethel Willie. No children. No boarders. Just those two. The property no longer exists, and the Mundo Verde Public Charter School sits there. When it did exist, it sat across from the space between Langston and Slater schools. Prior to 30 P St NW, Ernest Howard Saulter lived at 433 Rhode Island Ave NW, and 309 I St NW, which also does not exist anymore.

A 1922 city directory shows Mr. Saulter’s business address as 30-32 P St NW. On his 1917 draft card, when he was on Rhode Island, he listed himself as being self-employed.  When looking at the Recorder of Deed records the Saulters owned lots 21, 90, and 832. On the 1919 Baist map above, lot 21 and 832 are pretty much the same lot. In 1921 Clarence M. DeVeile (not Cruella DeVille) sold the property on lot 90 to the Saulters.  DeVeile had bought the property a month earlier from Henrietta Finnegan. In order to purchase it, DeVeile borrowed $1250.00 from what looked to be the Washington Six Percent Permanent Building Association. In November of 1923, the Saulters sold lot 90 to the District of Columbia government.

Lot 21 is confusing. In the old map, it is the old number, it’s part of lot 832 and there is another lot 21 facing North Capitol Street. It’s very hard to tell what’s going on with that, so I will just look at the transactions involving the Saulters. It appears they bought the P St facing lot in 1923 from the estate of Jane Steward formerly Jane Scott. But then it appears that a month or so later they sell it to the DC government.

Looking at other Recorder of Deeds documents, Ernest owned property elsewhere too. In 1924 Ernest and Ethel purchased what could have been 609 Rhode Island Ave NW. There is a vacant lot in that space which is Sq. 442 lot 3. That same year they brought 147 Rhode Island Avenue NW (sq. 3108, lot 0003) which does still exist. The Saulters stop showing up in the Recorder of Deeds records after 1937 with a trustees deed between the Saulters and the Homeowner’s Loan Corporation. That same year the Homeowner’s Loan Corporation sell the 147 Rhode Island Ave NW to Marie H. Malvan and Mildred R. Schey for $4,750.

The last record of Ernest Saulter is in a World War II draft card. The card dates from around 1942. At that time Mr. Saulter is 56 years old. He is living at 805 O St NW, about where the Giant parking garage sits. The contact he has listed is a woman named Estelle Johnson, at the same address. This brings to question, where is Ethel? Mr. Saulter is listed as self-employed but having “defective eyes”.