Tag: Black Homeowners of TC

In the 1930 census, Charles B. Walker is listed as the head of household at 136 R St NW. Since this was on Square 551, his house sat near where the CaBi station by Florida Avenue Park currently sits. In the land records his house was on lot 166. His ownership is confirmed by the 1933-1934 General Assessment, where he and his wife Mary T. Walker are listed.

When getting into the Recorder of Deeds online records, it appears Mr. Walker owned the property around or before 1925, as their first document is a 1925 trust (borrowing money) between Mary and Charles Walker and trustee W. Carl Wyeth for $200. The next year in 1926, they borrow (trust) $1,000 from the Perpetual Building Association, via trustees Baltz & Owen. They may have used that money to clear their debt to Wyeth on July 23, 1926. They borrowed more from the Perpetual Building Association in 1927. This time it was $1,500. They paid off (release) another debt with Wyeth in 1927. The couple waited until 1930 to borrow again, this time $1,600, from the Perpetual Building Assoc. They repaid their 1927 Perpetual Building debt in 1930. The 1930 debt was paid in 1952. The last record for this lot is a 1958 deed transferring the property to Chester A. Walker after Charles’ death. Then it is a dead end.

Who were the Walkers?

Charles Beverly Walker Jr. was born November 6, 1868 in Washington, DC to Charles B. and Ann C. Walker. In 1880, he was 11 years old and attending school and he lived with his parents and siblings at 343 F St SW (I-395 currently runs through where F St should be). His father was a store porter and his mother a laundress. In 1900 the Walkers were at 105 F St SW, and Charles began his career as a barber. He lived there with his parents, siblings, his wife Mary A. Taylor, and two of their children. In 1910 was living with his wife and their children Homezelle, Chester, Beatrice, and Thomas Walton at 107 F St SW, next door to his brother Thomas and their mother Anne, who were still at 105 F St SW. Their last census in SW DC was the 1920 census, where the 51 year old Charles continued working as a barber, Mary was a charwoman, and their adult daughter Homezelle was a teacher. They were living at 350 E St SW, with teenagers Beatrice and Thomas, along with mother Anne where they shared the building with another household.

He remained attached to his F St SW roots. In his April 17, 1956 obituary in the Evening Star, he was a deacon at the Zion Baptist Church at 337 F St SW, when he died at home on Saturday April 15. He may have been a member of the Oldest Inhabitants Inc, as they too had a death notice for Mr. Walker. He was a member and Past Master of Pythagoras Lodge No 9. FA&AM over 50 years. Upon his death he was survived by Mrs. Homezelle Carey (wife of Richard E. Carey) of New York, Chester A., Beatrice M. and Thomas W. Walker of the DC area. He was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery.

I have a template for my Black home owners series. Since I am dealing with the Sq. 551 3rd St owners, and Solomon Basey was Black, here we are.

When I looked for Solomon Basey in the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America site, which allows me to search the Evening Star and other DC newspapers (for free). I found this ad:

I gather that Solomon Basey who was an African American shoemaker who lived at 1603 1/2 3rd St NW was feeling the end was near and sold his earthy possessions to his step daughter. In the 1900 census Mr. Basey was only 48 years old. It was harder to be older 100 years ago.

In the 1900 census he was a widower and lived with his sister Julia Washington. He had married Ellen Carey in 1896. It appears she died (or quietly divorced).

Flipping through various DC city directories between 1878-1906 Solomon Basey shows up at 406 Franklin St NW, 1603 1/2 3rd St NW, and 510 O St NW. The O St address may have been his shoe and boot shop.

Looking at the 1920 census for another Black home owner, I came across Ernest Hawkins, who is listed as “Hawkens”. He lived at 38 N St NW in Washington, DC with his wife Sarah and daughter Ernestine.

When I do these histories I look at genealogical sites and of course the land records. The land records don’t show much activity, but do provide useful death dates in this case. One interesting thing I should mention is that this family appears twice in the 1910 census.

Ernest F. Hawkins was born in 1872 or thereabouts, in Washington, DC. He married Sarah Walker in March 1894 in Fredericksberg, VA. Their daughter Ernestine was born later that same year in December. In the 1900 census, Ernest is listed as working as a coachman for a livery. The family were renters in a 2 unit property at 1720 5th St NW.

I’m not sure what was going on in 1910. In one, 38 year old Ernest F. Hawkins, 37 year old Sarah W. Hawkins and their 15 year old daughter Ernestine are living in Keyport, NJ. They lived on 3rd St where Ernest was a laborer at a brickyard and they had been married 16 years. That enumeration took place April 27, 1910. The other appearance in the 1910 census was at 53 P St NW, where 36 year old Ernest and Sarah Hawkins lived with their 14 year old daughter Ernestine and 11 year old son Henry Hawkins. Ernest worked as a laborer for the Treasury and the couple had been married 16 years. This enumeration took place on April 19, 1910. They aren’t an exact match but the closeness makes me think they were counted twice.

So when we find the family firmly in Truxton Circle as home owners, Ernest is listed as a 47 year old messenger who works for the government. Sarah is also working for the government as a matron and Ernestine is a Maryland teacher.

As I mentioned earlier, the land records don’t show much activity, just death. The first two are 1953 deeds transferring the property from Ernest and Sarah to Ernestine though a go-between, Zeph P. Moore. The first deed mentioned that Ernest died March 21, 1927 and Sarah W. Hawkins died May 23, 1951. The nest document is a 1970 deed mentioning the death of daughter Ernestine Hawkins-Smith on February 27, 1967. The property was left to Charles R. Walker, who sold it to Charles F. Adams and Clinton W. Chapman There is no mention of how Charles R. Walker is related but I gather he is some relative from Sarah’s side of the family.

William H. Bowman was the African American owner of 20A N St NW, according to the 1920 census. But for looking at his ownership of the property let’s just look at 20 N St NW, Washington, DC, as the A and the B, for the other household hint that this was a two flat unit. It is possible, the Bowmans lived in unit A and the Wrights and Redmans in unit B.

When the 1920 census was taken William H. Bowman lived with his wife Mary E. and their teen aged sons, William (Jr?) and James. But when looking at the land records, William died later that year November 17, 1920. This was noted in a 1928 trust (borrowing money) for $2500 with the Washington Loan and Trust Company in Mary’s name. It looks (I can only guess) that this allowed her to pay off an August 1918 debt.

Once again, I’m going to guess, but the next document appears that Mary E. Bowman financed work with the Washington Contracting Company in 1934 for $320.00. She borrowed another small amount, $253.00 in 1936 and $450.00 in 1937 from different trustees.

It appears she refinanced her debt with a $3600 loan from the American Building Association in July 1937, and immediately paid all the previous debts.

Three years later she sold the property to John T. and Ruth King on April 16, 1940. The Kings were a white couple who lived at 25 Randolph Place NW.

We’re getting close to the end of the African American home owners in the TC from the 1920 census. This is one of the handful of posts I have left.

This post’s subject is Joseph Edward Parker and his wife Irene H. Parker. It appears that they purchased this property in September 1910, so they were the owners of this 2 unit property in 1920. The Parkers lived in unit A, with his 14 year old daughter Helen. Unit B, had renters, Mr. & Mrs. Taylor and their boarder, Matthew Brown.

Joseph E. Parker was born March 17, 1874 in Virginia. He was a widower when he married Irene F. Haymon in 1914. His first wife Nannie, Helen’s mother, is difficult to locate.  At some point Helen married and her name became Helen Parker Winston. Irene died February 17, 1929. Joseph died September 9, 1945. It appears Irene and Joseph were members of the Mt. Airy Baptist Church.

Since I couldn’t find a lot of reliable information about the Parkers and their lives, I will look at all the borrowing and repayment they did in the land records.

Joseph and Irene borrowed $3,500 March 11, 1924 from the Perpetual Building Association to pay for “existing encumbrances.” This allowed them to pay trustees Theo Judd and Joseph Sullivan for a 1919 debt and a 1910 with trustees Joseph Weller and Burr Edwards within the next month or two. It looks like they refinanced their Perpetual Building Association debt with $3,300 June 1928 as the 1924 debt was noted paid in July. It looks like it was refinanced again with Perpetual in October 1928 at $3,500, and the earlier June debt was released.

As noted above Irene died in 1929. So it was just Joseph alone, just as he was alone in the 1930 census. Her death was noted in a October 1932 trust, where he borrowed $300 at 6% interest from trustees Sol Rothbard and Charles Kaplan. July 1934, he borrows again, $3,531.14 from the Home Owners’ Loan Association and Irene’s death is noted. The next month he paid off the October 1928 Perpetual Building Assoc. debt. In October he paid off the 1932 debt with Rothbard and Kaplan.

He transferred the property to his daughter Helen P. Winston on June 17, 1936. It isn’t until 1940 when she uses the property to borrow money. June 1940, Helen, who was living in Brooklyn, NY borrowed $3000 from the Metropolitan Building Association. Mrs. Winston paid off her father’s 1934 Home Owner’s Loan Association debt. Then in October 1945, a month after Joseph’s death, she sold the house to Harry Wachter, an unmarried man.

Miles C. Maxfield was born in 1851 in Hanover County, VA to Harriett Moore and Frank Maxfield. After his father died in 1868, he moved to Washington, DC working as a porter in a store. In November 1873 he married Eliza/ Elizabeth Stewart. The 1900 census has the Maxfield family, Miles, Eliza and daughter Gonevia, living at 1237 1st St NW. According to the 1902-1903 General Assessment, Miles owned lot 800 on Square 618.

Looking at a 1919 map, 1237 is at the corner of N and 1st St NW. It is on the same lot as 1229 1st St, but a different building.

The 1910 census has the three Maxflieds at 1229 1st St NW. In 1909 he was working as a skilled laborer at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing making $939 a year. That’s pretty decent money for the time. He was also a public speaker, with his engagements at Black churches and other activities reported in the Washington Bee. I should note his daughter Gonevia authored a few society articles for the Bee.

Eliza passed away on September 30, 1918, leaving Miles as a widower. In the 1920 census he is all alone at 1229 1st St NW. After years of working as a clerk and skilled laborer he was listed as a watchman. By the 1920 census, his daughter had married Dr. Samuel M. Pierre living at 2124 L St NW with his children.

When Miles died on January 16, 1936 at the Casualty Hospital, officers and other lodge members of Rising Sun Lodge No. 1365 attended his funeral at the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church.  His remaining heir, Gonevia did not immediately sell. The land records reveal that he owned the house free and clear. She eventually sold the property in 1965.

Everyso often when searching the 1920 census for African American home owners in the DC neighborhood of Truxton Circle, I get someone who isn’t a home owner. Ernest E. Brown, a printer, reported that he owned the house. When looking at the DC Recorder of Deeds records, it appears it was owned by Alvira A. Buck instead. She sold the property in 1925.

So this is a dead end.

Moving on.