Tag: other neighborhoods

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.

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.

This blog has been exploring Black Homeowners of Truxton Circle. 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.

This post is looking at the Woods’ ownership of 517 Third St SE. According to Redfin, it is currently a 3 bdrm, 3.5 bath 2,295 square foot home. There were several sets of resident home owners, but going with the records of the Recorder of Deeds, starting around 1920, we encounter Bessie and Matthew Woods.

The first document that appears on the database is document #192608090147, an August 1926 trust, between Bessie and Matthew Woods and trustees George M. Emmerich and Raymond J. Vierbuchen with the American Building Association for $4,200. The next month in September 1926 the Woods paid off a loan with trustees Harry E. Gladman and Alfred H. Lawson. The 1926 loan was cleared in 1943.

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. We’ll look at the Garbers in a different post.

The Woods show up in the 1930 census at 517 Third Street SE. Matthew was the 43 year old head who worked as a machinist for the US Government. He lived with his 51 year old wife Bessie and  two roomers, David and Catherine Boyer. On August 1, 1939, Matthew died. That explains the deeds transferring the property that year.

Laura Bessie May Maffett, was born April 2, 1879 in Cameron, VA to Peter F. Maffett and Ellen Virginia Davis. She was married three times, no children, Matthew Woods was her second husband. She married Edward O’Donnell around 1942. She died May 1961 in Capital Hill.