people – Truxton Is In Shaw

Truxton Character- Garland E. Carr(1887-1972) 1520 1st St NW

I’ve featured Mr. Carr before in Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Garland E. Carr pt.1 and pt. 2. This will be an attempt to look into more information about the man.

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

He was a property owner, but apparently not a resident. So let’s call him a Truxton “character”. Using Ancestry to pin his ID down, I used his mother’s and sister’s first names from the deed for 1520 1st St NW. There was a family tree, where his sister Genevieve or Geneva Ruth Carr was married to a William Taft Patrick. Hoping the family tree wasn’t complete fiction (as some are), here goes.

Garland Eugene Carr was born on December 29, 1887, in Raleigh, North Carolina to Nathaniel Carr and Elizabeth Blakely. He showed up twice in the 1900 census. First he was with his father and brother Henry living in Asheville, NC. working as a laborer. Then with his mother and eight brothers and sisters in Raleigh, NC.

June 1917 Garland filled out his registration card for World War I and noted he was 30 and had been wearing glasses for 20. He was enlisted in the Army in 1918 and was discharged in 1919, one whole year. In June of 1919 he traveled from France on the USS Ed Luckenbach with the Medical Detachment 340th Service Battalion (Colored). He was to return to his father in Charlotte, NC.

His one year military adventure is why he had his photo taken. He was apparently unhappy with the VA.

It seems like attempted arson, but other news outlets accused him of bombing.

Bombing used to be a destructive form of protest favored by anarchists.

According the the VA’s records he died in 1972.

Thousands of people have lived in the Truxton Circle neighborhood for over 100 years and they have thousands of stories. The goal of the Truxton Circle History Project is to find every man, woman, and child who lived in the neighborhood using every available source. The Project uses the 1880-1950 censuses, the power of Ancestry and every other online resource to discover and uncover neighborhood history.

Truxton Residents- The William Youngs of Truxton Circle-4th St NW

Sometimes people have the same name. In 1940 there were two, two William Youngs in Truxton Circle. The first lived as a lodger at 1619 3rd St NW. The other was also a lodger at 1633 4th St NW. Both men were laborers. They both were African American men. Third St William was from South Carolina, whereas 4th St William was from neighboring Maryland.

Let’s start with 3rd St William. He was born July 8, 1906 in Fairfield, South Carolina. He moved around because by October 1940, he had moved to 715 6th St NE where he lived with his wife Ethel, if this is the correct William Young.

The 4th St William Young, William Esmond Young was born May 26, 1905 in St. Mary’s County, MD to John and Cassie (?) Young. In 1928 he married Emma Johnson. So he is the same William Young who lived at 1626 4th St NW in 1930. Yes, this is a different house number than 1633 4th St NW.

In 1930 this William Young, married to Emma, was 25 years old working as a porter in a drug store. His wife, Emma, was 32, and she worked as a domestic for a private family. They shared the household with Lula King, a lodger, a 35 year old domestic servant.

By 1940, he and Emma are the lodgers as they moved across the street and over a few houses to 1633 4th St NW. The couple moved in with Sarah and her daughter Mamie Coles. Emma somehow became 19 years older than her husband. William worked as laborer for a private company. His draft card revealed it was E P Noyland Construction. Emma still worked as a domestic.

They remained on the 1600 block of 4th Street relocating to 1615 4th St NW. William and Emily were two of five roomers in the house of Ella Pearson, a domestic servant. Their old landlady, moved to 1617 4th St, Sara C. Coles was then living with her widowed father and her brother. Emma, then Emily, was still 19 years her husband’s senior and even in her 60s worked as a domestic servant.

And there is no more after that for the Youngs.

Truxton Resident-Horace Dyer (1841-1927) 1st and O St NW

Because the 1880 census was the first to have addresses, one of the few things the 1870 census could tell us about Horace Dyer, was that he was a 29 year old married illiterate Black man who worked as a porter in a store and lived in Washington, DC. He was born in Maryland around 1841, so there is a possibly that he was not born free.

He lived at 1402 1st St NW in 1880. His job was listed as 40 year old laborer. His wife Emily worked as a laundress, a kind of work a woman could do from home while caring for their 3 sons, Joseph (6), Phillip (3) and Theodore (1).

An 1890 city directory had him living at 119 O St NW. He also was listed as a fireman and had a middle initial “J”.

Something interesting happened between the 1870 and the 1900 census. According to the Ancestry family tree (take with a grain of salt) Emily/Emilia Galloway Dyer died in April 1886. November 1887, more than a whole year, he married Mary Jane Simmons, another laundress. He gained three daughters, Ida (19) from Emily and Lucinda (11) and Mary (7) from Mary Jane. He was a homeowner. He could read but he could not write. The census clarified he was a fireman for a store.

When he was 69 during the 1910 census he lived with his wife, who remained a laundress, even at the age of 55, two unmarried adult children and his 95 year old mother. Horace worked as a government fireman. The son under his roof, Phillip Augustus Dyer (32) worked as laborer. With the exception of his wife, all the other women in the household were not employed.

1402 1st St NW does not exist anymore. Armstrong sits and sat there. By 1917 he had moved to 1420 5th St NW, so his ownership would not show up in the online records of the Recorder of Deeds. But his ownership can be confirmed in the DC General Assessment 1902-1903. He owned a lot on Square 553, lot 4, West 19. If I am understanding it correctly, the home was 2,565 square feet and the lot was 770 sq. ft.

He died March 30, 1927. According to his obituary in the Evening Star, May Jane had already passed away. He was survived by his three sons, Joseph H., Phillip A., and Edward T. and three dollars Ida C. Duvall, and Lucinda C. and Cora E. Dyer. He was Roman Catholic and his requiem mass was at St. Augustine’s.

Horace Dyer Ancestry-Library Edition Family Tree

Truxton Resident- James F. Saffell (1867-1935) 217 Q St NW

James F. Saffell claimed to have owned 217 Q St NW on the 1920 census. This requires investigation. A quick look shows that an Ellen M. Saffell owned lot 0008 on square 551. There was another James Saffell running around DC at the time, but his parents were Irish. Truxton James Saffell’s parents were locals.

Strangely there were two Franks, that’s the middle name of James, Francis, or Frank, Saffells whose dads were named Charles. They were born around 1866-1867. So we’ll just jump to his obit in 1935 and work our way backward.

This J. Frank Saffell died in 1935, his wife was Ellen M. Dee Saffell, he was Catholic, being that his mass was at St. Martin’s, and he lived at 217 Q St NW in Truxton Circle.

Going to the 1930 census, James F. Saffell was the 63 year old head of household at 217 Q St NW. He lived with his wife Ellen, 59, and their son Frederick, 29. James claimed to own the home and worked as a tailor.

Similarly in 1920, the family is at 217 Q St NW, James is a tailor, but in addition to son Frederick, daughter Margaret A., 24, lived at home. James was 10 years younger, 53, as was his son, Frederick, 19. There were three adults working in the home. Son Frederick was a machinist and Margaret worked as a telephone operator.

Margaret was not in the home in 1930 because she had gotten married and was raising twin boys, aged 3. She had married Walter F. Carter.

Falling back 10 more years, the house is fairly full. Living with James Frank the tailor, his wife and children was James Dee, wife Ellen’s brother. James Dee worked as a roper hanger in a shop.

In the 1900 census James F. Saffell was a 32 year old White Tailor. He lived with his wife Ellen, their 4 year old daughter, and two brothers in law, Maurice and David F. Dee. The census tells us he was a DC native and his parents were too. He was born August 1867. His wife and brothers in law were also DC born with Irish parents.

James is assumed to be the owner of the property. When looking at the land records, Ellen sold the property in 1941. There are no mortgage papers or anything else and that is where this story ends.

The goal of the Truxton Circle History Project is to find every man, woman, and child who lived in the neighborhood using every available source. The Project uses the 1880-1950 censuses, the power of Ancestry and every other online resource to discover and uncover neighborhood history.

Truxton Resident- Calvin B. Lucas (1880-1954) 206A Q St NW

Calvin Bower Lucas was born in Pennsylvania in 1880 but lived in Truxton Circle from ca. 1887 to 1932. When he was born on February 22, 1880 to Nelson Allen Lucas and Ellen Waddle Myers in Colesville, PA his father was a constable or law enforcement officer.

When the family of parents and four living children (they had 7-8 children in total) lived at 1612 1st St NW the father worked as a government clerk. Clifford Lucas, an adult child lived at the same address, but different household with wife Carrie Allen. Of the other adult Lucas children, daughter Carrie J., then 22 and Calvin, aged 20 had jobs. Calvin worked as an apprentice plumber. The father owned the home.

Not too longer after, Calvin enlisted in the Marine Corp in December 1901 and was stationed at the Marine Barracks, in Bremerton, WA. He was stationed at a Naval hospital in 1905 in Yokohama, Japan. That same year, in December, he was discharged.

According to an Ancestry family tree, he married Anna Marie Horn in 1907. Mary Horn, was the Baltimorian daughter of German immigrants and worked as a tailoress, prior to her marriage to Calvin.

When Calvin was 30, he had already become a plumber with his own shop. The couple, Calvin and Anna Marie, were tenants at 206A Q St NW, a Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) rental for working class Whites. When the draft for WWI came around, in 1918, he described himself as a self-employed plumber with light blue eyes.

During their time in unit A from 1910 to 1930, it seems the couple was childless. With the exception of their nephew Lawrence Jehu Kirwan staying with them in 1920, while the young 22 year old worked as a piano tuner, they lived alone.

Calvin served on the board of trustees for the Memorial Church of the United Brethren in Christ since the late 1800s. The church was located at 1712 North Capitol Street NW in Bloomingdale, the church building was later occupied by the Metropolitan Wesley AME Church.

In 1932 Calvin and his wife left Truxton Circle for Columbia Heights. They purchased 1425 Parkwood Place NW for about $4000. They borrowed $2,600 of it from the Saratoga Building and Land Corp. According to Redfin it is currently a 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,386 sq. ft. home.

He died in 1954. According to his obituary he had worked for the GSA since 1925 rising to the rank of supervisor. He was very involved in veterans and masonic groups.

Truxton Resident- Albert I. Chew (1890-1945) Hanover Pl NW

Albert Chew was born September 14, 1890 in Washington, DC to Daniel Chew and Rebecca/Betty Parker. If his middle name was Ivan or Irving is a mystery as he used both. Chew lived on Hanover St in Truxton Circle from circa 1920 to 1945.

In his pre-Truxton census info, Albert was a Black/mullato and lived with his widowed mother. When he was about nine in 1900, his mother worked as a servant and his brothers, Daniel and James, worked as a bell boy and porter. He was still living with his mother and siblings in 1910. He worked as a driver for a department store.

By 1917 Albert was married with a child and living at 46 Hanover St NW. He had married Cecelia Mae Corbin and their first child, Irene/Aretha, was born in 1915.

He was still a driver in the 1920 census, but for a private family. But he was in a different house, 40 Hanover St NW. The property may have been a two flat house as there was another household at the address. He supported his wife, young son and daughter with his work.

Still a driver in 1930, his family moved a few doors down to 38 1/2 Hanover St NW. He was still supporting his family being the only employed adult in a family of six.

He was across the street from where he started in Truxton Circle, 45 Hanover St NW, by the 1940 census. This would be his last census. He was 49 and was a driver by trade, working for the federal government. The WWII draft revealed it was for the War Department, specifically, Ft. Meyer. The house must have been a bi crowded. Along with his wife Cecila, they lived with eldest daughter Aretha and her husband Bobby Williams, son William (20), and minor daughters Thelma (14) and Audrey (8). The son-in-law worked as a carrier. William was a new worker.

May 16, 1945 Albert Chew died. According to his obituary, his wife had already passed away. He was survived by daughters Thelma and Audrey Chew, Aretha Williams, Helen Beason and son William. Seeing that Audrey was a minor orphan with both parents dead, she was taken in by her sister Aretha and her husband on Rock Creek Church Rd NW.

Albert was a renter and we can see this in his movements. There must have been something about Hanover that kept him on that street. And why he bounced around from one house to the next is also a mystery.

Truxton Resident- Malcolm S. Beaton (1915-1967) 39A and 54 Bates St NW

Thousands of people have lived in the Truxton Circle neighborhood for over 100 years and they have thousands of stories.

Malcolm Stuart Beaton was born in Rocky Mount. NC either in 1913 or 1915. Regardless, of the birth year, he shows up in Truxton Circle in the 1920 living with his unmarried aunt, Teresa E Andre, He was 4 and she was 59 and they lived at 54 Bates Street, a WSIC rental unit for White working class tenants.

In this story, there are three Malcolm S. Bentons who are all connected to Miss Teresa E. Andre of 54 Bates Street NW. I need to start with Malcolm S. Beaton born in 1852 Scotland. This Malcolm married Teresa’s sister. He appears to have been the father of Malcolm S. Beaton born in 1895 born in Washington, DC. Then we have Malcolm S. Benton born 1915 or thereabouts in NC.

The first Malcolm married tailoress Lillie Emma Andre in 1880 in Washington, DC. They had a son in 1881 named Malcolm Roy Benton, but that child died. They had an unnamed child in 1895 in DC when he worked as an electrician. It is very likely this was the 1895 Malcolm S. Benton.

When he was 15, 1895 Malcolm S. Beaton, lived with the Andre family in 1910, after the death of his parents. The home at 54 Bates St NW was headed by his aunt Teresa Andre, who then worked as a dressmaker. Living there were her father William, 86, and niece Nellie Andre, 26.

1915 Malcolm S. Beaton was a motherless and a fatherless child. He could not have been the child of 1852 Malcolm as he died in 1897 and his wife Lillie in 1900. The 1915 city directory had 1895 Malcolm living with Aunt Teresa at 54 Bates and working as a messenger. 1895 Malcolm was single in 1917 when he registered for the draft and was living with his Aunt Teresa at 54 Bates. He stated he had an aunt to support. He does not mention a child, who would have been 2 or 5 at that point. When 1915 Malcolm first appeared in the 1920 census as a four year old at 54 Bates. He and his Aunt Teresa were the only occupants in their unit. Over at 51 Bates St NW lived 1895 Malcolm and his wife Bernice Irene Jackson from Virginia. Bernice and 1895 Malcolm were assumed married in 1919 when their daughter Marjorie Louise Beaton, who only lived a few days, died. On her death certificate, they listed 54 Bates as their home address.

The 1920 census had 1915 Malcolm with a father born in DC and a mother from South Carolina. The 1930 census claimed his father was Scottish and mother from DC, the same as 1895 Malcolm. The following census did not track parents’ place of birth. It does not appear that Bernice was his mother and besides his name, there is nothing proving 1895 Malcolm is his father.

Both the 1895 and 1915 Malcolms, appear together in the 1930 census living with Aunt Teresa at 54 Bates. The senior Beaton was a salesman for a radio store and the the younger was 14. Probably in school.

June 20, 1938 Aunt Teresa died. Her obituary mentioned her nephew 1895 Malcolm, and her great-nephew 1915 Malcolm. However, her address was 3720 Upton St NW. She had left Truxton Circle prior to her death. In July of 1940, 1895 Malcolm died at Gallinger Hospital at the age of 45.

In 1934, 1915 Malcolm married Anne Shockency of 39 Bates Street NW, a WSIC tenant, while he was living on Todd St NE. By 1940 he was back on Bates with his wife at 39A Bates. There were 4 people in the unit. Mr. and Mrs. Beaton, their 3 year old son Kenneth S. Beaton and Malcolm’s aunt-in-law, Helen C. Sullivan. When 39 Bates St NW was up for sale in 2014, it was a 2 flat structure with a total of 1,976 square feet. A smidge less than 1000 sq. ft. per unit.

When World War II began drafting its young men, Malcolm, the remaining Malcolm, provided information about his birth. The draft card shows that he was still in Truxton Circle.

When 1950 rolled around the family had moved to SE DC living on Minnesota Ave. Malcolm was unable to work, so Ann worked as a key punch operator. In 1954, young Kenneth attended Anacostia High, a White school.

Eventually the last Malcolm S. Beaton died in 1967. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery with this wife Anna. He served in the United States Marine Corps and fought in World War II.

Truxton Resident- William Chew (1918-1987) 38, 40, 45 Hanover St NW

This is a short biography of former Truxton Circle resident, William C. Chew.

William Corbin Chew was born December 7, 1918 to Albert I. Chew, an African American chauffeur and Cecelia Mae Corbin in Washington, DC. In 1920 he lived at 40 Hanover St NW. He lived there with his older sister Irene, who was 4 in 1920.

They had moved over to 38 1/2 Hanover by the 1930 census, His father was still a driver, but working for the Ft. Meyer Laundry. The family had expanded and William was the one son among three daughters.

In the last census where we find William C. Chew he resided at 45 Hanover St NW in 1940. He was 21, single, living with his parents and three sisters, along with a brother in law. His father was still a driver, aged 49 and working for the US government. William was a “new worker”. When he registered for the draft for WWII he worked at the Palais Royal Department Store.

At some point in time he married Nelline Elizabeth McPherson. She was born in 1923 in Gainesville, VA with an unknown father on her birth certificate. She is located at 51 1/2 Hanover St as Nelline Chew, living with her aunt and uncle Ethel and Percy H. Nichens, their adult children, minor child, and granddaughter. William is nowhere to be found.

Everything else until his death is a mystery. He died in March 1987 and his last known address was in Silver Spring, MD. Hopefully that is the correct Bill Chew, as a William B. Chew also died in March 1987 but he lived near/in Baltimore and had a different set of parents.

Truxton Resident- Mary Holloran (1860-1919) 224 O St NW

There’s a new tag on the InShaw blog, “women”. There are hundreds of stories of women who have lived, worked or owned property in Truxton Circle. The tag hopefully will make their stories easier to locate.

When looking at Margaret Holloran Killmeyer (1900-1953) there was an aunt who appeared in the Holloran house when Margaret’s mother died. Aunt Mary did not have a listed occupation, so one could assume she was there to care for the children and assist her brother Tom. Because of Maggie’s Uncle John, who lived with her in 1930, a little background check showed that he lived with Aunt Mary who had an occupation and may have been a female Truxton Circle homeowner.

It’s hard to pin down when Mary Holloran was born. A 1900 census has her birth month and year as August 1960. But other documents place her birth year around 1857 or 1859. Whatever year she was born, she was born in Washington, DC to Irish immigrants, Margaret Sullivan and John Holloran. She appeared in the 1870 census as a 14 year old domestic servant living with her parents and siblings, Annie (16), Thomas(12) and John Joseph (10). Her older sister Annie was also a domestic servant.

Mary’s father died and in the 1880 census the adult Holloran children lived with their widowed mother. They resided in what became the family home 224 O St NW in Truxton Circle. Annie had married in 1874 so it was Mary and the others. Mary did not have a listed job and kept house with her 44 year old mother. Her brother Thomas was a 22 year old brick mason and brother John, 19, was a messenger.

In the 1895 city directory, Mary G. Holloran, the first time a middle name had been hinted at, lived at 224 O Street NW. Her brother Thomas the brick layer wasn’t far, over in the NE section of Truxton Circle at 35 P St NE. She did not have a job listed with her name.

According to the 1900 census Mary was 39 and owned 224 O Street free and clear. Her father John had purchased the house in 1863. Unfortunately, he was illiterate and his named was misspelled on the paperwork. So the family just maintained their tenancy after his death in 1881. Mary worked as a seamstress and lived with her brother John, 34, and their niece, 17 year old Madge E. Luckett. The Luckett family lived over in PG County with four boys ranging from 21 to 6 years old in the house. One can take guesses as to why the young lady chose to live with her maternal aunt and uncle. Possibly to be closer to her job, or job opportunities in general.

However, Mary’s sister in law died in 1906 and it seems by 1908 her widower brother Thomas and his four children moved into 224 O St NW. Their residence in the Holloran family home appeared in the 1910 census.

On November 30, 1919, at the age of 60, Mary died after a battle with cancer. According to the Washington Times Herald, she died at her sister Anne’s house at 646 6th St NE. Her niece Mrs. Margaret Luckett Diggory provided the information for her death certificate. She was buried at Mt. Olivet cemetery.

After her death the family home was sold in 1923 with the Lucketts laying claim to it. The family sold it to the District of Columbia, which eventually used it for the Dunbar High School campus.

As an observer, it appears the Hollorans were a very close knit family. They stayed together. If not in the same house, a few blocks away.

Truxton Resident- Margaret Holloran Killmeyer (1900-1953) Bates, O, and P Streets NW

Thousands of people have lived in the Truxton Circle neighborhood for over 100 years and they have thousands of stories.

Margaret Mary Holloran was born in January 5, 1900 in Washington, DC, to Thomas Holloran, aged 39, and Ellen O’Conner, 29. She appeared in the 1900 census in the NE part of Truxton Circle that I typically ignore, 7 P St NE. Her father was a Irish-American bricklayer born in DC and her mother, was of a similar background, having Irish parents and being a DC native. So a White family.

Her mother died in 1906 so in the 1910 census, Tom Holloran was a widower raising four minor children between the ages of 16 and 10, with the help of his spinster sister, 31 year old Mary. They lived in the part of the TC I don’t ignore, 224 O St NW. The house was owned by Mary, so not only was she helping her brother with her nieces and nephews, she provided them a place to live.

In 1919, at the age of 19, Margaret married Leopold John Killmeyer in Baltimore. But for reasons (?), she was living with her father and adult siblings at 210A Bates Street NW in 1920. The family had been at 210A Bates for a few years, at least since the draft for World War I. Eventually she was reunited with her husband and they lived at 63 Bates Street NW in unit A in 1930.

Currently, 210 Bates is one single house. The renovated home, according to Redfin is 2118 square feet. In 1920 it was two separate units, about 2 bedrooms per unit, around 1000 square feet, so pretty cramped for 5 adults. But that was where she lived.

From Kober, George “The history and development of the housing movement in the city of Washington, D.C” 1907

When her father Thomas died in 1933, 63 Bates was listed as her residence. She was the only family member mentioned in the very brief death notice.

In 1930 the Killmeyer household consisted of Leo, aged 31, a painter by trade, Margaret a homemaker, their 10 year old daughter Blanche and “lodger” John J. Holloran, her uncle. Uncle John was living with his sister, Mary Hollaran, the spinster aunt who helped out Tom in 1910. In 1900, the Hollaran siblings lived at 224 O St NW with their 17 year old niece Madge Luckett. Mary was a seamstress, John a plasterer, and Madge a government clerk. Anyway, back to Maggie H. Killmeyer.

Margaret was still keeping house in 1940, as her husband Leo still worked as a painter, and her then 20 year old daughter worked as a physician’s receptionist. They were still at 63A Bates up until 1950. The last time they appeared in the census in Truxton Circle, her husband had retired and it was just the two of them. Later that year, their unit would be sold.

The couple relocated to 1110 Kingwood Drive in Tacoma Park, MD. Margaret died April 22, 1953. Leo joined her in death November 1956.