Tag: women

Am I just looking for Truxton residents who share names with famous people? Maybe.

Famous Grace Jones starred opposite Roger Moore in View to A Kill. To my knowledge she never stepped foot in the neighborhood.

The Truxton Circle Grace L. Jones was born as Grace Louise Butler, daughter of Henry and Josephine Butler in DC August 1896. In 1910 the family lived in Truxton Circle at 304 P St NW. Her father was a driver for the government. Her mother was a cook at a cafe. She was was 13 years old and an only child.

She married George Jones when she was 20 years old in April 1917. The 1920 showed that she lived at a second unit in 304 P St NW with her husband George who worked as a messenger for the government. Grace worked as a cleaner for Pullman cars.

By the 1930 census the couple moved to 1532 1st St NW. Grace was still cleaning railway cars. Her husband worked as a laborer for the government. She had her mother living with them, but they were not supporting her, as her 50 year old mother worked as a government charwoman. They also had a male lodger who worked as a messenger.

In 1940 it was just Grace and her mother Josephine. Her husband George was not in the home at the time. George died in 1941.

And that’s where the trail ends.  Unless she was White Passing and wound up in a rooming house in Baltimore in 1950. Being the only child of her parents and not having any children, the chance of someone reporting her death to the papers was lower. From her husband’s obituary, I did not get the sense that they were plugged into a greater community that would have marked her passing.

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.

We have touched upon Mrs. Freeman in Truxton Resident- Benjamin Freeman 1893-1977- 1st, 3rd, R Sts NW as the mother of Ben Freeman. This post focuses on Ella Freeman.

Ella/Ellen Wheeler was born in Virginia around 1860-1861, around about the time of the American Civil War. It is not clear if her parents were free Blacks or not. The 1870 census showed the family living in Washington, DC with 43 year old Henry Wheeler, a laborer, as the head and his 37 year old wife (Ella’s assumed mother) at home with Ella (9) and sister Mary (12).

By the next census Ella had more sisters. In 1880, the census where addresses start to be recorded, her family lived on the 1000 block of 4th St NW, outside of Truxton. Henry & Louisa were the parents of 6 daughters. Ella and Mary were in their 20s, and their sisters were elementary aged. There was an eleven year gap between Ella (20) and Minnette (9), and an eighteen year gap between Ella and the youngest, two year old Lillie L.

In 1881 she married Charles Freeman.

She and her husband first appear in Truxton Circle in the 1910 census living at 1609 4th St NW. At this point she was 50 years old and this census asked how many children had she had and how many survived. She had eight children and only five survived. The house was full. She lived with her husband Charles, who worked as a messenger, 17 year old son Benjamin, 15 yo son Earle, along with her married daughter’s family, her 6 yo grandson, and a “lodger” Estelle Wheeler, who may have been her sister or other relative.

The 1920 census had the family at 1609 3rd St NW. The house was less crowded with Ella and Charles, 29 yo daughter Anna Williams, her 16 year old grandson, and a 33 year old lodger, Dr. A.J. Bacote. The good Dr. was working as a Pullman porter.

The next census doesn’t provide any clue if they actually moved from 1609 4th to 1609 3rd, because they were at 1623 3rd St NW. In 1930 Ella lived with just 3 other family members. Her husband Charles was still a messenger at 67 years old. The two other family members were her daughter Anna Williams and grandson Robert Williams.

From all the census records, it appears that Ella did not work outside of the home. However the census is spotty with 1890 missing and she not appearing in the 1900 census. She was not recorded in the same house as husband Charles who was living with family outside of the TC on the 1000 block of 4th St NW. It’s possible she may have held a job elsewhere at points in her life.

She died June 30, 1936 at her home at 131 T St NW. She was survived by her husband, two sons Alfonso and Benjamin. Her son Earl died in 1929, at the time of his death he lived with his parents and was a widower.  Daughter Anna Williams died in 1933. Ella’s funeral was celebrated at the Third Baptist Church and she was buried at Harmony Cemetery.

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.

Helen Williams is too common of a name, so we’ll make this quick.

The Helen Williams found in the 1920-1940 census in Truxton Circle was an African America girl, born in North Carolina, who lived on 3rd St NW.

In the 1920 census she was the 3 year old daughter of Joseph Williams and Ollie Rhyne. She was one of three young children living in the home of a government laborer. Also living in the house was their father’s uncle and 6 lodgers. They lived at 1621 3rd St NW.

By 1930 the family had seven children living at 1635 3rd St NW. The father managed to support the whole family still working as a government laborer. Somehow they managed to live without lodgers.

Helen was still at 1635 3rd St NW for the 1940 census. Her mother was a widow and she lived with her two brothers, three sisters and one lodger. She worked as a maid, whereas one of her brothers worked as a messenger boy and a sister worked as a clerk for the W.P.A.

Then the trail goes cold.

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.

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.

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.

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

Myra’s husband Alfred B. Goodman was featured in an earlier post. This one will focus on Myra as her own person.

Myra/Elmira May Boteler was born on June 15, 1878 to Florence Westbrook and Wilton W. Boteler in Washington, DC.  She first appeared in the census in 1880. She was described as a 2 year old White female who was the niece of the head of household. She apparently was left in the care of her uncle Orlando Robertson Boteler and his wife Mary. She lived with her cousins, Mary and Sarah, who were four and two years old, perfect playmates. Uncle Orlando worked as a carpenter, and apparently did very well for himself as the family had a White live in servant, Belle Taylor, at 1218 U St NW. Her parents seem to have skipped the 1880 census.

They did manage to give her a brother, Wilton Westbrook Boteler who was born in 1890.

By the next available census, 1900, Myra had already married Alfred in 1897 and were living together as husband and wife at 409 R St NW. She kept house while her husband worked. They had no children at the time.

But the children came later. The 1910 census revealed two of her surviving 4 children. First came Margaret Mae Goodman in 1902. A year later Mildred Grace was born in 1903, followed by Dorothy Louise in 1906. A few months after her sister’s birth, little Mildred died of a whooping cough and was buried at Glenwood cemetery. It should be noted the family lived at 116 Florida Avenue NW at the time of her death. And it is the residence where the family resided for the 1910 census.

In 1909 Myra gave birth to George W. Goodman, but he only managed to live a few months before joining Mildred in death. Despite these tragedies Myra managed to become a mother again in 1916 at the age of 37 to daughter Ruth Maxine.

A year later, Myra’s father, Wilton W. Boteler died. His last address was 133 Bates Street NW, at a Washington Sanitary Improvement Co (WSIC) home.

The 1920 census had the family still in Truxton Circle, but this time at 80 Q St NW. Her eldest was 18 and working while Myra continued keeping house with a 3 year old underfoot. Later she would be a half a block over at 76A Bates St NW in WSIC housing in 1930. In the WSIC unit, she lived with her husband, her 14 year old daughter and her bachelor brother Wilton.  It was more than likely they were all sharing a 2 bedroom unit.

The unit got more cramped and crowded in 1940 as Myra had to live with her husband, her daughter Ruth, her son in law, Frederick Rudy, her 1 year old grandson, and her brother Wilton. Her husband Alfred died in 1941. Wilton vacated the small unit with his death in 1948.

By 1950 76A Bates Street was just the surviving women. Myra was a 76 year old widow with Alfred gone. Ruth was divorced raising 9 year old daughter Myra L. Rudy, while working at a soda fountain. Freddy Sr. and Jr. were elsewhere. Alive, but not at 76A Bates. As regular readers know, later that year the WSIC homes were up for sale to African American buyers and the Goodmans would need to vacate.

Myra finally died March 30, 1959. Her obituary appeared in the Evening Star:

Mrs. Goodman Lifelong Resident. Mrs. Myra Boteler Goodman, 80, a lifelong resident of the Washington area, died yesterday at her home in Kentland, Md.
Mrs. Goodman attended Maunday Thursday services at Epiphany Church, where she had been a member for 50 years.
The widow of a District painting contractor, Mrs. Goodman lived in Northwest Washington until she moved to Kentland nine years ago.
She leaves three daughters, Mrs. Ruth Rudy of 7602 Hawthorne street Kentland: Mrs. Margaret Lakin, 6400 Bells Mill road, Bethesda, and Mrs. F.C. Payne, Atlanta, Ga.

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.

Grace J. Alsop appeared in three Truxton Circle censuses, 1920-1940. So let’s take a look at this TC resident from the past.

Grace was born a White female in Washington, DC on October 26, 1900 to Carrie V. McDonald and Lawrence H. Alsop Sr. Her father worked as a brewer. When she first appeared in the US census in 1910, she lived at 1143 5th St with her widowed father, her grandmother, and her two brothers and sister.

By 1920 she was living in a Washington Sanitary Improvement Co. unit at 30A Bates Street NW. She and her brother Lawrence Jr. were living with her sister Ida and Ida’s husband Andrew H. Smith and their 1 year old daughter. She was listed as working as a supervisor. Her brother worked as a driver and her brother in law was a shoe store salesman.

In the next census, 1930, Grace was still at 30A Bates living with her in-laws. Her brother had died in 1920 when his motorcycle was hit by a fire truck. He is buried at Arlington. Her sister and her husband gained a son, Richard. Grace still worked as a supervisor for the telephone company.

Lastly, in 1940, her occupation remained unchanged. As the same for her address and who she lived with.

In 1950 she was a lodger, living in an apartment with Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Hauphurst at 1231 Simms Pl NE in the Trinidad neighborhood. She was a service assistant for the telephone company.

Afterwards, at some point, she moved to Hyattsville, MD where she died in 1977. She never married.