WSIC – Truxton Is In Shaw

Black Homeowners of TC- Frank and Earlene H. Fowler -131 Bates Street NW

I already did the foreclosure story and now I am looking at the other owners, who did not face foreclosure, Frank and Earlene H. Fowler of 131 Bates Street NW.

I’m going to start with Earlene. She was born Agnes Earline Hailstork November 4, 1915 in Virginia. Her mother was an 18 year old housekeeper and her father unknown. In 1946 she married Frank Fowler. In the 1950 census she worked as a clerical worker for the V.A. and lived with her husband Frank, a laborer, and their 3 sons, all under the age of 3 on the 2100 block of 18th St NW.

There was another Black Frank Fowler in the area, and I don’t trust the family tree, so this is the end. I will say one of their sons, Larry, kept close.

WSIC- The Black Unit Block of O St NW

The Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) had a lot of rental units in Truxton Circle, but they were segregated. The White tenants were on Bates St (unit to 200 block), 3rd St, 200 block of P Street and the 100-200 block of Q Street NW. The Black tenants were segregated way over on the unit block of O Street, where their White renters would not see them.

I haven’t gathered the info for the 1950 census for Truxton Circle, but I have started. While collecting information about the sale of WSIC homes to African Americans in the TC, I took a look at the Black units to see if any of the Black tenants decided to buy. I’ve already did a post about the Edmunstons who bought their unit.

The Burtons also purchased their unit at 40 O St NW. Nellie and John R. Burton lived there as far back as the 1930 census. In the 1930s the father John A. Burton was a barber, Nellie, the mother was at home and John R. was a student. Nellie died in May 1956 and two years later their half was foreclosed upon. During the 1950 census John R. was the head working as a clerk for the US government. He was at 40 O St with his wife Mary L. who was a stenographer, their 6 year old son and mother Nellie who was at home. It appears Nellie dealt with child care, freeing Mary to work outside of the home.

A few months after purchasing 40 O Street NW with his mother, he and his wife Mary Louise Burton, purchased 116 53rd St SE in Marshall Heights. This house had two mortgages. The first was $3,250 with a lender and the second was $6,600 with Riggs Bank. In 1956 John and Mary bought 5212 East Capitol St NE. This also came with two mortgages, the first being $3,500 and the second $2,000 with the same lender.

There were a few who purchased WSIC units, just not theirs.

Ethel and Malvern F. Jackson purchased half of 24 O St NW, but lived in 18 O St NW when the 1950 census was taken. In the 1950 census Ethel was a 58 year old widow living with her son Malvern, daughter Nathelma and son-in-law William Ewell. At that time Malvern and Nathelma were the only adults working. He was worked at the post office as a postal clerk. She was a printer’s assistant at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. In 1954 the Jacksons sold their half of 24 O St NW back to the sellers. That same month Malvern purchased 631 Gallatin St NW with his wife Genevieve. They were able to borrow $9,000 from the Jefferson Savings and Loan/ Lincoln National Bank and $3,950 from other trustees.

Ethel’s daughter and son-in-law purchased half of 30 O St NW. Like her brother, Nathelma and William Ewell sold the house back to the sellers in September 1954. There was no evidence the couple purchased anything in the District of Columbia. At one point in time Nathelma lived in Silver Spring.

Roxie A. Jackson was a 40 year old widow who lived with her 20 year old son and 78 year old uncle at 46 O Street NW and working as a charwoman. Her son Mark worked for a dry cleaner. When the WSIC units came up for sale, she bought 32 O St NW. In 1952 Mrs. Jackson sold her half to Ruth and Charles Rodgers Hawkins, who then sold it to Mrs. Helena Isabel Ash. The Jackson loan got paid off and all was well. She disappears from record after that.

WSIC- Robert G. Weightman of Colonial Mortgage Corp.

I think I have most of the major players who were involved with the sell of the WSIC houses, except Robert Weightman.

Colonial Investment Co. was headed by president Nathan Levin. The VP was Nathaniel J. Taube, who also served as the president of Colonial Mortgage Corp. and the treasurer was James B. Evans. Abraham H. Levin was the legal advisor and general manager of both Colonial Mortgage and Investment, as well as Nathan’s brother. Harry A. Badt was appears in the records after Nathan Levin’s death in 1956. Prior to that Badt was the treasurer in charge of building inspection for Colonial Mortgage.

Abraham Levin and Robert G. Weightman’s names appear in the loan records for the WSIC homes sold to Black home buyers, as well as the foreclosure documents. So three paragraphs in, who was Robert G. Weightman?

Robert Gillain Weightman was born 12/11/1906 in Philadelphia to Helen Hoskin and Robert G. Weightman (1877-1909). He was baptized in the Episcopal church in 1908. In 1930 he was 23 years old, married to wife Eleanore and working as a credit clerk for a gas station in Camden, NJ. In the 1940 census he was living at 800 Talyor St NE, with wife Eleanore and 8 year old son James. At that time he worked as an accountant for a finance company. During WWII he remained at 800 Taylor St NE working for Security Finance Co.

Looking at the 1950 census the family had moved out to Chillium, MD in PG county. He was working as an accountant but for a real estate company. We can guess the company was Colonial Mortgage Corp.

Weightman only appeared in the local papers with Abraham Levin for foreclosures.

Weightman moved back to Pennsylvania and there he died in 1994.

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Edmonston- 14 O St NW- Rent to Own

I’m sort of restarting the Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle series again, but with a WSIC mix. In 1950 the WSIC were sold to real estate investors who resold the White rental units to African American home buyers. The renters were forced to leave. However, the set of WSIC houses on O Street that were set aside for Black renters. I wanted to see if the renters became owners.

In the 1950 census for Census Tract 46, ED 70 page 1 there were two households living at 14 O St NW, the Edmonstons and the Jeffersons. The Edmonstons, who lived in the 1st floor unit, bought their unit in 1951 from the Colonial Investment Company in the form of three business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans.

Vincent Julius Edmondson was born March 5, 1915 in Washington, DC to Samuel H. Edmondson and Millie F. Wilson. At some point he married his wife Marguerite L., whom Ancestry has determined, without any evidence I could find, as being born Marguerite L. White, also of Washington, DC. They had 4 children, Vincent Jr., Marguerite E., Warren and Julius. When the children were under 5 years old in 1940, Marguerite was a housewife.

In 1940 he lived at 14 O St NW and worked as a carrier for the US government. By 1950, Marguerite was a file clerk for the government. The children by this time were between 9 and 14 years old.

The family held on to their unit until 1956 when they sold their half to Mary Dyson Lane. Unfortunately something happened and that unit was foreclosed upon in 1960. In 1956 the Edmonstons bought 5208 13th St NW. Sometime around or before 1964, Marguerite died and Vincent was an unmarried widow when he took out an $8,000 loan with the Perpetual Building Association. So the O St foreclosure appeared not to have hurt them and their ability to continue to be homeowners. The 13th St house was transferred/sold by Vincent’s estate, as it appeared he died around 1989, to a Micheal Edmondson, a possible grandson.

The Edmonstons did provide generational wealth in that assets from one generation was able to go to another generation. In this case, down to a grandson. However, it wasn’t the O Street home that provided the wealth. That may have introduced the idea of home ownership and when a better opportunity presented itself.

WSIC- Nathaniel Taube of Colonial Investment Co.

Nathaniel John Taube (1893-1975) was the vice president of the Colonial Investment Company and the president of the Colonial Mortgage and Colonial Construction Company. This is the company that sold homes to African American buyers in 1950-1951 Truxton Circle that were formerly WSIC rentals.

Taube was born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in Philadelphia, PA in either 1893 or 1894, there are conflicting dates, Jacob and Rose Taube. Looking at Ancestry, the 1910 and 1930 census has him as in Philadelphia, later working in the real estate business.

He finally appears in Washington, DC in the 1940 census. At that time he was living at 6432 Luzon Ave NW in the Brightwood neighborhood. He resided there alone with a live in maid. His occupation was that of executive in real estate. The newspapers has him in DC in July 1938, involved in a traffic accident, where he was sentenced to a 10 day jail sentence for failing to give the right of way. The two women he hit sued him for $20,000.

The 1950 census has him in Margate City, NJ. His obit has him dying in Margate City and noting he was the president of the Colonial Mortgage Co . in Washington, DC.

Whereas James B. Evans kept a low profile, Nathaniel was in the papers a lot. Most for run of the mill legal real estate stuff, but interestingly he was also named in a Balm Suit. A balm or heart balm suit is an outdated legal term for a civil lawsuit where someone can sue a former lover, partner or a third party who came between romantic or married partners. In this case, the paper said Taube was living at 6432 Luzon Ave NW in 1946 and the The Washington Daily News wrote that Taube of the Colonial Investment Co. was being sued by John B. Williams of Temple Hills, MD for luring Mrs. Williams away. He was sued for $75,000, 1946 money. The Times Herald had more juicy details. Long story short, Taube was having an affair with Elizabeth Williams, damaging the Williams’ marriage. The Williams had a 12 year old daughter, who the Times names, which makes the story sad. Sort of.

In the 1950 census, where he was in New Jersey, his wife’s name is Elizabeth and his fifteen year old daughter had the same name as the twelve year old. It appears, from his obituary he and Elizabeth had a son, John F. Taube. It’s interesting what human stories get unearthed when doing genealogy. So Taube was a wife stealer. Who knows what kind of marriage the Williams had, maybe he was a rescuer, maybe he was a thief.

Anyway, back to DC.

His name appeared often with the Colonial brand. In several of the large block ads his name would appear, along with stories about developments and projects Colonial was building. Colonial was involved in the growth of the DC metro area with projects in DC, MoCo, PG and Northern Virginia.

WSIC- James B. Evans of the Colonial Investment Company

Who was James B. Evans (1895-1977) one of the three main participants in the WSIC sell off scheme?

James Beatty Evans was born January 24, 1985 to Charles Noble Pumphrey Evans and Clara May Barker in Washington, DC. His father was paperhanger, or one who hangs wallpaper. He had six siblings, of those that survived to adulthood they went into the family occupation of wallpaper and interior design. His maternal grandfather owned a hardware and plumbing business in DC.

He lived with his retired grandfather in 1910 (just him, not parents or siblings) working as a 15 year old stenographer for an office. He continued to work in an office into WWI, doing secretarial work in a government office with a window washing business on the side. In 1920 he was a messenger for a trade journal.

He married Carmen Louise Mayer (1897–1983), the daughter of a German born military doctor, in 1924. Together they had three children, James B. Evans Jr., William Joseph Evans, and Patricia A. Evans.

The family lived west of the Park in different residences from 1930-1960. First, the family was a little south of Cathedral Heights, in Westchester. Then they moved to Dexter St. NW in Berkley, a neighborhood west of Westchester.

With the exception of a few articles about charitable organizations and wedding announcements, James B. Evans doesn’t show up much in the newspapers. In the Times Herald, Jan 1, 1951 Evans was noted to be the treasurer for all three of the Colonial Investment firms. The 3 being Colonial Construction Company, Colonial Investments Company and Colonial Mortgage Corporation.

As a side note, it appears he was some sort of Protestant. And that’s all I have about the man. He kept a low profile.

WSIC data clean up- 37, 60, 227 and 229 Bates Street NW

Hopefully this is the last post of this kind. This is just answering if the Bates Street Associates (BSA) ever owned the property?

37 Bates Street NW (Sq 615, lot 288) – Well, no. Basiliko sold the property to the Bates Street Partnership in 1978 (document # 7800034103). The Bates Street Partnership with George Diaz and Edward Kassoff as signatories, were not the same (as far as I can tell) as the Bates Street Associates.

60 Bates Street NW (Sq 615, lot 811)- Yes. While I cannot locate a deed transferring the property from Basiliko to the DC Redevelopment Agency (RLA), there is the deed and contract (docs #8000020294 and #8000020221) transferring it from the DC RLA to the BSA Limited Partnership.

227 Bates Street NW (Sq 552, lot 93)- Kinda hard to say….. I’m going to go with no. There is a confusing document (# 8000014566) that is a mortgage release for the Bates Street Associates, Inc, but it was owned by Maude and Farin Boykin.

229 Bates Street NW (Sq 552, lot 94)- Yes. Like 60 Bates St NW the property from Basiliko to the DC RLA, followed by a deed and contract (docs #7900028039 and #7800024140) transferring it from the DC RLA to the BSA Inc.

Behind the foreclosure of the Hall-Stitt house at 42 O St NW- A WSIC story

Nope we’re not done with the WSIC. There are plenty of stories to milk out of of the WSIC saga and this is one.

Typically, if the buyer paid off the loan it would take about 10 years to do so. The buyers at 42 O Street NW faltered so close to the finish line. The first foreclosure for this house came in 1959. The second was from a family who bought the house in February 1951 losing the house to foreclosure in April 1960, about a year or so away from being released from their mortgage.

That last family was Mrs. Mildred Stitt and her parents William and Eva Hall. The 1950 census showed that the Halls lived at 42 O Street NW before the WSIC sell off. Since Colonial Investments was selling units exclusively to African American buyers, the Halls had options the White tenants did not. The WSIC rentals on the unit block of O St were for Black renters and the rest were for White renters.

When they bought the downstairs half of 42 O Street William was about 75 years old and his wife 70. Mildred is a bit harder to pin down. She married James Samuel Stitt in 1938 in Arlington , VA and I can’t seem to find them living in the same house. She wasn’t at 42 O St NW in 1950, but she was on the 1951 deed.

William died July 13, 1955. Eva followed later in 1960 and that gives a clue as to why their unit fell into foreclosure.

They had three daughters, one being Mildred Stitt. I have my doubts that Mildred ever lived with them. Once Eva died there may have been no reason to keep paying mortgage payments. But they were so close to the end.

I have no idea what Mildred was doing during the period of her parents’ deaths. It seems that she was separated from James S. Stitt. There was another James S. Stitt, could have been the same one, who married an Anne Hall and lived in Mecklenberg, NC. But I know she eventually moved to 3827 Hamilton St in Hyattsville and lived there. She died August 15, 1998.

WSIC data clean up- 1529, 1533, 1541 and 1545 3rd St NW

Yes, another filler post. This is just answering the question were these properties ever under the control of the Bates Street Associates (BSA)?

1529 3rd St NW (lot 49)- No. I gather Basiliko missed the prime window to off load properties to the DC Redevelopment Agency (RLA).

1533 3rd St NW (lot 51)- Yes. The property went from Basiliko to the DC RLA (doc #1970011877), then from the DC RLA to BSA Limited Partnership with a deed (doc #8000020294) and a contract ( doc #8000020221).

1541 3rd St NW (lot 55)- No.

1545 3rd St NW (lot 57)- Yes. Same story as 1533 3rd St it went from Basiliko, to DC RLA then to BSA with all the same documents.

WSIC data clean up- 132, 136, 210, 214, 218, 220 and 226 Q St NW

This is a filler post. Feel free to ignore this. I am just cleaning up the data answering the question were these properties ever under the control of the Bates Street Associates (BSA)?

132 Q St NW (lot 100)- Yes. There does not appear to be a deed transferring the property from George Basiliko to the DC Redevelopment Agency (RLA) which happened sometime around 1970-1972. There is a contract between the DC RLA and the BSA (document #7800024140) recorded in 1978. Usually there is a deed paired with this contract, but It doesn’t appear in the search. Just to clarify that the contract is not accidental, there is a deed (doc #8000029035) transferring the property from the Bates Street Associates, Incorporated to Bates Street Associates Limited Partnership.

136 Q St NW (lot 98)- Yes. Once again, no deeds located for the transfers from Basiliko to DC RLA and from DC RLA to BSA, but there is a contract (doc #7800024140). BSA did own it and there is a 1980 deed where BSA sold the property to Delois Fields.

210 Q St NW (lot 71)- Yes, and this one is better documented. There is a 1970 deed transferring the property from Basiliko to the DC RLA (doc #1970011877), and a 1979 deed transferring it from DC RLA to the Bates Street Associates, Inc. (doc #7900028039). That deed was sort of paired with the contract (doc #7800024140).

214 Q St NW (lot 69)- Yes. DC RLA gained ownership from deed # 1972001370. Like 210 Q St NW, documents #7900028039 and #7800024140 are the deed and contract transferring the property from DC RLA to BSA Inc.

218 Q St NW (lot 67)- Yes. In 1970 there is a deed transferring the property from Basiliko to DC RLA (doc #1970011877). Then there is a deed (doc #8000020294) and contract ( doc #8000020221) transferring it from the DC RLA to BSA Limited Partnership.

220 Q St NW (lot 66)- Yes. Deed from Basiliko to DC RLA (doc #1970011877), then deed and contract from DC RLA to Bates Street Associates Inc. (docs #8000020294 and #8000020221)

226 Q St NW (lot 63)- Umm, No. There is a deed (doc #8000029035) transferring it from Bates Street Associates Inc to Bates Street Limited Partnership. I think it is a mistake as it includes a lot of former Washington Sanitary Improvement Co houses. The property belonged to Robert W. Ayers.