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Truxton Resident- Harry Mudd (1927-1986) 1415 3rd St NW

Roger C. Carmel as Harry Mudd (1966)- Star Trek TOS

Not Harry Mudd from the original Star Trek series featured in the episode “Mudd’s Women.” That Harry Mudd was a fictional pimp. The Truxton Circle Harry Mudd was a real live person who walked the streets of Truxton Circle, laid his head down in a bed on 3rd Street NW and may have attended school somewhere on P St NW. And TC Harry Mudd was an African American child, not a swarthy White guy dressed like an Aussie pirate.

Hewitt Harry Mudd was born March 5, 1927 in New York City (or DC depending on the document) the son of Blanch E. Malvin and Harry H. Mudd, about 1 month after they married. He first appears in the TC at his aunt’s home at 1415 3rd St NW in 1930. It was a gynocentric home with his aunt, Bessie Taylor a stenographer, his mom a maid, his 60 year old grandmother Sarah Malvin, and female cousins Blanche (8) and Marguerite (6). Were they Mudd’s Women? He was three so he ruled them with whatever cuteness a toddler could muster.

He was still at 1415 3rd St, revealed to be the family home with his father as the head in 1940. His father Harry Mudd (Sr?) was a 60 year old railroad machinist helper. His mother worked as a charwoman for the federal government. Harry was 13 at the time. He lived with his cousins Blanche (18) and Dorotha (16)(Marguerite??) Anderson, Doris Marshall (9) and Ernestine Wingfield (2), along with two female lodgers.

He remained in the house in 1950 as a married man and father. In January of 1949 HH Mudd married Lavinia Marie Phillips. By the time of the census, Mudd was a 23 year old stock clerk. His wife stayed at home with their 1 year old Hewitt the II and infant Jerry J. HH’s parents were still working as a charwoman and railway machinist.

The house was owned by family members. Sarah Malvin, Blanche Mudd’s mother Hewitt’s grandmother, owned the property with Hewitt Harry’s maternal great-aunt, Bessie Taylor. In 1937, Malvin, Blanche Mudd and her daughters Blanche Mudd and Margie Davenport were the owners of 1415 3rd St NW. In 1939, after the death of Sarah Malvin in 1938, the sisters borrowed $1,300 from the Perpetual Building Assoc. In 1946, the sisters changed the ownership to the Mudd family, so that Blanche, Hewitt H. and Harry Mudd. So eventually, Harry became a Black home owner via inheritance. The Mudd men sold the property in 1962 to Talley R. Holmes after Blanche’s death.

H. Harry Mudd died October 31, 1986.

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 Resident- William H. King (1889-1952) 140 Q St NW

William Harrison King was born January 18, 1889 in Washington, DC to John S. King and Katie/Catherine Turpin. He was born into a White working class family. His father was a day laborer in 1900 when John King was 50 years old and he was one of seven children. By 1910, Wm’s father had died and he was 21 years old, working as a driver and living with his widowed mother and two teenaged siblings.

He married Emma A. Van Horn and it is in 1917 when the couple shows up at 140 Q St NW in Truxton Circle with the World War I draft registration. In that registration he claimed to support his wife and mother. Census-wise he and Emma appear with his father in law William C. van Horn in the 1920 census. At the time William was working as a salesman for a bakery. The house was one of the Washington Sanitary Improvement Co. homes for White tenants. Based on his obituary, the bakery was probably the National Biscuit Company, which is currently known as Nabisco. He sold National Biscuit Co. products to local groceries in the DC area. By 1930 the couple lived alone. They had no children.

They moved from Truxton Circle to 613 Hamilton St NW and recorded as living there for the 1940 census. In 1952 he died at the age of 62.

Truxton Resident- Robert Brown (1910-unk) Rhode Island and O St NW

Brown. This is a very common name and he is one of two Robert Browns in Truxton Circle. So lets do this thing with the 1910 Robert Brown.

According to my spreadsheet Robert Brown (1910) lived in Truxton Circle in 1920 and 1940. In 1920 a 10 year old Robert Brown was living with his grandparents Arthur and Hannah Bush at 216 O St NW. It was a full house, in addition to the grandparents, there was his uncle Charles Bush and possible mother Gertrude Brown and brother Albert Brown. Then in 1940 he was a lodger at 408 Rhode Island Avenue NW. Both Robert Browns were African American born in the District of Columbia.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear the family was stable and I cannot trace him in time. It doesn’t help that he had a common name.

Black Homeowners of TC- William H. Despert (1875-1956) 139 P St NW

William Henry Despert was born April 1st, 1875 in Washington, DC. He managed to avoid the 1880 census so he first shows up in the 1900 census living in Shaw at 456 N St NW with his wife Bertha and 4 year old daughter Beatrice. He worked as a huckster supporting his family.

In the 1910 census there was a divorced William H. Despert living over on Oakdale Pl living with alone with an unemployed woman lodger, Emma Green. At this point in his life he was a Pullman porter.

According to Land Transfer Books, 1900-1962 held at the DC Public Library he purchased 139 P St NW with wife Emma Green Despert April 24, 1918. When the census came around two years later, 45 year old William the porter was living with wife Emma and her son/ his step-son Herbert G. Green, a 22 year old chauffeur. The 39 year old Emma worked as a hair dresser.

The Desperts borrowed money to purchase their home. In 1933 they paid off that mortgage, but picked up a few mortgages in the meantime. One of those was a 1935 $3,000 mortgage with the Perpetual Building Association. Then they refinanced in 1939 with a $3,800 mortgage with Perpetual,

1930 the residents at 139 P St NW expanded. Herbert, the driver, continued to live there, along with William Henry’s mother-in-law Annie Green, who was 69.

William Despert continued to work into his 60s and 70s. In the 1940 and 1950 censuses he was still working as a porter.

Emma died March 31, 1948. He was alone in 1950, the only resident of 139 P. A few years after her death, William removed his departed wife and added the name of his daughter from his first marriage to the deed in 1952. Beatrice had married and living with her second husband Jordan Johnson over on K St NW.

At the age of 76 he died at home. He was survived by his daughter Beatrice E. Johnson, his brother Walter Despert, two grandchildren, Mrs. Margaret Smith and Jordon Johnson Jr. and five great-grandchildren.

The property remained with Beatrice Johnson until she lost it to foreclosure in 1974. Real estate character George Basiliko picked it up for a little over $4K who immediately sold it.

Labor Day- For those who labored in Truxton Circle

This is just a short blog about Truxton Circle, not only as a place where working people lived, but also a place where people worked. Though now the neighborhood is primarily residential, with the exception of North Cap, the area held commercial spaces, schools, a firehouse and a hospital.

Where the New York Ave park sits, a hospital with nurses and doctors was once.

Baist’s real estate atlas of surveys of Washington, District of Columbia, 1919. Source-Library of Congress

Where the Northwest Co-op sits was an industrial area around the 1920s. People worked in the dairy and garages.

Lastly were the schools, where teachers worked.

[Untitled photo, possibly related to: Washington, D.C. Schoolteacher] Library of Congress

Teacher showing students, 1942. Source: Library of Congress

So for all who labored in Truxton Circle, Happy Labor Day.

Truxton Resident- John L. Bladen (1897-1955) North Cap, Bates

John Lewis Bladen was born in Washington, DC to parents John Jacob Bladen and Elizabeth Bentine Berry June 6, 1897. The family showed up in the 1900 census living at 1518 North Capitol Street NW. John’s father was a 37 year old German-American engineer. His mother, 31, was an Irish-American house wife and his sister Berry Mary was 5. The family was still on North Cap in 1910. John Lewis was 12.

During the WWI draft he described himself as self employed. He was living with his parents on North Cap. At some point he married Evelyn Viola Stark. In 1920 he was then the head of 1518 North Capitol. He lived there with his wife, his mother and 20 year old niece Mildred Norton. John worked as an auto mechanic and his niece a telephone operator.

He was in Truxton Circle WSIC housing for the 1940 census. The 1930 census? He was a garage manager in Arlington, VA. So he was back in the neighborhood living at 41 Bates Street NW. He was there as early as 1934 as a foreman for Jacobs Transfer Co. He lived with his wife and their three sons, John Jr (18), Robert (17) and Richard (10). John Sr. continued to work as an auto mechanic, his wife worked as a counter clerk and their eldest was a new worker.

John Sr, Evelyn Viola, and Frank Bladen. Date unknown. Source- Ancestry by PFiers3 Jun 2012

In his last census, the 1950 census, John L., Viola, sons Richard and 10 year old Frank. John was still a mechanic and Viola a sales lady. When the WSIC homes were sold in late 1950, the family had to move. It seemed they moved to New York. John died January 20, 1955.

Truxton Resident- Pauline Artes (1860-1940) 1st, Q & P St NW

Pauline Artes was born September 10, 1860 in Georgetown, DC to Sophia Gramler and Daniel Artes, two German immigrants.

phot of young girl leaning — Pauline Artes. Source- Ancestry. Credit: Caroe_S

Looking at the the description from a photo of a young Ms. Artes it reads, “This little girl grew up to be a beloved caretaker in the Artes family. She is listed in the household of her parents as they became elderly. After their death she managed a boarding house where her cooking was renown. My mother met my dad there. Mom’s diary is full of visits to Aunt Lena’s with her parents. She recalled this tiny women wresting huge roasting pans from the oven and still making time to share special treats with her nieces. I have a picture of two of her boarders, Swedish carpenters who made Aunt Lena’s their home in DC.”

“Aunt Lena” had made her home and place of work in Truxton Circle. The 1905 and 1909 city directories listed her as a grocer at 61 P St NW. A little earlier, an article celebrating parents Sophia and Daniel’s golden wedding anniversary in 1904, mentioned their home was 61 P St NW.

By 1910 her mother was a widow and the 41 year old never married daughter was listed in the census as a business woman running a grocery on her own account. Lena lived in the house with her mother, two adult nieces and a 14 year old nephew with a Kennelly surname.

1915 she had gone from a grocer to a confectioner, a seller of sweets at 61 P St. And the 1920 census showed that she switched to being the mistress of a boarding house. At the time of the census she only had two roomers. She also housed her 85 year old mother, a 34- year old cousin, and an 11 year old niece.

Pauline Artes. Date unkn. Source- Ancestry. Credit: Caroe_S

Despite running a business out of 61 P St, the family did not own it. They were renters.

According to the 1921 city directory, her home was 25 Q St NW. The 1922 directory has her running a boarding house there. Then in 1923, she relocated to 1619 1st St NW taking up her former grocer profession.

She was out of Truxton by the 1930 census, scooted up the road to 1829 1st St NW in Bloomingdale. She was 72 years old and running a rooming house of sorts. She only had two roomers at the time of the census. She was also housing a 28 year old nephew and her 54 year old widowed sister.

Lena died January 1940. The funeral was held at her home at 74 T St NW, also in Bloomingdale. She was 82 years old.

At this point I’m going to pontificate about single women like Pauline. She is one of many women, who as single women were able to make a way for herself over 100 years ago, before Suffrage and other rights. My annoyance with Women’s history is that it gets boiled down to that, Suffrage and Rights. The same way Black History is just Slavery and Civil Rights, as if we didn’t do other things. Anyway, misery sells and I’m not selling misery. I’m telling the history of Truxton Circle, which was formed by a variety of people, including Miss Artes. She served people with groceries, candy, and a place to rest their heads. She didn’t need to be a teacher or a nurse, she was a business woman. She didn’t need a man to handle her business. Nor did she need to work for someone else while she was in Truxton Circle and Bloomingdale (she worked as a cook earlier). Scroll up and see a strong independent woman who took care of her loved ones.

Truxton Resident- Helen Williams (1917-unk) 3rd St NW

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.

Truxton Circle History Substack

I didn’t mean to start a Substack.

I was looking for places where my essay “Ethnic Divides in a DC Neighborhood” on line. It has been referenced a few times and sometimes it shows up in the dodgiest of places on the internet. Then that wasn’t providing the results I wanted, so I threw in my whole legal name and “Truxton Circle” and came across someone’s Substack.

It was John Cass‘ “Neighbor History” Substack, in his article Neighbors in the Records. I’m simply flattered and honored by what he has to say about about my research.

As there are a billion things going on with me as a mom, wife, church archivist, paid archivist, and this blog, I’ll keep it short and end now. You can subscribe now, or wait until I have something special. And when I do, I’ll post it here to let you know.

no Twitter with current id

Truxton Resident- James Adams (1882-1948) 1421 NJ Avenue NW (property info)

This is an update because I accidentally wrote James Adams’ bio twice. The first one is here. Looking at the second copy, it had property info so I will have it below:

James Adams first showed up in Truxton Circle in the 1930 census at 1421 New Jersey Ave NW as the owner. Looking at the DC Recorder of Deeds, the Adams owned a property at Square 553W lot S. A cursory look revealed they borrowed from Nathan Levin of the WSIC sale.

James and wife Matilda F. Adams purchased 1421 NJ Ave NW in 1928 from Laura Lee Beck. They borrowed $1,470 from trustees at a 7% interest rate. Then late that year they took out a 2nd mortgage to pay a debt to Mabel Butler. Why? No idea. They borrowed quite frequently. They sold the home in August 1937 to Ralph P. Gibson.

Let’s return to the census. In 1930, James is working as a railroad porter. His wife listed as Florence, worked as a maid for a private family and his 22 year old son Charles worked as an elevator operator for the rail road station. Prior to this they were on a farm in White Plains, MD. James was farming, Matilda Florence was a farm wife, and Charles was in school.

Despite selling the house in 1937, they were still at 1421 NJ Av NW, but as renters in the 1940 census. James’ birth year shifted to approx. 1884. He still worked as a porter. Matilda Florence went back to being a housewife. Their son did not live with them, instead they had a husband and wife lodger couple from South Carolina.