Patrick James Byrne was born in New York City to Irish immigrants John Byrne and Brigid/ Bridgette Smith on March 17, 1854. The family lived on an Iowa farm. Sometime before 1900 he moved to Washington, DC.

In 1884 he got his medical degree from the State University of Iowa. It looks like he did his residency (?) at Bellevue Medical College in NYC in 1886. November 6, 1889 he married Irish born Sarah Farmer.

He shows up in Truxton Circle in the 1900-1920 censuses at 234 N St NW in a house he rented. In 1900 Dr. Byrne had 6 children with his wife: Joseph Vincent, 1892–1932; Mary, 1894-1953?; Sarah Ann, 1895–1959; Elizabeth K., 1896–1965; William John, 1897–1910; and Robert Bernard, 1898-1963. 1910 they added Paul J., 1902-1968; Margaret,1904-1968;  and Patrick John, 1907-?.  Their son Bernard, born 1901, died in 1907.

From 1900-1910 his occupation was that of physician. In a 1925 edition of Who’s Who in Medicine, he was a specialist in skin diseases and syphilis. His obituary stated that he worked as a member of the medical staff for the Pension Office until 1918, which might explain, why in 1920 his occupation was government clerk. He was also listed as owner of the home. It appears he did own the home as the children sold it ( Sq555 lot 0127) in 1943.

He died in April 1930 at his home at 2810 6th St NW, which is not in Truxton Circle. He was survived by his wife and seven adult children.

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.

Sophia Grammler was born March 21, 1835 in Germany. In 1850, at the age of 15, she arrived from Bremen to America on a ship in Baltimore, MD. Four years later she married Daniel George Artes. In 1870 the Artes lived in Georgetown, DC and it was the year she became a naturalized American citizen.

It was between 1900 and 1920 she lived in Truxton Circle. In 1900 she was a 65 year old hausfrau living at 61 P St NW. Her husband Daniel was 74 year old baker. The couple lived with their unmarried 26 year old daughter Emma, and their two granddaughters.  By the next census she was a widow on P St. Pauline, her daughter was living with her along with her nephew and two adult nieces. All the adults, except for Sophia, were working and were able to help with the rent.

The 1920 census showed she lived with her daughter Pauline at 25 Q St NW. Her daughter was reportedly keeping boarders, but it seems there was only one boarder, as the other people living there were nieces and a nephew and a “roomer” Harry Kennelly who shared the same surname as nieces and a nephew from 1910. The 1920 census was taken in January 1920. Sophia died the next month in February at the age of 84.

It does not appear she held a job outside of the home. After the death of her husband it appears her safety net were children and other relatives.

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.

Mary or Marie H.A. Smallwood was born in Washington, DC the daughter of William R. Smallwood Sr. and Catherine J. Coombs/Dooley/Duley, August 1880, in a White working class family. She did not appear in the 1880 census. She did in the 1900 census, living with her 3 adult brothers, 16 year old kid brother and their father. At the time she was a 20 year old working as a house keeper. The Brothers worked as a machinist, a dairyman, a conductor, and an errand boy. Their 59 year old father was listed as a farm laborer.

1910 Mary was a saleslady and lived as a lodger. She married Charles Clague August 25, 1911. By 1918 she and Charles lived in the segregated WSIC homes for White tenants at 131A Bates Street NW.

They did not have any children.

She worked most of her life. In 1920 she worked as a saleswoman at an electric supply company. 1930, a clerk at a department store. At the age of 59, for the 1940 census, it appears she retired from outside work.

In 1950 her husband died on May 12th. She followed him in death the next month on June 10th. She is buried at the Fort Lincoln 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.

Let’s start with Emma Taylor (1881), the one who lived at 1622 4th St NW from the 1920 census to 1950 census. In 1920 she lived there with her husband William Givings Taylor (42), and their four children: Agnes (20), William E. (18), James (14) and Aloma (11). Her husband worked as a helper in an Express Office. She was 39 years old and worked as a servant for a private family. The eldest son worked as a messenger in a Naval building. The their daughter worked as a charwoman in a hotel. The younger boys were in school.

Looking at the 1930 census the house was less crowded. It was just William and Emma and their youngest son Alonzo Everett (formerly Aloma). He husband, then 51, worked as a laborer for the city. Emma at the half century mark was keeping house. Their son was a shoemaker in a shoe shop.

Emma became a widow sometime between 1930 and 1940. She was supported by her son and she took in a lodger. William worked as an elevator operator. Alonzo was unemployed at the time of the census. William was married but his wife wasn’t in the home at the time of the census.

In the last census, Emma was still keeping house supported by her son William and she had a lodger. William was still an elevator operator but for the War Department but now a widower.

Tragedy struck on in July 1952 when after a brief illness William died at the age of 51. He was survived by his mother Emma and sister Mrs. Agnes Rogers.

Her daughter Agnes died in 1963 and in her death records Emma’s maiden name was Lewis. Through her daughter Agnes I was able to trace her to the 1900 census that gave her birthdate as Mar 1879 and birthplace Virginia. She was Ella Taylor in that census. Emma Jane Lewis married William Taylor in 1899.

The other Emma Taylor (1884) were two other Emma Taylors. The first lived at 1630 4th St NW. She was a 15 year old lodger in 1900, living with presumably her 7 year old sister Hattie.  She was born Nov 1884 in Virginia. The census page mentions another lodger Dallas Taylor, who maybe was her mother. Dallas was a single 20 year old chambermaid. Dallas could have been an older sister.

The last Emma Taylor was a widow living at 209A Morgan St NW in 1940. She lived with her brother James William who was a cook. Mrs. Emma Taylor worked as a charwoman. Ancestry assumes she was born in 1884.

You just can’t go by name alone. Sometimes a name is too popular to pin point a particular individual in time. In Truxton Circle, Emma Taylor is that name.

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.

Ralph Waldo Aldridge was born in New York City on June 8, 1915 to Charles H. Aldridge and Margaretha Josephine Geider. There is already a Truxton biography of his father here.

His family lived at 214 Q St NW a WSIC home for White families. In 1920 he lived with his parents and 1 year old brother Frank because he was 4. Ten years later, for the 1930 census, he was still at 214 Q with his parents, brother and 8 year old sister Margie.  That year he graduated from Langley Jr. High.

By 1937 he had left Washington DC and lived in Norfolk, Virginia where he got married. He was 21 and his bride was 20 year old Virginia Louise Wilkins. In 1938 his father died.

He died in 1995.

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.

Thomas Roland Dyson (yes same name as NJ Ave Thomas Dyson) was born August 9, 1923 to Roland Dyson and Julia Louise Wills in Washington, DC. He appears twice in Truxton Circle in the census.

To confuse matters the father, Roland Dyson, also went by Thomas R. Dyson. This is the same name as NJ Ave Thomas Dyson, who also was found to go by Roland Dyson. The father Roland Dyson was listed as Thomas R. Dyson on the death certificate of his and Julia Wills’ 15 month old daughter. In 1921 their daughter died of rickets when they lived at 1023 New Jersey Ave SE. The August 13th, 1923 edition of the Washington Daily News announced Thomas R. and Julia Dyson had a son.

In the 1930 census the younger Thomas Dyson was 6 years old. He lived with his parents, Roland and Julie Dyson at 45 O St NW. That year a sensational and tragic crime occurred in his home. His parents were hosting a party at their home. A 16 year old student from Armstrong High School attended and 15 minutes after her arrival, her 40 year old lover (statutory r@pist) arrived with a friend. The 16 year old stabbed the 40 year old and he died. The story was reported in the Afro-American and the Norfolk Journal and Guide.

The tragedy may have impacted the family because in the 1940 census young Thomas Dyson was living with relatives and not his parents. Instead he was living with his widowed aunt Mary Fantroy (72), cousin Elesires Wills, and several lodgers at 52 1/2 Hanover Pl NW. But mother and son were living together in 1942 when he registered for the draft. They lived at 1117 5th St NW.

October 1944 Thomas Dyson married Elsie V. Foggie. The couple appeared in New York on West 111st Street. The census has him as being NY born. Thomas worked as a plate grinder for a photographer and it appears a co-worker doing the same work lived with the couple as a lodger.

Thomas Dyson died December 1989. If the Find A Grave is correct, he is the father of R&B singer and actor Ronnie Dyson who worked on Broadway,

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.

In the census there was a Thomas Dyson born around 1924, who lived in Truxton Circle in 1930 and 1940. I will refer to him as Thomas Dyson #1. There was a Thomas Roland Dyson who owned 1645 New Jersey Ave NW with Sidney and Charles Dyson from 1946-1955. I’ll call him Thomas Dyson #2. Lastly, there was a Thomas Dyson who was married to Ella Dyson and in 1951 they purchased a WSIC property. That man will be Thomas Dyson #3. They could all be the same person, or two the same, or three different people.

As this is the Black Homeowners of Truxton Circle, I’ll give a quick recap of Dyson #2’s and Dyson $3’s ownership.

Regarding 1645 NJ Ave NW, in April 1946 Charles, Sidney and Thomas Dyson purchased the property from the Washington Housing Corporation.  The three men got a loan with the institution that sold the property to them for $13,250 at 6% interest. In 1951 Charles Sidney Dyson sold his interest in the property to Sidney Dyson, his father. In 1954 there was another loan, $1,088.39 at 6% interest, from the Washington Housing Corporation where the three Dyson men all signed for it. They defaulted on the debt from 1946 and in 1955 there was a trustees deed and the Washington Housing Corporation reclaimed the property.

For the Bates Street property, Square 615 lot 249, Ella and Thomas Dyson purchased half of the property from Colonial Investment Co business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans in December 1950 (recorded Jan 26, 1951). The Dysons borrowed $1,900 from Colonial Mortgage Copr officers/trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman. Then in July 1953 the Dysons transfer the property to Ella Butler, who could have been Ella Dyson.

In the post about 1645 NJ Av NW I wrote Ella Bowman Dyson was Sidney’s wife. I now have doubts and think she may have been Thomas’ wife, which would make Thomas #2 and #3 the same guy.

Sidney Dyson was married to an Ella. In the 1910 census for Piscataway in PG County MD, there were a number of Dicens (Dysons) on the page and Sidney Dicen was married to Ella and they had 3 sons: Charles (b. 1906), Maclater (1907) and Roland (1909). I also see several Thomas Dicens on the page, but I’m going to ignore them.

In 1936, a Thomas R. Dyson, the son of Sidney Dyson and Ella Bowman married Lucille M. Robinson in Alexandria. This Thomas R. Dyson was 28 years old and living at 1511 Marion St NW. Doing some math, his birth year should be 1908. I believe this is Dyson #3.

That birthyear lead me to an Ancestry family tree for Thomas Roland Dyson 1908-1966. That had him married to a Catherine Lucille Mckay in 1940 with no supporting documents. That same tree had a WW2 draft document for Thomas R. Dyson, born 6/1/1909 in PG County married to Catherine Lucille Dyson living at 1736 Williard St NW, Apt 300. The 1950 census has this Thomas R. Dyson living with wife Catherine, and children: Thomas R. (10), Leon J. (6) and Jean P. (8). I ‘think’ this is Dyson #3. Lucille M. Robinson was a dead end.  October 1940 there was a marriage announcement for Thomas E. Dyson and Catherine McKay.

December 15, 1958 Sidney Dyson died at 1645 New Jersey Ave NW. In his obituary he was the father of Mrs. Rhodis Owens, Mrs. Annitia Blair, Charles Dyson, and Thomas R. Dyson, and brother of Sophie Green and George A. Dyson.

If all that is true Dyson #3, is not Dyson #1 or #2. Because is longtime wife is not Ella, that was #3’s mother, but Catherine. And he was born in 1909. Nor was he a homeowner in the TC but a property owner. As a side note, sometimes Thomas R. Dyson #3 went by Roland Dyson.

Moving on to Thomas Dyson #2. This Thomas Dyson was married to an Ella. I can’t seem to find a marriage record. I have a strong suspicion that Ella was Ella Butler, so I find in the 1950 census a 50 year old Ella M. Butler living at at 1431 9th St NW. She was the sister of the head, Carrie E. Braxton (45). Among the many living there was a lodger, 51 year old Thomas Dyson. That Thomas Dyson was separated from his wife (name unknown) and born around 1899 in Maryland and his parents were born in the USA. He worked as a laborer in the construction field. He wasn’t a veteran of any of the World Wars. Without a middle initial it’s hard to pin him to one of the many Thomas Dysons.

Ella Butler kept her home until 1977. We may have to wait until the 1960 census is released before we can see if she is the same Ella Butler of 9th St who shared a home with Thomas Dyson.

I’ll stop it right here as Thomas Dyson #1 was too young to own property when living in Truxton Circle.

In 1899 Louis married Nellie Harleston in the District of Columbia. The couple lived with Nellie’s family in 1900 on the 1200 block of 6th St NW. Louis worked as a tailor.

Louis was able to support his wife and their son on a tailor’s wages and live at 140A Q St NW in one of the WSIC homes for White tenants by 1910. Nellie kept house while Louis worked at a shop on F St downtown.

It was more of the same for the 1920 census. Louis worked as a tailor for wages. Nellie kept house, and their son Gordon (17) lived with them as their only child. But Gordon being on the edge of manhood was gone by the 1930 census.

Gordon between 1920 and 1930 had become a clerical member of the Episcopal church. In 1938 he was the rector for Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Anacostia. When he received a new appointment in 1940 to Holy Trinity in Melbourne, FL his parents followed him. In the 1940 census, Gordon was the head of household, over his sixty-some year old parents. Louis was still tailor, but had been unemployed for several weeks.

When World War II broke out and there was a draft, Gordon was in Buffalo, NY. According to his registration his mother was living with him. So from that we can assume his father Louis also lived with him in the St. Anthony rectory.

Gordon had relocated both his parents earlier when living in Yakima, Washington in 1935. So it seems fair to say the unmarried Gordon was supporting his parents in their old age.

In 1950 Gordon L. Graser was the priest for a church in Denver, CO and had his parents, Louis and Nellie with him. They lived, most likely, in the rectory with a hired hand, David Romero. At this point in his life Louis was 74 years old and unable to work.

According to an obituary in the Evening Star, Louis J. Graser died on a Monday on May 9, 1955 in Long Island, NY. He was survived by his wife and their son the Rev. Gordon Louis Graser.

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.

Frank first appears in Truxton Circle in 1900 at 1308 North Capitol St NW. He was listed a being a single 21 year old plumbers apprentice. He lived with his widowed mother, adult siblings, one sister Fannie and  2 brothers and a boarder. Noticeably, a few doors down lived some other Paynes.

In 1905 he married Mary Matthews, the daughter of Irish immigrants.

In the 1910 census he was living with his wife Mary, not in Truxton Circle. He was 31 years old and working as a shop plumber.

In 1920 he was back in Truxton living in the WSIC rental homes set aside for White tenants at 202 Bates St NW. At this point in his life he was still a plumber. This time the couple had two daughters, 9 year old Helen and 8 year old Loretta.

In 1930 Frank was 52 years old and still working as a plumber. His adult daughters were still living with him. In 1931 while still living at home and working as a clerk, daughter Helen got married in NY state to drug clerk Francis X. Richardson, who also lived in DC.

By the 1940 census Frank Payne had moved out of Truxton and was living on the 100 block of Rhode Island Ave NE. It appears he had retired and the only one working in the household was remaining daughter Loretta who was a stenographer. Their lodger Franklin Cole was 6 years old, so he too was unemployed.

December 28, 1942 Frank Payne died. He was survived by his wife Mary E. Payne, and daughters Loretta M. Payne and Helen E. Richardson.

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.

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.