The Cedars
The Cedars Aladdin kit house. The image was filed with the Public Service Commission as part of an effort to stop the closure of the Washington Interurban streetcar line.
‘The Cedars bungalow, marvelously priced and remarkably designed, is available in 5 floor plans, one of which is sure to meet your idea of a convenient, sturdy home’.
This Aladdin mail order house was built in 1920 on lots 37 and 38 in block 43 by John W. Hall (1876-1959), a carpenter and building contractor. The house we find at the corresponding address, 8801 63rd Avenue, today differs slightly from the catalog image (see dormer window in south elevation). It may have been an upgrade, a different model year, or Hall made alterations to suit his own taste.
The Cedars today, located at 8801 63rd Avenue.
John Hall and his wife Blanche (nee Fink) purchased the lots from Elwood and Sallie Taylor in 1917 and 1920, respectively,1 as an investment. They intended to sell the improved property but failing that they probably ended up renting it.2 The house was eventually sold to E. Clare Turner in 1946.3
John Hall’s family on his mother’s side used to own a store in Aquasco near Upper Marlboro, which his mother Laura inherited in 1879.4 Laura A. Hall (1843-1905) was a widow with four young children5 when she married William W. Hall (1840-1909), a miner, in 1874. Residing in the Branchville area of the Vansville District,6 they bought a house in Berwyn Heights in 1899.7 This house was built by the Charlton Heights Improvement Company ca. 1894 and was located on lot 5 and part of lot 6 in block 7, Duncanson Avenue, which today is at 5707 Seminole Street. John lived there with his parents and in 1905 purchased the remaining part of lot 6.8
John (1876-1959) married Blanche F. Fink (1875-1950), daughter of Jacob Fink, a bricklayer and longtime neighbor of the Halls, around 1904. They had one daughter, Mildred Alice (1904-1999). John and Blanche joined the Berwyn Heights Association in March 1915.9 In 1918, John reported himself working on the construction of the Lincoln Memorial as an employee of the George A. Fuller Company.10 Thereafter, he likely contracted for construction projects around Berwyn Heights, for example entering an unsuccessful bid in 1921 to build the mail-order Harris kit house for the Berwyn Heights Company.11
John and Blanche’s daughter Mildred served as a personal secretary for Mrs. Lou H. Hoover during President Herbert Hoover’s term in office, and lived with them in the White House.12 In 1934, she married Thomas Allen Campbell, the son of a former Governor of Arizona in Palo Alto, California.13 The wedding was hosted by the Hoovers at their home on the grounds of Stanford University.
Blanche Hall died on March 3, 1950 and John on September 3, 1959. Both are interred at Fort Lincoln cemetery.
Sources:
1 Deed 24 Aug. 1917 Elwood & Sallie Taylor to John W Hall, lot 37, block 43, PGC Land Records 148-176; and Deed 14 May1920 Elwood & Sallie Taylor to John & Blanche Hall, lot 38, block 43, PGC Land Records 164-316.
2 BH Company Minute Book, July 15, 1926, p. 89.
3 Deed 13 Aug.1946 John W & Blanche Hall to E. Clare Turner, lots 37 & 38 in block 4, PGC Land Records 865-135.
5 1870 U.S. Census, Vansville District
6 1880 U.S. Census, Vansville District
7 Deed 27 Nov. 1899, Maria Freeland to Laura Hall, lots 5, part of 6 in block 7, PGC Land Records JB 9-371
8 Deed 1905 Aug. 3, Marion Duckett, Trustee to John W. Hall, part of lot 6, block 7, PGC Land Records 26-212
9 Berwyn Heights Association Minute Book, 11 February 2015.
10 John W. Hall World War I Draft Registration, 12 September, 2018.
11 Berwyn Heights Company Minute Book, 29 March 1921.
12 “Home of the Hoovers in Palo Alto, Calif. to be Wedding Scene,” Evening Star, 22 July 1934, p.25.
13 Historic Property Inventory PG 67-22-022; and Evening Star Social Pages, 17 August 1934, p.B-2.
Author:
Kerstin Harper
Taverns of Prince George’s County
Join us for our fall reception November 11, 2:00 pm at the Berwyn Heights Town Center.
Susan Pearl at DeMarr Library, 2012
Learn about the owners, the clientele and the role taverns played in the history of our County. Historian Susan Pearl will present her research on this cheerful topic. Ms. Pearl currently runs the Prince George’s County Historical Society’s DeMarr Library. Before her retirement, she worked for the County’s Historic Preservation Section and surveyed most of the historic houses in Berwyn Heights.
Rossborough Inn Serves as UMD Agricultural Experiment Station – 1924 Livestock Show
The Rossborough Inn featured here was constructed 1798-1812 by John Ross to serve as a way station for weary travelers on the old Baltimore Pike. In 1858, the house and surrounding tract of land was donated by Charles Benedict Calvert to the Maryland Agricultural College. Having served a multitude of purposes, today it houses UMD’s Undergraduate Admissions Office. UMD Archives holds a series of photos of the Inn, some of which are shown in a 2017 article of Terp Magazine found online at http://terp.umd.edu/an-historical-inn-vestigation/.
The Graves-Keleher-Fuerst House
Keleher-Fuerst House 2018
The Historical Committee was proud to feature the historic home of one of its members, Lee Fuerst, in this year’s Berwyn Heights Day and National Night Out exhibit. Lee and her husband Mark purchased their house (PG: 67-022-23 survey) in 2011, and have since turned it into a beautiful show piece of the Victorian “cottages” that originally dotted the subdivision. The house, once poetically named “The Maples,” was built circa 1888-1889 by the Charlton Heights Improvement Company,1 and retains many original architectural features: from shutter dogs to pocket doors to plaster moldings, even a chandelier made for gas lighting.
Inside the Keleher-Fuerst House
The first occupants of the house were Peter J. Keleher (1864-1927), his sister Hannah and her husband Terrence J. Gorman.2 The Kelehers were a close-knit Irish Catholic family from Wisconsin, who made their way to the Washington, DC area via Albany, NY in the early 1880s. Here, with Peter’s older brother Timothy leading the way, the Keleher brothers in turn worked for the DC Auditor’s Office3, and then the US Treasury Department’s 6th Auditor’s Office4. Sometime during this period, they became acquainted with Edward Graves and James Waugh, the principle developers of the new railroad suburb Charlton Heights (now Berwyn Heights), and helped sell properties in the new subdivision. In recognition of their role, Keleher Avenue (now Ruatan Street) was named after them.
After the collapse of the Charlton Heights venture, Peter Keleher was instrumental in turning Edward Graves’ mansion into a summer home for the DC-based St. Ann’s Orphanage. He was the President of St. Joseph’s Union, when the charity purchased the house in June 18975 and raised funds to remodel and expand it to accommodate more of the orphanage’s children.6 One year later in 1898, he joined the 4th “Immunes” Volunteer Infantry Regiment to fight in the Spanish-American War.7 After the war, he returned to work for the Treasury Department and later the Agriculture Department. In January 1904, he married Mary Ann Moran of Georgetown. 8 Throughout his life, Peter was an active member of Catholic congregations and benefit societies. He died in March 1927 and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery9, where his brother Timothy is also buried.
A couple of later owners of the Graves-Keleher-Fuerst house should be noted for the mark they left on the Town’s history. From 1915 to 1923, Pierre Christie Stevens (1858-1919), his wife Sarah and their daughter Marie Christie (1887-1952) lived there.10 Major Pierre Stevens, a Spanish War veteran and paymaster in the U.S. Army, came from a long line of illustrious military leaders going back to the Revolutionary War. Sarah was the daughter of William Bowie Magruder and Elizabeth Worthington Gaither, both whom were descended from founders of the State of Maryland.11 All Stevens’s were members of the Berwyn Heights Association, the precursor of today’s Town government. Marie in 1917 had charge of an Association cleanup committee which organized the collection of refuse in the fledgling community.12 She was also a committed volunteer for Evergreen, a Red Cross School for Blind Soldiers in Baltimore at that time. In April 1920, she married Congressman Frederick Hicks of New York, and during World War II, founded the Scottish Clans Evacuation Plan for bombed out English children.13
Attick Barber Shop, Central Avenue, Berwyn, 1937
From 1935 to 1944, Charles Mayo Attick (1882-1975 ) and his wife Lillian owned the house, which in those days sat on a large property that included most lots in block 42. Additionally, the Atticks owned a number of lots in adjacent blocks 31 and 41.14 Some of the land would eventually be conveyed to the 9 Attick children, most of whom still lived with their parents when they moved to Berwyn Heights.15 The Atticks had previously owned a farm on Edmonston Road near today’s Capital Beltway, which was taken by the Resettlement Administration as eminent domain to serve as a staging ground for building the Greenbelt development.16 Charles Attick owned a barber shop in Berwyn near the streetcar line on the west side of the B&O tracks,17 and served on the Town’s Board of Commissioners from 1938 to 1944, the first 4 years as Chairman. His oldest son, C. Mayo Attick, took over the barber shop, an institution still remembered by some of Berwyn Heights’ older residents.
Sources
1 PGC Tax Assessments, 1888-1890.
2 More detailed information about members of the Keleher family can be found in the biographical sketches of the BHHC’s 2006 “Keleher Avenue” pamphlet, authored by former BHHC member Ann Harris Davidson with research assistance by Julia Coldren-Walker.
3 P.J. Keleher replaces T.D. Keleher in District Auditor’s Office. “District Government Affairs: An Appointment,” The Evening Times, 26 January 1884.
4 The 6thAuditor’s Office of the Treasury Department also employed other men who were connected to the Charlton Heights enterprise. It appears to have been a place where Treasury employees were solicited to purchase properties in Charlton Heights. In 1887, Richard M. Johnson was Chief Clerk in that Office, Timothy Keleher Disbursing Clerk, and Patrick Cunningham Chief of Division. Both Johnson and Cunningham served on the Board of Directors of the Charlton Heights Improvement Company in 1888 and 1889, respectively, while Timothy Keleher served on the Board of the Charlton Heights Investment & Building Association, an entity set up in 1890 to raise funds for the development of Charlton Heights. The 1888 Charlton Heights subdivision plat has corresponding street names: Johnson Avenue (Quebec Place), Cunningham Avenue (Cunningham Drive), and Keleher Avenue (Ruatan Street).
T.D. Keleher is listed as disbursing clerk in 6th Auditor’s Office in D.C. City Directory, 1886; and US Register for Civil, Military and Naval Service, 1887, p.13. P.J. Keleher’s appointment to permanent position in 6th Auditor’s Office reported in “Treasury Department Changes,” Evening Star, 23 April 1888, p.1. Incorporators of Charlton Heights Improvement Company listed in “A New Real Estate Company,” Washington Post, 30 August 1888, p.6. Members of Board of Directors of Charlton Heights Improvement Company listed in “Election of Officers,” Evening Star, 26 January 1889, p.3.
5 “Summer Home,” Evening Star, 3 May 1897, p.3; and “Summer Home for Orphans,” Evening Star, 12 June 1897, p.3; and Deed 12 June 1897, Edward & Katherine Graves to Sisters of Charity, PGC land records, book 39, page 715.
6 “Garden Party & Bazaar,” The Times, 15 August 1897, p.12; and “St. Joseph’s Union,” 12 November 1898, p.8.
7 “Regiments of Immunes,” Evening Star, 14 June 1898, p.3.
8 “Marriages,” Evening Star, 9 January 1904, p.6.
9 “Rites for P.J. Keleher,” Evening Times, 30 March 1927, p.9.
10 Deed 1915 Augusta & Paul Bornsen to Sarah M. Stevens, PGC Land Records, Book 91, Page 488. And Deed 1923 Sarah M. Stevens to Mary L. Biondi, PGC Land Records, Book 194, Page 469.
11 “Pierre Christie Stevens,” http://www.ArlingtonCemetery.net/pcsteven.htm, accessed July 31, 2018.
12 Berwyn Heights Association Meeting Minutes, 2 November 1916, 1 February 1917, 12 April 1917.
13 ArlingtonCemetery.net record.
14 Deed 29 October 1939, Prudential Building Association to Charles M. & Lillian L. Attick, PGC Land Records, Book 431-382. And Deed 28 June 1944, Charles M. & Lillian L Attick to Henry E. & Florence I. Edmunds, PGC Land Records Book 756-290.
15 1930 and 1940 U.S. Census.
16 Told by Michael Attick, grandson of Charles Mayo Attick.
17 1920-1940 U.S. Census.
1896
On
the occasion of the United States Bicentennial celebration in 1976, the late Donald D. Skarda, erstwhile resident of Berwyn Heights, published a very good little history of this Town entitled “Berwyn Heights. A History of a Small Maryland Town.”1 A few copies are still in circulation among long time residents, and a handful are on file in the Town office. If you have one, treasure it or share it with a neighbor.
On the eve of this year’s Town election, it may be appropriate to recall how Berwyn Heights began. Skarda summarized it thus: “The Town of Berwyn Heights officially came into being on April 2, 1896, by an act of the Maryland General Assembly passed on that date.2 The Charter specified the corporate limits of the Town to include all and the same land contained in Edward Graves’ subdivision of the tract of land heretofore known as Charlton Heights…
The Charter of 24 Sections called for the election of three commissioners to serve for one year without pay to administer the affairs of the Town. They were authorized to appoint a Town Clerk to keep appropriate records, and a Bailiff to preserve peace and order in the Town. The commissioners were authorized to levy taxes on all real and personal property, but not to exceed ten cents on each hundred dollars of assessed valuation… 3
Section 7 specified that an election of commissioners was to be held on the first Monday in May in the year 1896, and named Dr. Adelbert H. Lee, Archie Thompson and Elijah G. Gate [Cate] as judges of the election. Yet for reasons unknown, there is no record that an election was ever held or that any other provisions of the charter were ever carried out,” commented Skarda.
Forty years later, I have yet to lay eyes on a report of the 1896 election, but in all likelihood an election was held. Thanks to the Internet, we now have access to a multitude of historic sources that were not available to Skarda. One of the most rewarding is the Library of Congress’ digitized historic newspaper collection. Here one can find an April 28,1896 Evening Times article4 reporting the nomination of 3 candidates, John C. Bonnet, John T. Burch, and Hezekiah S. Waple, to run for commissioners in the May 4, 1896 election. Clearly, plans for an election were being made.
Another clue that an election in fact took place can be gleaned from the Journals of the Maryland Assembly, which was called upon to resolve a conflict related to the next Town election. That election was held on May 3, 1897. William DeMott, Edwin A. Alger and James C. Brelsford were elected commissioners and for a time managed the affairs of the Town. This can be ascertained from at least 2 reports in newspapers of the day.5
Sometime during their term of office, the election was challenged because the Town’s commissioners – presumably those who were elected in 1896 – had failed to appoint election judges in accordance with the Town Charter. Instead, the eligible voters of the Town by agreement selected John C. Bonnet, John Dove and Mahlen C. Stolzenberg to oversee that election.6
The Maryland Assembly addressed the controversy during its next legislative session. The matter was first taken up on on February 8, 1898, and referred to a Committee of Senators Clagett, Gray and Bouie. The Act to Declare Valid the Election went through 3 readings in the Senate and the House before being signed by Governor Lloyd Lowndes on March 22, 1898.7 Yet despite the upholding of the 1897 election results, there appear to have been no other elections held under the 1896 Charter. It was not until 1924, after a new charter had been adopted,.8 that a regular Town government began to operate.
1 Donald D. Skarda, Berwyn Heights: History of a Small Maryland Town, 1976
2 “An act to incorporate the town of Berwyn Heights in Prince George’s County,” Session Laws of the Maryland Assembly, 1896 Session, Volume 475, Page 450.
3 Skarda, p. 21.
4 “Berwin Heights Items,” Evening Times, 28 April, 1896, p. 4.
5 “Town Commissioners Elected,” Evening Times, 4 May, 1897, p.2; and “Prince George’s County Items,” Evening Star, 3 July, 1897, p.20
6 “An Act to declare valid the election of William DeMott, Edwin A. Alger and James C. Brelsford as Commissioners of the town of Berwyn Heights, in Prince George’s county, on the first Monday in May, 1897, and to ratify and confirm the acts done by said Commissioners,” Session Laws of the Maryland Assembly, 1898 Session, Volume 482. Page 147.
7 Journal of Proceedings of the Senate of Maryland, January Session, 1898, pp. 220, 258, 317, 548, 892.
8 “Be it Enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, that Chapter 267 of the Acts of 1896, entitled “An Act to incorporate the town of Berwyn Heights in Prince George’s County, ” be and the same is hereby repealed and re-enacted with amendments so as to read as follows…” Session Laws of the Maryland Assembly, 1924 Session, Volume 568. Page 1262.
Marcavitch Lecture & Book Signing a Rousing Success
Aaron Marcavitch with family signing books.
Maryland Milestones’ Executive Director, Aaron Marcavitch drew a record crowd during our March 18 spring reception. He did a fantastic job presenting his recently published Images of America book: US Route 1: Baltimore to Washington, DC. (available online, or at nearby Books-a-Million in Beltway Plaza Mall for $21.99).
Guests took the opportunity to chat with Aaron and get their books signed. Many stayed on after the presentation to reminisce about restaurants, car dealerships and other businesses that lined Route 1 in times gone by.
The Bonnets
Johann & Marie Bonnet, ca 1890s
On April 28, 1896, the residents of Berwyn Heights assembled in the spacious home of John C. Bonnet to nominate 3 suitable candidates for commissioners in the recently incorporated Town. They nominated Hezekier S. Waple, a merchant and postmaster of Berwyn, John T. Burch, Justice of the Peace, and John Bonnet. Thus reported the Evening Times in its April 28, 1896 edition.1
It so happens, we have additional information to share about the civic-minded host of this assembly, thanks to Robert Gray, a Bonnet descendant, who attended our 2015 Berwyn Heights Association centennial celebration.2 (For those who follow this blog, Mr. Gray is also related to the Benson family, which played such a large role in our Town’s history. He is a cousin of Jim Benson on his father’s side.)
John Bonnet (1834-1904) was born Johann Conrad Bonnet near Kassel, Germany. He was a tailor by trade, and around 1855 went to England with his brother Carl Ludwig, where they started a tailoring business in the Woolwich district of London. Johann married Marie Dorothea Raabe (1836-1911), a native of Kiel, northern Germany in March 1857. They had 8 children and several grew up to work in their father’s tailor shop.3
Bonnet House at 5617 Seminole Street
Their eldest son, Peter Louis, left for America in 1881,4 and opened his own tailor shop on 923 E Street, NW in Washington, DC.5 His sister, Maria Augusta, followed her brother in 1885, and was soon joined by two other sisters Johanette and Katrinka. In 1888, Johann and Marie Bonnet gathered up their youngest children Gustav and Emily and also came to America.6 With assistance from Peter Louis and his wife Mary, they purchased a property in the newly platted suburb of Charlton Heights in March 1891, and had a house built on lots 8, 9 and 10 in block 7.7 This classic box-style foursquare, described as a conspicuous landmark in a Prince George’s County historic survey, still stands at 5617 Seminole Street.
Once settled, the Bonnets joined Charlton Heights social circles, hosted card games and musical evenings8 and attended Berwyn Presbyterian Church.9 Johann, now John Bonnet, began investing in real estate, and with his wife purchased a score of tax sale properties in the vicinity.10 Several were located in Lakeland, but most were near their home in block 7. In 1897, John and Marie transferred the house to their son Gustav. In 1903, they purchased a 1½ acre parcel across the tracks in Berwyn where they built a pretty Victorian house,11 today located at 4816 Berwyn Road. That house passed to their daughter Emily and her husband Arthur B. Gahan, a renowned professor of entomology at the University of Maryland.12 Their daughter Winifred Gahan next owned the house and lived there until she died in November 2002.
You might ask what happened in the election and whether John Bonnet and his fellow nominees were in fact elected commissioners of Berwyn Heights. The short answer is ‘maybe’. A longer explanation must wait for another post.
Sources:
1“Berwin Heights Items,” Evening Times, April 28, 1896, p. 4.
2 “The Gray Family – Vignettes,” Robert Gray, 2010.
3 Gray Vignettes.
4 Caspian (British Steamer) Passenger List, 1881
5 1890 D.C. Directory.
6 Gray Vignettes
7 Deed February 3, 1891, Charlton Heights Improvement Co. to Mary Bonnet, PGC Land Records JWB 25-515.
8 “Berwyn News,” Evening Star, February 10, 1892, p.3.
9 “The Social World-Berwyn,” Evening Star, November 27, 1897, p.7.
10 Bonnet in PGC Land Records, Grantee Index, 1848-1922
11 Deed April 22, 1903, Edward Daniels to John C. Bonnet, 1½ acres of former Reyburn tract, Book 11 Page 408.
12 “Gahan Family Papers,” University of Maryland Archives, Special Collections, 1905-2003.
Mobile App Unveiled
GIS Specialist Mussie Tewolde presents app
Some 40 patrons, many armed with smart phones, attended the unveiling of a Historic Walking Tour Mobile App at our fall reception. The app was produced by the GIS Section of the Prince George’s Planning Department based on the content of a current BHHC Walking Tour Brochure and historic markers. GIS Specialist Mussie Tewolde, who worked on the app, gave a demonstration.
We hope, in time, this app will become a comprehensive guide to all historic sites in Berwyn Heights. We plan to add more descriptions of homes, and invite anyone to contribute information they may have about historic homes, as well as interesting people or events connected with them.
Meanwhile check out the app online at https://tinyurl.com/HistoricBerwynHeights or scan the QR code.
The House of Moulton
The Moulton House today and in 1920 Harris Co. Catalogue
This 6-room,1-bath mail order house located at 8409 58th Avenue was built in 1920 – 1921 by the Berwyn Heights Company.1 It was purchased by Catherine A. Moulton (1874-1938) and her daughters Monemia and Parthia, joint tenants, in February 1922.2 Prior to purchasing the home, Catherine lived in Dorchester County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. She was married to Francis J. Moulton (1868-1909), who worked as an oysterman off Hooper’s Island in the Chesapeake Bay.3 They had 5 children: twin girls Monemia and Parthia born in 1901, then Howard (1903), Charles (1905) and Lilly (1909).4
Catherine, nee Fitzpatrick, was an immigrant. She came to America from Ireland with her family in April 1887 aboard the ocean liner City of Montreal.5 Francis, on the other hand, grew up in a prominent New England family. He was born in France to Charles Raymond and Lillie (Greenough) Moulton.6 His Moulton ancestors had first settled in Saalem, MA in the late 1600s, and their English forebears trace their lineage to Thomas Moulton who fought with William the Conqueror in the Battle of Hastings in 1066.7
A Moulton Family Crest
Charles R. Moulton was a wealthy banker, and a son of Charles F. Moulton, a merchant from Troy, NY, who had accumulated a great fortune in the cotton trade. Charles Sr. was a personal friend of Louis Napoleon, and he and his family moved to Paris when Napoleon became Emperor of France in 1852.8 The Moultons owned several houses in and near Paris, including the Chateau de Petit Val, where Charles Jr. and his wife Lillie would reside after their marriage. Lillie was a famous soprano and an appreciated guest at the court of Louis Napoleon. She gave performances in Paris’ high society and counted among her friends such important composers as Liszt, Wager, Rossini, Gounod and Auber.9 After the fall of Napoleon III in 1870, the Moultons returned to the United States, where Charles died. In 1875, Lillie married the Danish diplomat, Johann de Hegermann-Lindencrone, whom she followed to Washington and a number of European capitals where he served. Her life in Paris and as a diplomats wife is chronicled in two books of letters she published in 1911 and 1913.10
Lillie’s children were raised with the help of nurses. After her return to America, they stayed with her family at Fay House in Cambridge, MA and went to school there.11 Considering the upbringing, it is a bit of a mystery how the Moulton scion Francis ended up working the oyster grounds of the Chesapeake Bay. But the leap is perhaps not as great as it might first appear.
Crisfield Harbor Oyster House, 1901
In the late 1800s, the Chesapeake Bay was experiencing an oyster boom that drew men in search of profit from many places, in particular from New England. The once thriving New England oyster industry had gone into decline because its oyster beds had been depleted. But the Chesapeake seemed to have an inexhaustible supply. In the peak year of 1884, 15 million bushels of oysters were harvested in the Chesapeake, representing nearly half of the world’s supply.12 A reporter for Harper’s Magazine described the boom as “simply a mad scramble carried on in 700 boats manned by 5,600 daring and unscrupulous men.”13 The scramble pitted mostly local watermen, who “tonged” for oysters in the shallow waters of the river deltas, against outsiders, or “oyster pirates,” who “dredged” in deeper waters, but gradually encroached on the tongers’ territory. This resulted in numerous violent clashes and often death. The efforts of the Maryland Oyster Navy to restore order during the Chesapeake Oyster Wars were largely ineffective.14
All things considered, Francis’ illustrious ancestry did not have much practical significance in his adult life. He died in March 1909 at the age of 41 from inflammation of the kidneys and acute bronchitis,15 possibly the result of working in the icy waters of the Chesapeake during the winter oyster season. Catherine was left to raise their children. The year 1920 finds her living in Vienna, Dorchester County, where she was employed as a laborer, while her sons worked as farm hands.16 Her daughters Monemia and Parthia both attended Maryland State Normal School (Towson University).17 After graduating in 1920, the Misses Moulton first lived in Washington, D.C., where Monemia was a clerk in the Commerce Department,18 before moving to Berwyn Heights. The Berwyn Heights house was sold in August 1939, a year after Catherine died, to Arthur and Mabel Shank.19 Catherine and two of her children are buried at Fort Lincoln Cemetery.
1 Berwyn Heights Company Minute Book, Page 64
2 Deed, 4 February 1922, Berwyn Heights Company to Catherine A. Moulton, Monemia Moulton & Parthia Moulton, Prince George’s Land Records, Book 237, Page 357.
3 U.S. Census Record, 1900.
4 U.S. Census Record, 1910.
5 City of Montreal Passenger List, 19 April 1887.
7 Miller, Charles C., and Samuel A. Baxter, eds. “The History of Allen County, Ohio and Representative Citizens.,” Chicago: Richmond & Arnold, 1906. Page 805.
8 Miller and Baxter. Page 809.
9 Hegermann-Lindencrone, Lillie. “In the Courts of Memory, 1858-1875,” Garden City, NY: Garden City Publishing Co. 1911. Page vii.
10 Hegermann-Lindencrone, Lillie. “The Sunny Side of Diplomatic Life, 1875-1912.” New York: Harper’s & Bros. Publishers, 1913
11 U.S. Census record, 1880.
12 Wikipedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OysterWars, retrieved 10-14-2017.
13 Wennersten, John R. “The Oyster Wars of the Chesapeake Bay,” Tidewater Press, 1981. Page 55.
14 Wennersten
16 U.S. Census record, 1920.
17Maryland State Normal School. Book of the Senior Class, Vol. I. Towson MD, 1919. Page 60.
18 D.C. City Directory, 1922.
19 Deed, 10 August 1939, Prince George’s Land Records, Book 538, Page 67.
Unlikely Farmers
Donald Wade (L) and Joseph Chlopicki (R) examine egg.
In 1931, Joseph Chlopicki and Donald Wade together purchased lots 5, 6, 33, and 34 in block 8 to enlarge an existing chicken farm Chlopicki owned.1 Chlopicki and his wife Gladys had moved to Berwyn Heights in 19212, and bought the property with the chicken farm encompassing the eastern end of block 8, from Charles Donaldson in 1928.3 Photos and documents about their joint venture were shared with the Historical Committee by Debbie McGrath, who is the grand-daughter of Donald Wade. She contacted us to find out more about old tax records she found in a box of personal papers that had belonged to her grand-father.4
The photos show scenes from the farm: building of fences, clearing the land, and feeding of chickens. Several photos labeled ‘November 29, 1926’ show Donald Wade dressed in city clothes apparently looking the property over.
From left: D. Wade, D. Wade & J. Chlopicki erect fence, J. Chlopicki on the farm with residence and laying house in back.
During the 1920s, Chlopicki and Wade both worked at B.F. Keith’s Theatre at 15th and G Street, NW across from the Treasury Department, Chlopicki as a projectionist5 – Keith’s pioneered the Lumière Cinématograph for a moving picture show in their New York theater in 18966 – and Wade as a trombonist for the orchestra.7 The Keith was the premiere vaudeville entertainment venue in Washington as soon as it opened in 1912. President William Howard Taft was present on opening night, and his successor Woodrow Wilson attended nearly every Saturday evening performance. The centerpiece of the building was a huge six-story auditorium that could accommodate 1,838 patrons, in mahogany seats upholstered in red Spanish leather. The walls were covered with tapestry of red silk, and the stage curtain was ruby-red with gold fringes, while the lobby was finished in Sienna marble.8
Benjamin F. Keith and his manager Edward F. Albee ran about 30 vaudeville theaters in the eastern U.S., based on the principle of presenting wholesome family entertainment. Signs were posted backstage warning performers of dire consequences if they used even mild profanity or otherwise offended the audience’s decency.9 Keith and Albee also dominated the Vaudeville Managers’ Association (VMA), which controlled the theatrical bookings of the major vaudeville circuits. In 1928, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) bought the Keith-Albee-Orpheum, formed Radio-Keith Orpheum (RKO) Pictures, and turned the vaudeville circuit into a chain of movie theaters.10 In 1932, when sound was introduced with movies, live acts were eliminated as well. Chlopicki remained an operator of movies at RKO Keith’s, but Wade went to work for other theaters, including the Fox11 and the Loew’s Capitol.
Donald Wade (1888-1966) was born in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, but he grew up in the small town of Manchester near Boston, MA, where his family had settled.12 He showed an early interest in music and had an ambition to be a member of the home town band. He joined the band as a trombone player because it was an instrument that was available at that time. Through hard work and a teacher’s assistance in arranging lessons with renowned instructors, Wade became an accomplished trombonist, and started playing engagements with bands all over the Boston area. During World War I, he enlisted in the 20th band, C.A.C., and upon his discharge, he came to Washington to play at B.F. Keith’s.13 On March 1, 1930, he married Louise Moloney,14a widow with 2 sons, David and Joseph, from the prior marriage. In June 1930, he bought a house in Berwyn Heights at 5808 Keleher Avenue15 (now Ruatan Street), where they raised their sons and daughter Margaret, born in November 1931.
Joseph Chlopicki, also referred to as Joseph von Chlopicki, was born in August 1883 in Warsaw, Poland, then under Russia’s control. He came to the United States with his younger brother Julius on the Cedric sailing from Liverpool, England in November 1907.16 Initially, he worked with Julius in a rubber tire business in Washington, D.C.17 Trained as an electrical engineer, his interests soon turned elsewhere. In the 1914 D.C. Directory, he listed his occupation as ‘lantern slides’, the projection of still images onto a screen,18 anticipating his future career as a projectionist. Meanwhile, Julius had expanded into auto repair and would eventually run his own shop.19
Joseph married Wladyslawa (Gladys) von Lichodziejewska (1889-1983), born in Russia-ruled Poland,20 in November 1910, and Julius married Rose Stracilo ca. 1916,21 whose parents also hailed from Poland, had settled in Baltimore and later moved to Surrattsville, Prince George’s County.22 City directories and US Census data show Joseph and Julius living at the same addresses in the 1910s, first in D.C. and then in the Spauldings District, Prince George’s County. Their paths diverged when Joseph and his wife moved to Berwyn Heights and became members of Washington’s fashionable society.
Sources:
1 Prince George’s County Land Records, book 355, pp. 366, 268.
2 D.C. City Directory, 1921, p. 460.
3 Prince George’s County Land Records, book 313, p. 543.
4 Donald Wade papers, per Debbie McGrath.
5 D.C. City Directory, 1921, p. 460.
6 Wikipedia entry for Benjamin F. Keith, accessed 4 June 2017.
7 “Trombone Hall of Fame – No. 39 – Donald Wade,” Jacob’s Band Monthly, Vol. 5, Oct. 1920, per Debbie McGrath.
8 “Vaudeville and other High Drama at 15th & G,” John DeFerrari, Streets of Washington Blog, accessed 4 June 2017.
9 Vaudeville, John DeFerrari.
10 Wikipedia entry for Edward F. Albee, accessed 4 June 2017.
11 D.C. City Directory, 1932, p. 1602.
12 U.S. Military Draft Registration Card, 5 June 1917.
13 Jacob’s Band Monthly.
14 D.C. Marriage Records, 1910-1953.
15 Prince George’s County Land Records, book 354, p. 483.
18 D.C. Directory, 1914.
19 U.S. Census Records, 1920, 1930
19 D.C. Marriage Records, 1910-53.
20 U.S. Military Draft Registration, 5 Jun. 1917.
21 Rose Stracilo in U.S. Census Record, 1910.
Berwyn Heights Day 2017
Town 1924 minute book
Nothing needs to be said about the weather this Berwyn Heights Day, except it was ill suited for the occasion. Regardless, an intrepid crew of Historical Committee members set up a tent and exhibits and chatted with residents who came out to celebrate.
The highlight was a tour of the Berwyn Heights museum. A half dozen participants crowded into the small room to listen to a presentation by Kerstin Harper on the museum’s holdings. Committee member Sharmila Bhatia pointed out that a significant number of the artifacts were donated by the Lofgren family. The latest addition were a recently-mounted set of long-handled tools. The tools were once used by the Berwyn Heights Association to erect poles for street lights after Pepco got around to bringing electricity into the community in 1921. Other artifacts from the Taylor Lofgren house include a wooden Waugh Avenue street sign (which served as a stopper board in a wood stack before it was rescued), and a 1910 United Realty map of the Berwyn Heights subdivision showing the original street names.
Ms. Harper said the extent of the BHHC collection is not obvious from the artifacts displayed in the museum, as it comprises many documents, photos, maps and books stored in a cabinet, or in electronic format. A series of minute books from the Town’s early years were found stashed away in a Town safe a couple of years ago. The BHHC scanned them and will make the electronic copies available to anyone interested in reading them.
1903 photo of St. Ann’s published in the Washington Times
This year’s exhibit featured the Edward Graves’ mansion (see puzzle ‘varges snowmain’ in April Bulletin), better known as St. Ann’s orphanage. The mansion was raised in 1958 to make way for Berwyn Heights Elementary School. Next to James Waugh, Graves (1845-1910) was the founder of the Charlton Heights suburb, who most influenced its development. He had the land subdivided in 1887, served as treasurer of the Charlton Heights Improvement Company (CHIC) – the real estate company for the development – and bought back half of the land when CHIC went out of business in 1892. Unlike for Waugh, for Graves Charlton Heights was not the main source of income. He was co-owner with his uncle Benjamin Charlton of the prosperous Havenner Bakery in north-west D.C. He and his wife Katherine kept selling lots and leasing homes in the development until around 1907.
Berwyn Heights Historical Committee 
