Known Information
Mary Ellen (Reeder) Fountain lived with her husband on 7th north of Boundary in the 1871 City Directory. Fountain has been appointed lamplighter in 1868 & 1869
Sources
Newspapers
Evening Star
Washington, District of Columbia
08 Aug 1873, Fri • Page 4
Evening Star
Washington, District of Columbia
05 Jun 1871, Mon • Page 4
Evening Star
Washington, District of Columbia
19 Oct 1871, Thu • Page 3
Evening Star
Washington, District of Columbia
01 Mar 1878, Fri • Page 3
Photos
Moulton, J. W, and John S Moulton, photographer. Howard University. Washington D.C, None. [Salem, mass.: j. w. & j. s. moulton, publishers between 1867 and 1920] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017657067/
Maps
Boschke, A, D McClelland, Hugh B Sweeny, Thos Blagden, and Blanchard & Mohun D. Mcclelland. Topographical map of the District of Columbia. Washington: D. McClelland, Blanchard & Mohun, 1861. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/88694013/
Hopkins, Griffith Morgan, Jr. Atlas of fifteen miles around Washington, including the County of Prince George, Maryland. Philadelphia: G.M. Hopkins, 1878. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/76354156/.
Real estate directory of the city of Washington, D.C. suburbs of Washington city, serial number 50, 1874 (25 objects) | DC Public Library
Howard University was chartered by Congress near the site of a former refugee camp on Seventh Street NW in order to support the educational opportunities of freedmen. Named after its trustee and third residence, O. O. Howard, the university was a comprehensive school providing different types of education for both the newly freed who had been denied access to education under slavery and the free people of color who were seeking higher education. For those who needed basic education, it established the Model School with four classes (A-D) which were organized around skill level. In 1868, B. F. Franklin, living in the Wisewell Barracks, attended the Model School, class C.
Howard University was established just north of Seventh and Boundary, in and around the farmlands of John A Smith.
Fire!
In June of 1871, the Evening Star reported a fire at the home Benj. F. Fountain, on 7th street above Abner Park. The house was destroyed and damage was estimated to be $1000. The fire department “responded promptly, but not in time to save the building”.
Abner Park is the property “situated on Seventh Street, just beyond Boundary street and the terminus of the Seventh Street railway, and is improved by a large commodious hotel with stables, outbuildings, &c.” as described in an 1871 Trustee Sale Ad run in the Evening Star.
Real Estate Transfer
In 1873, the Evening Star listed real estate transfers in the County, and listed the transfer of property between C. C. Caruthers and Mary Fountain in Effingham, is part of the Howard University subdivision of John A Smith’s farm, “Effingham Place”. She sold the south one-third of lot 1 of section 2 of Effingham for $124. This shows her place as being on Seventh Street, and north of the Abner Park Hotel and connected to Howard University.
Based on her Freedmen’s Bank Records, Mary Fountain moved to 13th and O Street NW, immediately south of what was then known as Iowa Cicle. She did not list her husband on her depositor slip. She listed her occupation as sewing. The 1874 City Directory lists Mary E Fountain, dressmaker, living at 818 10th Street NW.
The 1873 City Directory lists Calvin C. Caruthers as living at the corner of Trumbull and Seventh Road which is consistent with the subdivision plat book. In the 1871 City Directory, his residence is listed as the Wisewell Barracks, suggesting that the Fountains and the Caruthers knew each other, as both had passed through Wisewell.
Calvin C. Caruthers was one of the first African-Americans appointed to the DC police force in July 1869.
Wisewell Barracks
The Third Ward Republican Club met frequently at the Wisewell Barracks which was situated near Seventh and O Street. This gave both Caruthers and the Fountains access to the party and allowed them to make connections, providing both with economic opportunities in their appointments. A separate post discusses Fountain’s appointment as lamplighter in 1868 and 1869. It likely that this appointment provided the couple the nest egg they needed to purchase the land near Howard University
Further Research Needed:
- Locate death certificate for Benj Fountain who disappears from the records after 1871.
- Locate land records for their property in the DC archives
stories of Then 