3405 Hamilton Street

 

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The History of the Building

 

The northern edge of this property was part of the northern boundary of the Bingham-Baring estate.

 

This building was probably built in three stages. 3405 is a… three-story Italianate house stuccoed circa 1905 Colonial Revival porch. 3403 is a circa 1880 three-and-one-half story brick house; gabled front with stick style detail; Circa 1905 Colonial Revival porch, later partially enclosed. The middle bay between buildings is also approximately circa 1880. It is a two-and-one-half story brick projecting bay with slate shingled mansard.”

(Inventory of Buildings in Powelton from the application submitted to the National Register of Historic Places, 1985)

 

Previous Residents of 3405 Hamilton Street

 

1862 Directory: Horace Hill, clerk, Philadelphia Bank, Hamilton abv 34th

            The 1860 census and the 1861 directory show Horace Hill, his wife and child living at 3504 Hamilton St.

 

1864, September: Deed transferred from James Kirkpatrick (dec'd) to Rebecca Kirkpatrick.

            The deed for the twin, 3403, was transferred at the same time. Rebecca Kirkpatrick lived next door at 3403 Hamilton St. in 1870.

 

1870:

Horace Hill                  37        Bank clerk; real estate: $12,000, personal: $1,500

Mary S. Hill                  34

Elizabeth Wiggins        65        Born in N.Y.

Horace G. Hill             11

Everett Hill                   5

Margaret Vockin          40        Domestic servant; born in Hesse Dormstadt

Mary Janner                 21        Domestic servant

            Horace Hill and Mary S. Wiggins were married about 1858.

 

1872, October: Deed transferred from James Kirkpatrick to Mary Gillespie.

 

1873, June: Deed transferred from Mary Gillespie to Mary Gillespie.

 

1880:

Horace Hill                  47        Banking

Mary S. Hill                 44

Horace G. Hill             21        Student

George E. Hill             15        At school

Elizabeth Wiggins        75        Mother; widowed; born in N.Y.

Annie Maloney            22        Servant; born in Md.

            Horace G. Hill graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1882. His thesis was entitled “The Germ Theory in its Relation to Preventive Medicine.”  He became a member of the Philadelphia Medical Society in 1885. He was living at 314 N. 33rd St. In 1886, he married Maria Louisa Bennett of 3410 Race St. and they moved to 3416 Baring St.

 

1883 Directory: George E. Hill, clerk at 326 Walnut St.

 

1886, July 24: Death of Elizabeth Lynsen Wiggins, 81 years old, of 3405 Hamilton St.

 

1886: Marriage of Maria Louisa Bennett of 3410 Race St. and Horace G. Hill

            They moved to 3416 Baring St. He was a physician.

 

1887: Marriage of Martha Lewis and George Everett Hill

            At time of the 1900 and 1920 censuses, they lived in Orange, Essex, New Jersey with their five sons. George was a sanitary engineer. After the death of Mary Hill, Horace Hill lived with them for a while.

 

1890 Directory: Horace Hill

 

1893: Mr. and Mrs. H. Hill of 3405 Hamilton street, are at the seaside. They will return at the end of the month.” (Inquirer, Sept. 10)

 

1894: George H. Hill and Horace Hill were both members of the New England Society of Pennsylvania

            George H. Hill, 3601 Baring St., was probably Horace Hill’s nephew.

 

1894, January: “Mr. Horace Hill has resigned the office of assistant cashier [of the Philadelphia National Bank] and retired from connection with the bank after a long service of thirty-nine years.”  (Phila. Inquirer Jan. 12)

 

1894, Feb.: “Mr. and Mrs. Horace Hill, of 3405 Hamilton street, have sailed for Europe on the steamer Augusta Victoria. They will land at Genoa, and from that point make a tour of Europe. They expect to be abroad about two years.”  (Phila. Inquirer Feb. 25)

            In 1900, Horace and Mary Hill lived at 4810 Belmont Ave. He stated his parents were born in Maine, she said her father was born in N.J., her mother in N.Y. They had been marred 44 years, she had had 3 children, 2 were surviving. He listed his occupation as auditor. In 1903 Horace Hill, Public Accountant and Auditor in the city of Philadelphia is listed in the Minutes of the United Presbyterian Church in the USA as auditor of five different sets of books/accounts etc. Mary Scott Hill died Jan. 15, 1906 and George died Oct. 10, 1916.

              In 1918 and 1921, the Hill’s great grandson and great granddaughter, Julia and Louisa Alexander, were born at 3417 Race St.

 

1895 Directory: Edward N. Johnson, insurance, 202 Mutual Life Building, h 3405 Hamilton

            The 1890 directory lists him at 222 N. 32nd St.

 

1898 Blue Book: Mr. and Mrs. Neal Johnson

 

1900:

Edward N. Johnson     49        Insurance agent; born in N.J., father in England, mother in N.J.; renting

Matilda Johnson           44        married one year, no children; born in N.J.

Catherine Kelly            27        Servant; father born in Ireland, mother in Scotland

(ED 539, 14B, incorrectly labeled 3407 Hamilton)

 

1901, May: Deed transferred from Henry P. Ford, executor of will of Mary Gillespie, to Willis B. & Emma F. Rutter.

            In 1900, they lived at 811 N. 39th St.

 

1904 Directory: Edward N. Johnson resident manager, Security Trust & Life Insurance Co.

 

1910:

Willis B. Rutter            35        Wholesale merchant; owner, free of a mortgage

Emily Rutter                34        Married 15 years, 1 child

Edna Rutter                 12

In 1900, they lived at 811 N. 39th St.

 

1915 Directory: Willis B. Rutter, egg dealer at 3018 Market

 

1917-’18 Draft Registration: Willis Breneman Rutter, 3405 Hamilton St. He was self-employed as a wholesaler of butter and eggs at 2946 Market St. He was born Dec. 19, 1872.

            In 1920, they were next door at 3403 Hamilton.

 

1920:

Willis Breneman Rutter           46        Commission merchant; owner with a mortgage

Emma F. Rutter                       45

Edna M. Rutter                        21

 

1921, June: Deed transferred from Willis B. & Emma F. Rutter to Anna M. Miller, wife of Thomas E. Miller.

 

            For a biography of Thomas E. Miller, see the Powelton History Blog, (Feb. 2, 2013).

 

1923 Directory: C. W. Maxwell, physician at 616 S. 15th St. and 3405 Hamilton St.

 

1924: “Ex-Congressman and Mrs. Thomas E. Miller Celebrates Golden Wedding Anniversary.

            “Society was out in full Tuesday evening, February 26, at the magnificent residence of ex-Congressman and Mrs. Thomas E. Miller, No. 3405 Hamilton street, the occasion being the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding. During the afternoon, preceding the Golden Wedding, their immediate family had held a reunion in which twenty-two members of the family participated....

            “A delightful feature of the reception was the re-enactment of the wedding. On February 26, 1874, Miss Eleanor Bennett with five other young women acted as bridesmaids. Tuesday night Miss Bennett stood while the Rev. F. I. A. Bennett, rector of the Calvary P. E. Church, Washington D.C., went through the wedding ceremony. The Rev. Dr. Wm. Lloyd Imes, pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church, played the wedding march. The family stood in the receiving line, and guests in the number of about two hundred congratulated the couple.

            “The house was appropriately decorated in all the varying shades of gold (yellow). One of the striking pieces of beauty being a bouquet of roses, tinted golden. There were fifty of these.

            “Congressman and Mrs. Miller were married in Charleston, S.C., in Old St. Mark's P. E. Church by the Rev. Seabrooke, and prominent citizens of Charlestown were present at the ceremony. Among the guests present, many of whom were from out of town – Washington D. C., New York City, Atlantic City, Gary Ind., Nashville, Tenn., and Minden, Nebraska. [were]...

            “Ex-Congressman Miller is a celebrated character in Philadelphia, where he has lived for a number of years, and has prominently identified himself with all that goes to make for the betterment of our community, and especially our particular group. Mr. Miller was graduated at Lincoln University in the class of 1872, and is perhaps one of the oldest living graduates of that celebrated institution.” (Phila. Tribune, Mar. 1, 1924, p. 5)

 

Rep. Thomas E. Miller (1849-1938)

 

            Thomas Ezekiel Miller was one of the last black Congressmen from S. Carolina before the restrictive Jim Crow laws disenfranchised a large proportion of the black population. He was educated at Lincoln University (Class of 1872) and the law school of the University of South Carolina (where he was in the last graduating class to enroll blacks). He was elected to three terms in the S. Carolina House of Representatives and to one term in the S.C. Senate. He was also elected to the 1895 South Carolina Constitutional Convention where he was an outspoken opponent of the imposition of the poll tax and literacy requirement for voters. Thomas and Anna Miller returned to live in Charleston, S.C. sometime in the early- to mid-1930s. She died there in 1936. He died in 1938.

 

1926: “DRY ENFORCEMENT PLUNGES CITY HALL INTO CONTROVERSY”

            The article includes the following:

            “Interesting comments… were made by ex-Congressman Thomas E. Miller of South Carolina regarding the failure to secure more convictions of bootleggers in the local courts…. Mr. Miller, who is a strong Prohibitionist, has been a resident of Philadelphia for the past five years and he just completed today a month’s service as a juryman before Judge Charles E. Bartlett…” After praising Judge Bartlett , he noted that: “The entire panel of jurors were fair and always rendered their verdict, pro or con, agreeing with the Judge’s charge and the testimony. All races that make up the citizenry of Philadelphia were represented on the jury, and they never at any time discussed a case or rendered a decision because of the nationality or the race strain of the defendant.” He went on to state that “There is a hue and cry that bootleggers cannot be convicted and it’s a shame that such statement should come from responsible citizens… The responsibility for the acquittal of bootleggers rests with the magistrates and the very important police officers – and the Police Department represents all races in Philadelphia and they are all alike when they testify in relation to the bootleggers.” (Inquirer, Dec. 24)

 

1930:

Thomas Miller             80        Owner; Negro; born in S. C.; married at age 25; owner, house valued at $14,000

Anna Miller                 75        Negro, born in S. C.; married at age 21

Charles W. Maxwell     50        Son-in-law; Physician with his own practice; Negro; born in S.C.; married at age 29

Pansy Maxwell             44        Daughter; Negro; born in S.C.; married at age 22

Dr. Charles W. Maxwell, Jr. (c1953)

            Charles W. Maxwell, Jr. was the son of South Carolina state Senator Henry J. Maxwell who was also the first black postmaster in the U.S. He was a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University and a 1904 graduate of Howard University Medical School. He did post-graduate training at the University of Pennsylvania. He had a medical practice in Sumter, S.C. until the 1920s. By 1935, Charles and Pansy Maxwell had moved to 616 S. 15th St. (His nephew, who was named after him, founded the William Penn Business Institute.)

 

1936, Nov. 18: Title for one-half share transferred to Margaret A. Edwards, Helen Miller Edwards, Catherine Edwards, Joseph Clinton Edwards, Thomas Miller Edwards, and one-half share to Pansy Maxwell by Thomas E. Miller, executor of will of Anna M. Miller.

 

1940: not enumerated in this census

 

1941, Dec. 18: Title transferred to Wilfred S. Hemsley and Catherine Hemsley

            Wilfred S. Hemsley and Catharine Edwards were married in 1938 in New Jersey.

 

1942 WWII Draft Registration: Wilfred Scott Hemsley, Naval Dept., Phila. Naval Yard

            He was born July 7, 1905 in Nanticoke, MD. Married to Catharine Hume Hemsley. Their son, Sherman Hemsley (1938-2012) was an actor who was best known for his role as George Jefferson on “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons.” When he got his big break on Broadway in “Perlie,” he was living at 3301 Baring St. and working at the Post Office.

 

1950 Directory: Wilfred S. Hemsley

            He died in 1975. He was living in Atlantic City, NJ. Catharine died in 1983.

 

1967 Reverse Directory: D. M. Reilly

 

< 3409 Hamilton                                                                                                    3403 Hamilton >

Revised: 12/10/2021

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