The
History of the Building
3708-3710: “two-and-one-half story, six-register, Second
Empire style double with stone facade over brick. Victorian wood porch. Slate-shingled
mansard. Aluminum over slightly arched dormer window heads of 3708”
(Inventory of
Buildings in Powelton from the application submitted to the
National Register of Historic Places, 1985)
Previous Residents
1869, July 13: Title transferred to Hugh
D. Garrett by Mary Peltz
Hugh
D. Garrett was a machinist living at 3209 Lancaster Ave.
1871, Aug. 30: Title transferred to
William F. Rich by Hugh D. Garrett
William
F. Rich lived at 340
(now 412) N. 32nd St. He was a superintendent for the
Pennsylvania Railroad and a real estate investor.
1872, July 8: Title transferred to Michael
Riley by William F. Rich
1878 Directory (Fall 1877): Pugh Thomas
B., Manager, 922 Chestnut Ave.
The
1877 directory lists him living at 78 N. 38th St.
1880:
T. B. Pugh 50 Manager
Mary A. Pugh 51 Mother
born in N.J.
James R. Pugh 19 At school
Lydia Bugliss 37 Servant
1881 Directory: Thomas B. Pugh
1883, April 23: Death of James R. Pugh, 23 years old, only son of T.
B. and Annie R. Pugh. Funeral from the late residence of his parents, 3710
Hamilton St. Internment at Woodlands Cemetery.
“The death of James R. Pugh, Jr.,
the only son of Manager T. B. Pugh, occurred yesterday. He was only a little
more that twenty-two years of age, and since manhood had been connected with
his father in the active management of his numerous enterprises. Thus, although
his natural disposition was exceedingly gentle and retiring, he necessarily
formed acquaintances with a great number who will not soon forget his quiet
face and the habitual composure and amiability of his nature. He was educated
at Friends' Central School in this city, from which he graduated about three
years since. His character was as clear as sunlight, and there is not one
friends of either father or son who will not feel keen sorrow for the dead and
deep sympathy with the living…” (Inquirer, April 24)
1884, June 9: Death of Thomas B. Pugh well-known manager of 3710
Hamilton. Rev. Dr. McCook, pastor of the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, will
officiate, and Samuel S. Ash, of the Society of Friends, will deliver an
address. The internment is to be at Woodlands Cemetery. (Phila. Inquirer, June 10)
He was Manager of Star Lectures.
Mary A. Pugh died in 1902. She was
living at 506 N. 6th St.
1896 Blue Book: Mr. & Mrs. Henry M. DuBois
1898: “Funeral of Dr. Howlett. The funeral services over the
remains of the late Rev. Dr. Thomas R. Howlett too place yesterday afternoon at
3710 Hamilton street. There was a large attendance, which included several
prominent ministers of the Baptist denomination…. The body lay in a handsome
cloth covered casket. The body will be removed early this morning to Brooklyn,
New York, where it will be interred in the Greenwood Cemetery.” (Inquirer,
Feb. 26)
1900:
Henry M. Du Bois 47 Lawyer; mother born in Del.; renting
Lilian Du Bois 34 Married
10 years, 2 children; born in Tenn.
Mary Du Bois 10
Wm J. Latta Du Bois 1 month
Mary Ellis 38 Servant; black, born in Va.
Annie Campbell 17 Born in
Ireland
1911 Ad: For rent: 3710 Hamilton, 10 rooms, $40. (Phila. Inquirer, April 9)
1916 Ad: “Oil Paying
Dividend Investment. The regular quarterly 5% dividend will be declared by the
Oklahoma Star Oil Company, Oct. 20th. You owe it to yourself to investigate
the value of investing in this company which has twenty-three producing oil
wells and nine more drilling in five of Oklahoma’s richest fields. A limited
amount of the company’s stock is offered at Ten Dollars a Share dividend is
declared. Booklet on request. Gill & Gill, 3710 Hamilton St., Phila.,
Pa.” (Inquirer, Oct. 11, 1916)
Mrs. Margaret Conlan
Gill, formerly of 3710 Hamilton St. died in Ocean City, N.J. in Oct., 1922. She
was 78 years old and was survived by six children. She was the mother of Rev.
James G. Gill, rector of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church at Conemaugh, Pa. (Phila. Inquirer, Oct. 4, 1922)
1920:
James Adelsbeger 29 Works for a newspaper [rest illegible];
born in Md.; renting
Estelle Adelsbeger 31
Ralphael Topper 25 Brother-in-law; traffic manager [rest
illegible]; single
June Adelsbeger 6 yrs. & 6 months
Marie Adelsbeger
5 yrs. & 6 months
They are listed in the 1940
directory for Camden, N.J.
1927 Directory: Miss E. M. Higgins
1930:
Elizabeth M.
Higgins 40 Stenographer in law office; single; owner, house valued at
$8000
Edward Bury 48 Lodger; Dealer at art studio; single
Margaret Rush 60 Cousin;
single
1939, Feb. 1: Death of Elizabeth M. Higgins, 63
years old, of 3710 Hamilton St. She was the daughter of Thomas Higgins and
Bridget Flynn.
“Miss Elizabeth M. Higgins, assistant
chief of the Bureau of Personal Assistance of the city’s Department of Public
Welfare, died yesterday at her home, 3710 Hamilton St.
“Miss Higgins, who was 58 [sic.],
was assistant chief of the bureau for 18 years. Prior to her appointment there,
she was active in the social service department of the Pennsylvania Hospital
for several years and earlier was associated with the Red Cross. She was a
graduate of the Philadelphia Normal School.
“Surviving her are a sister, Dr.
Mary F. Higgins, of Hunter College, N. Y., and two nephews.” (Inquirer,
Feb. 2)
1956, Jun. 24: Death of Edmund Bury, 85 years
old, of 3710 Hamilton St. He had been an antiques dealer. He was born in
Canada. He was widowed. His wife was Marceline H. Bury. Requiem Mass at St.
Agatha's Church. Burial at Mt. Moriah Cemetery.
1958, Feb. 18: Death of Mary F. Higgins, 89
years old, of 3710 Hamilton St. She had worked at the Dept. of Education,
Hunter College. She was the daughter of Thomas Higgins and Bridget Flynn.
Requiem Mass at St. Agatha's Church. Burial Holy Sepulcher Cemetery.
The informant for the death
certificate was Roderick J. Higgins at this address.
1961, October Powelton Post:
“Profile – The Colemans” by Sarah Parker
“Houses built in Powelton shortly
before the 1876 Centennial Exposition had space and dignity for family living.
In one of these, on Hamilton Street, The Colemans, a busy, happy, modern family
are conserving a 19th century setting for an active 20th century life. Cleo and
Bob found their house just two years ago, standing empty and battered. Now step
by step they are making it live again. Of course there's an iron gate, hedge,
brick walk, heavy carved door and a mansard roof. There are inner shuttered
blinds at tall windows, disappearing doors for archways
Into the long
living room, and old-fashioned roominess in the up-to-date kitchen. There's
room for privacy and quiet, even, and especially, for children; a 3rd floor
room for 6 year old Michael, a 2nd floor room for 4 year old Sylvia, and in due
time, one for the youngest, Jonathan. This Victorian house shelters capaciously
the five Colemans with their talent for simplicity and pleasantly organized
living.
“Cleo's lovely voice may spring from
her background in Fredericksburg, but surely too from her inner warmth and
charm. She met Bob, in Richmond at Union University where she majored in
Sociology. From his home in Morton, Pennsylvania, Bob studied at Penn, and at
Temple for his degree in religion before graduate study in Richmond. In the
Amish country, around Lancaster, where Bob worked in the Pennsylvania Council
of Churches’ Migrant Ministry, Cleo, with her capacity for appreciation, fell
in love with the fine open farmlands and the folk ways of the Pennsylvania
Dutch. Then Bob went to Chester as YMCA Secretary and Cleo worked in YWCA
summer camps.
“Now, for the Presbytery of
Philadelphia, Bob is Director of Community Ministry at Tabernacle Church, 37th
and Chestnut. Its Community Center, staffed mainly by undergraduate and
graduate students at Penn and Drexel, is under his direction. He enlists,
trains and supervises these volunteers in an extensive week-day program for
West Philadelphia teen-agers; conducts a summer Bible School and a Presbyterian
Day Camp on Georges Hill; assists in worship services; and attends officially
all church board and c6mmittee meetings. Cleo, too, currently program leader of
her Church Circle, is active at Tabernacle.
“Bob serves on the West Philadelphia
Housing Committee, the Clergy Advisory Committee on Planned Parenthood, the
Board of the Methodist Deaconesses Home, as 2nd Vice-President of the
Neighborhood Section of the National Presbyterian Health and Welfare Committee,
and as Co-Chairman for 1961-62 of Powelton Neighbors. Cleo works on the school
visiting program of the Citizens Committee for Public Education and jointly
with Bob just finished a year of prodigious, efficient and effective work for
our Welcoming and Membership Committees. As Chairman of the Mother's Committee
of our cooperative Nursery School she has carried through this summer a
successful search for a qualified nursery school teacher for Powelton.
“Bob refinishes furniture and lays
brick in the backyard patio; Cleo enjoys reading, collecting a few pieces of
fine china, fishing in the Poconos; both like
volleyball, barbecues and hunting together for inexpensive colorful Utrillo
prints to hang on the walls of their ‘Centennial’ dining room.”
c1966: A documentary film entitled “5½ -
Reflections on An Age” featured five-year-old Jonathan Coleman.
A review of the film includes the
following:
“Jonathan
is a happy child of 5½. Bright, attractive, the son of educated and comfortable
parents. But he is different. He is a Negro.
“And the microphone and camara catch
Jonathan saying such things as: “I think God has white skin…” or “I don’t like
my curly hair.” The film shows Jonathan and his sister puzzling over a book in
which all the pictures are of white people.”
By the time this article appeared,
the Colemans had moved to Toledo, Ohio where Rev. Coleman was associated with
the Toledo Council of Churches. (Rose De Wolf, “Documentary Film Shows ‘Kids Worry;’
A 5-Year-Old Sees Himself,” Inquirer, Oct. 19, 1966.)
1968 Directory: Gilbert W. K.
Hall T. R.
McCormick G. M.
Vitez T. S.
2007, July: Purchased by Leslie Berman and
Nathan D. Isen
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