2923 Richmond Street Property History

Development, 1843 – 1854

In March 1844, Philadelphia attorney Eli K. Price sold a 20-x-100-foot lot located on the southeast side of Richmond Street (numbered 23 on the plan of the village of Richmond) to Württemberg-born baker John George Schneider on a ground rent of $30 a year. 1 Schneider, who lived farther up the Delaware River in the village of Bridesburg, owned numerous properties in the Richmond area, including lot 21 to the southwest, which he sold in November 1844. 2 On the remaining Richmond Street property (lot 23), he constructed a three-story brick dwelling by the late 1840s, which he appears to have rented out to a number of tenants. 3 After a number of years renting the home, he sold it in August 1854 to Cornelius Seaman for $1,200. 4 Seaman took up residence in the house, then numbered 337 Richmond Street, with his wife Rachel and his young son Cornelius Jr.

The Seaman Family, 1854 – 1898

Cornelius Seaman was a sea captain, originally from Queens County on New York’s Long Island. By 1851, the 25-year-old Seaman had moved to the Philadelphia area, where he married Rachel Risley in January of that year at the Old St. George Methodist Episcopal Church on North Fourth Street in Philadelphia. 5 Rachel was a native of Atlantic County, New Jersey, but by 1850 she was residing in the household of her sister Phoebe’s husband, Rodney C. Weber, in the Northern Liberties District of Philadelphia County. 6 There is some indication from census records and Rachel’s will that Cornelius Seaman Jr. may have been from a previous marriage of Cornelius Seaman Sr. 7 If this is the case, there are no known children from Cornelius and Rachel’s marriage.

Early during their time at 337 Richmond Street, the Seamans may have taken in boarders, such as New Jersey–born sailor Jesse Walters and his wife Eliza, who briefly lived with them. By 1861, the Walters had moved out and the family of Rachel’s sister Phoebe Weber moved in. 8  Phoebe and Rodney had moved with their sons Jeremiah and Rodney from the East Kensington neighborhood to Port Richmond, and took up residence with the Seamans for about four years before moving into a place of their own. 9 Around this time, the numbering system for the streets in Port Richmond was changed and 337 Richmond Street became 1623 Richmond Street. 10 It was also at about this point that the family of sea captain Thomas Risley moved into the house across the street at 1622 Richmond Street. 11 Risley, who had recently come to Philadelphia from Atlantic County, was likely a relative of Rachel and Phoebe, possibly an older brother or a cousin. 12

fig-2
An 1888 engraving depicting a two-masted gaff-rigged schooner that was likely similar to the USS Rachel Seaman Courtesy of the Freshwater and Marine Image Bank at the University of Washington

Seaman later claimed to have served in the American Civil War as a [sea] captain, but no independent evidence has been found to substantiate this claim. 13 It is likely, though, that he at least owned a share of the 115-foot-long, 303-ton schooner Rachel Seaman, which the U.S. Navy purchased in Philadelphia for $18,000 in September 1861. The Rachel Seaman had an active career during the war and sank off the coast of New England in 1867 after being sold for use as a merchantman. 14 Seaman seems to have acquired another two-masted schooner of roughly the same size soon after the previous ship was sold. This new vessel he also named Rachel Seaman, and likely used it to transport coal from Philadelphia to points along the eastern seaboard. 15

fig-3
The area around the Seaman family’s home and drug store as depicted on the 1875 G.M. Hopkins City Atlas of Philadelphia, Vol. 4 Courtesy of the Philadelphia Historical Commission

Rodney C. Weber initially worked as a miller after moving to Port Richmond, but around 1865 he became an insurance agent. 16 A few years later, Cornelius Seaman opened a drug store on the ground floor of the residence the Weber family was now renting at 1706 Richmond Street. Seaman may have merely been the proprietor of the store, as he continued to be enumerated in the census as a mariner. The drug store may initially have been run by Matthew Combs, a druggist in his late 40s who moved in with the Weber family in about 1868, after previously running an establishment on Master Street in the 20th Ward. 17 Seaman’s nephew Jeremiah Weber also worked in the store and possibly took over its operation by the mid-1870s, at which time he moved into his uncle’s household. 18 It seems that the younger Cornelius Seaman was not groomed to work in the family store, and instead took up his father’s profession and became a mariner, perhaps taking over captaining the Rachel Seaman from his father. 19

In addition to the two families and Combs, there were a number of other individuals associated with 1623 Richmond in the 1870s and into the 1880s. The elder Cornelius Seaman seems to have made enough money as a captain and from the drug store to employ at least one (and possibly more) live-in domestic servant during the family’s time at the house. The known servant, Mary Leads, was enumerated with the Seamans in the 1880 federal census. 20 Not much is known about the 26-year-old native of New Jersey, but she may have been part of the Leeds family of Atlantic County. Another young woman they may have employed was 21-year-old Frances Webber, who was enumerated with the Seaman family in the 1870 federal census. 21 Also a native of New Jersey, Webber was employed as a housekeeper (though not necessarily by the Seaman or Weber families) and may have been a relative of Rodney C. Weber, perhaps his niece.

fig-4
Richmond Street north of East Ann Street in 2015. The Weber family’s home and the Seaman’s drug store were located at 1706 Richmond Street, now 2954 Richmond Street

Rodney C. Weber, who seems to have worked in the drug store during his last years, died in January 1880 at age 56. 22 His younger son Rodney was committed to the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane in West Philadelphia two years later and remained an inmate there until his death in June 1905. 23 Jeremiah Weber moved back to his mother’s residence at 1706 Richmond after his brother was committed, and seems to have taken over full control of the drug store by 1891. 24 In that year, he also married Kate Virginia Edwards, the daughter of Francis Edwards, a local grocer and ship chandler originally from New Jersey. 25 Kate Edwards’ brother, Frank St. Clair Edwards, had married Elvira Ewing 10 years prior and resided with her in the Ewing family’s home at 1619 Richmond Street—just two doors down from the Seaman family’s home. 26

fig-5
2923 Richmond Street as depicted in the 1895 G. W. Bromley & Co. Atlas of the City of Philadelphia, Complete in One Volume. Just three years later Rachel Seaman would sell the property that she and her husband had owned since the 1850s Courtesy of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia

The senior Cornelius Seaman died of a stroke in April 1893. 27 That July, the Rachel Seaman sank without any loss of life when it was accidentally run down by the British steamship Bidar in a fog bank off the coast of New Jersey. 28 Interestingly, the Bidar was one of several newer ships owned by the North Atlantic Trident Company and used to transport freight between the Reading Railroad’s Port Richmond terminal and London. 29 Not only was the Rachel Seaman and the way of life it represented replaced by steel steamships like the Bidar, it was destroyed by them as well.

The ship’s namesake, Rachel Seaman, who had been left her husband’s entire estate in his will, continued to possess the house—which had been renumbered as 2923 Richmond Street in 1885—for almost five more years, though she may have moved to property she owned in Pleasantville, New Jersey, around 1896. 30 She sold the property in January 1898 to Michael and Mary McGrody for $2,750. 31

The McGrody Family, 1898–1921

fig-6
2923 Richmond Street and other properties related to the McGrody family as depicted in the 1910 G. W. Bromley & Co. Atlas of the City of Philadelphia, Complete in One Volume Courtesy of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia

After purchasing the property, Michael and Mary McGrody moved their family into the house at 2923 Richmond from a two-story dwelling they owned at 2820 Edgemont Street. 32 When the McGrody family moved into 2923, it was composed of 50-year-old Irish immigrant Michael McGrody; his 47-year-old Philadelphia-born wife Mary; Mary’s father, Joseph Allen; their 23-year-old son Joseph; 21-year-old son John; and their nine-year-old daughter Mary. 33 Michael was a tugboat captain, a profession also held by his sons Joseph and John. Joseph Allen, a Civil War veteran, left in 1899 to live in the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, where he died in 1902. 34 Joseph and John married in 1900 and 1902, respectively, and moved out; the former settled on Somerset Street then Allegheny Avenue, while the latter resided in the house his parents owned at 2820 Edgemont until they sold it in 1913. 35 The youngest McGrody child, Mary, was still in school during this time, and continued to live with her parents.

The McGrody family was comfortable if not rich, and like the Seaman family before them, they employed a live-in domestic servant at least during the beginning of their time at 2923, and seem to have continued to do so at least into the late 1910s. 36 Michael McGrody retired in about 1904, and continued to live with his wife and daughter at 2923 until 1920, when both he and his wife died within months of each other. 37 Michael left the entirety of his estate to his daughter Mary, who by this time was a public-school teacher. 38 She sold the property a year after the death of her father and moved into the home of her brother Joseph on Torresdale Avenue in the Tacony neighborhood of Philadelphia, where she died of cancer in 1925 at age 36. 39

Final Decades, 1921–1966

fig-7
2923 Richmond Street as depicted on a 1919 Sanborn fire insurance map, just a few years before it was sold to Jung Chee Courtesy of Pennsylvania State University

Mary McGrody sold 2923 Richmond Street to Jung Chee in November 1921. 40 Jung Chee (also known as Jung Lee) was part of a group of Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans who seem to have resided and operated a laundry business next door at 2921 Richmond. After purchasing the property, he immediately began making alterations to the structure—tearing out the front window on the first floor and making it flush with the rest of the front façade and constructing a one-story kitchen addition on the rear of the property. 41 The laundry was still open as of 1923, but it was no longer listed in later city directories, though it may have continued to operate.

By 1930, Jung Chee was renting the house for $40 a month to the Danner family, comprised of 28-year-old factory worker James Danner, his 27-year-old wife Minnie, their five-year-old daughter Anna Marie, and their four-year-old son James. Also residing with them at the time was 19-year-old Margaret McCracken, who worked as a hosiery winder in one of the nearby mills. 42 Just three years later, Jung Chee defaulted on his mortgage and the house was seized and sold to the mortgagor, the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company (a trustee for Frederick Abhau), for $50. 43

The Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company continued renting the property, and in 1940 there were two separate households residing there: the Greene and Halloran families. The Greene family resided on the first floor of 2923 Richmond, and at least at the time of the 1940 federal census was composed of 61-year-old Catherine Greene and her sons—John, 27, and Francis, 20. Living elsewhere at the time or missed during the enumeration were Catherine’s husband Thomas and 25-year-old son Thomas Jr. At the time of the census, John and Francis were looking for work, though it appears that John had some experience working for the W.P.A. Living on the second floor of 2923 was the Halloran family, composed of 23-year-old railroad worker Charles Halloran, his 22-year-old wife Esther, and their five-month-old daughter Charlene. 44

In September 1941, the property was sold to Philadelphia resident Sallie Helinski for $2,000. 45 Helinski in turn sold it to Thomas Greene Jr. and his brother John for $2,700 two months later. 46 Little is known about the Greene family during this period, though classified ads indicate that one or both of the brothers rode motorcycles, and both seem to have served in the military during World War II. 47 Postwar newspaper ads indicate that one of the residents was buying and selling prewar cars, possibly refurbishing them to sell for profit. 48 Also postwar, Thomas sold his share in the property to his brother John, who continued to own 2923 Richmond until it was condemned in the early 1960s for the construction of Interstate 95. 49

References

  1. Philadelphia County Deed Book GWC 13:171, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed November 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web
  2. “1850 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for (John) George Schneider, Bridesburg Borough, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Office of County Commissioners, County Tax Assessment Ledger for Richmond District, 1849, John (John George) Snyder, p. 103, and John Geo. Snyder, p. 207, TX 135, Record Group 1.9, Philadelphia City Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Philadelphia County Deed Book GWC 106:253, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed April 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web
  3. County Tax Assessment Ledger for Richmond District, 1849, pp. 102-103
  4. Philadelphia County Deed Book ADB 39:266, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed April 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web
  5. “Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985,” Ancestry.com subscription database accessed November 2014, http://ancestry.com; entries for for Comdius Seamon (Cornelius Seaman) and Rachel Risley, Old St. George Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 25, 1851
  6. “1850 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Rodney (C.) Weber, 5th Ward, Northern Liberties District, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
  7. “New Jersey Probate Records, 1678-1980,” database accessed January 2015, https://familysearch.org; Atlantic County, New Jersey Will Book M:467; “1860 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Cornelius Lanard (Seaman), 19th Ward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; “1870 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Amelus (Cornelius) Seaman, 1st enumeration, enumeration district 81, 24th (25th) Ward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; “1880 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Cor. Seaman, enumeration district 0524, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa.; “1900 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Rachel Leeming (Seaman), Pleasantville Borough, Atlantic County, New Jersey; “1910 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Cornelius Seaman (Jr.), Pleasantville Borough, Atlantic County, New Jersey
  8. A. McElroy, comp., McElroy’s Philadelphia City Directory for 1860, “Philadelphia City Directories,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.fold3.com; entry for Jesse A. Walters, p. 1032; ibid, 1863, Jesse Walters, p. 781; “1860 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entries for Cornelius Lanard (Seaman) and Jesse Walters, 19th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa
  9. McElroy, Philadelphia City Directory for 1861, entries for Cornelius Seaman, p. 879, Rodney (C.) Weber, p. 1041; ibid. 1862, Rodney C. Weber, p. 703; ibid. 1863, Cornelius Seaman, p. 672, Rodney C. Webber (Weber), p. 794; ibid. 1864, C. Seman (Cornelius Seaman), p. 662, R. (Rodney) C. Weber, p. 783; ibid. 1865, C. Seman (Cornelius Seaman), p. 605; ibid. 1866, C. Seman (Cornelius Seaman), p. 654, R. (Rodney C.) Weber, p. 769
  10. McElroy, Philadelphia City Directory for 1866, entries for Cornelius Seaman, p. 652, C. Seman (Cornelius Seaman), p. 654; James Gopsill, comp., Gopsill’s Philadelphia City Directory for 1868, “Philadelphia City Directories,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.fold3.com; entry for Cornelius Seamen (Seaman), p. 1407
  11. McElroy, Philadelphia City Directory for 1867, entry for Thomas Risley, p. 765; Gopsill, Philadelphia City Directory for 1868, entries for Ezra B. Risley, and Thomas Risley, p. 1342
  12. “1860 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Thomas Risley, Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey; “1870 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Thomas Resley (Risley), 1st enumeration, enumeration district 81, 24th (25th) Ward, Philadelphia, Pa 
  13. “1890 Veterans Schedules,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Cornelus (Cornelius) Seaman, enumeration district 555, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa
  14. “Vessels Purchased and Chartered for the Navy,” Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Inquirer, December 13, 1861, p. 8, Genealogy Bank, subscription database accessed January 2015, http://www.genealogybank.com; “Naval Movements,” New York (New York) Times,  May 31, 1865, p. 2, Newspapers.com, subscription database accessed January 2015, http://www.newspapers.com; “Arrival of the Crew of the Rachel Seaman at Boston,” New York (New York) Herald, August 6, 1867, p. 5, Genealogy Bank, subscription database accessed January 2015, http://www.genealogybank.com; “American Ports. Holmes’ Hole,” New York Herald, August 14, 1867, p. 7, Genealogy Bank, subscription database accessed January 2015, http://www.genealogybank.com
  15. “Marine Notes,” Boston (Massachusetts) Post, February 27, 1891, p. 3; Genealogy Bank, subscription database accessed January 2015, http://www.genealogybank.com 
  16. McElroy, Philadelphia City Directory for 1866, entry for R. (Rodney C.) Weber, p. 769; ibid. 1867, Rodney C. Weber, p. 951; Gopsill, Philadelphia City Directory for 1869, entry for Rodney C. Weber, p. 1529
  17. Gopsill, Philadelphia City Directory for 1867, entry for Matthew Combs, p. 334; ibid. 1868, Matthew Combs, p. 388; ibid. 1869, Matthew Combs, clerk, 1706 Richmond, p. 365; “1870 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entries for Amelus (Cornelius) Seaman and Rodney (C.) Webber (Weber), 1st enumeration, enumeration district 81, 24th (25th) Ward, Philadelphia, Pa
  18. Gopsill, Philadelphia City Directory for 1868, entry for Jeremiah Weber, p. 1600; ibid. 1873, Jeremiah Weber, p. 1340; ibid. 1874, James A. Weaver (Jeremiah Weber), p. 1365, Jeremiah Weber, p. 1367; ibid. 1875, Jeremiah Weber, and Jeremiah Weber, p. 1562
  19. Ibid. 1875, Cornelius Seaman, Jr., p. 1340; ibid. 1876, Cornelius Seaman, Jr., p. 1344 
  20. “1880 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Cor, Seaman, enumeration district 0524, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa
  21. “1870 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Amelus (Cornelius) Seaman, 1st enumeration, enumeration district 81, 24th (25th) Ward, Philadelphia, Pa
  22. “Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915,” database accessed January 2015, https://familysearch.org; entry for Rodney C. Weber, January 19, 1880
  23. “Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915,” database accessed January 2015, https://familysearch.org; entry for Rodney C. Weber, June 19, 1905
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  25. Gopsill, Philadelphia City Directory for 1871, entries for Francis Edwards (Francis Edwards & Brother), and Francis Edwards & Brother, p. 493; ibid. 1872, Francis Edwards (Francis Edwards & Brother), and Francis Edwards & Brother, p. 463; ibid. 1873, Francis Edwards, p. 458; “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia marriage license index, 1885-1951,” Ancestry.com subscription database accessed January 2015, http://ancestry.com; entry for Jeremiah Weber. Year: 1891, License Number: 41349; “1870 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed November 2014, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Francis Edwards, 1st enumeration, enumeration district 81, 24th (25th) Ward, Philadelphia, Pa
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  27. “Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915,” database accessed April 2014, https://familysearch.org; entry for Cornelius Seaman, April 23, 1893
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  29. Pennsylvania Bureau of Industrial Statistics, Annual Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Part III. Industrial statistics. Vol. XIX (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs, 1892), p. C49
  30. Gopsill, Philadelphia City Directory for 1884, entries for Cornelius Seaman, and Cornelius Seaman, Jr., p. 1426; Gopsill’s Sons, Philadelphia City Directory for 1886, entries for Cornelius Seaman, Cornelius Seaman, and Cornelius Seaman, Jr., p. 1543; ibid. 1896, Cornelius Seaman (Jr.), and Rachel Seaman, p. 1736; Philadelphia County Will 1893:615; Atlantic County, New Jersey Will Book M:467
  31. Philadelphia County Deed Book WMG 258:296, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed April 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web; “Rodney C. Weber,” death notice, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 21, 1905, p. 7, Genealogy Bank, subscription database accessed June 2014, http://www.genealogybank.com 
  32. Gopsill, Philadelphia City Directory for 1898, entries for Jno. M. McGrody, Jos. P. McGrody, and Michael J. McGrody, p. 1401; ibid. 1899, Jno. M. McGrody, Jos. P. McGrody, and Michael J. McGrody, p. 1457; Philadelphia County Deed Book JOD 181:280, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed January 2015, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web
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  40. Philadelphia County Deed Book JMH 1170:273
  41. Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Building Inspection, Year 1921, Permit Number 11479, Building Permit Applications, Record Group 83-4.4, Philadelphia City Archives, Philadelphia, Pa.; Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Building Inspection, Year 1921, Permit Number 12296, Building Permit Applications, Record Group 83-4.4, Philadelphia City Archives, Philadelphia, Pa
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