2912 Melvale Street Property History

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Some of the original lots from the plan of the village of Richmond superimposed on the 1919 Sanborn fire insurance map. In December 1844, Eli K. Price sold lots 13 (later 2913 Richmond Street) and 14 (later 2912 Melvale Street) to Charles Smith. Courtesy of Pennsylvania State University.

Development and Early Residents, 1843 – 1853

At the end of December 1843, Philadelphia attorney Eli K. Price sold a 20-x-200-foot lot on Richmond Street to contractor Charles Smith on a yearly ground rent of $45 and the stipulation that Smith should within a year complete a building of sufficient value to secure the ground rent. 1 The lot, composed of two smaller lots numbered 13 and 14 on the plan of the village of Richmond, was located on the southeast side of Richmond, 120 feet northeast of William Street (now East Cambria Street), with its rear fronting on Larch Street (now Melvale Street). In March 1849, Smith was forced into a sheriff sale over a $9,300 debt, and the property, along with the lot to the southwest, was purchased for $70 by Amos Phillips, a resident of the Spring Garden District. 2 Phillips had previously purchased the property’s $45 yearly ground rent from Price in 1846. 3

After about nine months, Phillips sold the two properties to Philadelphia tailor Jacob Heerman for $333. 4 After another nine months, Heerman sold the property back to Phillips in September 1850 for only $80. 5 Though he sold off the adjoining properties almost immediately, Phillips held lots 13 and 14 until December 31, 1850, when he sold them on a yearly ground rent of $50 to Edward C. Graeff, an attorney in the Richmond District. 6 Graeff seems to have constructed a three-story brick dwelling on the Larch Street side of the property and what is described as a “frame building” on the Richmond Street side. It appears that Graeff did not take up residence in either of these buildings, and may have rented them out before he sold the property to clerk Charles McCoy for $1,400 in April 1853. 7 McCoy, who lived in a house on Richmond Street next door to the frame building, divided the property he purchased from Graeff and, in November 1853, sold the three-story brick dwelling on Larch Street (situated on the original lot 14) to Richmond resident William Wilkins. 8

William Wilkins and Family, 1853 – 1876

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The project area, including the approximate location of the dwelling on lot 14, as depicted on the 1862 Smedley’s Atlas of the City of Philadelphia. Courtesy of the Map Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia.

William Wilkins, a 28-year-old Irish immigrant employed as a laborer, moved from a home on Salmon Street below Huntingdon Street to the newly purchased brick home in either late 1853 or early 1854. 9 Within about two years of moving in, William’s Irish-born wife Jane gave birth to their first surviving child, Anna Jane. Within another year or two, a second daughter, Sarah Eliza, was born. Over the next decade, Jane had five more children, two of which—Catharine Lavinia and Mary Matilda—survived infancy. 10 Ward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] Census records indicate that by the late 1860s, William may have worked in a pottery factory, but in the directories from that time, he was consistently listed as a watchman, perhaps indicating that his health was beginning to fail. 11

Perhaps in part because their house was relatively large for Melvale Street (which Larch had been renamed in about 1858), the Wilkins family seems to have taken in boarders to supplement their income. The first known boarders were the Martin family—consisting of Elijah A. Martin, his wife Charlotte, and young son, William—who moved into the house around 1865, when it was assigned the street address 1608 Melvale. 12 Martin, a sailor native to New Jersey, drowned in March 1868 when his ship was wrecked off the coast of Massachusetts in a storm. 13 After Elijah was buried (possibly in the Wilkins family’s plot in Franklin Cemetery), Charlotte and her son moved in with her parents on the far side of Port Richmond. 14

The next boarders were the Melia or Mealy family, which was comprised of Irish immigrants James and Julia Melia, their two young children, and James’ younger brother Michael, who worked with him on the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad’s coal wharves. 15 In addition to the Melia family, John and Elizabeth Downs may have briefly resided at 1608 Melvale, during which time their infant daughter, Mary Elizabeth, died in the house. 16 Both of these families likely left 1608 Melvale by the mid-1870s, with the Melia family departing around 1875. 17 In November of that year, the eldest Wilkins daughter, Anna Jane, married William Neely and moved with him to what is now the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. 18 Three months later, in February 1876, William Wilkins died of pneumonia at age 52. 19 Just two years after that, his daughter Sarah Eliza died of tuberculosis in her early 20s. 20

The Wilkins Women, 1876 – 1933

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1608 Melvale Street and the surrounding area as depicted in Volume 4 of the 1875 G.M. Hopkins City Atlas of Philadelphia. Note its brick construction, unusual for Melvale Street. Courtesy of the Philadelphia Historical Commission.

After the death of her husband, Jane Wilkins continued to take in boarders, with the family of George J. Woods—comprised of Woods, his wife Mary Ann, and their three young children—residing at 1608 Melvale for about two years in the late 1870s before moving to 1623 Brabant Street, where Woods opened a tavern. 21 Sixty-two-year-old Eliza Snethan was the next individual to live with the Wilkins women, though little is known about her. Residing with the family at the time of the 1880 federal census, her relation to the family, as well as her occupation, was given as nurse, and she may have been nursing (Catharine) Lavinia Wilkins back to health, as the latter had been unemployed for three months that year. 22 As a property-less single woman not running a business, Snethan was not listed in the city directories and her dwelling place is hard to track. Her next known residence was at a boardinghouse around the corner at 2815 William Street, where she died in January 1894. 23

The income boarders provided was supplemented by money Lavinia and possibly Mary earned outside of the home. According to the 1880 federal census, Lavinia was employed in a local hosiery mill. 24 By 1900, she was working as a gold-plater in a watch factory, an occupation she would keep into the 1920s. 25 Mary may have been employed outside the home, but was never listed as such. Other than this, little is known about the Wilkins family during the last two decades of the nineteenth century, though at some point they took in the elderly widow Margaret Beatty, who was identified in her 1902 death notice as Jane Wilkins’ sister-in-law. 26

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2912 Melvale Street as depicted on the 1891 Bromley Atlas of the City of Philadelphia, Volume 9. Courtesy of the Map Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia.

Jane Wilkins died of diabetes at age 76 in 1905, with the ownership of the property—now known as 2912 Melvale Street due to a renumbering in 1886—passing to her surviving daughters. 27 Anna Jane Wilkins died in 1909, followed by her husband William Neely in 1915. 28 As a result, ownership of the property was divided amongst the two surviving Wilkins sisters and Anna Jane’s four surviving children by 1915. The 1920s saw two of these children die, as well as Lavinia Wilkins, who succumbed to pneumonia in 1926. 29 Mary Wilkins continued to reside at 2912 until September 1933, when she died after suffering a stroke. 30

Final Years, Circa 1933 – 1966

After Mary Wilkins’ death, her surviving relatives retained ownership of the property, but did not take up residence, renting it to the Calabrese family instead. The family was comprised of Nicholas Calabrese, a 53-year-old Italian-born steelworker, his 53-year-old Oklahoma-born wife, Rosa, and several children, including some from Rosa’s first marriage. 31 By 1940, one of the children from Rosa’s first marriage, John Colletti, had married and moved to New Jersey, where he was soon joined by his half-brother Albert Calabrese. 32 Later that year, 19-year-old Florence Calabrese married John A. Foley, a sailor who lived around the corner in the Seamen’s Church Institute at 2815 East Cambria (formerly William) Street. 33

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The 1919 Sanborn fire insurance map depicting 2912 Melvale Street and 2815 East Cambria Street, location of the Seamen’s Church Institute. Courtesy of Pennsylvania State University.

The Calabrese family’s time at 2912 Melvale was coming to an end with the dawn of a new decade, however. In January 1941, Harry Neely, Anna Jane Wilkins’ surviving son, died intestate, with his share in the property being inherited by his wife and four children. A little over a year later, the owners of 2912 Melvale Street—which at that time included a daughter, daughter-in-law, and five grandchildren of Anna Jane Wilkins—sold the property to Adam Bartolewicz for $1,000, ending nearly 90 years of family ownership and the Calabrese family’s time as tenants. 34

Forty-year-old Adam Bartolewicz was an ash collector working for the Philadelphia Department of Public Works. Unmarried, he lived with his widowed mother, Sabina Murzyn, and sister from his mother’s second marriage, Mary Murzyn, who was employed as a department store saleslady. 35 Two half-brothers, Frank Murzyn and Joseph Murzyn, may have lived at 2912 Melvale as well for a time. Frank had resided with his mother, sister, and Adam until at least 1940, but married the next year and enlisted in the armed forces shortly after Adam purchased the house. 36 Joseph, who had been living at 2718 East Indiana Avenue with his wife and two children in 1940, was arrested in January 1944 on suspicion of running an illegal lottery. 37 His address was given in the Philadelphia Inquirer as “Melvale st. near Cambria,” making his residence at 2912 Melvale probable, but not definite. 38

Adam Bartolewicz died of a stroke in January 1950 at age 49, leaving his mother Sabina to inherit the property, which she decided to hold in trust for her daughter Mary. 39 Sabina Murzyn died 12 years later, leaving the property to the now 37-year-old Mary Murzyn. 40 Though now the sole owner of the property, the duration of Murzyn’s continued residence at 2912 Melvale is unknown. Just three months after her mother’s death, she married Eugene Droniak, and may have moved elsewhere. 41 Whether or not the newlywed couple took up residence at 2912 in late 1962, however, they could not have resided at the premises past early 1966, when the city condemned the property during the construction of Interstate 95. 42

References

  1. Philadelphia County Deed Book GWC 29:268, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web ↩
  2. Philadelphia County Sheriff’s Deed Book V:396, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web ↩
  3. Philadelphia County Deed Book GWC 29:274, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web  ↩
  4. Philadelphia County Deed Book GWC 29:276; 279, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web ↩
  5. Philadelphia County Deed Book GWC 56:448, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web ↩
  6. A. McElroy, comp., McElroy’s Philadelphia Directory for 1850, “Philadelphia City Directories,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.fold3.com; entry for Edward C. Graeff, p. 157; Philadelphia County Deed Book GWC 56:439, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web; Philadelphia County Deed Book GWC 78:253, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web ↩
  7. McElroy, Philadelphia Directory for 1852, entry for Edwd. C. Graeff, p. 167; ibid. 1853, Edwd. C. Graeff, p. 155; ibid. 1854, Edward C. Graeff, p. 198; Philadelphia County Deed Book TH 83:213, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web ↩
  8. McElroy, Philadelphia Directory for 1853, entry for Chas. M‘Coy, p. 254; Philadelphia County Deed Book AWM 73:326, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed June 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web; Philadelphia County Deed Book TH 122:52, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web  ↩
  9. McElroy, Philadelphia Directory for 1854, entry for Wm. Wilkins, lab., p. 556; ibid. 1855, Wm. Wilkins, lab., p. 599 ↩
  10. “Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915,” database accessed July 2015, https://familysearch.org; entry for Wilkins, 1861; “Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915,” database accessed July 2015, https://familysearch.org; entry for Margaret Wilkins, July 2, 1862; “1860 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Wm Wilkus (Wilkins), 19th Ward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; “1870 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for William Wilkins, 24th [25th ↩
  11. A. McElroy, comp., McElroy’s Philadelphia City Directory for 1866, “Philadelphia City Directories,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.fold3.com; entry for William Wilkins, laborer, p. 785; James Gopsill, comp., Gopsill’s Philadelphia City Directory for 1868, “Philadelphia City Directories,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.fold3.com; entry for William Wilkins, watchman, p. 1629; ibid. 1869, William Wilkins, watchman, p. 1558; ibid. 1870, William Wilkins, watchman, p. 1607; ibid. 1871, William Wilkins, watchman, p. 1489; ibid. 1872, William Wilkins, watchman, p. 1385; “1870 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for William Wilkins, 1st enumeration, enumeration district 81, 24th (25th) Ward, Philadelphia, Pa  ↩
  12. McElroy, Philadelphia City Directory for 1866, entry for Elijah A. Martin, p. 491; Gopsill, Philadelphia City Directory for 1868, Elijah A. Martin, p. 1101; “1870 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Charlotte Martin, 1st enumeration, enumeration district 83, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa ↩
  13. “The Effects of the Storm—The Weather,” Daily Evening Traveller (Boston, Massachusetts), March 4, 1868, p. 3, Genealogy Bank, subscription database accessed July 2015, http://www.genealogybank.com; “Elijah A. Martin,” death notice, Public Ledger (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), April 4, 1868, p. 2, Newspapers.com, subscription database accessed July 2015, http://www.newspapers.com ↩
  14. Gopsill, Philadelphia City Directory for 1870, entry for Charlotte Martin, p. 1056  ↩
  15. Gopsill, Philadelphia City Directory for 1869, entry for James Melia, laborer, h 1608 William (Melvale), p. 1048; ibid. 1870, James Melia, p. 1076; “1870 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entries for William Wilkins and James Mealy (Melia), 1st enumeration, enumeration district 81, 24th (25th) Ward, Philadelphia, Pa ↩
  16. “Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915,” database accessed July 2015, https://familysearch.org; entry for Mary Elizabeth Downs, January 18, 1872 ↩
  17. Gopsill, Philadelphia City Directory for 1873, entry for James Melia, p. 927; ibid. 1874, James Melia, p. 931; ibid. 1881, James Mealy (Melia), laborer, h 1522 Summer, p. 1141; “1880 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for James Mealy (Melia), enumeration district 527, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa ↩
  18. “Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985,” Ancestry.com subscription database accessed August 2015, http://ancestry.com; entry for Anna Jane Wilken (Wilkins), Church of the Messiah (Protestant Episcopal), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 23, 1875 ↩
  19. “Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915,” database accessed July 2015, https://familysearch.org; entry for William Wilkin (Wilkins), February 20, 1876 ↩
  20. “Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915,” database accessed July 2015, https://familysearch.org; entry for Sarah Wilkins, January 27, 1877  ↩
  21. Gopsill, Philadelphia City Directory for 1877, entry for George J. Wood (Woods), p. 1575; ibid. 1878, George J. Woods, p. 1699; ibid. 1881, George J. Woods, p. 1773; “Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915,” database accessed August 2015, https://familysearch.org; entry for Mary Anne Wood (Woods), August 27, 1879; “1880 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for George Woods, enumeration district 525, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa ↩
  22. “1880 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entries for Jane Wilkins and Eliza Sniethen (Sneathan), enumeration district 524, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa ↩
  23. “Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915,” database accessed February 2015, https://familysearch.org; entry for Eliza Sneathan, January 15, 1894  ↩
  24. “1880 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Eliza Sniethen (Sneathan), enumeration district 524, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa ↩
  25. “1900 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entries for Jane Wilken (Wilkins), enumeration district 0592, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa.; “1910 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Lavonia Wilkin (Lavinia Wilkins), enumeration district 546, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa.; “1920 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Mary Wilki (Wilkins), enumeration district 0747, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa ↩
  26. “Mrs. Margaret Beatty,” death notice, Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Inquirer, September 20, 1902, p. 15, Genealogy Bank, subscription database accessed June 2014, http://www.genealogybank.com  ↩
  27. James Gopsill’s Sons, comp., Gopsill’s Philadelphia City Directory for 1885, “Philadelphia City Directories,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.fold3.com; entry for Jane Wilkens (Wilkins), p. 1860; ibid. 1886, Jane Wilkens (Wilkins), p. 1848; “Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915,” database accessed July 2015, https://familysearch.org; entry for Jane Wilken (Wilkins), November 5, 1905; Philadelphia County Deed Book DWH 1610:486, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed May 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web ↩
  28. “Pennsylvania State Department of Health Death Certificates,” Ancestry.com subscription database accessed August 2015, http://ancestry.com; entry for Ann J. Voly (Neely), October 3, 1909, File Number 98569; “Pennsylvania State Department of Health Death Certificates,” Ancestry.com subscription database accessed August 2015, http://ancestry.com; entry for William Neely, August 2, 1915, File Number 81985 ↩
  29. “Pennsylvania State Department of Health Death Certificates,” Ancestry.com subscription database accessed August 2015, http://ancestry.com; entry for C. Levania Wilkin (Catharine Lavinia Wilkins), March 27, 1926, File Number 28464; Philadelphia County Deed Book DWH 1610:486 ↩
  30. “Pennsylvania State Department of Health Death Certificates,” Ancestry.com subscription database accessed August 2015, http://ancestry.com; entry for Mary Wilkins, September 22, 1933, File Number 76341  ↩
  31. “1930 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Nicholas Calabresa (Calabrese), enumeration district 51-0524, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa.; “1940 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Nicles Calrizo (Nicholas Calabrese), enumeration district 51-0738, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa ↩
  32. “1940 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for John Colletti, enumeration district 17-0019, Penns Grove Borough, Salem County, New Jersey ↩
  33. “Applications for Marriage Licenses,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 30, 1940, p. 9, Old Fulton NY Post Cards, database accessed June 2014, http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html  ↩
  34. Philadelphia County Deed Book DWH 1610:486  ↩
  35. “1940 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Sabina Murzyn, enumeration district 51-0738, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa ↩
  36. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia marriage license index, 1885-1951,” Ancestry.com subscription database accessed August 2015, http://ancestry.com; entry for Frank Murzyn. Year: 1941, License Number: 4143662; “U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946,” Ancestry.com subscription database accessed August 2015, http://ancestry.com; entry for Frank J. Murzyn, Enlistment Date: July 16, 1942 ↩
  37. “1940 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, subscription database accessed June 2015, http://www.ancestry.com; entry for Joseph Murzyn, enumeration district 51-0731, 25th Ward, Philadelphia, Pa ↩
  38. “Numbers Evidence Found on Suspect,” Philadelphia Inquirer, January 4, 1944, p. 13, Old Fulton NY Post Cards, database accessed July 2015, http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html  ↩
  39. “Pennsylvania State Department of Health Death Certificates,” Ancestry.com subscription database accessed August 2015, http://ancestry.com; entry for Adam Joseph Bartolewicz, January 10, 1950, File Number 6651; Philadelphia County Deed Book CJP 2565:91, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed March 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web ↩
  40. “Pennsylvania State Department of Health Death Certificates,” Ancestry.com subscription database accessed October 2015, http://ancestry.com; entry for Sabina Murzyn, August 30, 1962, File Number 079864-62; “Sabina (Bartolewicz) Murzyn,” death notice, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 1, 1962, p. 20, Old Fulton NY Post Cards, database accessed June 2014, http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html ↩
  41. “Marriage License Applications,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 2, 1962, p. S13, Old Fulton NY Post Cards, database accessed June 2014, http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html ↩
  42. Philadelphia County Deed Book CAD 632:292, “Historical Land and Vital Records,” subscription database accessed September 2014, https://www.phila-records.com/historic-records/web  ↩