The Ties That Bind: The Families of Lincoln Park
Content compiled by Sharyn Duffin (pictured above in 2019 at “Lincoln Park Day”), with contributions from numerous Lincoln Park descendants. [Photo by Dale Pastor]
Lincoln Park is not a traditional kinship settlement, but, over the years, marriages between families have made it one.
These eight couples, representing seven families, are a perfect example of how the roots of the community have become inextricably bound.
Frank Davis was married to Annie Jackson.
Annie’s sister Ethel married Kenneth Shelton, and Kenneth’s sister Annie married Harold Lee Waters.
Harold’s brother Anderson married Vicella Howard.
Vicella’s brother Colston Howard married Estelle Prather.
Estelle’s brother Henry Prather married Rhoda Duffin.
Rhoda’s brother Roland married Helen Howard.
Helen Howard’s sister Lucille Howard married James Davis and Jim Davis is Frank Davis’s brother.
This quote, found in a letter from Wilma Bell’s mother, sums up the feeling of unity and strength in Lincoln Park:
“… I hope I live very much in the present and recall the past with joy… I remain a combination of eternal girl and strong, realistic woman, a compelling blend and as pure as unalloyed steel.”
Above top: Helen Howard Duffin
Above bottom: Roland Duffin
The Davis Family
written by Ardell Hilliard
In 1922, Reverend James W. Davis (pictured above, left) came to Rockville with his family from Washington, DC. Reverend Davis was a godly man with a large family, like unto Abraham of the Bible. His seed did multiply in Lincoln Park and abroad. Of his eight sons, two became pastors of churches in Montgomery County. Reverend Phillip Davis of the Interdenominational Church of God stated in an interview recently that their profession was considered “fishers of men.” One pastored at Mt. Calvary, just as his father had done before him. Most of the other sons served in various key positions in the church, such as Henry Davis (pictured above, right). Mr. James N. Davis, one of the patriarch’s sons, built Mt. Calvary’s church as it stands today. It took him seven years to complete. Reverend James W. Davis’s legacy continues today with his grandson, Reverend Rodney T. Davis, the pastor of the Crusader Baptist Church of God. He and his congregation have acquired the Lincoln High School historical site in the Lincoln Park community. Just like his forefathers, Reverend Rodney Davis comes from a long line of people who have served God, family, and the Lincoln Park community.
Click the images below to scroll through with captions
The Hicks Family
Louis Wood Hicks was born on September 30, 1883, the son of Joseph and Clarissa Hicks. He lived at 308 Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park. A mason at the White House in Washington, he worked there until 1943. In the photograph at left, taken during President Franklin Roosevelt’s first administration, Mr. Hicks is shown next to a White House flag stand for which he laid the supports. He preferred formal attire and so was called “The Professor.” Mr. Hicks died October 13, 1974.
Louise V. Hicks Tourney (7/7/1887-4/13/1965) graduated from Storer College in West Virginia in 1906 and taught at a one-room schoolhouse in Rockville.
Horace B. Hicks (9/11/1890 – 2/7/1976) was a 33rd-degree Mason, who lived on Douglas Avenue.
Clementine (Sedgewick) Smith (3/30/1901 – 7/21/1986) lived at 600 Douglas Avenue. She taught school in the one-room schoolhouse in Scotland, an African-American community three miles south of Rockville.
Clinton Hicks (1906 – ) served clientele at his barber shop on Lincoln Avenue for two decades. Read more about him in the Montgomery Journal article of March 19, 1982, “Old Drummer Clips Along in Rockville.”
The Hill Family
de Rockville: Retrato de una ciudad, by Eileen S. McGuckian, 2001:
Reuben Hill Sr. (1829-1915) and Reuben Hill Jr (1859-1936) were farm laborers and carpenters who lived in the area which is now Lincoln Park. When Reuben Sr. agreed in 1867 to support a school for black students, he likely honored that pledge in skilled labor. A slave until his mid-thirties, Reuben Sr. purchased land in 1880 and teamed with former Confederate soldier and fence builder Simeon Berry to build a house northeast of Rockville. That year, Berry bequeathed to Hill his tools, furniture, and the house. Reuben Sr. helped to build a brick dwelling on the new subdivision of Lincoln Park in 1897. When he died in 1915, the Sentinel noted that ‘Uncle Reuben’ greeted friends with an old-fashioned, courteous bow and had ‘gained the respect and confidence of both races in this community.’ Reuben Thomas Hill, or Reuben Jr., inherited his father’s tools and talents. He enlarged the family home, built household furniture and tiny houses for children, and helped to erect other homes in Lincoln Park. The Reuben Hill house on Lincoln Avenue is still owned by the family.
Reuben Hill, Jr. and his wife Carrie Blair Hill [?-1922] (pictured above) lived at 305 Lincoln Avenue. They had three children: Edith Hill Manly, Lloyd Carlisle Hill, and Leola Hill Williams.
(Source for Hill family photographs: Norma Hill Duffin and Barbara Hill Talley)
Henry T. Manly, 1879-1948
Their daughter Edith married Henry T. Manly [1879-1948] in June 1908. Manly had been born in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1879. The date of his arrival in the Washington, DC, area is uncertain. However, it was probably in 1898 or shortly thereafter. In that year, Henry’s older brothers Alex and Frank Manly, who were newspaper publishers, had been forced to flee Wilmington in the midst of a major race riot that was blamed on their “incendiary editorials.”
Henry Manly was a watch and clock repairman and the proprietor of the Old Clock Hospital, located at 13 Fayette Street. The shop was opened as early as the 1920’s and operated until his death in January, 1948.
Although Henry and Edith Manly had no children, Mr. Manly was an active member and an official of the Confederation of Citizens Associations of Montgomery County, which advocated improved conditions in Black schools. They sought a longer school year, higher teacher pay, transportation, and better physical facilities and instructional materials.
Bessie Johnson Hill, circa 1895.
Reuben and Rachel (Martin) Hill’s youngest son, Vernon, married Bessie Johnson. Bessie built a house at 602 Falls Road in Rockville in 1902. She obtained the land from her parents, William Johnson and Eliza Davis Johnson, who lived next door. The house remained in the Hill family until its sale in 1945.
Bessie’s three children (pictured below) were Lillian Hill, Vernon E. “Sumner” Hill, Jr., and Eustace Jerome “Fuzz” Hill. Her sister, Lillian Johnson Finley, also had a son, Laurence D. Finley.
Maggie Wood Shelton and Henry Shelton, Sr., with their son Kenneth, c. 1910
The Shelton Family
written by Wilma Bell, photographs courtesy of Wilma Bell
Maggie Wood (1873-1969) and Henry Shelton, Sr. (1878-1947) both came from Keswick, a village near Charlottesville, Virginia. They were married November 2, 1898, in Rockville, Maryland.
In 1919, Henry and Maggie built a beautiful two-story house at 606 N. Horners Lane in Lincoln Park, with porches upstairs and down to raise a growing family. Maggie and Henry had four children: Kenneth, Henry, Jr., Annie (Waters), and Marilyn (Claggett).
Kenneth married Ethel Jackson. They had six children: Kenneth, Jr., Melvin, Edison, Sylvia, Ethel and Daniel.
Annie married Harry Lee Waters.
Henry, Jr. married Lucinda Kearney. They had three children: Clyde, Wilma (Bell), and Fran (Hawkins).
Marilyn married Robert Claggett. They had two children: Robert, Jr. and JoAnne (Flennoy).
Maggie and Henry Shelton, Sr., Circa 1940
Henry worked as a roofer for Ed Viett for nearly 50 years until his passing in 1947. Associates described him as a thoughtful, intelligent, and civic-minded man with vision ahead of his time. He deeply cherished family and friends. He joined others to form a civic association. They recognized the need for schools and fire services in the City. The Sheltons were also among those willing to use their homes as collateral to build schools that served blacks throughout the County. Henry also served as captain of the first loosely organized fire department in the City and played the French horn in a local band. Note: A great-grandson, Timothy Bell, joined the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department in 1985 and served on Montgomery County’s Hazardous Materials unit.
Henry Shelton, Sr. with his grandchildren, Clyde and Sylvia, who were first cousins, c. 1939.
Maggie enjoyed being at home with family. A deeply spiritual woman, Maggie joined others to recruit a pastor for the church next door, Mt. Calvary Baptist. She loved to cook, entertain, and became the matriarch of a large, loving family until her passing in 1969 at age 96. It was her grace and charm that made her front porch often the arena for family and friends to discuss everything from the weather to politics. Her dining table was always beautifully set to serve anyone who visited. Her iced tea, homemade bread, and rice pudding became family favorites.
Henry Shelton, Jr. and Lucinda Kearney Shelton family
Anderson Waters and Vicella Howard Waters
Annie Shelton Waters and Harold Lee Waters Family
Photographs provided by Anderson Waters
The Waters family held yearly reunions in Purcellville, Virginia. The Lewis family, descendants of the Waters family, continue to live in Lincoln Park in the rowhouse at 302 Lincoln Avenue.
Click on a photo below to scroll through with captions
The Howard Family
Maggie and Henry’s mothers, Polly Wood and Margaret Shelton, also left Keswick, along with several of their siblings.
Henry had two sisters, Alice (Pinkett) and Amanda. He also had a brother, Wilbur.
Maggie’s sisters were Carrie (Pagan), Annie (Offutt), Josephine (Breckenridge), Hattie (Lewis), Marion, and Mary (Howard). Her brothers were William and James Wood.
The pictures below, dating from the 1920s, are of Fred and Mary Howard. The Howards were the parents of Lucille (Howard) Davis, Vicella (Howard) Waters, Helen (Howard) Duffin, and Colston, James, John, and Nanny Howard. The family lived at 604 North Horner’s Lane. Mr. Howard was the head painter at Chestnut Lodge, Rockville’s well-known psychiatric hospital.
Raymond Smith milking Rosie, Lincoln Park, date unknown
The Smith Family
Compiled by Beverly Hawkins Canaday, adapted from her work, Our Story: As Remembered by the Descendants of Mabel and Raymond Smith (2020) with assistance from Autumn Canaday and Sondra Stevenson. Updates by Jacqueline DuPuy. Photos from the Canaday and Stevenson collections.
Prominent among the families on Avery Road was the family of Benjamin Smith, grandfather of Raymond Smith and Lillian (Bea) Smith Brown. Their presence in Lincoln Park began in the mid-1930s when Raymond Smith moved to Lincoln Avenue with his wife, Irene Boardley Snowden Smith. This was a second marriage for both, and they worked to build not only a strong marriage but also a strong financial foundation. Working as a team, Raymond and Irene created a mini-real estate empire that was based on numerous properties in Lincoln Park. Most of the properties were homes situated on Lincoln Avenue. Their holdings also included properties on North Horner’s Lane and on Frederick Avenue. Raymond rented the homes on Lincoln Avenue and eventually sold several undeveloped lots for the construction of homes by others.
Raymond Smith gardening, Lincoln Park, date unknown
Raymond’s daughter, Mabel, established a home in Lincoln Park after marrying Raymond Hawkins in 1941. Their children and grandchildren remained residents and landowners in Lincoln Park well into the 21st century.
During the 1970s the presence of the Smith family in Lincoln Park was strengthened when Lillian (Bea) Smith Brown built a home on Lincoln Avenue and became an active resident of the community. Bea was a well-known educator who served Montgomery County for 36 years as a teacher in the Montgomery County Public Schools. When she retired, she became active in numerous community organizations, including the Clinton AME Zion Church. She co-authored the “History of the Black Public Schools of Montgomery County, Maryland 1872-1961” with her close friend and fellow teacher, Nina Clarke in 1978. For this achievement, Bea was honored in 1980 at the Maryland statehouse. Bowie University awarded her a “Legacy of Excellence Award” and the Montgomery County Board of Education presented her with the “Pioneer Award for Distinguished Service to Public Education” award in 2001. Shortly after receiving this award, the nominating committee for a new elementary school in Germantown recommended unsuccessfully that the new school be named in her honor. A second recommendation in 2018 was also unsuccessful.
Lillian (Bea) Smith Brown, educator and author, c. 1978
The Prather Family
Information from Sharyn Duffin , photos provided by Sharyn Duffin, Karlton Jackson, Warren G. Crutchfield, and Peerless Rockville
Evelyn Martin married William Henry Prather, Sr. in August 1889. On March 17, 1896, Evelyn and William Henry Prather purchased from William W. Welsh the lot at 315 Lincoln Avenue in his new subdivision of Lincoln Park. Evelyn’s relatives Ella and Wallace Martin also owned property on the same street, and, in 1902, William Henry’s mother, Hester Butler, bought a lot adjacent to his.The Prathers’ house was built by Adam Powell, and most of their children were born at 315 Lincoln. The house was remodeled in the 1950’s, and the Prathers’ youngest child, Elsie Prather Jackson lived there until her death. The Prathers sponsored a window in the Jerusalem M.E.Church, and they were charter members of the Eureka Tabernacle Number 29 of the order of Galilean Fishermen.
George and Gertrude Prather and Len and Bessie O. Meads enjoy a picnic together on May 30, the traditional ‘homecoming’ day for Black communities in Montgomery County. Photograph from the 1920s
Their children were:
Mamie (b. 3/17/1891)
William Henry, Jr. (9/11/1893 – 2/14/1967), known as “Henry,” was married to Rhoda Duffin. They had a daughter, Frances.
George (b. 1895) married Gertrude had a son Claude (6/15/1915 – 2/1986). Claude Prather owned and operated the Rockville Ice Company at 736 Montgomery Avenue.
Charles (b. 9/15/1896) served in the military during World War I as a Private First Class in the 154th Depot Brigade and then in the 593rd Motor Transport Company until his honorable discharge in May, 1919.
Estelle (2/7/1897 – circa 1923)
Henson (3/1900 – 6/10/1964)
Arthur (d. 11/13/1964)
Spencer (7/27/1904 – 11/21/1966)
Elsie (b. 2/20/1911)
Alice and Willis Isreal, parents of Frank, in Georgia, date unknown.
The Isreal & Summerour Families
Text from Rockville: Retrato de una ciudad by Eileen S. McGuckian (2001), with thanks to the Rockville Mayor and City Council.
McGuckian credits an interview with Violet Isreal and Willie Mae Carey, 1983, in the Peerless Rockville Collections.
Photographs provided by Sandra Summerour-Jackson
The Isreal family migrated to Rockville from Georgia in 1923, seeking a better life. Frank Isreal initially worked as a caretaker and handyman at Chestnut Lodge, and Violet Isreal kept house at Rose Hill Farm on Falls Road. Violet Isreal’s maiden name was Dobbs. She was related to John Wesley Dobbs, 1882-1961, a leader in the African American community in Atlanta, and to Mattiwilda Dobbs (b. 1925), the first Black woman to appear in a principal role at the world-famous La Scala Opera House in Milan Italy.
The family purchased a lot from Harrison England for $250 and built a home in Lincoln Park, where they raised chickens, hogs, and vegetables. Their twelve children attended segregated schools in Rockville and Washington. The children’s names are Louise, Willie Mae (Isreal) Carey, Dewey, Goldie, Clarence, Frank, Elbert, Beatrice (Isreal) Smith, Irene (Isreal) Hayes, Violet (Isreal) Rabey, James, and Freddie.
The Summerour family is related by marriage to the Isreals. Ida Isreal married Sherman Summerour.
LORENZO DOW TURNER: From Lincoln Park to Leading Scholar
From a Montgomery County Public Libraries’ display based on the exhibit produced by the Anacostia Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, “Word, Shout, Song: Lorenzo Dow Turner Connecting Communities through Language,” written by Alcione Amos
Lorenzo Dow Turner helped to shape African American identity in the early-to-mid 20th century as a professor of English and through his pioneer research of Gullah language in the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. He began his distinguished academic career at his alma mater, Howard University in Washington, DC. He earned his Master’s degree in English in 1917 at Harvard University and his doctorate in English in 1926 at the University of Chicago. Turner was the first African American professor appointed to teach at a white university and became the first to be a member of the Linguistic Society of America. Turner was instrumental in developing the field of African American Studies.
Prior to Dr. Turner’s fieldwork in linguistics in the 1930s, experts failed to recognize that the Gullah language spoken by African-American east coastal residents was not “bad English.” Gullah was instead a Creole language influenced by more than thirty African languages that had been brought to the area by their enslaved ancestors.
But long before Dr. Turner did his pioneer linguistics work and launched a whole new field of study in Creole languages, he was an elementary school student in the segregated schools of Montgomery County where his father, Rooks Turner, had a long career as a schoolteacher and principal.
The young Lorenzo Dow Turner honed his baseball skills on local fields, skills he would soon use as a means of recreation while a member of Howard University’s winning teams of 1912 and 1913 and later to finance his education as a player in the popular amateur Negro leagues. It was here in Rockville that Dr. Turner was able to pursue his formative education in earnest, in a community that viewed education as the primary means to overcome post-slavery limitations. Lincoln Park would be the prelude to a life of intellectual accomplishments and successes.
Turner attended school at 246 N. Washington St., Rockville, from 1901-1906. He is seventh from the right, kneeling in the second row. The man with the hat was probably Charles P. Jenkins who he remembered as his main teacher. Turner received a gold medal and twenty gold dollars for oratory and he was acclaimed the “best speaker in the Negro public schools of Montgomery County.” The medal, dated 1906, is in the collection of the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum.
Howard University Debate Team, 1917 (Turner in center)
After finishing high school at the Howard University Academy in 1910, Turner entered the college. He stated that his two favorite extracurricular activities were debating and baseball.
In 1917, he earned a Master’s Degree in English at Harvard University and in 1926, he was awarded a PhD in English from the University of Chicago.
He returned to Howard University to teach and among his students was Zora Neale Hurston. She describes Professor Turner in Dust Tracks on a Road as “tall, lean with a head of wavy black hair above his thin aesthetic face…His delivery was soft and restrained. Listening to him, I decided that I must be an English teacher.”
Turner, accompanied by his wife and children, visited Lincoln Park in Rockville in 1957 and was photographed at the Lincoln Avenue house where he had lived as a youth