William Walter' Son Carriage Manufacturer

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The William Walters Carriage Manufacture, a family-owned carriage company, operated from 1855 through 1904 at various locations in downtown Washington D.C. The business was founded by William Walter and passed to his wife Elizabeth (Lizzie) and son Charles (Chas) upon his death in 1894. The company operated under the name William Walter's Son until Charles Walter died in 1904. The name and business was then sold. The business was located at three locations in Washington D.C.: 14th St NW, 8th St. NW, and 3rd St. NE. The 3rd St. location, along with adjoining horse stables and next two homes Charles had constructed for his family and his mother-in-law, are the only surviving structures.

Charles Walter's Capitol Hill Carriage Factory

William Walter

William Walter (born 1822) and his wife Katharine (born 1826) immigrated to the United States from Hesse, Germany, around 1851. Transiting the Atlantic from Great Britain, the couple arrived in New York and originally settled down in Connecticut from 1851-1856. While in Connecticut, the couple had a son William in 1852 and daughter Catherine (Kate) in 1855 before moving to Washington D.C. around 1856. Arriving to Washington, D.C. in 1856, William Walter began working as a simple blacksmith when his son Charles (Chas) was born on February 19, 1857, and later his daughter Amelia in 1860.

History

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1863 Washington DC City Guide Walter & Karmann Coach Maker Ad

William Walter partnered with Harmon Karmann & George Bopp to operate the Walter, Karmann, & Bopp Coach & Carriage Manufacturers located at 346 D St. between 9th and 10th west sometime around 1860. The partnership was later advertised and noted in the 1962 Washington D.C. City Directory. William and Katherine also welcomed their son Frederick in 1862, where according to 1863 Civil War Draft records the family resided at 604 6th St SW between D & E St SW and William worked as a blacksmith at the coach makers at D St. between 9th & 10th St. SW. For two years, William remained as a partner under Walter & Karmann at 346 D north while boarding at 604 6 west, and his partner Mr. Karmann’s home was located at 95 4 1⁄2 west. In 1865, William Walter was no longer partnered with Mr. Karmann, who no longer appears as a resident of Washington, and partners with Joseph A. Necker, a boarder at the same residence as the Walters at 604 6th west in 1865 to form Walter & Necker coach and carriage builders. In 1865, Mr. Necker is recorded as living at 381 3d east on Capitol Hill, but both the partnership and Mr. Necker no longer appear in the 1867 Washington City Directory. William and Katherine welcome their last child, Robert, in 1867. William and Katherine at their home on 604 6th St West.

In 1868, William Walter petitioned Washington D.C. to independently operate a coach and carriage business on the southeast corner of 14 and D streets. He was granted a license and began operations at 14th west & north as advertised in the 1870 directory as “WILLIAM WALTER, manufacturer of Carriages of Every Description”. In 1871, the family relocated within Washington, moving from what was first noted as 6th between D and E se to 438 6 sw. In 1874, his eldest son William at the age of 21 began working with his father as a blacksmith, and his brother Charles, at 18, as a painter in 1875 while still living at 438th 6 sw. The younger brother Frederick starts working at a carriage works in 1878 as a coach smith at the age of 16. Around 1879, William Walter Jr. appeared to leave Washington, and Charles Walter moved out of the family home at 438 6th sw to 518 11th nw while still working for his father as a carriage maker and painter.

In 1884, William Walter and his carriage business was prominently referred to in the “...Washington and Environs Our Capitol City “Paris of America”, Its Prominent Places and People. Leading Merchants, Manufacturers, E.E. Bartons 1884 Washington Book Artisans and Professional Men” the article details William Walter’s business and history up to 1884, highlighting the business’ workmanship, success, and prominence in Washington.

Charles (Chas) Walter, William Walter's Son Carriage Manufacturer

Following their father’s death, Charles and Frederick continue to run the coach and carriage manufacturing business under the name “William Walter’s Sons Carriage Manufacturers” and publish a large advertisement in the City Directory. The partnership between Charles and Frederick only lasts a few years and is dissolved in 1889. Charles takes over sole ownership of the carriage business now known as "William and Walter's Son Carriage Manufacturer". Frederick remains in Washington working as a carriage manufacturer.

Charles C. Walter married Elizabeth Keleher in 1891. In 1884, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and then widow Caroline Keleher, lived at 2 E St NW. Charles had lived nearby at 4 E St NW since 1881. In 1886, Charles’ residence was recorded at 10 E St NW but then moved to Capitol Hill in 1887 to 415 3rd St NE, a location a half block away from where he and his wife Elizabeth would build their home, stable and carriage factory by the turn of the century. It is unclear from the records, but it appears both Elizabeth and her mother resided with Charles after their marriage.

On July 25, 1890, the carriage factory located at the corner of 14th and D St. NW caught fire and burned from 12:10am through noon. The fire destroyed the entire building leaving only the walls. The fire gained considerable press for its size and intensity. Losses were placed at $50,000. Charles was at the scene and is quoted surveying the damage in a Daily Critic article that day. Charles notes the insurance only totaling a maximum of $8,000. Although no cause was initially noted, eye-witness reports placed the cause of the fire on the blacksmith’s fire which may have ignited some inflammable material nearby. The building was comparatively new and filled with combustible materials used in the manufacture of coaches and carriages.

The fire does not appear to slow the business down, with Charles continuing to post large ads in the city directory advertising the business at 14th & D and a branch shop at 416 8th Street NW beginning the year of the fire (see below). Most likely he operated out of the branch shop while rebuilding the main carriage works.

Joseph C. Keleher. In 1891, Charles and Lizzie welcome Joseph Charles Keleher into their home as their own child. Born in January to James Keleher, a well-known stable & livery owner and brother of Lizzie, the child was among more than a dozen other children Joseph was raising at the time. Since the couple had been married for almost a decade without having children of their own, the decision was most likely made to have them raise the child as their own.

In 1891, the Sunday Herald and Weekly Intelligencer prints an article about the carriage manufacturer and dealer William Walter’s Son. The article mentions the “new” building at 309, 317 & 319 14th Street and tells not only of the fire which destroyed the building and rebuilt in a few weeks, but also of the buyout of his brother Frederick a couple of years earlier. The article describes the new building as an imposing four-story structure comprising a fine sales room as could be desired.

In 1894, the William Walters’ Carriage Manufacturing was again recognized for its prominence in the city in the book “Washington D.C. with its Point of Interest” published by the Mercantile Illustrating Co., New York. Like the 1884 ”Washington and Environs Our Capitol City...” book about Washington D.C., this book provided a synopsis of the business and its history and mentions the business extending into Maryland, Virginia, and “orders frequently filled for more distant points, to which his reputation extends through many sojourners in the Capital City”. His business is stated as manufacturing in all the departments of woodwork, blacksmith work, upholstery, painting, and finish. Other carriage and wagons works mentioned in the book include Beck Bros., Cook & Jarboe, Garges W.H. & Bros., Joyce’s Sons, Ridgeway & Beck, and Thomas E. Young.

Capitol Hill Residences by Francis & Schneider

In November, 1894, Charles is granted permit #828 to build two pressed brick dwellings 16x46 feet at 318 & 320 3rd St NE and employs the firm of Francis & Schneider as architects and Emmert & Heisley as builders. Thomas Franklin Schneider (1859-1938), of Francis & Schneider Architects, was a well-known architect who at the time had already completed a number of projects to include Washington’s Cairo Hotel and some row houses on Q St NW. Schneider went on to design more than 2000 houses in the Washington area to include the Rochambeau, the Stoneleigh Court, and the Ethelhurst. Another of Schneider's accomplishments was a wing of "Henderson's Castle" at Florida and 16th, N.W. The builders Louis H. Emmert & George W. Heisley often teamed with Thomas F. Schneider as the architect and had constructed dwelling and factories throughout the city until 1900 when Mr. Emmert declared bankruptcy.

On August 2, 1894, Charles was granted permit #188 to construct a private stable in the rear of 318 and 320 3rd St NE Washington, District of Columbia Building Permit #188, August 2, 1895, square 756, lots 40 & 41, at a cost of $1,000. Chas F. Myers was the architect and W.P. Bateman was the builder of a concrete & common brick stable 33.6 x 33.6 feet square. The stable is two-stories with 4 small stall windows on the west face of the building and two second floor hoist ways for loading hay and feed on the south face of the building. The second floor was originally constructed with a large opening in the center to allow for hay and feed distribution to the first floor.

Charles and his younger brother Frederick inherited the business upon their father’s death, but this partnership was short lived due to marital allegations and recorded reports of spousal and substance abuse made against Frederick. Frederick’s wife Jennie E. (Trouland) Walter filed for divorce in 1894 citing inhuman treatment dating back to 1890. Frederick and Jennie were married in Washington on October 25, 1885, but due to “drunken habits and cruel acts” Jennie left Frederick in 1889 until 1893 when he promised to reform. Jennie had their child in 1890, but unfortunately the child died nine months later due to reported abuse by Frederick. The marriage was publicly known as abusive, as evidenced in a report of Frederick tearing Jennie’s clothes off while arguing on Massachusetts Ave. between 4th and 5th St NW in August of 1892. Frederick also accuses Jennie of trying to poison him in his divorce suit answer in 1895, but the marriage and Frederick’s behavior has already separated him from the business and any other associations with his brother Charles. By 1890, Charles had become the sole owner of the carriage business while Frederick returned to living at home with his widowed mother and working for other carriage repair shops. By the turn of the century, Frederick’s name is no longer found in Washington DC City directory.

National News

The local labor union affiliated with the Knights of Labor, claimed Springman Brothers, under contract, had provided delivery wagons to the Washington Post and the wagons were to be built by “union labor”. But rather than building the wagons, the Springman Brothers purchased the wagons and had Charles put them together without using union labor. Charles filed an indictment against 12 members of the labor union for entering into a conspiracy against him and his business when they had through “threats, acts and interference” ended his business with long-standing customers beginning in 1895 and placed his business on the unfair list in March of 1898 and required several of his workers (Edward J. Osterman, James E. Rose, John W. Lightell, John F. Beck, George H. Longheury, John F. Widmier, William Wimmell, William A, Wilding, and John R. Deale) who union members to cease work. This indictment was recognized nationally in newspapers such as The Copper County Evening News (Calumet, MI), the El Paso Daily Herald, and the Kansas Agitator (Garnett, KS), as the first instance of a business going up against a labor union for the right to boycott.

An interesting note: in September 1897, there was a small fire at the carriage works on 14th St NW and the neighboring Nailor’s Stable. Both properties were insured, and damages added up to $25,000.

In December 1898, the Maryland Criminal Court Judge Bradley overruled the demurrer against the Knights of Labor conspiracy case stating Charles did require the protection of the law but that the common law is adequate to afford that protection.

Capitol Hill Carriage Factory

Charles was granted a permit to build a Carriage House at the rear of 322 3rd St NE, square 756, lot 27 (currently 826), on March 12, 1904, as a three-story concrete & common brick building with tin roof, 16 foot 8 inches by 60 feet alongside an existing stable he built in 1895. Estimated cost of the building was $2,800. Both buildings shared a wall, and there was an opening on the second floor connecting both buildings. Decorative lunettes consisting of vines to each side of a central tulip, were placed above the six windows facing the street. There was also a hand-operated carriage elevator installed in the northeast corner of the building similar to the Bate’s Hand elevators of the time built in Baltimore (see Bate’s Elevator Ad). The builder of the factory was John W. Swainson, a prominent builder and contractor in Washington and who also lived nearby at 397 E St. NE.

During construction, Mr. Patrick Sullivan of 237 Massachusetts Ave NE and also Mr. A. Webster of 231 Massachusetts Ave NE, submitted letters to the buildings inspector April 1, 1904, referencing an encroachment of his property by the placement of windows on the north wall of the building. Letters back and forth from Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Snowien Ashford (building inspector), and Mr. Walters from April 1st through the 18th discuss removal of the windows due to concerns for invasion of privacy. Other adjacent owners, E.F. Hall, grocer at 3d and C NE and the resident of 232 Massachusetts Ave NE, submitted letters approving of openings along the north wall. By April 18, 1904, Mr. Ashford grants Mr. [Chas] Walters permission to continue construction and place two windows in the 2nd and 3rd stories of the north and south walls, both essential to provide air circulation for the painting and repair of coaches.

Unfortunately, Charles (Chas.) C. Walters died on May 9, 1904, at the age of 48 at his residence, 320 3rd St NE (see funeral announcement). Charles’ will dated May 2, 1902, bequeathed unto his brother Frederick an annuity of $480; to his cousin Clara Bauer, residing in Germany, $1,000; to his nephew Joseph C. Keleher, the stable at 318-320 3rd St NE Rear; and the remainder of his estate, to include the carriage business and associated properties, to his wife Lizzie M. Walter . On June 9, 1905, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Walter auctions off the Wm. Walter’s Son building located the corner of 14th and D St NW along with the remaining portion of the stock consisting of new and used carriages, buggies, and wagons. On August 14, 1905, Lizzie sells the trade and firm name and style of “Wm. Walter’s Son” to Messrs, George H. Lang, John F. Beck and Arthur A. Crow to operate under the name “Wm. Walter's Son Carriage Co

References

This article "William Walter' Son Carriage Manufacturer" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:William Walter' Son Carriage Manufacturer. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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