MM and Ellen White's obits

May 15 1873 Daily National Republican Washington, DC

June 5 1868 Evening Star Washington, DC

Mathias M. and Ellen Deale White headstone Congressional cemtery

Our Father and Mother  Martin M White  Line worn completely away  Washington DC  Died June 5 1868  aged 59 years  and his beloved wife  Ellen  died May 15 1873  age 58 years

Ellen Deal White dies 1873

MM dies in 1868 when Margaret Alice is only 10 years old and before she's 15 her mother also dies. We know Ellen left the family the house at 17 Massachusetts and North Capital when she died in 1873 and we find the youngest two children, brother and sister ( Boyds directory of DC 1874)  John C.C. (only 5 years older) living with his sister, Margaret A. (Maggie)  still living at 17 Mass av nw.

Mathias and the pig

  Taken up astray on the premises 457 Pa avenue night of Friday December - 1859 a dark black and white spotted sow, which the owner can have by calling on M.M. White and paying he charges and c. dec 14

1870 Census: Ellen White and family

1870 census 

Martin has died. According to directory: DC Directory White, Ellen, wid Mathias 1 Mass Ave. corner North Capital

Surname	Given Name	Age	Birth Yr	Gender	Color	Occupation	PersValue	Birth Place
White	Ellen	56	1814	Female	w	Keeping house	$35	Maryland
White	John C.C.	19	1851	Male	w	App to carpenter		District of Columbia
White	Frank P	17	1853	Male	w	At Home		District of Columbia
White	Margaret	13	1857	Female	w	At Home		District of Columbia
Makins	Martha	16	1854	Female	w	At Home		Maryland
Smith	James	18	1852	Female	w	Laborer		District of Columbia

1860 census: Ellen White and family

1860 census: District of Columbia 

No Matthias listed - don't know why he wasn't listed with family.

According to the 1860 DC Directory the family lives and works at 457 Pennsylvania Ave. address but the 1860 census records seems to be for a family living in the 400 block 12th West address because all the other nearby enumerated families live around that address. Other non-family listed seem to be workers in the undertaking business; dressmaking (coffin liners etc) and cabinet making. Little James (mulatto servant) seems to have grown up with the family as he is 18 and still with the White's in 1870.

Surname	Given Name	Age	Birth Year	Gender	Color	Occupation	Personal Estate Value	Birth Place
White	Ellen	48	1812	Female			$100	District of Columbia
White	Helen M	15	1845	Female		App To Milliner		Maryland
White	Emma	12	1848	Female				District of Columbia
White	Jno	8	1852	Male				District of Columbia
White	Frank	6	1854	Male				District of Columbia
White	Margaret	3	1857	Female				District of Columbia
Bain	Andrew	25	1835	Male		Stone cutter		Scotland
Bain	Rebecca	24	1836	Female		Millner		Maryland
Bain	Andrew	2 mo	1860	Male				District of Columbia
Collins	John	24	1836	Male		Cabinet maker		Ireland
Leslie	Mary	26	1834	Female		Dressmaker		District of Columbia
Lynch	Sarah	16	1844	Female		Dressmaker		Maryland
Smith	James	8	1852	Male	M	Servant		District of Columbia

Frenchman enters home

MM White had a interesting surprise

 Watch report : Daily National Republican Saturday,  December 1st 1860

Adam Voltee, a Frenchman was brought up for being drunk and disorderly , and for breaking open the door of M.M. White, the latter having a decided objection to such proceeding, and the Justice regard the offence as rather a serious one. Adam was fined $6.15 and required to give $100 security to keep the peace.

This might be the guy 1860 census DC

M.M White Washington, DC directory listings of business and home from June 1845- June 1868

M.M White DC directory listings of business and home from June 1845-Ellens death in 1873.

1846 The Washington Directory and National Register J.T. Towers Mathias W. White listed as night watchman Patent Office Home- no address 1850 – The Washington directory, and Congressional and executive register, for 1850

White not listed 1853 – The Washington and Georgetown directory, strangers’ guide-book for Washington, and congressional and clerks’ register. Alfred Hunter. 

1853 White M.M. coffin warehouse, s side Pa av, btw 6 and 7 w 

1855 Boyd's directory of the District of Columbia White M. undertaker, 457 Pa ave.

1858 Boyd's directory of the District of Columbia White Matthias M. undertaker, 457 and 599 Penn ave

1860 Boyd's Washington and Georgetown Directory White Matthias M., undertaker, 457 Pa av, h do 

1862 Boyd's Washington and Georgetown Directory White M.M., undertaker 457 Penn av, h 562 I north Also listed under undertakers in business section \

1864 Boyd's Washington and Georgetown Directory White, M.M. Undertaker, B north c 2nd west, h 562 I north

1866 Boyd's Washington and Georgetown Directory White Matthias M., undertaker 2d west cor Pa ave h Mass ave or N Cap 

1867 Boyd's Directory of Washington and Georgetown White Mathias M. cabinet maker, Mass av cor N Cap 

1868 Boyd's Directory of Washington and Georgetown White Mathias M. cabinet maker, Mass av cor N Cap 

1870 DC Directory White, Ellen, wid Mathias 1 Mass Ave. corner North Capital

New blog chronicling M.M. White's undertaking business

 

I have created a separate Matthias M. White undertaker blog where I am researching his business and each of his known burials. There is also lots about Fisk metallic coffins.

Check it out for lots more info: http://mmwhitedcundertaker1845-65.blogspot.com/

John L. Wirt and Martin M White co-workers, friends, neighbors, business partners ......

Excellent article about John Wirt who we know was Martin M White co-workers, friends, neighbor and business partner.
MM White named his daughter after Wirt and Wirt did the negotiations for Dolly Madison burial and is listed in numerous advertisements as a contact person for MM White undertaking business. The list goes on of their numerous contacts ... they were both nightwatchman in early 1840 before John became one of the 1st(ever) capital police members and MM started his undertaking business.

LOST CAPITOL HILL: JOHN L. WIRT
 Last week, I looked at the tussle between Representatives Rathbun and White on the House floor. While the fracas itself was quickly resolved, and the combatants soon realized the error of their ways, there was a coda to the events of that day that had long-lasting repercussions.

While Rathbun and White were going at it, one William S. Moore was trying to get onto the floor of the House. Moore, originally from Kentucky, was in Washington attempting to get some satisfaction from an unknown government agency. Presumably, he hoped to pester one of the Representatives for assistance in this matter. Not being a member of the House, the Sergeant-at-Arms attempted to keep him from the floor. Representative William C. McCauslen of Ohio came to the Sergeant-at-Arms’s assistance, and escorted Moore out, then turned to return to the floor. At that moment, Moore pulled out a pistol and fired. Who he was aiming for was undetermined, but the fact was that the bullet went home–not to McCauslen, but to one John L. Wirt of the Capitol Police. Wirt was just exiting the floor when he was struck in the thigh. Moore was tackled and dragged off to the post office of the House, where he was relieved of both the gun and a dirk he was carrying and placed under arrest.

About two weeks later, the House decided to turn over Moore to the local police, to have them try the case. Ten days after that, the House once again roused themselves to action, appropriating $150 for Wirt, as compensation for the injuries. This was actually quite generous – his salary had been only $100 per year not much earlier.

Moore was charged with assault with intent to kill McCauslen, as well as assault on Wirt. He was tried early the following year, and was convicted only on assault on McCauslen, but not on Wirt. He then disappears into the mists of history.

Wirt, for his part, did quite well for himself. A few years later, he was elected Alderman, and served as such for four years. He also assisted his neighbor Mathias M. White , a funeral director. White noted in an ad that ran in the Daily Union of May 1, 1850 that “John L. Wirt will see to the filling of all orders during my absence with the remains of Hon. John C. Calhoun.” Calhoun (pic) had died on March 31st of that year, and was taken back to Charleston, SC, for burial. Detail of 1828 picture of the Capitol showing the fence and one of the gates that Wirt was responsible for. Watercolor by John Rubens Smith. (LOC)

Wirt's gate
Wirt was also assaulted two more times in the following years, but it was the injury caused by Moore that caused him the greatest problems. In 1854, one of his colleagues, Aquilla K. Arnold, wrote a letter to Congress in which he testified that Wirt’s health was “feeble” and that walking up hills was so difficult that “the police and watch in the Capitol grounds … close the gates assigned to him as his duty … which I believe he would do if he had to crawl to do it.” Two years later, he reiterated his belief.

The following year, on November 20, 1857, Wirt died of ‘hemorrhage of the lungs” He was not yet 50 years old. Wirt was buried in Congressional Cemetery, where he was joined less than two years later by his widow, Margaret Rebecca Wirt, nee Duley. She, too, was young, having just passed her 45th birthday.
https://thehillishome.com/2016/04/lost-capitol-hill-john-l-wirt/ 


Congressional record May 1844
Wirt Awarded $150

 


Then again Congressional Record March 3rd 1856
Wirt seen by Doctor