The History of the Building
Some sources list this as 3407 Powelton Ave.
Originally, the house was a fine example of the High
Queen Anne style designed by New York architect Bruce Price. It was gutted by fire in 1920 (see below).
“three-story residential building; has retained its stone and
brick sides, shingled projecting bays and wood porch. The front has been
altered to a brick facade with paired windows with aluminum shutters set in
aluminum siding.”
(Inventory of Buildings in Powelton from the application submitted to the
national register of Historic Places, 1985)
Previous Residents of
1883,
April: Deed transferred from William Sellers, et al. to Jessie S. Colton.
1890:
Building permits and contracts granted for alterations: 8/13/1890 (v. 5, n. 32,
p. 481) Mr. Colton
10/22/1890
(v. 5, n. 42, p. 642) Mr. Coulton completed plans
1889-‘90
Blue Book: Mr. & Mrs. S. W. Colton, Jr.
1900:
Sabin Colton 53 Banker;
father born in Mass., mother in N.Y.; owned free of a mortgage
Jessie S Colton 45 Married 20 years, 5 children, 4
surviving; born in Ohio, father in Pa., mother in Ohio
Harold S Colton 18
Mildred Colton 16
Ralph Colton 8
Susannah Colton 5
Blanch M Dilley 34 Governess; single; born in N.Y., parents
in Vt.
Lizzie McClelland 27 Servant; born in Ireland, immigrated in
1890
Ellen Norton 28 Servant; born in Ireland
(ED 539, 10A)
Jessie
Sellers was the daughter of Coleman Sellers. She grew up at 3301
Baring. When she and
her brother married in 1880, Coleman Sellers built twin houses for them at 410
and 412 N. 33rd, directly behind his house.
The Coltons lived at 410 N 33rd
for only five years before moving to Powelton Ave.
For their genealogy: http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/8610132/person/-731815945
“Sabin W. Colton was born in 1853 in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, and attended the University of Pennsylvania shortly after he
graduated from high school. He is most famous for enduring a rifle shot to the
back of his skull, which supposedly did no harm whatsoever to his brain.”
(http://enc.slider.com/Enc/Sabin_W_Colton,_VI,_PhD,
July, 16, 2009)
“Sabin
Woolworth Colton, Jr. (March 18, 1847, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – January 29,
1925, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) was an American
investor. He was the only private individual to ever own a chair on both the
Philadelphia and New York Stock Exchanges.
He
became an office boy in 1862 at a stock brokerage, later became a clerk there.
While a clerk there bought his own chair on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.
His expertise was in underwriting the establishment of utility companies in
exchange for stock in those companies.
He retired
in 1910, having built a spacious family house, Longmeadow, in Gladwyne,
Pennsylvania, and an elegant Arts & Crafts-style summer house, Faraway, on
Eastern Point of Greening Island, Maine.”
(Wikipedia, July, 16, 2009)
“‘I never finished anything.’ Thus did Harold Sellers
Colton C[lass of]1904 Gr[aduate dgree]1908
[Univ. of Pennsylvania] describe the first 20 years of his life, including the
front end of his undergraduate career at Penn. For a man who would go on to
publish some 260 scientific papers, monographs, and books—becoming a charter
member of the Ecological Society of America along the way—that verdict would
hardly do as an epitaph. Yet there’s something apt about it. The man started
even more projects than his busy 89 years allowed him to complete. And this
past March, several of his successors in Penn’s biology department brought one
of Colton’s earliest endeavors to a new and
unexpected conclusion, nearly a century after it began in 1915.”
(see full article in PDF from
the Penn Gazette, July/Aug 2009.)
“Through architecture, the late Ralph L. Colton, of
Philadelphia, PA, gave to this world the benefits of his ability and training.
Comparatively young in his skilled profession, he accomplished much that is
noteworthy and he was held in high regard by his contemporaries. A member of an
early American family, prominent since early Colonial days he was the fourth of
five children born to Sabin W. Colton (#1818) and Jessie (Sellars)
at Wallingford, PA on 19 September, 1891. This made him a younger brother of
Harold Sellers Colton, who later built and owned the historic Colton House
Retreat Center outside Flagstaff, AZ (CFN, Vol. 1, Issue 3).
He
graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in 1913 and a second
B.S. in architecture in 1916. He was a
member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity.
1904: S.W.
Colton, Jr. (Yacht Owners. Blue Book of
American Shipping)
1906: S.W.
Colton, Jr.
(Transactions of the Sixth International
Congress on Tuberculosis, vol. 8 1906.)
1909:
Harold Sellers Colton, 3409 Powelton Ave.
(Bulletin of the Geographical Society of
Philadelphia. Geographical Society of Philadelphia, Geographical Club of
Philadelphia. 1909.)
1910:
Harold Sellers Colton, Ph.D., 3409 Powelton
(Summarized
proceedings ... and a directory of members.
American Association for the Advancement of Science. 1910.)
1910:
Sabin W. Colton Jr. 63 Father born in Mass., mother in N.Y.; owned
free of a mortgage
Jessie S. Colton 54 Married 30 years; born in Ohio, father
in Pa., mother in Ohio
Susanna Colton 14
Harold S. Colton 28 University lecturer
Ralph L. Colton 18
Gertrude F. Palmer 34 Boarder; single; parents born in England
Amanda Johnson 23 Servant; born in Sweden
Mary Cagan 38 Servant; born in Ireland
Elvira Davis 57
Servant; born in Ireland
(ED 488, 1A)
1912:
Harold Sellers Colton, Ph.D., 3409 Powelton
(Summarized
proceedings ... and a directory of members.
American Association for the Advancement of Science. 1912.)
1920:
Morris Wolf 36 Lawyer, general practice
Rose Wolf 24 Mother born in Kentucky
Edwin Wolf 8
Robert Wolf 5
years, 4 months
Anna Ruth 19 Chambermaid
Mary R Kelly 35 Cook; born in Ireland; immigrated 1902
Anny Henne 27 Governess; born in Switzerland; immigrated 1916
(ED 682, 5B)
Note: Rose is his 2nd wife. They married in 1918.
“Morris Wolf (1883--1978) founded the firm that is now
Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen in 1903 by boldly
asking his law professor, Horace Stern, to become his law partner. Wolf was
independently wealthy and practiced law only because he had a passion for using
his first-rate legal mind to solve his clients' problems, to whom he was
fiercely loyal. He never lost this consuming zest for the practice of law,
which he imbued into his law firm through his commanding intellect, his intense
scholarly interest in the law, his force of will, and his legendary ability to
win the confidence of clients. Wolf was a major force in the Philadelphia
legal, business and Jewish communities for three-quarters of a century.”
(Philly Lawyers Begin Third Century with First-Ever
'Hall of Fame.' Philadelphia Bar Association.
News release 1/8/2002).
The firm began opened in 1903 with Wolf and Stern They got their 1904 big case, Bamett v. Philadelphia Market Company. “In this case, Stern
& Wolf represented a dissenting shareholder in a corporation that was party
to a merger. Stern & Wolf won the case in the lower court, after which the
defendant hired John G. Johnson to appeal to the state Supreme Court. At that
time Johnson was widely regarded as the greatest lawyer in the English-speaking
world. Despite his presence in the case, the state's highest court ruled in favor of Stern & Wolf's client.”
(From the history of the firm, given on their
website. The firm has now disbanded, and
the site is no longer available.)
Morris Wolf was the first president of the Allied
Jewish Appeal and later became the president of the Federation of Jewish
Charities.
(The
History of the Philadelphia Jewish Federation. by Kathryn Levy Feldman.
accessed Mar 29, 2009)
1920:
“COSTLY FURNITURE DESTROYED BY FIRE
“Goods crated for moving when flames swept Powelton
Avenue house
“STRUGGLE FOR FIREMEN
Fire at
1:20 o'clock this morning destroyed the interior of a brick dwelling at 3409
Powelton ave., causing a loss estimated at $20,000.
“There was
no one in the house at the time, but valuable furniture, crated to be moved,
was destroyed. The house formally was occupied by S. W. Coulton,
Jr., a retired banker.
“Patrolman Summy, of the Thirty-ninth street
and Lancaster avenue station, discovered the blaze. He saw flames belching from
the basement windows and licking their way up the side of the house.
“When
Engine Company No. 44 arrived and found the basement and first floor inflames.
The second alarm was given in a score of engine and truck companies fought to
save the structure and surrounding buildings.
“The
firemen battled with the blaze for more than an hour before it was finally
controlled. The fire swept the interior of the house, which is
three and one-half stories, brick and frame.
“The house
was sold to a man named Hewitt. The police do not know who own the furniture
which was destroyed in the fire. It has been created for shipment, all except a
billiard table on the second floor, each was ruined.
“It is
believed the fire originated in the basement. Neighbors
say they saw a man at the house yesterday morning, and it is believed ashes
from the furnace may have caused the fire.”
(Evening Public
Ledger, Nov. 12, 1920, p. 2)
1921,
January: Deed transferred from Jessie S. Colton, Jr. to La Grand E. Hewitt.
1922: The
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map identifies this as the Reeves Apartments. It shows the porch extending across the front
of the building.
1926,
December: Deed transferred from La Grand Hewitt and Madeline, his wife, to
Charles R. Hart.
1928,
July: Deed transferred from Elizabeth Purdy to Charles R. Hart.
1930:
Burgh Johnson 24 Cashier
[?]; born in S.C.; father in Tenn., mother in S.C.
Lida Johnson 21 Born
in S.C.
Burgh Johnson 2
yrs. and 1 month
(ED 396, 23A)
<
3411 Powelton 3405
Powelton >
Back
to Interactive Property Map
Revised 6/24/2011