When my father died in 1990 I inherited a ragtag collection of photographs, letters and Bibles. They were all from his Grandfather, my Great-Grandfather, Edwin Alfonso Niess. Among this collection are a few pictures of homes the family lived in during the Washington D.C. stage of their lives.
In November of 1889, Edwin moved from Harrisburg, the city of his birth, to Washington D.C. He had just completed 4 years of schooling at what is now Millersville State University and passed the Clerk’s examination for the Federal Government in August. In November he was hired to work in the War Department at a grand salary of $1,000 a year. Edwin went back to Harrisburg the following September to marry my Great-Grandmother, Carrie Virginia Carvell. They left Harrisburg right after the wedding, taking the train back to the District to set up housekeeping at 822 I Street N.E. By 1897 they had moved from the I Street home to 1113 C Street N.E. The picture below was taken that year. They didn’t remain in that house long since the 1900 census shows the family living at 239 10th St.
Edwin worked, belonged to all the right organizations and went to Law School at Columbian Universtity(now George Washington University) earning a LL.B in 1895 and a LL.M in 1896. Working for the War Department he kept getting promotions and in 1900 transferred to the Post Office Department as a Postal Inspector. By 1905 he was a Law Clerk and 2 years later the Niess family found the house to raise their family in. A proper house for an up and coming attorney in Washington D.C. society.
This picture was one of the pictures that was torn from a photo album at one point. It is glued on the page with a picture of my great-great-grandparents glued to the other side of the page! The date at the top of the picture seems to indicate August 2, 1907. Keep that date in mind.
Another picture, in not so primo condition, shows the front stairs and elements of the Rhode Island Avenue home. The older boy would have been my grandmother’s brother, Edwin M., who had joined the Army and my father standing next to him. I show this picture so you can compare the elements with the picture taken on Christmas Day, 2011. Black handrails, porch, and detail around the front door.
It’s a beautiful home today, isn’t it? It should be since Zillow.com estimates it’s value at $747,200!!! It also states that it was built in 1909, a date we now know is not accurate.The only structural change I noticed is the deletion of the rail on the balcony and the addition of a gate and iron bars around the windows and front door. This home, however, was not the last home the Niess’ would purchase.
By 1924 the couple, since that’s what they were again, had downsized and moved north, close to Rock Creek Park. 1422 Crittenden NW is a slightly smaller home with 1960 square feet and only 4 bedrooms. Once again, Zillow’s estimate of the property value would probably make the Niess couple faint! $556,000! I’m sure if this home were in their hometown of Harrisburg, you could lop off at least 400K from that figure! Several years ago we drove past this home and unlike the home on Rhode Island Avenue, this one has changed. The awnings, shrubbery and rock along the sidewalk; all different. 
This is the home that Edwin and Carrie lived until Carrie died in 1933. Almost two years later, Edwin remarried, and outlived his 2nd wife. Edwin died 18 April 1948 in his home on Crittenden.
Edwin’s final move was to Warrenton, Virginia where he is buried with his 2nd wife, the sister of Edwin M.’s wife, Lucy Kelly Niess. Father, Son and both wives are buried in the Kelly Family Plot. Carrie is buried in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania in the plot with her father, Rev. Jeremiah Mark Carvell, and her daughter, my grandmother, Nellie Viola Niess Sherman.
We visit both cemeteries as we get a chance.
We drove through this well-designed cemetery and I looked for various people in my database. The computer database at the cemetery had spit out maps with the name and section number for each name, and all we had to do is drive to it! Each section was well manicured with no trash or dead flowers. Throughout the cemetery spots like this are found with benches, trash cans, and a paved walk.
As we were about the leave the cemetery, a funeral was in progress in the area referred to as the Commital Shelter. This is a secluded, covered area where final services are held for the veteran, with military honors and are scheduled at 30 minute intervals throughout the day. When we had entered the cemetery we noticed the flag was at half mast and wondered why. According to the brochure I obtained in the office, I found out that the flag is at half mast “out of respect for all persons buried that day.” The scene below was behind the Commital Shelter on the way to the Pennsylvania Veterans’ Memorial.
What would be off to this man’s right, and up on a small rise is The Pennsylvania Veterans’ Memorial, aforementioned. It is beautifully designed, and was dedicated in 2001 in honor of all veterans from the Commonwealth starting with the Revolutionary War and through the present. Names, rank and dates of service can be added by filling out a form and purchasing a spot on a Cruciform for a small fee.
On our last visit a year or so ago, Daniel’s headstone was growing into the tree. The tree won. Daniel’s headstone is now broken into several pieces. If you follow the dark line up the tree and then see the black hole to the right of that line. That black hole once had the corner of the headstone imbedded in it.
In the far corner is a group of headstones belonging to the Wolf family. My fifth great grandfather, Peter Wolf, is in this group, so I visited him as well. Peter Wolf was Mary Lemon’s father and rests with a few of his children in this shady spot under an old tree. His wife, Elizabeth Grove Wolf, may rest here as well, but if she does, her headstone has been either buried or missing for a number of years.
There were several headstones just like this one ~ well, the names and dates were different, of course ~ but they were all cast iron with a minimal amount of rust. You could read each one easily. I was amazed, since in all the cemeteries I’ve been in, I’d never seen any quite like these. It was the first I’d taken time to walk thru this cemetery, so of course, it was the first time I’d seen these. There were several sites that had wonderful surrounds and one of them was spectacular. It must be maintained by the family.
One of the residents of this site is William Everhart, who’s monument is still very readable even though he died in 1881. Perhaps the fact that this cemetery is surrounded by trees and hedges contributes to it’s protection from the elements.
Since I stopped and saw her mother and grandfather, it was only right that I stop and say Hello to my great-great-great-great-grandmother Ann Eliza Troup Ziegler. She is buried next to her husband, Philip and in front of my great-great-grandmother, Mary Jane Ziegler Gantt Carvell and her first husband, Joseph Don L. Gantt. 
Mary Jane married my great-great grandfather, Jeremiah Mark Carvell, after the death of Joseph Gantt, bringing a young daughter to the marriage. She and Jeremiah only had one daughter who survived infancy, and it was my great-grandmother, Carrie whom I had visited last month in Shippensburg along with my grandmother, Nellie, and Carrie’s father, Jeremiah.
Next to Mary Jane Carvell and Joseph Gantt’s site are his parents. Somebody had requested, and probably paid for Perpetual Care, and there was, at one time, a plate that indicated so. The plate is still there . . . sort of! 
