Occupation: “Manufactures Teeth”

Henry D. Justi was born in Germany in 1834, immigrated with his mother to the U.S. in 1850 and became a citizen in 1865. He didn’t just make teeth, he virtually revolutionized tooth-making. A contemporary described it this way: “Up to about the year 1855, only one kind of teeth had been manufactured, teeth for gold and silver plate.... Then a rubber base was introduced, and from that time the entire dental business has been revolutionized. Mr. H. D. Justi seeing that there was room for improvement, succeeded in constructing moulds suitable to the various formations of the jaws, adopting curved lines in which he could sink any depth around the neck of the teeth to receive the gum color, and temporizing the materials so that in one very easy operation he had the tooth ready to finish. This mode of manufacturing artificial teeth has been copied by all other manufacturers.” (Philadelphia and Popular Philadelphians. The North American. 1891: 139.) The Justis moved to “Baring below 32nd” sometime in the mid-1860s. By 1870, they were at 3401 Baring (NW corner of 340th & Baring) where he lived until his death in 1922. His two unmarried daughters, Augusta and Ameilia, were still living there in 1930. Justi’s son, Henry M., married about 1898 and he and his bride moved to 3311 Powelton. They lived there until the 1920s when they moved to Lower Merion. Justi’s factory building still stands at 32nd and Spring Garden and the business continues under the name Esschiem (see pg. 2 of their brochure for their history) and is run by a third Henry Justi.

Advancement of Women, 1876

The Fourth Annual Congress of the Association for the Advancement of Women met in Philadelphia in 1876. Several Powelton women were members. Mrs. Edward Lewis (age 55) of 3234 Powelton Ave. (33th & Powelton) attended with her two daughters, Bertha (24) and Emily (18), and her sister-in-law, Charlotte (Mrs. Enoch) Lewis (51). E.R. (Mrs. Henry) McIlvain was a 56 year-old widow who lived at 3306 Baring. Also attending was Nellie B. Haral of 3402 Baring St.

Numerous papers were present at the conference. One was "The Need of Women in Science" by Maria Mitchell who wrote that “Women are needed in scientific work for the very reason that a woman’s method is different from that of a man. All her nice perceptions of minute details, all her delicate observation of color, of form, of shape, of change, and her capability of patient routine, would be of immense value in the collection of scientific facts.”

In "Women in Literature" by E.b. Duffy noted that “Thirty years ago there were two or three women editors in the world. To-day there are scores of them... Thirty years ago there were a few indifferent novels produced by women in England; scarcely one in this country.... To-day the novelists in America and England can be told off, considering not only in numbers, but excellence.... The field of literature is conquered for women.”

A Powelton Civil War Veteran

There were several dozen veterans of the Civil War living in Powelton during the last decades of the nineteenth century. For these men, their families, and all older residents of Philadelphia, the war was the dominant historical event of their lives. Remember that when General Lee’s army was stopped at Gettysburg they were headed toward Harrisburg and Philadelphia which was a major railroad hub for troops and supplies headed south.
One Civil War vet was Joseph Ashbrook who lived at 3614 Baring St from before 1880 to after 1914. The 1904 Who’s Who in Pennsylvania summarized his history to that point as follows:
“Insurance manager of the Provident Life and Trust Company of Philadelphia, Pa.; he was born in Philadelphia. August 4, 1840, and at the age of fifteen entered the office of a firm of stockbrokers. During the Civil War he enlisted in the 118th Pennsylvania Regiment and served throughout the conflict; shortly after entering the service in 1862 he was severely wounded, and soon thereafter received a commission; was brevetted Major for gallant services in the Wilderness campaign, subsequently as Ordnance Officer of the Staff of General Griffin, commanding the First Division, Fifth Army Corps; was detailed to receive the arms and ammunition surrendered by the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House in April, 1865; soon after the close of the war he became superintendent of agencies for the Provident Life and Trust Company, and was appointed manager of its insurance department in 1881.”
Not surprisingly, he was described as: a Republican; a Methodist, and a member of the American Historical Assn., the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, the Grand Army of Republic and the Union League of Philadelphia.

[Note: this blog is superseded by a longer post about Ashbrook and one about his wife, here.]

Seen in the News (1885) Miss Lilly (or Tillie) Hart of 3527 Hamilton St., won a prize at the Philadelphia Kennel Club show in May for her Blenheim spaniel, Chappy. In March and April, John C. Hart of the same address won awards for his Blenheim spaniel, Roy, at the New Haven Kennel Club show and the New England Kennel Club show in Boston. Congratulations to Chappy and Roy and to their proud owners. {3527 is now the home of dog lovers Jeni Johnson and Ben Dungan and family.}

Four Generations of the Bacon/Atkinson/Ellis/Comly/Watson Family in Powelton

Many Poweltonians know that Edmund Bacon spent his early years at 3603 Baring St. in the heart of Powelton. Bacon was a major force in urban planning in Philadelphia and, for better or worse, had a substantial impact on the city. Today, he is better identified as the father of actor/musician Kevin Bacon and musician Michael Bacon and father-in-law of Kyra Sedgwick. The story of the Bacon family is classic Powelton involving intermarriages between neighboring families. Edmund Bacon’s roots in Powelton go back three generations. His great-grandmother, Martha Bacon (1821-1886), was widowed in 1855. In 1870, she was living at 604 N. 7th with her son Thomas P. (1848-?). The house was owned by another widow, Hannah Ellis (1827-1899), who lived there with her two daughters, Annie and Edith. By 1880, Thomas Bacon and Annie Ellis were married and living in Powelton at 3212 Baring St with their 6-year-old son, Ellis W. Bacon (1874-1961) and Thomas’s mother. Ellis married Helen Comly who grew up at 3408 Hamilton. The full list of Edmund Bacon’s ancestors who lived in Powelton (with known dates) is as follows: Edmund Norwood BACON (1910-2005) 1920: 3603 Baring Parents: Ellis Williams BACON (1874-1961) 1880-1900: 3212 Baring, 1910-1920: 3603 Baring Helen Atkinson COMLY (1872-1966) 1880: 3408 Hamilton, 1900-1920: 3603 Baring Grandparents: Thomas Pryor BACON (b.1848) 1880-1920: 3212 Baring Annie Elizabeth ELLIS (1850-1920) 1880-1920: 3212 Baring Robert COMLY (b.1843) 1880: 3408 Hamilton, 1887-'90: 3521 Hamilton, 1900-'20: 3311 Arch Lydia Tatum ATKINSON (1843-1901) 1880: 3408 Hamilton, 1887-'90: 3521 Hamilton, 1900: 3311 Arch Great-Grandparent: Martha White WATSON [Bacon] (1821-1886) 1880: 3212 Baring