I have spent the last two weeks talking about Pickford Place, and one of the Pickford brothers who gave it its name. Today, we will look at the other Pickford brother, and his sad demise.
Charles R. Pickford was, like his brother, born in Canada, and later moved to the United States, eventually settling in D.C. In fact, he seems to have followed his brother in most things, becoming a manager at Thomas’s grocery store, and a partner in his real estate business.
Like his brother, Charles seems to have had a penchant for becoming embroiled in lawsuits. While none of his went to the Supreme Court, they do seem to show a man not entirely compos mentis. The first incident happened in 1902, when a James A. Pearson accused Charles of malicious libel. Pearson had worked at the Pickford grocery store until March 20 of that year, on which date “he had a disagreement with the defendant, and that Pickford accused him of dishonesty,” according to the Post of April 1, 1902. Pearson quit, and about two weeks later filed the lawsuit. In contrast to the libel suit against Thomas Pickford, this incident seems to have ended reasonably quickly: A little over three years later, the suit was dismissed.
By then, however, Pickford had other things to worry about. The Washington Times of February 11, 1903, elaborates:
Grace D. Pickford brings suit for maintenance in the District Supreme Court against Charles R. Pickford. In the bill she alleges that while she was ill in the Garfield Hospital the defendant caused their home to be broken up, the furniture taken away, and no provision made for her support either then or since she was able to leave the hospital.
The Calvert Mansion in Riverdale, Maryland ca 1919. Thomas H. Pickford bought the place in 1912, and celebrated his brother William’s silver wedding there later that year (LOC)
Her attorney in the suit was Edwin B. Hay (pic) who was, according to the Washington Times of May 15, 1904, also an “orator, after-dinner speaker, poet, Shakespearean scholar, raconteur, handwriting expert and teacher, club man, fraternity man, author, and all-round good fellow and useful citizen.”
Unfortunately, there was little he could do for Grace and the suit seems to have gone nowhere. In the 1910 census, Charles R. Pickford –still married– is listed as an inmate at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore. He was back out of the hospital two years later, and attended the silver wedding of his brother William Earngay Pickford. Whether he had been cured or just been let out for this occasion is unclear. What is clear is that his name disappears from the newspapers of the time completely, and by the following census he was listed as living in St. Elizabeths Hospital in D.C. He would die there two years later with only the briefest mention in the newspapers marking his passing. He was buried in the family tomb at Glenwood Cemetery,