1638 Pembroke Avenue
Steelman House

Lot 28 D.D. Bolenbaugh as Trustee Subdivision

On May 28, 1909, Samuel Darlington "Squire" Doney purchased lots 28, 30, 39 and 41 from The Columbus Savings and Trust Company. At the same time, L. Benton Tussing purchased lots 22, 29, 31 and 40. Tussing and Doney were incorporators of the Reed Coal & Land Company in 1908. Another incorporator in the company was James L. Hazelton who lived at 1543 Hawthorne Avenue. 

Doney was also Secretary and Treasurer of The New Process Fertilizing Company and lived in Shepard. Doney's father purchased the White Hall Inn east of Columbus in the late 1800s. A small community around the area was called Doney, and eventually, Whitehall. In 1910 Samuel inherited his father's estate and sold it off as one acre lots.

This house was built about 1910 and was owned by Doney. He maintained it as a rental property.

The Steelmans rented this house from about 1911 until it was sold to the Gwynns in 1946. 

Charles Henry Steelman was born April 20, 1880 in Linwood, New Jersey. He married Mary H. Griffith about 1904. Mary was born December 24, 1880 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, daughter of Walter Griffith. They had three children, Walter B. (February 15, 1905), Martha (July 2, 1906 - January 24, 1935), and Ruth May (May 31, 1918 - August 21, 2005).

In 1906 the Steelmans lived in Camden, New Jersey. In 1910 the Steelmans lived at 1623 Pembroke Avenue. In 1911, their address was 1636 Pembroke Avenue, which was probably this house, renumbered as other houses on the block were completed.

Charles was an engineer for the Norfolk & Western railroad. In 1918 he was missing three fingers from his right hand. 

Mary died February 21, 1951. Charles died March 12, 1962.

On July 12, 1946, the administrator of Doney's estate sold the house to Walter F.D. Gwynn for $5,950.

Walter Frederick Douglas Gwynn was born October 27, 1909 in North Carolina, son of Walter William and Ethel Evans Gwyn (one n). He married Dollie M. between 1925 and 1935. Dollie was born May 2, 1903 in Virginia.

The Gwynns came to Columbus in about 1935 from Charleston, West Virginia. From about 1940 to 1942, the Gwynns lived at 2134 Yorkshire Road in Upper Arlington. Walter was a houseman and Dollie was a cook and maid for Dr. Louis Jentgen. Just before moving to Pembroke Avenue, the Gwynns lived at 542-1/2 Kiefer Avenue.

In the 1950s, Walter was an Ohio Bell Telephone serviceman. In the late 1960s Dollie won $1,000 in a Kroger promotion. In 1953 and 1954, Charles F. And Dorothy M. Gwynn lived next door at 1636 Pembroke Avenue. These Gwynns were probably cousins of Walter.

Dollie died July 14, 1987. Walter died September 15, 1987.

On March 29, 1988, the property was transferred to Walter's heir, Geraldine Sims.

1638 Pembroke Avenue, April 2014