John E. Church and his wife Catherine, a Black couple, built this house at 265 Williams Street in 1867 when their daughters, Sarah Maria and Lucy, were still young. John worked at the Old Stone bank for more than 25 years — he is most often identified as the janitor, but the 1885 census identifies him as a “bank messenger.” Additionally, he worked as a sexton at the Center Congregational Church for many years and served in the households of a handful of wealthy white families as a domestic servant. 

Catherine was born into the Waterman family, a prominent family in Providence. Her father, George Waterman, who was born a slave in New Bedford, was well-known in the community, with one writer in the Providence Journal reflecting that, “I have known in the last half century many, very many, noble specimens of humanity in the city of Providence, but not one of them evermore entirely commanded my respect than did Mr. Waterman…” Catherine’s mother, Lucy Waterman, was also well-known in the community for her cake baking skills.

John and Catherine’s eldest daughter, Sarah Maria, died at age 19 of “scrofula,” according to her death certificate — an inflammation of the lymph nodes in the neck often due to tuberculosis. Lucy survived to adulthood and became a music teacher. 

John Church died in 1894, when he suffered a stroke while working a morning shift at the Old Stone Bank. He was very favorably eulogized in The Providence Journal: 

“His established reputation for faithfulness and trustworthy character had made him very popular among bank employees, and the officials regarded him as a most trustworthy servant. […] The striking feature in Church’s character was his thrifty nature, which made him, in his later days, comparatively well off. He not only owned the house in which he lived, but considerable other property, and he was looked up to and respected by his people on this account, as well as for his moral standing.”

Catherine and Lucy remained in the house until 1921, which seems to be around when the matriarch of the household, Catherine, passed away. Lucy Church sold 265 Williams to Apkar Tovmasian, who rented it out to a variety of tenants over the next two decades. One of those tenants, Corrine Cummings, was fined for the possession of “intoxicants” in 1927, during Prohibition. Another tenant, Herbert Anthony, was profiled in The Providence Journal in 1932 for his adventures at sea as quartermaster of the U.S.S. Cleveland. The vessel traveled to “revolution-torn Nicaragua” in 1926, stopping also in Ecuador and Honduras over the course of its 2-year voyage. The article, which has not aged well, gives some interesting insight into how Americans viewed intervention in Central America during the early 20th century. 

In 1944 Tovmasian sold the house to Francisco and Sarah Brasil (sometimes spelled “Brazil” in documents), a couple originally born in the Azores, off the coast of Portugal. Francisco owned a fruit and vegetable market on the corner of East and Wickenden streets. The couple had five adult sons — Jose, Manuel, Frank, William, and James — who also lived at 265 Williams, some with their own children. One of their sons, Manuel, was a lieutenant in the 187th Combat Regiment Team stationed at a Prisoners of War camp on Geoje Island during the Korean War. At the same time, Manuel’s wife, Dorothy Brasil, was a major in the Army Medical Corps, stationed in Kentucky. In 1953, Mark Brasil, Francisco’s grandson and Manuel’s nephew, told The Providence Journal that he wanted to fight wars like his uncle when he grew up. 

Manuel Brasil died along with six other servicemen in a plane crash over the Panama Canal. He was given a military funeral and buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

You can view our original 1976 historic house marker report for 265 Williams here. You can also view our updated research documents from 2024, conducted by Alexandra Zodhiates, here.

Last edited April 2, 2025 by Keating Zelenke.