Dexter Hussey & Nellie Heffernan

Dexter Selvayn Hussey was the only child of David and Mary Elizabeth Hussey. He was born in Cherry Valley, Illinois, in 1868, and came to Washington, D.C., with his parents in 1881. There he attended the Franklin School, just a few blocks from the White House. By 1889, he was working as a printer for the Washington Star newspaper.

On November 4, 1896, he married Nellie Heffernan. She was a Catholic; he was a non-practicing Protestant. Dexter was also a member of the Masonic order. They agreed that their children would be raised Catholic but would attend the public schools. For the first several years of their marriage, they lived at the home of Charles Heffernan, Nellie’s older brother, at 827 North Capital Street. The other sisters, Cora and Mary, also lived there as well as their elderly mother. Mary Louise, their first child was born there in 1898. Their second child, Edna Ruth, was born in 1905, after they had moved to the Montgomery Apartments, also on North Capitol Street. Later, they moved to 47 Q Street, N.E.

During the birth of one of her grandchildren, Nellie went running down the street to her daughter’s house. She was so excited that she did not realize that in her haste, she had put her dress on inside-out.

Dexter and Nellie had a troubled marriage and separated several times. In spite of the differences with her husband, Nellie got along well with her mother-in-law. When she went to the hospital and was found to have terminal cancer, her mother-in-law came to visit. Nellie told her that she was the best mother-in-law anyone could have, and Mary Elizabeth replied that she was the best daughter-in-law anyone could want. She died on May 15, 1928.

After leaving the Washington Star, Dexter moved to Virginia and opened his own printing shop in Arlington. He lived in Virginia until about 1940, when he moved back into the Abott Hotel in Washington. Shortly before he died, Dexter went back to Virginia to a nursing home. He died there on April 13, 1942.