The obituary of Hettie Barnes Powell.

Wilson Daily Times, 19 June 1947.

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In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 303 South Park Drive, a duplex rented for $8.50/month per side, Dave Powell, 65, farmer, and wife Hattie, 41, stemmer in redrying plant.

Hettie Powell died 18 June 1947 in Mercy Hospital in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 1 May 1900 in Wilson County to Hilliard Barnes; was married to Dave Powell; lived at 818 Mercer Street, Wilson; worked in a factory; and was buried in Jones Hill Cemetery.

[Where was Saint Dew church and how long did it meet?]

Farmer shoots boys in watermelon patch.

Wilson Times, 30 July 1918.

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In the 1910 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Henry Dudley, 55; wife Fannie, 34; and children Maggie, 24, William L., 20, Rosa, 18, William H., 15, Jacob A., 13, Naoma, 11, Leroy, 8, Dorena, 5, and Bessie M., 2.

In the 1920 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Henry Dudley, 63; wife Fannie, 43; and children Leroy, 17, Darlena, 15, Bessie, 11, Franny B., 9, and Ernest, 6.

Oldest, biggest, best minstrel show.

Daily News (Wilson, N.C.), 20 September 1900.

Minstrel shows were sure-fire crowdpleasers for white audiences well into the twentieth century. Al. G. Field’s Big Minstrels’ national touring company brought forty minstrel stars to town, including Welby & Pearl, America’s Fin de Siecle Exponents of Refined Negro Comedy — who were not decidedly not Negro.

Lane Street Project: summer maintenance.

Donations allow us to pay to keep the front section of Odd Fellows Cemetery looking good through the summer months, when sunshine and rain send weeds into overdrive.

Friends of Lane Street Project is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. To help us continue our work, please consider making a donation via Zelle at friendsoflsp — thank you!

605 East Green Street.

The two hundred-third in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District: “ca. 1908; 1 story; William Hargrove house; triple-A house with bracketed, chamfered porch posts and cut-out balustrade; asphalt shingled; Hargrove was a blacksmith.”

Originally numbered 606, the Hargrove house is second only to the Samuel H. and Annie M. Vick house in longevity on the block.

In the 1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Hargrove Wm blksmith 206 S Goldsboro h 606 E Green

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 606 Green, blacksmith William Hargrove, 43; wife Louvenia, 40; daughters Bessie, 17, and Willie L., 13; and boarder John Howard, 18.

In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Hargrove Wm blksmith h 606 E Green

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 606 East Green, Luvenia Hargrove, 40, widow, and daughter Willie, 20, public school teacher.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 605 East Green, Luvenia Hargrove, 60, widow, and daughter Willie, 29, public school teacher.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 605 East Green, owned and valued at $1000, Louvenia Hargrove, 74, widow; son-in-law McDuffie Smith, 42, shoeshine parlor operator; and daughter Willie, 48, teacher.

In 1942, McDuffie Smith registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 12 July 1899 in Durham, N.C.; lived at 605 East Green; his contact was Luvenia Hargrove, 605 East Green; and he was self-employed.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 605 East Green, shoeshine parlor manager McDuffie Smith, 51; wife Willie H., 53, city grammar school teacher; and mother-in-law Luvenia Hargrove, 80, widow.

Luevenia Hargrove died 22 February 1958 in Wilson at her home at 605 East Green. Per her death certificate, she was born 27 February 1869 in Edgecombe County to Joshua Bulluck and Harriet Hines and was buried in Bulluck cemetery, Edgecombe County. Informant was Mrs. Willie Smith, 605 East Green.

McDuffie Smith of 605 East Green died 17 July 1971. Willie Hargrove Smith died 12 years later. Her nephew, William Hines Macklin, remained at 605 East Green.

Wilson Daily Times, 4 May 1983.

William H. Macklin died 13 March 1991 in Wilson.

On 7 November 1994, the Wilson Daily Times published a list of boarded-up houses that included 605 East Green, described as needing “minor repairs.”

The house was renovated and remains occupied today.

N.87-12-354-359, William Hargrove House, 605 E. Green Street, East Wilson Historic District, Wilson, Wilson County, Survey and National Register Branch, State Historic Preservation Office.

Call Gabe Bowden for a city hack.

The Daily News (Wilson, N.C.), 20 September 1900.

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In the 1870 census of Lower Conetoe township, Edgecombe County, N.C.:  Gaib Bowden, 23, Daniel Wiggins, 25, Albert Lovett, 19, Orphan Knight, 23, and Richard Suggs, 19, farm laborers.

On 18 April 1875, Gabriel Bowden, 26, married Anne Ruff, 24, in Wilson.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Sarah Jackson, 21; brother-in-law Gabriel Bowden, 40, brother-in-law, laborer; sister Anna, 32, cook; nephews Columbus, 11, house servant, and James, 9; son B.F. Jackson, 6; mother Vinus Ruff, 52; and boarder Whitehurst Wiswould, 64, laborer.

Gabel Bowden died 17 January 1911 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 71 years old; was born in Edgecombe County; was a widower; lived at 410 Green Street; worked as a common laborer; and was buried in Wilson [probably, Oakdale Cemetery.]

Convicting White Caps.

As late as 1897, black men could still sit on Wilson County juries hearing cases charges brought against white men.

In State vs. Pharaoh Rowe, James Montgomery, J.V. Lamm, and John Bone, the jury included James J. Jones, Louis Townsend, Lee Moore, and Scott Johnson.

On 9 February 1897, the jury found the defendants guilty. They were White Caps, members of extralegal vigilante groups that targeted not only black people, but white people who flouted moral standards or otherwise defied the group norms.  Just months before this trial, Pharoah Rowe had been shot in the stomach when a band of his confederates sought to tear down the fence of a white Lucama man’s fence who had opposed a road project.

Wilson Advance, 11 February 1897.

In June 1896, a man who had been initiated into the White Caps by defendant James Montgomery testified that he had been told the group “was a good thing for the country, in that it saved expenses by attending to those who made themselves obnoxious to the community” and that “their signs were a peculiar whistling and the passing of the hand across the face.”

Montgomery’s good word notwithstanding, these vigilantes were looked down upon by Wilson County’s white elite, and the White Cap era seems to have been short-lived.

“They’re all working that way down there.”

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Wilson Daily Times, 1 March 1939.

It took me a minute to figure the alleged fraud out.

Southern Tobacco Company required its stemmers to process 25 pounds of tobacco per day. If they struggled to make quota, the company told them to bring in someone to help. (Southern President James I. Miller denied knowing anything, of course. Southern was an affiliate of J.I. Miller Tobacco Company and shared its South Tarboro Street facility.) The “buddy” was not officially employed by Southern, but worked under the actual employee’s name and Social Security number and got a cut of the employee’s pay. Everybody did it, workers insisted. The problem came when the buddies filed for unemployment benefits, claiming they had earned no wages. Moses Hodge had not reported that Theodore Bell had given him half of his paycheck, and the hammer dropped.

Five people were charged and found guilty of defrauding the Unemployment Compensation Commission.

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  • Mose Hodge — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 315 Finch, owned and valued at $600, tobacco company stemmer Moses Hodge, 27; wife Macy, 20, tobacco company stemmer; children Loula, 7, and Connie Lee, 2; and mother Lula, 71. In 1940, Moses Jack Hodge registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 22 October 1912 in Durham, N.C.; his contact was wife Macy Thompson Hodge; he lived at 315 Finch Street; and he worked for Farmers Oil Company, Barnes Street.
  • William Henry Thomas — in 1940, William Henry Thomas registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 21 August 1918 in Wilson; lived at 524 South Lodge Street; his contact was wife Margaret Obery Thomas; and he worked for Export Tobacco Company.
  • Burley Ford — in the 1930 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Burley Ford, 27, and wife Mary, 28.
  • Lela Hines — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 208 South Vick, owned and valued at $1000, Raiford McPhail, 75, janitor at Fidelity building, widower; lodger Robert Sherdon, 50, carpenter; and lodger Lela Hines, 45, laundress at laundry.
  • Emma Crosland
  • Theodore Bell 
  • William “Tweet” Ellis
  • Cleo Barber — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 6-8 Daniel, rented for $7/month, Sam Clarke, 32, electrician at “town department”; Cleo Barber, 29, lodger, tobacco factory hanger; and “lodger’s son” Maskar Barber, 13.