Asheville Citizen, 6 August 1891.
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- Prof. D.C. Suggs — Daniel C. Suggs.
Rev. Davis’ churches.
Mary’s Chapel, Scotland Neck.
Though most closely associated with Wilson’s First Missionary Baptist Church, Rev. Fred M. Davis helmed churches across eastern North Carolina. A newspaper obituary named these eight, most of which remain active churches:
- Mary’s Chapel Missionary Baptist, Scotland Neck (active)
- Wynn’s Chapel [now Winn Chapel Church], Mount Olive (active)
- First Baptist, Clinton (active)
- First Baptist, Dunn
- First African Baptist, Goldsboro (active)
- First Missionary Baptist, Wilson (active)
- Ebenezer Missionary Baptist, Wilson (active)
- First Missionary Baptist, Elm City (active)
Corporal Lonnie Jackson, somewhere in the Atlantic.
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In the 1930 census of Jackson township, Nash County, N.C.: farmer Lonnie Farmer, 31; wife Jessie, 30; and children Lonnie, 9, Ruth, 7, Rubie, 5, and Robert, 3.
In 1942, Lonnie Junior Jackson registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 2 July 1920 in Wilson; lived at 519 Smith Street, Wilson; his contact was Jesse Jackson, 519 Smith; and he worked for Pridgen Grocery Store, 424 East Nash Street.
Private Lonnie Jackson.
Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user Shaniece Ricks.
The obituary of Jennette Barnes (reveals a mystery).
Wilson Daily Times, 4 April 1947.
Jennette Barnes‘ obituary adds two interesting bits of information to the profile already posted: (1) she had a brother named Joseph Jones, and (2) she was a member of Evansdale Methodist Church.
Evansdale Methodist?
Evansdale United Methodist anchors the old Evansdale community south of today’s Beddingfield High School. As mainline churches go in Wilson County, it is relatively young, having been established in 1913. Did Evansdale United Methodist admit black people to full membership during Jennette Barnes’ lifetime?
On 7 February 1930, Evansdale Methodist appears in a list of “colored churches” holding services in Wilson County.
Wilson Daily Times, 7 February 1930.
However, in every similar listing that year — they ran weekly — Evansdale Methodist appears under “County Churches.” And a 1963 history of Evansdale United Methodist discloses that the pastor from 1929 to 1931 was Rev. J. Vincent Knight. The February 7 paper, it appears, contained a typesetting error, and one that probably caused significant consternation.
So, we’re back to square one. Was there another Methodist church — a black one — in the Evansdale community? As far as I know, there have been no standard Methodist churches in Wilson County founded for or by black people. All nineteenth and early twentieth century references to “colored Methodist” churches related to African Methodist Episcopal Zion or African Methodist Episcopal churches (of which there were once many more than there are now.) Barnes’ obituary notes that she was funeralized at Saint John A.M.E. Zion. Was Evansdale also A.M.E. Z.? I’ll keep searching.
The estate of Jerry Bullock (1877).
Just a handful of years after his election to the local school committee, Jerry Bullock died. Larry D. Farmer was appointed Administrator of Bullock’s estate, which he estimated was worth about $300. Bullock’s heirs were his widow Martha Bullock and children John Bullock, Icabod Bullock, Martha Ann Bullock, Joshua R. Bullock, David C. Bulluck (age 7), General Grant Bullock (age 6), Ella Bullock (age 5), Emily Susan Bullock (age 3), and Bettie Bullock (age 9 months).
On 24 November 1977, Farmer filed an inventory of one year’s support laid out for Bullock’s widow and an account of the proceeds of the sale of his personal items. Most were farm tools, and the buyers included Jolly Taylor and Martha Bullock.
Farmer filed a final account of the estate on 24 January 1878. He noted that, among other debts, he had paid W.T. Williford $83.25 for the balance of Bullock’s mortgage.
Estate File of Jerry Bullock, Wilson County, N.C., U.S. Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998, http://www.ancestry.com.
Private First Class Clarence Jones, in the Sicilian theatre.
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 513 N & S Street, owned and valued at $1000, cook Olivia Simmons, 59; daughter Estella Jones, 29, laundress; her children Olivia, 11, and Clarence Jones, 9; relative Rosa Simmons, 25, tobacco factory laborer; and daughter Reta Simmons, 15.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 513 Norfolk Street, cook Olivia Simmons, 72; daughter Estelle Jones, 45, laundress; her children Olivia, 22, and Clarence Jones, 20, both retrying factory laborers; and grandson Severentty McMillion, 9.
In 1940, Clarence Jones registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 15 November 1918 in Wilson; lived at 513 Norfolk Street, Wilson; his mother was Estella Jones; and he worked for Export Tobacco Company, Mercer Street, Wilson.
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 513 Norfolk Street, Olivia Summers [sic], 84; daughters Estella Jones, 58, and Rosa Summers, 56; grandchildren Olivia, 32, and Clarence Jones, 31; and great-grandson Bobby Jones, 9.
Image courtesy of Veterans of World War II Wilson County, spiral-bound volume, Wilson County Public Library.
Lawrence and Mary Pender Hagans, as imagined.
I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.
I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated.
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Rev. Mebane’s suit for advance salary fails.
Sentenced to shovel dirt on the Western road.
Wilson Advance, 30 May 1884.
Justice was merciless in 1884. In a single week of May of that year, Inferior Court, which handled low-level misdemeanors and minor civil matters, heard 23 cases. Two black men were convicted and sentenced to the state penitentiary. As a practical matter, as revealed in this news brief, that meant brutal work on the Western North Carolina Railroad under North Carolina’s convict leasing system. Between 1870 and 1890, roughly 65% of North Carolina’s prison population, disproportionately black men, was forced to cut through mountain rock, lay tracks, and blast tunnels under lethal conditions. They faced frequent cave-ins and landslides, rock-blasting accidents, and outbreaks of serious disease.
Ephraim Perry was sentenced to serve two years for stealing a shovel, and Nathan Herring got five for taking a clock out of the “colored Methodist church,” i.e. Saint John A.M.E. Zion.
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- Ephraim Perry — this possibly was the 26 year-old farm laborer Ephraim Perry listed in the 1870 census of Sparta township, Edgecombe County. In 1892, several years after his release from incarceration, Perry was arrested in Asheville on suspicion of theft.
- Nathan Herring
Widow Eva M. Davis educated five children.
Sanford (N.C.) Herald, 17 February 1971.
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In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Fred M. Davis, 33, paper hanger; wife Diannon, 31; children Eva M., 6, Bertha E., 5, and Fred M., 17 months; plus mother Judith Davis, 50, laundress.
In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Fred M. Davis, 42, Baptist church minister; wife Dianah, 42; children Eva M., 16, Bertha, 15, Fred, 11, Ruth, 13, Addie L., 8, and William B., 5; and mother Jud., 60.
On 26 July 1917, D.L. Bland, 26, of Lee County, N.C., son of George and Eliza Bland, married Eva Davis, 23, of Wilson, daughter of Fred and Diana Davis, in Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister A.L.E. Weeks performed the ceremony in the presence of C.L. Darden, C.L. Jones [Charles T. Jones?], W.H. Phillips, and J.W. Bland.
In the 1920 census of Sanford, Lee County: pharmacist David Bland, 28; wife Eva, 22; and daughter Alice, 10 months.
In the 1930 census of Sanford, Lee County: drugstore pharmacist David L. Bland, 38; wife Eva M., 35; and children Addie A., 10, Miriam L., 8, Carmel, 6, David L Jr., 3, and Gladys T., 1.
In the 1940 census of Sanford, Lee County: druggist D.L. Bland, 47; wife Eva M., 42; and children Addie A., 20, Miriam, 18, Eva Carmel, 16, David L Jr., 12, and Gladys, 10.
David Leandius [Leonardus] Bland died 14 November 1940 in Sanford, Lee County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born in 1892 in Sanford to George Washington Bland and Eliza McGilbery; was married to Eva M. Bland; lived at 505 Wall Street; worked as a druggist; and was buried in Poplar Spring [A.M.E. Church] Cemetery.
In 1944, David Leonardus Bland Jr. registered for the World War II draft in Lee County. Per his registration card, he was born 7 July 1926 in Lee County; lived at 505 Wall Street; and his contact was his mother Eva Bland.
In the 1950 census of Sanford, Lee County: public school teacher Eva M. Bland, 54, and daughters Addie A. Bland, 28, drugstore manager, and Carmel B. Clouser, 24, drugstore clerk.
Sanford, N.C., city directory (1952).