Lane Street Project: do we know who’s buried in Vick Cemetery?

Last weekend, a number of people inquired about what we know about who is buried in Vick. Here are some FAQs:

Do cemetery records survive for Vick? No. Vick was under the aegis of a Colored Cemetery Commission, but its commissioners have not been identified nor its records found. Nor have I found any deeds filed for plots purchased in Vick.

Do funeral home burial records survive for Vick? No. No plot maps, no burial registers. Burials in Vick were handled by families, by furniture companies, and by defunct undertaking businesses like Darden, C.E. Artis, and Hamilton. Edwards Funeral Home, which is still active, opened in 1948 at the very end of the era in which Vick accepted burials. No Vick records have been found for any.

Were the names on the grave markers the City removed circa 1995 recorded? No. Or, if they were, the City has not produced any such document(s) and says it has none.

Is there a Find-A-Grave account for Vick? Yes and no. There’s a Find-A-Grave for “Rountree-Vick Cemetery” containing 366 memorials — most derived from a good faith effort about twenty years ago to identify burials from death certificates and other records. Confusingly, Rountree, Odd Fellows, and Vick Cemeteries, though separate and unrelated, have been referred to collectively as “the colored cemetery” or “Rountree cemetery,” even on official records. We now know that the 366 people in the Rountree-Vick account are buried across all three cemeteries, not just in Vick. The Find-A-Grave entry for Rountree-Vick uses a photo of Odd Fellows Cemetery and carries this woefully inaccurate description: “The Rountree cemetery has been consolidated and all that remains of older markers from ‘Rountree’ is an obelisk to commemorate the numerous interments upon its grounds. A concrete path is visible from the parking lot which leads to the structure — the area is equipped with marble benches as patrons may sit and pause for a moment of reflection. The Vick cemetery is located adjacent to the Rountree obelisk. (This cemetery is located around the curve from Rest Haven – just pass the power station).”

Does the City of Wilson maintain a database of Vick Cemetery burials? No.

Does anyone? Sort of. I have created a spreadsheet that records the oldest African-American burials in the city of Wilson, including documented and suspected burials in Rountree, Odd Fellows, and Vick. Such evidence is drawn primarily from death certificates, obituaries, funeral programs, military headstone records, and oral history. This is a work in progress. The spreadsheet contains a little over 1000 entries, of which less than ten percent have been assigned a documented location. We know there are more than 4200 graves in Vick Cemetery alone, so you get a sense of the scope of the challenge.

The obituary of Nellie B. Rice, esteemed educator.

Mamoroneck Daily Times, 23 May 1997.

Nellie Louise Barnes Baldwin Rice was born 14 April 1910 in Johnston County, North Carolina. Her parents William Orangie Barnes and Maggie Hinnant Barnes moved often between Wilson and Johnston Counties in her childhood.. After graduating from North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University), she spent years as a Wilson County educator.

(Note that 87 year-old Nellie Rice’s mother survived her. Maggie H. Barnes died the following year at age 115.)

Gilbert Hadley, Co. D, 37th United States Colored Troops.

On 31 January 1864, Gilbert Hadley enlisted in the United States Colored Troops in Washington, North Carolina. Born in what is now Wilson County about 1844, Hadley likely was enslaved by Thomas J. Hadley III (who held dozens in bondage) or IV.

Hadley was mustered into service at Norfolk, Virginia, by “Capt. Gould,” the officer who was responsible for processing and swearing in hundreds of newly freed individuals and volunteers enlisting in the United States Colored Troops.

Hadley did not return to Wilson County after he mustered out of service.

On 7 March 1867, Gilbert Hadley married Margaret Singleton in New Hanover County, N.C. John Hadley and Richard Smith served as bondsmen and R.B. Wood Jr. as witness. (John, who enlisted with him, appears to have been his brother.)

Hadley led a turbulent life, and his name regularly appears in Wilmington newspaper accounts of violence and petty crime. (But also an industrial accident.)

On 27 May 1871, a paper reported he had been arrested to face malicious mischief charges in neighboring Brunswick County.

On 4 February 1873, Gilbert Hadley, 25, of Wilmington, N.C., son of Moses and Venus Hadley of Goldsboro, married Mary Ann Moseley, 26, of Wilmington, daughter of Robert and Nannie Moseley, both deceased, in Wilmington.

In April 1873, he received minor injuries when struck by debris from a boiler explosion while sawing wood nearby.

In September 1873, as police attempted to arrest Hadley for beating his wife, he fought the officer and escaping over a fence.

Wilmington Star-News, 3 February 1873.

A 28 November 1875, a paper reported that Hadley had been discharged from a chain gang for good behavior.

In the 1875-76 Sheriff & Company’s Wilmington, N.C., city directory:

In August 1876, Gilbert and Mary Hadley were charged with disorderly conduct after a public argument.

Wilmington Star-News, 9 August 1876.

In October 1883, Hadley was charged with assault and battery on Sarah Robinson.

In November 1883, Hadley was one of seven prisoners who broke out of jail in Wilmington. Hadley jumped a fence, but was immediately captured. The following month, he was sent to a workhouse.

On 23 June 1885, a newspaper reported Hadley had been arrested for stealing a pair of shoes from a Wilmington store. (Allegedly, he tried on and bought a pair and, in the meantime, slipped another pair into a basket.) In July, Gilbert Hendricks, alias Gilbert Hadley, was convicted of larceny and sentenced to two years in the state penitentiary.

In the 1890 federal veterans’ census schedule of New Hanover County, N.C.: Gilbert Hatley, Private, 37 U.S. Infantry, 1863-1866.

In the 1900 census of Wilmington, New Hanover County: Gilbert Hadley, age unknown, laborer; wife Susan, age unknown; and mother Amanda Juitt, age unknown, laundress.

On 18 May 1904, Gilbert Hatley and Susan Robinson were married in Wilmington. (This appears to be the Susan who lived with him in 1900.)

Gilbert Hadley died the next day.

Wilmington Star-News, 25 May 1904.

More examples of angle-and-serif grave markers.

Last week, I stumbled across two examples of angle-and-serif concrete headstones in Rest Haven Cemetery. Though somewhat more restrained and lacking floral motifs, they appear to be the work of the same grave marker artist I first noticed in William Chapel church cemetery.

  • Mary L.B. and Charlie Morrison

  • Margaret L. Morrison

Margaret L. Morrison, daughter of Charlie and Mary Bethel Morrison, was a beloved teacher at Barnes School, a Rosenwald school on Airport Road.

  • Willie Edward Farr Jr.

Willie Edward Farr Jr. was a grandson of Charlie and Mary Morrison. His parents were Willie E. and Virginia Morrison Farr. The headstone of his paternal grandfather Walter Farr, in William Chapel church cemetery, is also an angle-and-serif work.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2026.

Where we worked: Wilson Marble & Granite Company.

Freddie Sauls‘ death certificate reveals that he, like Clarence B. Best, worked for a marble company in Wilson.

City directories show that Sauls and Turner Mitchell were employed as stone polishers as early as 1912. They likely worked for E.L. Cobb’s Wilson Marble and Granite Company (also known circa 1920 as Wilson Marble, Mantle & Tile), which was established in 1908 and succeeded J.C. Lanier’s Wilson Marble Company, which was active as early as 1891. Cobb’s business operated at 108 West Nash Street, then 106 North Railroad.

Wilson Mirror, 23 December 1891.

When Clarence Best registered for the World War I draft, he described himself as a stone rubber at Wilson Marble Mantle & Tile Company and, by 1920, as a marble cutter. Within a few years, Best was designing and cutting headstones for African-American clients as a side gig. In 1946, after 32 years with E.L. Cobb, Best opened his own monument business.

Though not a stone cutter, William J. Brake also worked for Wilson Marble, listing his occupation as driver in the 1928 Wilson city directory.

Wilson Times, 21 October 1921.

Bynum accidentally shoots son.

Wilson Daily Times, 5 August 1924.

Wilson Daily Times, 3 September 1924.

Though John Wesley Bynum‘s death certificate describes his father John H. Bynum as “drunken,” the elder Bynum was not charged in the boy’s accidental death.

In the 1900 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farmer Gray Bynum, 41; wife Hagar, 41; and children Rose, 17, John, 15, Martha, 9, Gray, 7, and Isaac, 12.

In the 1910 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer John H. Bynum, 25; wife Carry, 20; daughter Queen E., 5; mother Cherry, 52; and sisters Cora, 18, and Leeoner, 15.

In the 1920 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farmer John Bynum, 35; wife Carrie, 29; children Rosetta, 6, and John, 4; and nephew and nieces Isaac, 7, and Jeneva Bynum, 4, and Susan Bridges, 19; laborer Bruce Daniel, 19, and niece Susie Ward, 15.

In the 1940 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: on Fountain Road, farm laborer John H. Bynum, 55; wife Carrie, 44; children Johnnie Jr., 15, Carrie, 8, and Beatrice, 5; mother Hagar Best, 87; nephew John W. Baker, 8; and cousin Ruth Farmer, 23. [John Jr. was born shortly after John Wesley’s death.]

John Wesley Bynum, known as “Snap.”

Snap Bynum’s photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user tashiaj1.

Thomas Ellis, stationed at San Francisco.

In 1942, Thomas Ellis registered for the World War II draft in Washington, D.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 22 July 1924 in Wilson; lived at 1217-6th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.; his contact was Dora Ellis, 200 Pender Street, Wilson; and he worked at a Greek restaurant on Eye Street, N.W.

Thomas Ellis married Eva M. Young in Washington, D.C., on 22 September 1943.

In 1948, Ellis re-registered for the draft in Washington, D.C., declaring that he worked as a laborer for the Federal Works Agency.

In the 1950 census of Washington, D.C.: at 2401 – 16th Street, Thomas Ellis, 25, messenger at General Services Administration; wife Eva M., 29; sons Thomas G., 3, Phyllis, 2, and, Ronald M., born in March; mother-in-law Ella Young, 58; brother-in-law Lu W. Young, 28; and lodger William Hall, 34.

Thomas Ellis died 19 April 1973 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

Image courtesy of Veterans of World War II Wilson County, spiral-bound volume, Wilson County Public Library.

Where did they go?: Louisiana death certificates.

A new Ancestry.com database reveals these two women with Wilson County ties:

  • Minnie White

Minnie White died 16 February 1934 in Kinder, Allen Parish, Louisiana. Per her death certificate, she was born in 1893 in Douglass, Georgia, to Monroe Roundtree of New Bern, N.C., and Martha Jones of Wilson. She was a widow.

In the 1900 census of Douglas district, Coffee County, Georgia: Monroe Roundtree, 36, day laborer; wife Martha, 21; and daughter Minnie, 7. Both parents were listed as North Carolina-born.

In the 1910 census of Ward 7, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana: turpentine laborer Monroe Roundtree, 40, and wife Martha, 31.

In the 1920 census of Ward 3, Allen Parish, Louisiana: laborer Monroe Roundtree, 50; wife Martha, 44; and daughter Blanche, 12.

Louisiana Weekly (New Orleans, La.), 2 October 1926.

In the 1930 census of Kinder, Allen Parish, Louisiana: widow Martha Roundtree, 51; daughter Minnie White, 36, cook for private family; and grandson Charlie Ledd, 6.

In the 1940 census of Kinder, Allen Parish, Louisiana: widow Martha Roundtree, 61, laundry woman, and grandson Charlie Ladd, 17, farm laborer.

Louisiana Weekly (New Orleans, La.), 22 August 1942.

In the 1950 census of Kinder, Allen Parish, Louisiana: widow Martha Roundtree, 71, housework in private home.

Martha Jones Roundtree, age 83, died 25 May 1962 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Blanche Stewart died 27 January 1967 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Per her death certificate, she was born 31 May 1907 in Kinder, Louisiana, to Monroe Roundtree of South Carolina and Minnie White of Kinder, Louisiana. She was married to Sherman Stewart, age 69, and lived at 416 Flake Avenue, New Orleans.

  • Harriett Woodard

Harriett Woodard died 20 March 1935 in Shreveport, Caddo County, Louisiana. Per his death certificate, she was about 65 years old; was born in Wilson, N.C., to Austin Bonds and Tilda Anderson, both of Wilson; was the was widow of Handy Woodard; and Sam Woodard was informant. Cause of death: “injury by animal arm bit by mule and gas gangrene & fracture”.

In the 1910 census of Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts: at Concord Place, Matilda Bonds, 60, widow, born in N.C., laundress at steam laundry, and daughter Harriet, 38, born in N.C., laundress in steam laundry.

Matilda Bonds died 5 June 1912 in City Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Per her death certificate, she lived at 5 Concord Place; was a widow; and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.

Perhaps: in the 1920 census of Otter Creek township, Edgecombe County, N.C.: Auston Bonds, 69, widower, farmer.

Perhaps: Austin Barnes died 30 January 1925 in Township No. 9, Edgecombe County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was 76 years old; was born in Wilson County to James Barnes and Elvi Barnes; was married; was a farmer and landowner; and was buried near Macclesfield.

Louisiana State Death Records, 1825-1974, http://www.ancestry.com.