In September 1915, Carolina Telephone & Telegraph Company obtained utility easements from property owners in Toisnot township, including G.A. Gaston and J.R. Rosser.
Deed Book 106, page 41, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office.
Deed Book 106, page 42, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office.
Founded in 1926 on the eastern bank of the Chowan River, about 100 miles northeast of Wilson, Chowan Beach was a thriving African-American resort for decades, drawing family vacationers and legendary chitlin circuit musicians for decades. In this slim book packed with photographs, Frank Stephenson brings to life a favored vacation spot for generations of Wilsonians.
Wilson Daily Times, 26 July 1940.
Congratulations to this latest round of Wilson County graduates! May you go on to success in your chosen path.
Besties Lillie Dixon Woods and Rederick C. Henderson, Darden High School Class of 1952.
Photo courtesy of Lillie D. Woods.
A prosperous set of families with the surname Gay appear in Wilson County records within the first ten years of freedom. Were they one extended family? Unrelated families who adopted the same surname, perhaps from a former enslaver? (And if so, whom?)
Here’s what we know about them:
Anthony Gay and Catherine Speight registered their 22-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace on 25 August 1866.
On 9 August 1868, Spencer Gay, son of Anthony and Catherine Gay, married Adeline Barnes, daughter of Baalam and Jinny Barnes, in Wilson County.
In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: blacksmith Antney Gay, 44; wife Catherine, 40; and children Laura, 20, Thomas, 20, and Francis, 2 [adjacent to Spencer Gay’s household and one household away from Charles Gay’s.]
On 16 February 1871, for $250, Spencer Gay and his mother Catherine Gay sold R.J. and Sallie Taylor a three-quarter acre parcel of land near the fork of the old plank road and the Barefoot road [today’s Nash Street and South Pender Street.] The Gays had not registered a deed for the purchase of this land. See Deed Book 4, page 454.
On 30 April 1872, for $25, Anthony and Catherine Gay and Spencer and Adline Gay sold Esther McGowan a lot on the east side of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad on the old plank road. Deed Book 6, page 183.
Anthony Gay was still alive when Charles Gay was murdered in 1874, but died before 1880.
In the 1880 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: widow Cathren Gay, 52; son Thomas, 28, laborer; daughter-in-law Julia, 27, laundress; boarder Anna Bone, 59; [grand]son Nelson, 6; and daughter Frances, 14 [next door to son Spencer’s widow Adeline Gay and family.]
Also: in the 1880 census of North Wilson township, Wilson County: Willie Gay, 32, hireling; wife Catherine, 30; and children Phillis, 12, Anthony, 10, Henrietta, 8, Nancy, 6, Catherine, 4, and John, 2. [Willie Gay was likely the son of Anthony and Catherine Gay.]
Charles Gay and Emly Gay registered their three-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace on 9 August 1866.
In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farm laborer Charles Gay, 35; wife Emma, 25; children Charles, 5, and Mary, 1; and lodgers Rich’d Harper, 20, and Haywood Watson, 17.
Charles Gay was murdered in 1874.
See Charles Gay, above.
Emma Gay, sometimes referred to as Emily Gay, bought property as early as December 1874. See Deed Book 9, page 522.
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Emma Gay, 35; children Charlie, 15, a steam-mill worker, Mary, 11, Etheldred, 8, and Willie, 6; plus a boarder Fannie Thompson, 19, cook.
On 4 February 1892, Henry C. Rountree, 44, married Emma Gay, 44, at the bride’s residence in Wilson. Presbyterian minister L.J. Melton performed the ceremony, and witnesses were Edward Pool, Mark Blount and S.H. Vick.
On 29 October 1902, Willie Gay, 27, son of Charles Gay and Emma Rountree, married Mary Johnson, 22, daughter of Edmund Johnson and Bertha Johnson, at Henry Johnson‘s. H.S. Phillips applied for the license, and Missionary Baptist minister Fred M. Davis performed the ceremony in the presence of Cain Artis, Charles S. Thomas, and Robert E. Artis.
On 23 March 1906, William Gay, 33, son of Charles and Emma Gay, married Augustus McNeil, 30, daughter of Peter and Emily Patterson, in Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister Fred M. Davis performed the ceremony in the presence of J.E. Farmer, Robert Strickland, and Charlie Farmer.
Henry C. Rountree died 24 September 1916 in Wilson, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born in 1848 in North Carolina to Jessie Artis and Becker Artis; was married; worked as a dealer in groceries; and was buried in Wilson. Emma Rountree was informant.
Emma Rountree died 25 June 1917 in Wilson, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was about 65 years old; was born in Greene County, N.C., to unidentified parents; was a widow; and was buried in Wilson County [probably, Vick Cemetery]. Lizzie Whitfield was informant.
Mary Strickland died 16 December 1936 in the Wilson County Home. Per her death certificate, she was 67 years old; was born in Wilson to Charley Gay and Emma Artis; was a widow; and was buried in Wilson. Will Gay was informant.
Willie Gay died 25 May 1940 at the Veterans Administration hospital in Kecoughtan, Virginia. Per his death certificate, he was born 10 February 1874 in Wilson, N.C., to Charles Gay and Emma Byrum, both of Greene County, N.C.; was divorced; was a veteran of the Spanish American War; was a railroad worker; and lived at 526 Smith Street, Wilson.
Dred Gay died 26 January 1950 in the Wilson County Home. Per his death certificate, he was born 1 January 1870 in Wilson County to Emma Gay; was a widower; and worked as a laborer.
Samuel, Albert, and Daniel Gay were the sons of Harriet Gay and Amos Thigpen (or Edmundson).
Sam Gay, son of Amos Thigpen and Harriet Gay, married Alice Bryant, daughter of Louisa Bryant, on 10 February 1870 in Wilson. P.E. Hines performed the ceremony.
On 20 January 1870, Daniel Gay, son of Amos Edmundson and Harriet Gay, married July Taylor, daughter of Alfred Robbins and Trecy Taylor, in Wilson.
In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Samuel Gay, 24, wife Alice, 20, and brother Albert, 21.
In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farm laborer Daniel Gay, 20, and wife Julia, 20.
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farm worker Samuel Gay, 27, wife Allice, 25, and children Blanch, 8, Louizah, 7, Edgar, 4, Charlie, 3, and Mamie, 1 month.
In the 1880 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: south of the Plank Road, Daniel Gay, 28; wife Judie, 24; and daughters Mary, 9, and Creacy, 6.
Albert and Daniel Gay appear to have died before 1900.
In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farmer Sam Gay, 54; wife Alice, 50; and children Charlie C., 23, Edgar B., 25, Lucy, 17, Samuel, 14, Albert and Beatrice, 10, and Lily, 4.
On 27 April 1904, John Stones, 30, of Wilson, married Mary Gay, 25, of Wilson, daughter of Daniel and Julia Gay, both deceased. A.D. Dawson applied for the license, and A.M.E. Zion minister H.C. Phillips performed the ceremony at the home of W.H. Kittrell in the presence of Kittrell, Mary Kittrell, and Charles Dawson.
In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Samuel Gay, 65, wife Alice, 55, and children Albert, 20, and Lilly, 15.
Samuel Gay died 1 February 1919 in Wilson, Wilson County. Per his death certificate: he was 73 years old, married to Allace Gay, resided at 620 Green Street, worked as tenant farmer for W.E. Warren, and was born in Wilson County. Charley Gay [his son] was informant.
Mary Stone died 19 November 1932 in Wilson, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was 58 years old; was born in Wilson to Daniel Gay and Julia Gay; was a widow; worked as a cook; lived at 402 Viola Street; and was buried in Wilson [probably, Vick Cemetery.] Emma Davis, 418 East Green, was informant.
Candis Gay and Jason Farmer registered their 22-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace on 25 August 1866.
In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farm laborer Jason Farmer, 33; wife Candis, 29; and children Florance, 9, Isiah, 6, and George 4.
In the 1880 census of North Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer Jason Farmer, 43; wife Candas, 43; and children Florrance, 17, Isaiah, 13, George W., 11, Jessee, 9, Jason, 6, Jennie, 4, and Mayland, 2,
Candis Gay Farmer died before 1891, when her husband remarried.
In the 1860 slave schedule of Wilson County, Edgecombe County native William M. Gay reported enslaving 21 people — men and boys aged and women and girls aged .
But also in the 1860 slave schedule of Wilson township, Wilson County: Thomas Gay reported enslaving 8 people — six men and boys aged 1 to 24 and a woman and girl aged 7 and 28.
I first posted about 927 Carolina Street here.
927 Carolina in April 2022.
927 and 929 next door were demolished circa 2023.
Is a $225,000 shotgun house what East Wilson needs? This two bedroom/two bath/no storage house costs more than $200 a square foot. In comparison, new three-bedroom construction off Airport Road and Raleigh Road Parkway runs about $170/square foot. Not only is this being built in an area of the city that desperately needs affordable housing, it’s even more expensive than housing in higher-income neighborhoods. And who is this artificially generated image (with a white fence and mature landscaping that I can guarantee you are not in place) and shots of Whirligig Park and Warbirds stadium being pitched to? Obviously, the market will settle any debate about the price of 927 Carolina Street, but if this price point for this product is the victor, East Wilson is really in trouble.]
927 Carolina Street is on the eastern end of the former property of Sallie Lipscombe, which was surveyed and platted in 1920.
927 and 929 Carolina were the last standing of this row of shotgun houses. Detail of the 1930 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson, N.C., page 27.
Another bit of documentation regarding Lucama’s “lost” A.M.E. church:
On 9 March 1919, Walter Bethea, 18, of Crossroads township, son of R.D. and Mary Bethea, married Mattie Westley, 16, of Crossroads township, daughter of John Anne Westley, in Wilson County. Herbert Bethea applied for the license, and A.M.E. minister J.F. McNair performed the ceremony at “the A.M.E. ch. in Lucama N.C.” in the presence of R.D. Bethea, Will Hines, and James Bunn.
Shortly before Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church built the church that now houses Saint Mark’s Episcopal, they rented the second floor of the Knights of King Solomon building on Stantonsburg Street (now South Pender.) The Knights agreed to provide fuel, light, and janitorial service to the church.
Deed Book 147, page 193, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.
——
It’s that simple.
Black Wide-Awake celebrates all of us, including those could not live or love out loud. I continue to search for their stories. Happy Pride, y’all!
Quinta Brunson is not from Wilson, but she is an ally.
Though I will always be of Wilson, I have lived in Atlanta nearly all of my adult life. It is very much “home” for me, too, and is a bottomless well of African-American culture and history that often informs the way I process research and work related to Black Wide-Awake and Lane Street Project.
I’ve begun visiting metro Atlanta’s historic African-American burial grounds. How have they weathered exploding population growth, shifting demographics, outmigration, land loss, and other pressures? The eighth in a series — Colbert (formerly Calvary) Cemetery in Calhoun, Georgia.
——
Colbert Cemetery, also known as Calvary, lies at the top of a hill at the end of steep road on the edge of Calhoun, Georgia. Calhoun, a town of about 16,000, is in far north Georgia on land that once held the capital of the Cherokee Nation. As is typical of the area, its African-American population is low — only about 7%. Early in the twentieth century, this percentage dropped from about 15% with the exodus created by the Great Migration.
In 1841, Atlanta founder and railroad tycoon Richard Peters bought 4000 acres in Gordon County. He worked 2500 acres with enslaved African Americans and set aside a burial ground for them on this site. About 1910, Peters’ children deeded the cemetery to trustees for use by Calhoun’s Black community, many of whom were descended from people enslaved at Peters Plantation.
The Porches are one of the largest families buried at Colbert. Both J.L. and Sina Porch were born enslaved.
You know I love a vernacular grave marker. Here are two of a set of three similar “stones.”
These embossed markers, likely provided by a funeral home, mostly date from the 1930s to 1950s.
One of a relatively few fieldstone markers.
Seventy miles up the road from Atlanta, an Eldren Bailey marker.
The cemetery was active as recently as 2016 and is a much-visited space.
Squire Frix appears as a ten year-old farm laborer in the 1870 federal census of the Town of Calhoun living as part of the household of white insurance agent Joseph W. Malone.
Like Odd Fellows Cemetery, Colbert is dotted with yucca plants marking grave sites.
Unusually, several bronze military markers were installed upright, rather than flats designed.
Caroline Heard was about 75 years old when she died in 1921.
In the valley below, new construction wraps around the base of the hill. Gordon County Civic Club, which oversees Colbert Cemetery, is engaged in protracted litigation against the developer, asserting that the subdivision may encroach on hidden graves.
Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, May 2026.
