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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Lawrence and Mary Gray Pender Hagans.

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).

I.P. Thorne’s time with Sherwood’s Youth Band.

When Isaiah Prophet Thorne wrote to the Daily Times in 1941 asking for information about his family, he mentioned that he “was placed, when a small child, in Sherwood’s [Orphans] Schools, and later traveled with a school band.”

Preston and Edna Thorne and their elder children are listed in the 1880 census of Wilson County, and Isaiah was born about 1885. Both parents were reported living in 1890 when their daughter Hattie Thorne married, but may have died soon after, when Isaiah was still a young boy.

By 1893, Isaiah Thorne was the drum major of Sherwood’s band. Contemporary newspaper accounts, even when peppered with the casually cutting racism of the era, single out Thorne’s talent. In May, the band was in New England:

Morning Journal-Courier (New Haven, Conn.), 26 May 1893.

In August 1894, they entertained in the streets of Buffalo, New York:

Buffalo (N.Y.) Commercial, 7 August 1894.

Buffalo (N.Y.) Weekly Express, 9 August 1894.

 

County teachers meet.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 30 January 1937.

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  • E.M. Barnes, “supervisor” — Edward M. Barnes.
  • J.D. Reid, “principal of the Stantonsburg Street School” — here we find the surprising return of J.D. Reid to the principalship of the Graded School. I don’t think the stint lasted long.
  • Mr. Lee
  • Mrs. Whitehead, “fifth grade teacher of Wilson High School” — Mamie Ethel Key Whitehead.
  • M.D. Williams, “principal of the new S.H. Vick graded school” — Malcolm D. Williams.
  • Stanley Gilliam, “principal of the Williamson school”

The obituary of Mollie Braswell Talley.

Wilson Daily Times, 14 July 1944.

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In the 1880 census of Lower Town Creek township, Edgecombe County, N.C.: laborer George Braswell, 28; wife Adline, 25; children James R., 10, Geo. L., 7, and Mollie, 2; Sol Knight, 22, laborer; and Walter Whitfield, 32, laborer.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farmer George Braswell, 52; wife Adeline, 47; children Mollie, 22, Mattie, 18, Caroline, 16, Victoria, 13, Melvina, 12, Dora, 10, and Ernest, 9; and grandchildren James, 3, and Frederick, 3 months.

On 9 September 1900, Frank Bynum, 32, of Wilson County, Frank Bynum, 32, of Wilson County, son of Peter and Elizabeth Bynum, married Mollie Braswell, 22, daughter of George and Adaline Braswell, in Wilson township, Wilson County. John Artis applied for the license, and Primitive Baptist minister J.F. Farmer performed the ceremony in the presence of Anthony Vick, Charles Hagans, and London Woodard.

Walter Talley, 45, of Old Fields, married Mollie Barnes, 45, of Old Fields, on 15 July 1925.

In the 1928 Wilson, N.C., city directory: Talley Walter (c; Mollie) mill hd 806 S Lodge

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Walter Tally, 50, lumber mill laborer, and wife Molly, 60.

Walter Talley died 17 May 1941 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 13 January 1885 in Wayne County, N.C.; lived at 503 East Banks Street, Wilson; worked as a laborer; was married to Mollie Talley; and was buried in Rountree Cemetery [probably, Vick Cemetery.]

In 1942, James Braswell registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 23 February 1898 in Wilson County; lived at 503 Banks Street, Wilson; his contact was Molly Talley, 503 Banks; and he worked for Williams Lumber Company.

Mollie Talley died 13 July 1944 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 7 April 1880 in Edgecombe County, N.C., to George and Adeline Braswell; lived at 604 South Lodge; was the widow of Walter Talley; and was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery. James Braswell was informant.

Charles Gay Jr. returns from overseas duty.

Wilson Daily Times, 14 July 1944.

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In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Charlie Gay, 28, wife Ella, 28, and Charlie, 18 months.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Charley Gay, 39, ice house laborer; wife Ella, 30; and sons Charlie Jr., 11, and Edgar, 7.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Chas. B. Gay, 52, hotel janitor, wife Ella J., 48, laundress, and children Chas. Jr., 21, bellboy, and Ednor R., 17.

In 1940, Charles Benjamin Gay Jr. registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 9 June 1908 in Wilson; lived at 623 East Green Street; his contact was Charles Benjamin Gay Sr., 807 East Viola Street; and he worked for W.T. Clark Tobacco Company.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Lucy Sherood, 58, hotel maid; lodger Charlie Gay, 78; and lodger’s son Charlie Gay Jr., 42, hotel hall boy.

Charles Benjamin Gay Jr. died 29 December 1974 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 9 June 1908 to Charles B. Gay Jr. and Ella Tate; lived at 623 East Green Street; was a widower; and worked as a bellhop at Cherry Hotel.