William T. Bost was the influential political correspondent and columnist for the Greensboro Daily News. Just a few days after Samuel H. Vick died, Bost wrote an editorial about Vick’s “unquiet” political life, reflecting on the aftermath of Vick’s removal from his postmaster position.
Greensboro Daily News, 13 July 1946.
On 29 October 1892, Hardy Tate purchased for $700 from George D. and Ella M. Green a 1/3-acre lot on Green Street between Green and H.C. Phillips.
The first house Tate erected on this lot burned to the ground under suspicious circumstances shortly after completion in 1896. Tate replaced it with this house, whose number bounced from 610 to 612 before settling at 611.
Tate died in 1938. Undertaker Columbus E. Artis and his first wife, nurse Ada D. Artis, bought the house from the Tate family. In 1951, Artis remarried.
Wilson Daily Times, 28 July 1951.
It appears that C.E. and Ruby Barbour Artis began to take in roomers in the 1960s. Artis, photographed here in the driveway, owned the house until his death in 1973, and Ruby Artis remained for several years after.
Per the 12 April 1975 Daily Times, Ruby Artis was issued a permit to “alter boarding house 611 E. Green.”
This ad for apartments in the house ran in the Daily Times in the early 1980s.
Wilson Daily Times, 3 September 1981.
Wilson Daily Times, 14 April 1983.
Wilson Daily Times, 5 July 1983.
Wilson Daily Times, 5 November 1983.
The house was demolished in the early 2000s.
N.87-12-279-280, Hardy Tate House, 611 E. Green Street, East Wilson Historic District, Wilson, Wilson County, Survey and National Register Branch, State Historic Preservation Office.
There apparently is no end to abused and endangered historic African-American cemeteries, and I gain both wisdom and commiseration when I talk with others working to reclaim them. Yesterday, at the invitation of Shanetta Summers, I spoke with three dedicated fighters from Statesville, North Carolina, who have come together to save Stearns Temple cemetery.
Cemeteries like Stearns Temple, Odd Fellows, and Vick have many commonalities, but the differences — in land ownership, access, condition, age, etc. — pose interesting quandaries. I hope I was able to pass some useful tips and practices on to the Stearns Temple team, and I learned a couple of things from them that will be useful for Odd Fellows.
My maternal grandmother’s people are from Iredell County and, as we were wrapping up the Zoom call, Shanetta mentioned another cemetery she’s been cleaning up. It was established by an A.M.E. Zion church that was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989. My ears perked up when she said “Zion Hill,” and I rushed to my genealogy blog. Sure enough, Zion Hill was the cemetery in which my grandmother’s step-great-grandmother Rebecca Colvert was buried in 1917. It’s possible her great-grandfather, Walker Colvert, who died in 1905, was buried there, too.
In January 1915, Della Crummedy signed a mortgage deed to secure a $25 debt she owed C.H. Darden & Son (presumably for undertaking services.)
The land Crummedy gave as collateral was a one-quarter acre lot on the eastern side of Stantonsburg Street near the Colored Graded School, adjoining S.H. Vick, James Simms, and others.
The penciled note at the bottom of the page shows that Crummedy paid off the loan on 11 May 1915, and the mortgage was cancelled.
Deed Book 97, page 70, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.
On 4 July 1896, Clerk of Superior Court J.D. Bardin apprenticed Loutoria Fields, age 6 years, 3 months, to George W. Fields until she was 18 years old.
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Lutory Fields was George Washington Fields‘ granddaughter. Her mother Jane Fields likely died shortly before this indenture. Here we see an example of apprenticeship as a form of intrafamily adoption.
In the 1880 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Washington Fields, 30; wife Julia, 35; and children Renda, 12, Penninah, 11, Jane, 9, Christany, 8, London, 6, William, 5, and twins Isaac and Jacob, 3.
In the 1900 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Washington Fields, 60; wife Julia, 53; daughters Chrischanie, 25, Amanda, 15, and Lutory, 10; grandson Peter, 10; and granddaughters Julia, 5, and Lillie, 7 months.
On 9 November 1905, John H. Battle, 20, of Cross Roads township, married Lutora Fields, 18, of Cross Roads, in Lucama, Wilson County.
In the 1910 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer John H. Battle, 28; wife Loutorie, 24; and son Johnie L., 2.
In the 1920 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer John H. Battle, 39; wife Lutoria, 30; and children John L., 16, Lenetta, 7, Bessie L., 5, Mary L., 3, Rosa, 2, Thurman, 1, and Armetta, 1 month.
In the 1930 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer John H. Battle, 49; wife Leutoria, 40; and children Johnie L., 21, Nettie, 19, Bessie L., 16, Mary L., 15, Roosevelt, 14, Armettie, 11, Alphnza, 8, Estelle, 7, Augustus, 4, and Harvey L., 2.
Imettie Battle died 18 September 1933 in Goldsboro, Wayne County, N.C. Per her death certificate, she was 12 years 0ld; was born in Wilson County to John Battle and Lutora Fields; was a school girl; and lived in Wilson County. She had suffered a skull fracture after being struck by a car.
In the 1940 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer John Battle, 59; wife Lutory, 50; children Estelle, 17, Augustus, 15, Harvey, 13, Luberta, 8, and Alberta, 7; son-in-law Leondus Speight, 26, and granddaughter Katherine Speight, 4.
In the 1950 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer John H. Battle, 70; wife Lulorie, 60; and children Agustus, 25, Harvey L., 22, Lubortha, 18, and Aberta, 16.
John Hardy Battle died 9 March 1962 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 8 July 1878 in Wilson County to Haywood Battle and Eliza Battle; lived near Lucama; worked in farming; was married to Lutory Battle; and was buried in Mary Grove cemetery.
Lutory Battle died 22 April 1964 in Lucama, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 12 February 1890 in Wilson County to Wilbert [last name unknown] and Janie Field; was married to John Hardy Battle; and was buried in Mary Grove Cemetery.
Apprentice 1896, Miscellaneous Records, Wilson County Records, North Carolina State Archives.
I showed you here a baseball diamond in Daniel Hill discovered in a 1940 aerial photograph of Wilson. Within a few hundred yards of the Sallie Barbour School, just below Cemetery Street, here’s another captured the same year. Home plate appears to be at the lower right corner, and a well-worn path cuts across center and left field.
Look just above the diamond. That mottled wedge. Is that a cemetery?
Here’s another look, with an adjacent area also highlighted. Are these what was left of Oakdale Cemetery right before the city moved its graves to Rest Haven in 1941?
A contemporaneous news article refers to “dozens” of graves being moved, which always struck me as a low count for a 12-acre cemetery that had opened in 1896. However, maybe the site was not popular with families, especially once Rountree (1897 and 1906), Masonic (1900), Odd Fellows (1908), and Vick cemeteries (1913) were established. There’s also mention that the city had condemned Oakdale cemetery’s land in order to “build several roads through it.” Had the city sold off the condemned land? Certainly, it quickly filled with housing. I’ll do some sleuthing next time I’m in Wilson.
Wilson_CSP_6B_12, U.S.D.A. Photograph Collection, State Archives of North Carolina. Big thanks to R.L. for pointing out this wedge of land.
Two ads placed by “Hughes, the white barber.” Barbering in this era — and well into the twentieth century — was a trade plied overwhelmingly by African-American men. White barbers like “Hughes” often emphasized their ethnicity in their advertising. Here, “white” signaled Hughes’ suitability for handling the hair of white women.
The Daily News (Wilson, N.C.), 20 September 1900.
Wilson Daily Times, 7 July 1942.
It’s not clear if this article is referring to one church or two. Wilson’s Church of God stood at 904 East Wainwright Avenue and is best known as Rev. Hattie Daniels‘ church.
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Wilson Daily Times, 28 August 1944.
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On 10 March 1909, Forge Coppedge, 32, son of Robert and Matilda Coppedge, of Greene County, N.C., married Leather Ford, 16, daughter of Swift and Mary Ford, of Taylor township, in Wilson. James G. Coppedge performed the ceremony in Taylor township in the presence of Richard Forbes, Turner Taylor, and Carrie Alston.
On 8 December 1929, Forge Coppedge, 49, of Wilson, married Roxie McClain, 46, in Wilson. G.W. Coppedge applied for the license. Freewill Baptist minister Rev. J.E. Brown performed the ceremony in the presence of Geneva Jones, Carrie Alston, and Robert Greene.
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 404 Warren, rented for $15/month, Ford Coppedge, 35, laborer; wife Roxie A., 30; and step-daughters Jossie, 13, and Flossie M., 7.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 708 Walnut, laundress Roxana Coppedge, 55, and daughter Flossie McLaurin, 17.
Roxie Anna Coppedge died 24 August 1944 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 62 years old; was married to Forge Coppedge; was born in Robeson County, N.C., to Mack Ingram; lived at 408 Youngs Alley; and was buried at Rest Haven Cemetery. Lula McLaurin was informant.
Forge Coppedge also died 24 August 1944 in Wilson. He was 62 years old and was born in Franklin County, N.C., to Robert Coppedge and Matilda Baldrip. He was the widower of Roxie Anna Coppedge; worked as a laborer; lived on Bruton Street; and was buried in Masonic Cemetery. George Coppedge was informant.
Image courtesy of Veterans of World War II Wilson County, spiral-bound volume, Wilson County Public Library.