Month: June 2016

She was perfectly well yesterday: the death of Emma Evans.

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Wilson Daily Times, 3 July 1923.

Per her death certificate, Emma Evans died of aortic regurgitation. She was a native of Wayne County, and her sister Florence Loftin, who lived at 600 West Nash Street in Wilson, served as informant. (Emma’s employer, department store merchant Charles Gay, appears in the 1920 census residing at 104 West Green Street.)

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Emma died intestate. Her brother Major J. Loftin applied to open her estate, estimated at $450 in value, listing her siblings Sylvester Loftin, Robert Loftin, Ben F. Loftin, Alice Ford, Lena Loftin, Bettie Loftin, Florence Loftin, Mary Hinnant, and Jessie Barron and mother Eveline Loftin as her heirs at law. (In the 1920 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: on the road to Horns Bridge, widower Major J. Loftin, 42, his widowed mother Evaline, 71, brother-in-law Sam Barron, 24, sister Jessie Barron, 24, and nieces Donnie, 13, Maybelle, 12, and Marie Barron, 10. In earlier censuses, the Loftins appear in Indian Springs township, southern Wayne County.)

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North Carolina Wills and Estates, 1665-1998 [database on-line], http://www.ancestry.com.

Overindulgence in the ardent.

Wil Adv 4 14 1898 J gay

Wilson Advance, 14 April 1898.

In the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: domestic servant Clay Farmer, 60; brickyard worker Gray W. Farmer, 13; and domestic servant Jonas Gay, 14.

In the 1880 census of Wilson , Wilson County: Jonas Gay, 20, laborer, living alone.

On 4 January 1892, Jonas Gay, 39, parents unknown, married Farilla Thorn, 22, daughter of James and Adaline Thorne in the presence of Geo. W. Battle, F.A. Moore and Trecy Gay.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: servant Wright Bynum, 37; wife Amanda, 30; with four lodgers, teamster Jonas Gay, 36, tobacco grader Joseph McMannin, 27, and servants Joseph Crawford, 22, and Shepard Sharp, 20.

In the 1908 city directory of Wilson: Gay Jonas, lab h 615 e Barnes

The Battle siblings.

Charles Tecumseh Battle was not the only distinguished offspring of Charles and Leah Hargrove Battle.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: blacksmith Charles Battle, 35, wife Leah, 30, and children Adelia, 5, Geneva, 2, Virgil, 1 month, and Nicholas, 18.

Ada G. and Geneva T. Battle left Wilson to complete their studies in the western part of the state. The Charlotte Observer‘s coverage of Livingstone College’s 1890 commencement mentioned that Ada had received the freshman award for oratory.

Charlotte Observer 5 30 1890

Charlotte Observer, 1890.

In Reminiscences of College Days, his self-published 1904 memoir of Livingston College, William Frank Fonvielle remembered both Battle sisters:

AGB

AGP

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While still in school, Ada Battle began teaching at Wilson’s Colored Graded School. As Fonvielle noted, however, she graduated Scotia Seminary’s Normal and Scientific Department in 1895:

Conord Times 6 13 1895

The Concord Times, 13 June 1895.

A year later, she was well-enough known to personify Wilson’s African-American elite, along with Samuel H. Vick and Braswell R. Winstead:

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Raleigh Gazette, 19 December 1896.

In the 1900 census, Ada G. Battle, 24, is a listed as a teacher at Scotia Seminary in Concord, Cabarrus County, North Carolina. Her younger sister Chandler Battle was enumerated among the school’s students.

On 17 November 1904, Chandler News listed Ada G. Battle of Chandler, Oklahoma, among the teachers certified as first grade instructors. Ada’s brother Nicholas Battle was a Chandler resident, and this seems to be Ada of Wilson.

On 17 September 1905, in Wilson County, Doane Battle, 19, daughter of Charles Battle, married F.O. [Frank Oliver] Williston, 24, of Wilson, son of Henrietta Williston of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Episcopal priest Robert N. Perry performed the ceremony at the residence of James Jenkins before official witnesses F.S. Hargrave, Jenkins, and William Dawson.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County, on Stantonsburg Street, widow Cortney Gofney, 50, and lodgers Ada Battle, 30, teacher, and Sylvester Gofney, 16, laborer. (Courtney Battle Goffney may have been Ada’s relative.) Teacher Chandler Battle, 27, is listed in the household of her cousin George H. Porter in Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County. In the census of Salisbury, Rowan County: Frank O. Williston, 26, wife Doane B., 23, and daughter Leah H.E., 3. In Chandler, Logan County, Oklahoma:

In the 1912 Wilson city directory: Battle Ada G tchr Wilson Graded School

Three years later, however, it appears that the peripatetic Ada had returned to Oklahoma. On 26 August 1915, Guthrie’s Oklahoma State Register published a notice of the teachers selected by Logan County schools that included Ada G. Battle, hired in District No. 94.

In the 1920 census of Iowa, Logan County, Oklahoma: 55 year-old Georgia-born farmer Stonewall J. Favers, wife Geneva, 39, daughter [sic] Charles M., 15, and sister-in-law Ada G. Battle, 41. Geneva and Ada’s brother Charles T. Battle also lived in Iowa township. In Chandler, Lincoln County, Oklahoma, their brother Nicholas R. Battle, 56, wife Dora, 58, and son Henry N., 11. Back in North Carolina, in Salisbury, Rowan County: Frank O. Williston, 38, and wife Doane, 33, and children Henrietta, 13, Inez, 8, and Dorothy, 6, and in Brinkleyville, Halifax County: farmer Charles Wright, 36, wife Chanler, 35, and brother June, 29.

On 5 June 1927, the Guthrie Daily Leader ran this respectful notice of the death of Geneva’s husband, Stonewall Jackson Faver:

FAVER, NEGRO LEADER TO BE BURIED SUNDAY
Body To Lie In State In Guthrie During Morning Hour

The body of S. J. Faver, one of Logan county’s best known negro leaders, was to lie in state at the Edwards and McKee funeral home, 301 W. Harrison av. Sunday between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m.
Faver died Friday at his home south of Meridian where he has lived on his one thousand acre farm for the past few years.
Faver was for two terms a county commissioner of Logan county and was on the board at the time the county courthouse was built in 1907. He was on who secured the building for use of the state soon after statehood.
Funeral and burial ceremonies will be from the family residence at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

In the 1930 census of Brinkleyville, Halifax County: Charlie Wright, 42, wife Chandler, 38, and children Charlie, 9, and Nicholas T., 7.  In Washington, D.C.: Frank O. Williston, 49, wife Doane, 44, and children Inez, 18, and Fay, 16, and Weldon Phillips, 38. In Chandler, Lincoln County, Oklahoma: Henry Battle, 22, his wife Vannie, 23, and son Henry Jr., 3, plus widower father Nicholas B. Battle, 64. In Guthrie, Logan County, Oklahoma: Geneva B. Faver, widow, lived alone at 1002 E. Vilas Street.

In the Educational Directory of North Carolina issued for 1934-35 by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the list of Jeanes Industrial Supervisors (Colored) includes Ada G. Battle of Clinton, Sampson County.

In the 1940 census of Clinton, Sampson County: living at 123 McKoy, which seems to have been a teacherage, Ada G. Battle, 54. In the census of Washington, D.C.: Frank Williston, 58, wife Doane B., 54, and daughter Darthy H., 26. In the census of Brinkleyville, Halifax County: farmer Charlie Wright, 54, wife Chandler, 50, son Chas., 20, (“college — in summer works on farm”), and Nichols, 18. In the census of Chandler, Lincoln County, Oklahoma: farmer Nicholas R. Battle, 75, wife Ella, 39, and children Ada L., 5, Nicholas R., 3, and Evelene, 1. In the census of Guthrie, Logan County, Oklahoma: widow Geneva B. Faver, 60, and daughter Charles Marie Faver, 28, an instructor at Langston State University.

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The Carolina Times, 22 November 1941.

Per Findagrave.com, N.R. Battle died Christmas Eve 1946 and was buried in Chandler, Oklahoma’s Clearview cemetery.

Ada G. Battle made out her will on 7 April 1951. She was living in Wilson again and had been seriously ill since at least the previous October. Her sister Chandler Wright had come from Enfield to tend her during her confinement, and Ada made special provisions for her. She also left bequests to her remaining siblings, Geneva Faver of Guthrie, Oklahoma; Doane Willistoin of Washington, D.C.; and Charles Battle of Mobile, Alabama. Rev. O.J. Hawkins was named executor, and Estella L. Shade (wife of pharmacist Isaac Shade) and pharmacist Darcy C. Yancey witnessed the execution of the document.

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On 12 November 1952, Chandler Battle Wright died at Mercy Hospital in Wilson. Her death certificate noted that her residence was Enfield, Halifax County; that she was 61 years old and married; that she had been born in Wilson County to Charles and Leah Hargrove Battle; and that her occupation was “graduate nurse.” Mrs. Willie H. Smith of Wilson was the informant.

Chandler Wright’s will was filed in Wilson Superior Court six days later. Though her death certificate cited her residence as Enfield, the will notes that she owned two houses in Wilson. Chandler distributed her belongings widely: a desk to cousin Willie Hargrove Smith; a gold necklace with pearl cross to niece Charlie Faver Tilghman (Geneva’s daughter); a dining room suite to son Nicholas L. Wright; a walnut bedroom suite to son Charlie Wright; all her livestock and $25.00 to husband C.W. Wright; her 304 North Pender Street house to son Nicholas; her 306 North Pender Street house to son Charlie; and all personal property to be divided between her sons. Willie H. Smith was named executrix, and Roberta Battle Johnson (daughter of Parker and Ella Burson Battle; a cousin?) and Mary L. Spivey of Wilson were witnesses.

CBW will

In 1957, Willa Allegra Strong submitted a dissertation to the University of Oklahoma Graduate College entitled “The Origin, Development and Current Status of the Oklahoma Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs.” Among the women she interviewed was Geneva B. Faver, and she wrote this about this seminal figure in Guthrie’s black community:

“Mrs. Geneva Faver assumed the office of treasurer in 1940 and has served without interruption since that date. Mrs. Faver, a pioneer citizen of Guthrie, Oklahoma, has functioned as a leader in many areas of service. She was the first music teacher hired to teach in Guthrie public schools. The Negro high school of Guthrie has been named for her husband. Some special serviced rendered to the public by Mrs. Guthrie have included: secretary of the Logan County Republican Central committee, juror in Federal Court, chairman of the city library board, and member of the library board. Mrs. Faver donated a forty acre tract of land for use as a camp site for Negro boys. The location of this site was three miles south of Meridian. The presentation was a memorial to her husband, Stonewall J. Faver.”

Per Findagrave.com, Geneva Battle Faver June 1877-December 1967 and Charlie Faver Tillman 1904-1998 are buried undera double marker at Summit View Cemetery in Guthrie.

Failed to work on the streets.

List of Colored Citizens failing to work on Streets 

Richard Lindsey                 Absent on Rail Road

Laurince Smith                  Absent from Town

David Johnston                  Brick Yard

David Simms                      Absent without excuse

James Wiggins                   Brick Yard

Ellick Apaten                      Gone to Laurinburg

Austin Bynum                    Absent without excuse

James Battle                        Gone to New Bern

Henry Barnes

Sol Barnes                            Gone

Williard Bryan                     Brick yd

Mack Joyner                         Gone

David Johnston                   Gone

Abram Hart                          Gone

Emanuel Adams                  Gone from town

Geo Farmer                           Out of town

Ellick Barnes                        Absent with excuse

Wm. Mayo                             Same

Mose Farmer                        Absent with excuse

——

  • In the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Richd. Lindsey, 33, carpenter; Olive, 34, domestic servant; and children Austin, 14, Richd., 4, and Henry, 2; plus Mary Cotton, 15, domestice servant. In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Pettigrew Street, Richard Lindsey, 51, mechanic; Olive, 42, midwife; and sons Richard, 14, Henry, 11, and Austin, 23, a drayman.
  • In the 1860 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Dave Simms, 25, mulatto, day laborer, is listed in the household of white merchant W.D. Rountree.
  • In the 1880 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Austine Bynum, 45, wife Mary, 35, children Allen, 14, Denice, 19, and Marina, 1, in the household of white farmer Benjamin Pittman.

This list, dated 1866, appears Minutes of City Council, Volume 1, 1850-1885, transcribed in a bound volume shelved at Wilson County Public Library, Wilson.

 

She left very soon after they were liberated.

Wilson, N.C. Dec 23d 1865

Commiss of Freedmen, Goldsboro

Sir. You sent an order to Jonathan Bullock to settle with Dearry & Ginny (colored) for labor done on his farm or to report to Goldsboro to day; it is impossible for him to report to day, so I drop you these lines Conserning the case. Your order stated for him to settle from the 1st of May to the 16th of Dec. Now I know that neither one of them have not labored at Jonathan Bullock’s much over half of that time. Dearry left him in May & did not return until sometime in Oct I don’t think all the work he done was more nine weeks for which he acknowledged having been paid according to Contract. Wit to that is John Bullock. Ginny left Jonathan Bullock’s farm very soon after they were liberated but returned after staying away some time, Jonathan says he has settled with her according to Contract.

Very respectfully,

Your Obedt Servt

W.J. Bullock

Capt. L.P. Force

——

Thirty-eight year-old farmer William Bullock is listed in the 1870 census of Town of Wilson, Wilson County. Thirty-five year-old farmer John Bullock is listed in Wilson township. Near Jonathan Bullock nor anyone identifiable as Dearry or Ginny appears in that census.

Freedmen Bureau Records of Field Offices, 1863-1878 [database online], http://www.ancestry.com.

Wilson District of the Cape Fear Annual Conference.

The business of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is handled by administrative bodies known as conferences, which are in turn divided in districts. When conferences hold their annual meetings, their districts provide reports of the health of the churches they comprise.

In 1923, the Wilson District of the Cape Fear Annual Conference of the Eastern North Carolina Episcopal District represented 10 circuits. Seven congregations — Contentney Mission, South Wilson/Saint Stephens Mission, Sims Mission, Elm City Mission, Wilson Station, Stantonsburg Circuit and Black Creek Circuit — were in Wilson County. (Today, there are only three A.M.E. Zion churches in the county — Saint John and Trinity in Wilson, and Bethel in Stantonsburg.) Here are pages from Wilson District’s report that year.

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  • Rev. W.J. Fox
  • Rev. J.E. McKoy
  • Rev. Steadaway — Wyatt Studaway was born about 1851 in Wake County, North Carolina. His death certificate lists his parents as Isaac and Mary Studaway and notes that he lived on Manchester Street and died of heart disease in Wilson in 1926.
  • Rev. Jesse Ward

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  • Rev. A.J. Rhodes

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  • Jane Sutzer — Mary Jane Bass Taylor Henderson Sutzer.
  • Mattie Moore — possibly Mattie Moore (1878-1927), wife of Johnnie Moore. Per her death certificate, she was born in Wilson County to John and Rachel Sims Lassiter.
  • Fanny Allen — Fannie Preston Allen, wife of Samuel Allen, below. Per her death certificate, she was born in 1885 in Robeson County, North Carolina, to Sandy Ashley. She died in Wilson in 1943.
  • L.J. McPhail — possibly Laura McPhail (1871-1936), wife of Raiford McPhail. Per her death certificate, she was born in Cumberland County, North Carolina, to Washington and Delia Gillmore Wardell.
  • Mary Sims
  • Rev. J.B. Sutton
  • Rev. Sam Allen — Per his death certificate, Oxford, North Carolina native Samuel Allen died in Wilson in 1930. He was married to Fannie Allen and worked as a day laborer at a tobacco warehouse. He lived at 706 Roberson Street.
  • Rev. D.A. Baker

From the Minutes of the Twelfth Annual Session of the Cape Fear Annual Conference of the A.M.E. Zion Church (1923), University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dick complains that I keep his sister’s children.

State of North Carolina }

Wilson County     }

I B.F. Briggs

The Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions hereby Certify that at October Term A.D. 1865 the Court apprenticed to Mrs Elizabeth Whitley seven children to wit – Drury age 10 years, George 16 years, Easter 14 years Turner 18 yrs Sophia 14 yrs Robert 12 yrs Adelade 16 years of age &c

Given under my hand and seal of office at office the 6th day of April A.D. 1867

B.F. Briggs, Clerk

——

Stantonsburg N.C. April 6th/67

[illegible] H.G. Norton

Goldsboro N.C.

Dear Sir

Yours of the 2 Int to hand contents noticed you stated that Dick Whitley (col) complains that I keep his sisters children without his consent & refuses to let the same return to him. I have not got the children nor have not had nothing to doe with them at all. My wife had the children bound to her at the time they were bound. We did not know whire Dick Whitley was and think that he had not been in the county for Several months, the children has in the neighbourhood, two uncles & grand mother & none of them has not complained at all in reguard to the children. Dick has not made any application for the children, nor does nothing for the support of his old helpless Mother, We are willing to doe any thing that is legal or right: in regard to them we send now a copy of the indentures, if you desire that I should come down inform me

Very Respectfully           /s/ Gray Whitley

——

Stantonsburg NC, Apr 22nd, 1867

Maj. N.D. Norton

Yours of April 20th is to hand regarding five children who are at present working with my wife. In reply I would State that your letter of April 2nd came duly to hand makeing inquiries about said children, and I wrote to you at one, acknowledgeing the receipt of said letter, but failed to address it to you officially in the envelope and suppose from this cause you have not received it. The children alluded to, are as you have been informed, orphans, having lost both parents. Their mother during her lifetime and while a slave belonged to my wife, and after the close of the war, they having no protector, my wife made application to the county court of Wilson and had them bound to her. In my former reply to your letter of April 2nd I give you a correct statement concerning the children and enclosed also the certificate of the county court clerk of Wilson to the effect that the said children had been bound to my wife, I regret that the letter and certificate have not reached you. If you desire it, I will obtain and forward to you another certificate from the clerk of the county; the children have been brought up by my wife from infancy and have living near them two uncles and two aunts, who seem to be willing that I should retain them, and theas I imagine should have some voice in the matter. They have never raised any objections to my keeping the children, and the children seem to be willing to remain with me. I think that as a majority of the living relatives of the children are willing that they should stay with my wife she having raised them and the children seems to be well contented thus far and I really think that we should be allowed to keep them. Dick has not been seen in this vicinity for 12 months which he has living near us an Old Mother almost helpless he does nothing for her nor seems to care nothing for her so I think if he had the children but little assistance they would get from [illegible] Hopeing to hear from you soon and also hope that the above explanation may be satisfactory I am

Yours truly, Gray Whitley

——

Farmer Gray Whitley, 55, and wife Bettie appear in the 1870 federal census of Stantonsburg, Wilson County. No black children are listed in their household, nor are any elsewhere with the names listed above.

Update: As reader Tiffany Watson points out: in the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Levi Barnes, 45, farm laborer; wife Olive, 50, domestic servant; presumed children Samuel, 19, Charles, 10, Rachel, 18, and Celia Barnes, 15; plus Adeline, 23, Dinah, 10, Dewry, 12, and Richard Whitley, 42, farm laborer. This is surely Dick Whitley and at least two — Drury and Adelaide — of the children in dispute above. On 17 November 1874, Adeline Whitly, 20, married Stephen Barnes, 23, in Wilson County.

Freedmen Bureau Records of Field Offices, 1863-1878 [database online], http://www.ancestry.com.

Wootten & Stevens, pt. 5.

In 1977, the late Hugh B. Johnston abstracted a newly discovered volume of the records of Wootten and Stevens, the earliest undertaking firm in Wilson County. The result, Funeral Register of Wootten and Stevens, Undertakers of Wilson, North Carolina, November 18, 1896-June 27, 1899 is an unpublished manuscript held at Wilson County Public Library. This post is the fifth in a series abstracting the abstract for entries naming African-Americans.

  • Hardy, Thomas. Wilson. Colored. Died 6 February 1897, age 55. Attended by Dr. T.B. Person. Length 6′. Cost $10. Billed to C.G. Wells. Buried in Joshua Barnes cemetery. (Page 32)
  • High, ______. Taylor’s township. Colored. Died 18 March 1899. Child of John High. Length 2’6″. Buried in Hilliard Ellis cemetery. Cost $3. (Page 438)
  • Hill, Edgar. Wilson. Colored. Died 20 October 1897, age 16 years, of consumption. Son of Henrietta Hill and brother of Richard Norwood‘s wife. Cost $23. Funeral at home. Burial at Oak Dale cemetery. Attended by Dr. B.T, Person. (Page 151)
  • Hines, Mamy. Wilson. Colored. Died 10 March 1899, age 1 year 1 month. Length 2’6″. Buried at W.H. Farmer cemetery. Attended by Dr. Albert Anderson. Cost $1.50. (Page 434)
  • Jackson, Rosa. Wilson. Colored. Died 5 July 1898, age 10 months, of cholera infantum. Child of Jos. S. Jackson. Attended by Dr. N.B. Herring. Length 2’6″. Funeral at home. Buried colored Oakdale cemetery. Cost $10. (Page 285)
  • Jeffreys, Mattie. Wilson. Colored. Died 24 July 1898, aged 7 years, of brain fever. Attended by Dr. Jones. Length 4′. Cost $7. Billed to W.T. Clark. “This girl was taken in to raise by Mr. Clark’s mother when very small and the whole family thought a great deal of her. She is the only colored person ever put in Maplewood.” (Page 289)
  • Jenkins, Annie Monite. Wilson. Colored. Died 20 May 1899, aged 24 years, of consumption. Daughter of Monite Jenkins. Attended by Dr. N.B. Herring. Length 5’6″. Buried Oak Dale cemetery. Cost $2.25. Billed to Wilson County. (Page 471)
  • Jones, Estelle. Wilson. Colored. Died 20 December 1896, age 9 months of fever. Length 2’9″. Buried at colored cemetery. Cost $5.50. (Page 10)
  • Jones, Gillie. Wilson. Colored. Died 31 October 1897, age 51 years, of bowel consumption. Wife of Alex Jones. Funeral at home. Buried at Oakdale cemetery. Cost $25. (Page 156)
  • Jones, Kesiah. Old Fields township. Colored. Died 21 August 1898, aged 38, of consumption. Wife of Thomas A. Jones. Length 5’9″. Cost $15. Buried in Jones Hill cemetery. (Page 305)
  • Jones, Nettie Vick. Wilson. Colored. Died __ August 1897. Daughter of Daniel Vick. Cost $25. “Murdered by her husband Wilson Jones.” (Page 124)

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Raleigh Gazette, 11 September 1897.

  • Jordan, Ned. Wilson. Colored. Died 2 February 1898, age 65 years. Father of Charlotte Aycock. Length 6′. Cost $15. Buried in colored cemetery. (Page 202)
  • Knight, _____. Wilson. Colored. Died 18 December 1897, of consumption. Length 6″. Cost $2.50. Billed to F.W. Barnes. (Page 184)
  • Lindsey, Frank. Wilson. Colored. Died 31 December 1898, age 27, of dropsy. Attended by Dr. Paschal. Length 6′. Funeral at home. Buried at Oakdale cemetery. Billed to William Lindsey. (Page 399)
  • Mabry, James. Wilson. Colored. Died 15 June 1897, of consumption. Buried in colored cemetery. Cost $10. Bill to L.A. Moore. (Page 84)
  • Matthews, Tom. Wilson. Colored. Died 28 May 1899, age 37 years. Length 5’9″. Attended by Dr. C.E. Moore. Buried in colored cemetery. Cost $4. Billed to Town of Wilson. “Killed by Policeman George Mumford in the discharge of his duty. Coroner’s Inquest gave the above verdict.” (Page 476)
  • Messick, James. Wilson. Colored. Died __ September 1898. Length 6′. Cost $7.50. County Commissioners paid $2. (Page 338)
  • Mobley, ____. Wilson. Colored. Died 16 March 1899, of consumption. Father of Jane Mobley. Length 5’9″. Cost $10. Attended by Dr. Albert Anderson. Billed to John T. Williams. (Page 437)
  • Mobley, Isaac. Wilson. Colored. Died 4 March 1899, age 21 years, of consumption. Buried in Oakdale cemetery. Cost $11. Billed to F.A. Woodard.(Page 430)
  • Moore, ____. Wilson. Colored. Died 17 January 1898, age 1 day. Grandchild of Pennie Moore. Length 2’4″. Cost $3. (Page 197)
  • Moore, ____. Wilson. Colored. Died 23 July 1898. Wife of Andrew Moore. Length 5’6″. Cost $10. Attended by Dr. Albert Anderson. Buried in colored cemetery.
  • Moore, ____. Wilson. Colored. Died 25 August 1898. Child of Henry Moore. Length 2’9″. Funeral in Methodist church. Buried in colored cemetery. Cost $15. (Page 313)
  • Moore, ____. Wilson. Colored. Died 17 September 1898, age 5 days. Length 2′. Cost $3. Billed to Pennie Moore. (Page 197)
  • Moore, Lelia. Wilson. Colored. Died 6 February 1897, age 3 months, of a severe cold. Length 2′. Buried in Oak Dale cemetery. Cost $3.50. Billed to Bryant Moore.

 

News of the colored graded school.

WM 7 22 1891

Wilson Mirror, 22 July 1891.

WA 9 14 1893

Wilson Advance, 14 September 1893.

WDT 5 28 1897

Wilson Daily Times, 28 May 1897.

  • Frank O. Blount — in the 1880 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: gristmill worker Daniel Vick, 38, wife Fannie, 35, and children Samuel, 16, Nettie, 14, Earnest Linwood, 12, Henry, 10, and James O.F., 8, plus Frank O. Blount, 20, and Marcus W. Blount, 26. Though the Blounts were described as boarders, they were in fact Fannie Blount Vick’s brothers. Three years later, Frank and his cousin Samuel H. Vick (as well as neighbor Daniel Cato Suggs) were recorded in the junior class at Lincoln University in Chester, Pennsylvania. Frank Blount left Wilson before 1895. In that year, he is listed in the city directory of Washington, D.C., working as a porter and living at 463 Washington N.W. In 1900, he is found in the census of Saint Louis, Missouri, newly a widower, boarding at 2627 Papin Street and working as a janitor. Ten years later, he had gotten on with the post office and was living at 3030 Laclede with his second wife Mamie L. and her four sons, George P., 26, Cortello, 21, Robert M., 19, and Harrison Dove, 10. In the 1920 census, Frank and Mamie Blount are recorded at 3010 Laclede. Mamie Dove Blount died in 1930 in Chicago, but I have not yet found Frank’s death certificate.

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Catalogue for Lincoln University for 1882-83 (1883).

  • Braswell Winstead — In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: assistant postmaster Braswell Winstead, 39, wife Ada, 25, and children Arnold, 13, George, 12, Rolland, 11, and Christine, 8.
  • Levi Peacock — In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: postmaster Levi Peacock, 30, wife Hannah, 28, a schoolteacher, and children Olivia, 5, Hannah, 3, and Levi, 2, plus mother Susan Pyett, 50.
  • Ada Battle and Charles Battle — Ada G. Battle and Charles Tecumseh Battle were children of Charles and Leah Hargrove Battle. Ada, born about 18, never married.
  • Lucy Thompson — Per her death certificate, Lucy A. Thompson was born about 1875 in Wilson County to Ennis and Helen A. Ruffin Thompson. She was unmarried, a teacher, and died 24 July 1946.
  • _____ Melton — probably Leavy J. Melton.
  • Sallie Barber — Per her death certificate, Sallie Minnie Blake Barbour was born about 1871 in Wake County to Essex and Clara Hodge Blake. In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson township, Wilson County: mechanic Charlie Barber, 47; wife Sallie, 40, teacher; and sons Luther, 21, John, 17, James, 17, and Herbert, 15, plus two roomers. The colored graded school was renamed in her honor in the late 1930s. She died in 1942.

Parker Battle was esteemed for his sterling qualities.

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Greensboro Daily News, 6 April 1914.

——-

 Funeral of Parker Battle.

The funeral of Parker Battle at 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon was conducted by Fred Davis, the former pastor of the Baptist church, assisted by other pastors and was attended by a large number of friends. Addresses were made by Col. J.F. Bruton and Rev. T.W. Chambliss.

A resolution of respect by the board of deacons and the congregation was also read.

— Wilson Daily Times, 6 April 1914.

——

Card of Thanks.

We are using this means to thank our sympathetic friends, both white and colored who so beautifully assisted, stood by and offered hope and encouragement in our bereavement. The wife and children of Parker Battle, the deceased mourn our loss but feel sure it is Heaven’s gain and we are striving to carry out the principals he so relentlessly tried to instill in us. The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.  ELLA BATTLE, AND CHILDREN.

— Wilson Daily Times, 6 April 1914.

——

On 18 May 1880, Parker Battle, 25, married Ella Burston, 18, at the Baptist Church. Rev. Joseph E. Carter performed the ceremony and Cobb Moss, G.B. Carter and G.W. Blount witnessed.

battle-burston

Wilson Advance, 21 May 1880.

In the 1880 census of Town of Wilson, Wilson County: teamster Parker Battle, 30, and wife Ella, 25, a cook. They lived next door to G.W. Blount, for whom Ella worked and who witnessed their wedding earlier in the year.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: moulder Parker Battle, 45, wife Ella L., 38, children Mamie P., 19, James A., 17, Sallie R., 14, Sudie E., 12, and John T., 9, plus mother-in-law Roberta A. Outlaw, 49.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: foundry laborer Parker Battle, 54, wife Ella, and children Roberta, 24, a teacher, Grace, 22, a factory laborer, and John, 19.

Parker and Ella Lea Burston Battle’s children included: Mamie P. Battle Lucas (1881-1942), Dr. James Alexander Battle (1885-1953), Sallie Roberta Battle Johnson (1886-1958),  Grace (Glace) M. Battle Black (ca. 1887-1972), and John Parker Battle (1890-1945).

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