Month: August 2016

In a dying condition.

Found Dead.

Last Sunday Coroner Wm. Harris received a telegram from the railroad agent at Elm City saying that a Negro man had been found there in a dying condition with a wound in his head, and telling the coroner to come over. The coroner went and obtained an affidavit from one John Rice that the body was that of James King, an employee of the Southern Railroad.

A jury was summoned, who, after examination of the body, rendered the following verdict:

That according to the evidence and after viewing the body of James King, (col.) that the deceased came to his death by some unknown cause.

The general supposition is that he was struck on the head by another of the train hands while he was on the top of the moving freight.

— Wilson Daily Times, 10 September 1897.

You have broken my arm.

Inhuman.

Last Monday in Taylors township, this county, Jesse Howard, a Negro Republican registrar for the coming election, assaulted his father-in-law Green Ruffin, a respectable inoffensive old man of ninety years of age. It seems that Green’s hog had got out into Jesse’s field and although the crop had been gathered and Green had kept his hog out a long time, yet Jesse became so enraged as to pick up the hog and throw him over the fence, breaking its back. Greene who was cutting cane near by, seeing the hog fall, ran to the fence, still having his cane knife in his hand. When he saw Jesse he expostulated with him when the latter jerked a rail from the fence and struck Greene breaking his right arm. Greene said, “you have broken my arm.” Jesse answered “yes and G__D__ you, I will break the other.” And changing the rail he struck Greene again and broke his left arm.

Jesse was up before M.M. Matthews, J.P. but we have not heard the result. Such outrages as this should not go unpunished.

— Wilson Daily Times, 9 October 1896.

——

In the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Green Ruffin, 36, wife Tamer, 30, and children Ora, 3, and Martha, 2, plus Nicey Watson, 58. In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Green Ruffin, 57, wife Tamer, 47, and children Orah, 14, Martha, 11, and Stephen, 3. [In 1896, then, Green was probably closer to 60 to 70 years of age than 90. Not that that excuses anything.]

On 17 August 1889, Jesse Howard, 22, son of Deal and Rhoda Howard, married Martha Ruffin, 21, daughter of Green and Tamer Ruffin, all of Taylors township.

The couple is not found in the 1900 census. Did Martha leave after Jesse thrashed her father? Was Jesse prosecuted? Did Martha die?

On 5 June 1901, Jesse Howard, 33, son of Delius and Rhoda Howard, married Zillah Woodard, 32, daughter of Alfred and Sarah Woodard.

Letters remaining at the post office.

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Wilson Advance, 21 May 1880.

  • Hester Barnes — perhaps, in the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: housekeeper Hester Barnes, 24, with children Lindy M., 3, and Dennis, 1.
  • Norfleet Joyner
  • James Jordan

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Wilson Advance, 17 September 1880.

  • Diana Durding — Dinah Scarborough Darden
  • Emma Gay
  • Alger Vaughn — in the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Sarah Dardin, 57, Virginia-born son-in-law Algia Vaughn, 23, daughter Mittie, 22, and grandchildren Joseph, 8, Sarah, 6, and Macinda Vaughn, 8 months.

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Wilson Advance, 21 January 1881.

  • Betsy Dawson
  • Mack Dozier — in the 1880 census of Jackson, Nash County: Mack Dozier, 32, wife Elizabeth, 22, and mother Charlotte Williams, 55. In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: painter Mack Dozier, 60, wife Elibeth, 48, children Julia, 17, and Sid, 15, and mother Charlott, 89. Elizabeth worked in washing and Sid as a tobacco stemmer.

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Wilson Advance, 11 March 1881.

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Wilson Advance, 8 September 1882.

  • Jack Cohen
  • Elick Moore

Nineteen and a half acres.

Know all men by these presents that we Thomas Stancil and Elizabeth Stancil of the said Thomas Stancil of Wilson County and State of North Carolina in consideration of the sum of one hundred and seven dollars to us paid by Benjamin Artis & Farby Artis of the County of Wilson & State of North Carolina the receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledged do hereby give grant bargain sell and convey unto the said Benjamine & Farby Artis their heirs and assigns forever a certain piece or parcel of land situated in the County and State aforesaid adjoining the lands of Gordin Thomas Penny Woodard and others and begins at a stake in Penny Woodard line and Runs S 48 W 108 po[les] with said Woodards line to a stake thence S  25 3/4 E 60 po[les] along the path to the beginning containing nineteen and a half acres More or less to have and to hold the same & the said Benjamine & Farbey Artis their heirs and assigns to them and to [illegible] and behoof forever and we the said Thomas Stancil & wife Elizabeth Stancil for our selves our heirs Executors and administrators shall warrant and defend the same to the said Benjamine & Farby Artis their heirs and assigns forever against the lawful claimes and [illegible] of all persons we hereunto signs our names and fix our seals this May the 12 day AD 1872.

Witness B.F. Briggs        /s/ Thomas Stancil, Elizabeth Stancil

——

In 1997, the Wilson County Genealogical Society published Some Black Families of Wilson County, North Carolina as part of its series, The Hugh B. Johnston Jr. Working Papers. Benjamin and Phariba Artis’ family were among those about whom Johnston left detailed notes based both on records and family and local lore.

Here are Johnston’s notes, with my comments in brackets:

The Old Picture of Benjamin and Phariba Artis

This picture, taken at Wilson about 1895, portrays two former slaves who became highly respected citizens of Gardner’s township in Wilson County. I borrowed the picture from my cousin Robert Edwin Stott of Wilson County. [Unfortunately, no copy of the photo is included.] Benjamin “Ben” Artis (1824-October 2, 1905) was a native of Greene County, it is said. About 1849 he married Phariba Woodard, daughter of London and Venus Woodard who were slaves of James Bullock Woodard. After “freedom” the Rev. London Woodard became the founder and first pastor of London’s Primitive Baptist Church which still exists on the eastern outskirts of Wilson. The two Artises were longtime members of the Oaken Grove Primitive Baptist Church. Ben’s parents were probably Solomon Williams and Vicey Artis. [No, they were not his parents. This appears to be a conjecture based on information I provided Johnston in 1988 about my ancestor, Adam T. Artis, who was in fact Solomon and Vicey’s son. As there is no evidence of Benjamin Artis’ freedom prior to 1866, I believe that he was born to an enslaved mother and a free father from whom he took his surname.]

“Aunt” Phariba was a “granny woman” or midwife and was greatly beloved by both whites and blacks. She was born in 1828 and died on September 30, 1905. She and her husband were buried in the London Woodard graveyard on land that was purchased before the Civil War by a free woman of color [Penny Lassiter] who became the second wife of the Rev. London Woodard.

“Aunt Phariba” assisted not only the colored families in the neighborhood but also a number of the best white families in Gardner’s township. Her services were frequently required in nursing, and she was in much demand where there was a need of domestic help of superior quality. She lived a long and useful life and died much lamented by her numerous family and friends.

PLEASE SEE UPDATE HERE.

——

In the 1870 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: Benj’n Artis, 46, farm laborer; wife Phebee, 42; and children and grandchildren Mary, 2, Julia, 6, Sarah, 17, Debby, 18, and Benjamin, 20. Benjamin reported owning $100 in real estate and $125 in personal property.

On February 1870, Benja Artis, son of Benj. Artis and Ferebee Artis, married Ferebee Barnes, daughter of Silas and Rosa Barnes, at Silas Barnes’. [Yes, Ben and Fereby Artis’ son Benjamin Jr. married a woman named Fereby.]

In the 1880 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: Benn Artis Sr., 54; wife Pheraba, 45; daughters Judia, 18, and Mary, 14; and grandson John, 11. Next door: Benn Artis, Jr., 31, Pheraba, 30, and Harett, 1.

 

In the 1900 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: Benjamin Artis, 76, wife Faber, 74, and grandson Wylie, 10. Fereby reported that only five of her 15 children were living.

The neighbors referred to in the deed were Jordan Thomas and Fereby’s step-mother Penny Lassiter Woodard.

Deed Book 6, page 255, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson, North Carolina.

 

Unfit for use.

A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held in the office of C.A. Young this Monday evening, December 19, 1887.

Present, G.D. Green, Mayor in the chair and all members of the Board.

…

On motion the Old Methodist E. Church (Colored) was condemned as unfit for use.

…

On motion the Board was adjourned.     — C.A. Young, Clerk

——

The location of the condemned church building on the eastern edge of town is shown here.

This Board of Aldermen entry appears Minutes of City Council, Wilson, North Carolina, May 1, 1885-June 16, 1892, transcribed in a bound volume shelved at Wilson County Public Library, Wilson

Wootten & Stevens, pt. 6.

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 sixth in a series abstracting the abstract for entries naming African-Americans.

  • Newkirk, Fenner. Wilson. Colored. Died 18 July 1897, age 28 years, of brain fever. Attended by Dr. T.B. Person. Cost $6. Billed to Bettie Newkirk. Buried at Oak Dale Cemetery. (Page 103)
  • Nutall(?), _____. Wilson. Colored. Died __ July 1898. Length 5’9″. Cost $15. “Corpse was taken to Henderson, N. C., for burial.” (Page 291)
  • Parker, Harriet Jones. Wilson. Colored. Died 26 May 1898. Attended by Dr. N.B. Herring. Cost $10. Billed to Doane Herring. Burial at Oak Dale cemetery. (Page 260)
  • Parker, Nancy. Near Wilson. Colored. Died 19 March 1897, age 16 years, of measles and pneumonia. Length 5’9″. Attended by Dr. C.E. Moore. Buried at General Barnes cemetery. Cost $2.50. (Page 48)
  • Parker, Stanley. Wilson. Colored. Died 2 August 1898, age 65, of old age. Length 6′. Cost $2.25. Attended by Dr. T.B. Person. Funeral at home. Buried at Oak Dale cemetery. Billed to County Commissioners. (Page 294)
  • Parker, Susan. Wilson. Colored. Died 20 March 1897, age 20 years, of measles and pneumonia. Length 5’9″. Attended by Dr. C.E. Moore. Buried at General Barnes cemetery. Cost $2.50. Billed to Jack L. Ethridge. (Page 49)
  • Pender, _____. Near Wilson. Colored. Stillborn 2 April 1898 to Mr. and Mrs. Grey Pender. Attended by Dr. C.E. Moore. Cost $1.25. Billed to J.B. Farmer. (Page 223)
  • Pender, Jerry. Near Wilson. Colored. Died 27 November 1898, age 80 years, of old age. Length 6′. Cost $10. Attended by Dr. J.E. Brothers. Billed to Joshua B. Farmer by Grey Pender. Burial in Joshua B. Farmer cemetery. (Page 383)
  • Pleasants, George. Near Wilson. Colored. Died 24 May 1898, age 52 years. Length 6’2″. Cost $10. Billed to Sallie and Cora Farmer. Attended by Dr. T.B. Person. Buried at Simon Barnes cemetery. (Page 257)
  • Pitt, Antony. Gardners township. Colored. Died 26 March 1898 of “the effects of a blow.” Certified by County Coroner. Cost $2. Billed to County Commissioners. “Supposed to have been murdered.” (Page 221)

The last will and testament of Calvin Blount.

004778531_00446

North Carolina, Wilson County  }

I, Calvin Blount of the Town of Wilson, County and State aforesaid, being of sound mind and recognizing the uncertainty of my earthly existence, do hereby make, publish and declare this my last will and testament.

First: My executrix hereinafter named shall at my death give my body a decent burial suitable to the wishes of my friends and pay for said funeral out of my estate.

Second: To my beloved niece by marriage Lillie Edwards — she being the wife of my beloved nephew Willie Edwards — I do hereby give and bequeath to her for the term of her natural life all of my personal property and one half the North Side of my lot of land on which I now reside adjoining the lands of G.W. Sugg and fronting on South Railroad Street in the town of Wilson, County and State aforesaid, and after her death Same to be equally divided between her children begotten upon her by her present husband Willie Edwards.

Third: To my beloved grand-children, who are the children of my beloved son, Willie Blount, whose residence is now Xenia, Ohio, I do hereby give and bequeath to them to share and share alike the Southern half of the lot on which I now reside as described above in section Two.

Fourth: To my beloved sons Wright Blount and Tillman Blount, whom I have not heard from in many years — I do hereby give and bequeath to them to share and share alike my other lot of land on the edge of the Town of Wilson, State and County aforesaid, adjoining the lands of G.W. Sugg, Cater Sugg, and the Colored Cemetery, containing about one acre.

Fifth: I do hereby constitute and appoint my beloved niece “by marriage” Lillie Edwards hereinbefore mentioned as my lawful and sole executrix to all intents and purposes to execute this my last will and testament, to take charge of my estate and administer thereon at my death without any bond whatsoever, hereby revoking all other wills and testaments, by me heretofore made.

In witness whereof, I, the said Calvin Blount, do hereunto set my hand and seal, this the 3rd day of July A.D. 1909.   Calvin (X) Blount

Signed, sealed, published and declared by the said Calvin Blount to be his last will and testament in the presence of us, who at his request and in his presence, and in the presence of each other, do subscribe our names as witnesses thereto.  W.R. Woods, R.W. McFarland, L.H.Peacock

——

On 9 August  1866, in Wilson County, Calvin Blount and Mary Atkinson registered their five-year cohabitation with the Clerk of Court, thereby legitimizing a marriage entered into during slavery. Mary Blount died within a few years after.

In the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Calvin Blount, 35; John Bantler, 23, born in South Carolina; and Calvin’s sons Dick, 12, Tillman, 10, Frank, 6, Wright, 7, and William, 4.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Calvin Blount, 44, wife Emily, 48, and sons Wright, 17, William, 14, and Franklin, 16. [Next door: Washington Suggs and family.]

On 9 July 1904, Calvin Blount, 67, of Wilson married Effie Hinnant, 28, of Lucama. Missionary Baptist minister William Baker performed the ceremony at Emma Barnes’ home in the presence of Moses Dupree, Washington Suggs, and Ben Wooten.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 203 Rail Road Street, widower Calvin Blount, 72, and grandson [should be “nephew”] William Edwards, 47, railroad laborer, daughter-in-law Lillie, 35, and son [should be “great-nephew”] Kenly, 12. [Washington Suggs and family were two households away.]

Calvin Blunt died 25 April 1917 in Wilson township. Per his death certificate, he was about 85 years old; was a widower; lived on Suggs Street extended; and was born in North Carolina. William Edwards was informant.

Calvin Blount’s will entered probate in May 1917.

As to Calvin’s prodigal children: perhaps, in the 1900 census of Saint Louis, Missouri, at 116 1/2 Leonard, North Carolina-born day laborer Wright Blount, 33, wife Lula, “about 30,” and children Norma[n], 10, Alta, 8, Eldridge, 4, and Josephine, 2. In the 1910 census of Saint Louis, Missouri, at 2915 Lawton, North Carolina-born Wright C. Blount, 46, wife Laden, 38, and children Ettie, 20, Eldrage, 13, Josephine, 11, and Nick, 8, plus a boarder.

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

 

Gay’s old stand.

A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen of the Town of Wilson was held in the office of C.A. Young this Monday evening, January 2, 1888.

…

Liquor License was granted to the following parties:

  • Wiley Corbett at Bates Stand
  • Hawkins & Bridgers on Tarboro Street
  • Edwin Rose on Fulcher’s Block
  • Emma Gay at her old stand

No other business appearing the Board adjourned.       C.A. Young, Secretary

——

In the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farm laborer Charles Gay, 35, wife Emma, 25, children Charles, 5, and Mary, 1, and two farm laborers Rich’d Harper, 20, and Haywood Watson, 17.

Charles Gay died in late 1873 or early 1874. Emma was appointed administratrix of his estate, which consisted of personal possessions, cash, accounts receivable, and liquor and groceries from the store he operated. Emma carried on his business; this was her “old stand.”

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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.

In early 1885, pursuant to a judgment against her, Emma Gay lost the half-acre lot upon which she and her family lived.

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Wilson Advance, 12 December 1884.

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.

Emma Gay Rountree’s will entered probate in Wilson County Superior Court in June 1917:

Last Will and Testament of Emma Rountree of Wilson, North Carolina.

Know all men by these presents that, I, Emma Rountree of Wilson, Wilson County, state of North Carolina, being of sound mind and disposing memory, do hereby make and publish this, my last will and testament, hereby revoking all former wills by me at any time heretofore made.

(1) I give, devise, and bequeath to my children Mary Strickland, William Gay, Dred Gay, and the estate of my late son Chas Gay all of my property both real and personal with the exception of one dining room table, and one organ. The organ is hereby bequeathed to my beloved granddaughter Emma Gay.

(2) I give, devise and bequeath to Lizzie Whitfield, one dining room table, the same now in use in my dining room.

(3) I give, devise, and bequeath to my children Mary Strickland, William Gay, Dred Gay, and Lizzie Whitfield all money that may be left after paying all debts and expenses of my funeral. The same to be divided equally among them.

(4) I, hereby appoint Rev. H.B. Taylor the executor of this my last will and testament and recommend to the proper authorities that he be appointed guardian for Dred Gay and Mary Strickland, whose mental abilities incapacitates them to manage an estate.     Emma (X) Rountree

Signed by said Testatrix, Emma Rountree, as for her last will and testament, in the presence of us, who at her request, in her presence and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names as attesting witnesses. Louis Thomas, W.H. Kittrell, S.H. Vick

——

This Board of Aldermen entry appears Minutes of City Council, Wilson, North Carolina, May 1, 1885-June 16, 1892, transcribed in a bound volume shelved at Wilson County Public Library, Wilson; North Carolina Wills and Estates, 1665-1998 [database on-line], http://www.ancestry.com.

Studio shots, no. 7: Julius and Eliza Daniels Freeman.

In 1986, Mary Freeman Ellis published The Way It Was, a memoir of life with her father, noted stonemason Oliver Nestus Freeman.

Freeman Ellis describes her grandparents, Julius Franklin Freeman and Eliza Daniels Freeman, in the first pages:

I remember my paternal grandfather, Julius Freeman, as being a very eccentric and private individual. Grand Dad always looked old to me since he wore a long, gray beard and his hair was also graying. He was born in Johnson [sic] County in 1844 and died in 1927 at the age of 83. His first wife, Eliza Daniels, was born in 1844 in Wilson County She was the oldest of three siblings, two sisters, Millie, Zannie, and one brother, Warren. I never saw my paternal grandmother Eliza Daniels Freeman. She was very pretty from a portrait. You could see her Indian heritage and she wore her hair in two long braids. She had a light, olive complexion.

Julius F. Freeman Sr.

Eliza Daniels Freeman.

——

In the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Alfred Boyit, 26, and wife Eliza, 29, and carpenter Julius Freeman, 21, in the household of white farmer John R. Farmer, 56.

On 6 February 1873, Julius Freeman, 26, of Wilson, married Eliza Daniel, 19, of Wilson County, at Amos Daniel‘s house. London Johnson, a Methodist Episcopal minister, performed the ceremony in the presence of Washington Sugg, Charles Harper, and Sarah Jones.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: 56 year-old carpenter Julius Freeman, wife Eliza, 46, and children Elizabeth, 19, Nestus, 17, Junius, 11, Ernest, 9, Tom, 6, Daniel, 4, and Ruth, 4 months.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: house carpenter Julius Freeman, 65; wife Eliza, 54; and children Nestus, 28, bricklayer; Ollie, 18, Daniel, 14, John, 7, Junius, 22, Ernest, 20, and Thomas, 17.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Saratoga Road, grocery store merchant Julius Freeman, 72, and son Henry A., 43, brick work laborer.

Julius Franklin Freeman died 18 September 1927 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 16 April 1844 in Johnston County, North Carolina, and was married to Nancy Freeman.