Though Rev. J.T. Deans lived in Wilson (A), the four Missionary Baptist churches he pastored — Mount Gilead, Willard, Shoulder’s Branch, Union Chapel — were in Mount Olive (B), Willard (C), Castle Hayne (D), and Currie (E), North Carolina, respectively. Wilson to Mount Olive is 40 miles. Wilson to Castle Hayne is 108 miles.

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In the 1910 census of Turkey township, Sampson County, North Carolina: preacher/clergyman James T. Deans, 48; wife Mary 20; and son Roosevelt Deans, 7; plus Razzie L. Smith, 1.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 514 Lodge Street, school principal James T. Deans, 53, wife Mary, 34, and children Rosevelt, 16, James Jr., 9, Walter, 5, Therodore, 3, and Dixie, 2 months, and boarder Daniel Gunn, 57, a tobacco factory worker.

James Thomas Deans died 20 December 1939 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 74 years old, born in Nash County to Sarah Deans of Nash County, resided at 514 South Lodge Street, was a preacher, was married to Ada Drewcilla Deans, and was buried in Warsaw [Duplin County], North Carolina. Ada D. Deans was informant.

Minutes of the Forty-Ninth Annual Session of the Kenansville Missionary Baptist Association (1919).