The thirty-fifth in a series of posts highlighting buildings inEast Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
As described in the nomination form for East Wilson Historic District: “1925; 2 stories; Camillus L. Darden house; one of the district’s fine Colonial Revival house, with rare original brick veneer, arched floor-to-ceiling windows flanking front door; columned entry porch with roof balustrade; Darden contracted white architect Charles Benton; builder was black brick mason John Barnes [Darden’s brother-in-law]; Darden operated district’s leading mortuary business, established by his father, Charles Darden.”
After the death in 1987 of Camillus Darden’s widow, Norma Duncan Darden, the house passed to the local graduate chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 208 Pender Street, widow Minnie Best, 48; and children Hartford, 30, delivery boy for retail dry goods business; Ruth, 27, teacher at Williamston School; James, 23, janitor at Oettinger’s store; and Glenwood, 10, grocery delivery boy.
In 1940, Hartford Eugene Bess was registered for the World War II draft. Per his registration card, he resided at 208 Pender Street; was born 9 September 1910 in Wilson; his contact was his mother Minnie Luevenia Bess; and he worked for David Oettinger, 110 West Nash Street.
On 23 July 1960, Hartford E. Bess, 44, married June Wilkins Manley, 37, in the presence of Ruth G. Bess, Alice B. Mitchell and Nora A. Jones. Baptist minister Talmadge Watkins performed the service.
The Wilson Daily Times is the source of many of the newspaper articles posted at Black Wide-Awake. I am not unmindful of the racist over- and undertones of many of the clippings, especially those reporting alleged criminal activity. Nevertheless, they have value as imperfect documentation of the existence of so many African-Americans whose lives went otherwise unrecorded. Journalist Karl Fleming made his name covering the Civil Rights movement — most notably, Freedom Summer — for Newsweek magazine in the early 1960s. Fleming’s newspaper career began about 1947 at the Daily Times, which, in Son of the Rough South: An Uncivil Memoir (2005), he credits with introducing him to the brutal racist policies of his native state.
Fleming devotes several chapters to his time in Wilson. His behind-the-scenes explanation of the Times‘ race conventions is illuminating:
“The style of the Daily Times decreed that unmarried black women of whatever age be called ‘girl.’ A married ‘colored’ woman after being identified by her whole name, perhaps, perhaps Elsie Smith, in the first mention, would in succeeding graphs be called ‘the Smith woman.’ This avoided the honorifics ‘Miss’ or ‘Mrs.’ being applied to colored women. Colored men, of course, were never referred to as ‘Mr.,’ not even on the full page that ran ever Saturday headlined ‘News of the Colored Community,’ which catalogued the doings of the colored Charles L. Darden [sic] High School, church and Sunday school events, marriages, funerals, and social clubs. Darden ran the colored funeral home and a colored insurance agency and was the colored community’s most substantial citizen.”
His physical description of the town remains recognizable in many ways, even in the water fountains have been dismantled:
“Wilson and the surrounding county was half white and half colored. The town squatted in the sweltering heart of the table-flat and sandy North Carolina coastal plain, throughout which tobacco was the main cash crop. In the center of town, in front of a marble courthouse with six fluted Doric columns, two magnolia trees, and a confederate statue, were ‘White’ and ‘Colored’ water fountains.”
“The old train depot, the faded brick six-story Cherry Hotel alongside it, and the tracks of the Atlantic Coast Line railroad separated these black and white worlds.”
“What the colored people across the tracks may actually have felt about segregation in general and separate schools specifically no one in the white world knew. It was simply assumed that what they said to the white people was true — that they were content with the status quo. The pillars of the black community, the ministers and school teachers and the owners of the few colored businesses allowed to exist because whites wanted nothing to do with them — such as restaurant, beauty parlors, barber shops, funeral homes, pool halls, and juke joints patronized entirely by colored people — did not publicly protest or resist. There seemed to be among them a seeming general air of good-natured acceptance. When one of them excelled, or died, it was said that “he was a credit to his race,” suggesting that ordinary blackness was a debit somehow.”
Fleming exaggerates the uniform decrepitude of East Wilson’s building stock. As this blog has amply demonstrated, East Wilson was a lot more than shotgun rentals in need of whitewash. There were certainly a fair number of those though.
“The colored community was a close-packed warren of gray unpainted shotgun shacks rented from white landlords on dirt alleys across the railroad tracks. Its only paved roads were Nash Street, becoming Highway 41 [91] going east into the country towards the coast, and U.S. 301 going north and south, the principal highway from New York to Miami. Its inhabitants were for the most part menials of every sort, field hands on the surrounding tobacco farms, manual laborers for the city and county maintenance departments, and unskilled workers in the tobacco warehouses and wholesale packing houses.”
And then this observation, followed by a truism:
“Few white people ventured into ‘n*ggertown.’ … The arrival of a white man could mean nothing good. He was either ‘the law,’ a bill collector, or someone selling something — usually life or burial insurance.”
Fleming also offers a reporter’s assessment of (and white Wilson’s take on) the trial of Allen T. Reid, who was sentenced to death in 1949 for burglary.
The Pioneer (1941), yearbook of Saint Agnes Hospital Training School.
Celesta Belle Hardy McClain was born 1 August 1917 in Red Springs, Robeson County, North Carolina, to Cornelius and Carrie Worthy Hardy. She died 14 October 1990.
Herman O. Marshall, Saint Augustine’s College ’41
The Pen (1941), yearbook of Saint Augustine’s College.
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Hines Street, auto mechanic JohnMarshall, 32; wife Annie, 32; and children Glascoe, 12, Louise, 6, Bessie, 3, and Herman, 1.
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 507 Hines Street, widow Annie Marshall, 42, cook; and children Louise, 16, Bessie M., 13, Herman, 11, Margrette, 9, and Gretchen G., 1.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: cook Louise Marshall, 25, and her brother Herman, 20, at 702 East Nash Street.
In 1940, Herman Oliver Marshall registered for the World War II draft:
Celia Norwood — on 28 February 1895, Celia A. Hill, 22, daughter of H. and H. Hill, married Richard Norwood, 21, son of B. Norwood of Chatham County, in Wilson. Episcopal minister J.W. Perry performed the ceremony at Saint Marks in the presence of John H. Clark, B.R. Winstead and S.A. Smith. Cecilia Anna Norwood died 27 June 1944 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 14 February 1879 in Washington, North Carolina to Edward Hill and Henrietta Cherry; resided at 205 Pender, Wilson; was widowed; and was a teacher. Informant was Hazel Covington of Wilson.
Hazel Norwood — Hazel Norwood (a daughter of Richard S. and Cecilia Hill Norwood), 24, married Thomas Covington in Durham, North Carolina, on 5 September 1933.
In 1921, “the end of Green and Viola Streets” would have been just northwest of the lot upon which Wilson Colored High School was constructed just a couple of years later. Was the playground ever built? Or were the baseball field and tennis court quickly encroached upon and then obliterated by houses in the 900 blocks of Green and Viola? If so, they were not replaced until Reid Street Community Center opened a few blocks away in 1938.
Sanborn fire insurance map, Wilson, North Carolina (1922).
The thirty-fourth in a series of posts highlighting buildings inEast Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
As described in the nomination form for East Wilson Historic District: “ca. 1908; 2 stories; George McDaniel house; triple-A I house is one of two in the district; chamfered porch posts; aluminum sided; McDaniel was a house painter.”
This house appears on the 1908 and 1913 Sanborn fire insurance maps as 131 Pender Street. George McDaniel is listed in the 1908 and 1916 city directories at 207 North Spring and 137 Darden alley, respectively. He died in 1917. Thus, if McDaniel ever in fact lived in this house, it was only briefly.
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: renting 131 Pender, Annie Edmundson, 25, her children Jones, 16, and Lillian, 14, and roomers J.W. White, 35, and his wife Patsy, 30. [Widow Minnie McDaniel and her family lived two doors down at 137 Pender. This house was at the corner of Pender and Darden Alley and was likely the same as the 137 Darden Alley, above.]
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 202 Pender, widow Minnie McDonald [sic], 35, maid; daughter Christine, 21, teacher; Andrew McCullum, 45, tobacco factory packer; Alline Deans, 25, cook; Lucile Williams, 16, nurse; and Thomas Hicks, 29, cook.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 202 Pender, Minnie McDaniel, 55; daughters Christine Smith, 27, teacher, and Erma L. McDaniel, 14; Mozelle Simms, 22, cook; Lizzie Rogers, 20, cook; Eleanor Newkirk, 21, cook; Maggie Foster, 38, “cleans”; Tempie Hicks, 19, “cleans”; and Annie Hines, 50, cook.
Minnie McDaniel died 30 May 1950 at her home at 202 Pender Street. Per her death certificate, she was born 14 February 1886 in Apex, North Carolina, to Rev. Daniel Hicks and Mary Gilmore and was a widow. Christine Armstrong was informant.
From the 1945 edition of The Campus Echo Review, a yearbook of North Carolina College for Negroes [now North Carolina Central University.]
Doris Gaston Rosemond (1924-2007).
In the 1930 census of Town of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: barber Dewey Gaston, 30; wife Mary, 20; and children Doris L., 5, and Victor H., 3.
In the 1940 census of Town of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: barber Dewey Gaston, 40; wife Mary, 38; and children Doris, 51, and Victor H., 13.
There is Saint Delight Missionary Baptist Church in Walstonburg, just beyond Saratoga in Greene County. This is not it. This is Saint Delight Original Free Will Baptist Church, and it is just northeast of Kenly, about a mile inside the Wilson County line, at the end of a dirt spur hard by the CSX railroad.
Per its cornerstone, the church was dedicated in 1915 by Rev. G.W. Edwards. If its large cemetery is a measure, Saint Delight was an important center of worship in the area, which has been known as Boyette and Kirby’s Crossing. Given its proximity to the county line, church membership also drew from Johnston County. The Horton family — transplants from Wake County — were important in the church’s early decades, and the numerous graves of that extended family lie closest to the sanctuary.
The Pierce children — Roscoe, Maggie, Sara and Toma
The four headstones read: (1) Roscoe son of E & M Pierce May 14 1921 Oct 29 1921 At rest; (2) Maggie dau of E & M Pierce Nov 12 1919 Sep 26 1920 At rest; (3) Sara dau of E & M Pierce Jun 14 1914 Jan 1 1915 At rest; and (4) Toma dau of E & M Pierce Aug 7 1911 Dec 31 1914 At rest. Sara and Toma died too early for certificates to have been issued to record their deaths. However, per his death certificate, Roscoe Pierce died of acute ileocolitis on 26 October 1921 in Springhill township. He was born 14 May 1921 in Wilson County to Ernest Pierce and Maggie Atkinson and was buried at Kirby’s Crossing. Maggie Pierce died of acute ileocolitis 19 September 1920 in Springhill township. She was born 12 December 1919 to Ernest Pierce and Maggie Atkinson and was buried in Boyetts cemetery.
Nathan Atkinson
Nathan Atkinson Sept. 1 1847 Nov. 2 1925 Death is eternal life why should we weep.
In the 1870 census of Bentonsville township, Johnston County: Nathan Atkinson, 18, is listed as a farmhand in the household of 47 year-old white farmer Bryant Williams.
On 8 August 1872, Nathan Atkinson, 23, married Frances Shaw, 18, in Wilson County.
In the 1880 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer Nathan Atkinson, 28; wife Frances, 25; and children William, 7, Albert, 5, Coraan, 3; and Joseph, 10 months.
In the 1900 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer Nathan Atkinson, 55; wife Frances, 47; and children Mary I., 19, Howard F., 16, Lerogy, 14, Maggie, 12, Spencer, 10, Fannie, 8, and Henrietta, 3; and nephew Joseph S. Atkinson, 3. [Maggie Atkinson Pierce was mother of the Pierce children above.]
In the 1910 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer Nathan Atkinson, 63; wife Fannie M., 58; and children Spencer R., 18, Fannie F., 16, and Henrietta, 13; and grandson Joseph S. Atkinson, 13.
In the 1920 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: on avenue off the new section of the Wilson & Kenly Road, widower farmer Nathan Atkinson, 72, son Joe, 25, and daughter Henrietta, 22.
Nathon Atkinson died 2 November 1925 in Springhill township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was 77 years old; born in Wilson County to unknown parents; worked as a farmer; and was buried in Boyette cemetery. Tink Pierce was informant.
Mathew and Savannah Scott Horton
Savannah Horton Mar 7 1870 Jan 18 1935 Mathew Horton M___ 1870 Jun ___
This concrete headstone is enormous, easily three feet high and four feet across.
In the 1870 census of Buckhorn township, Wake County, North Carolina: Nash Horton, 35; wife Elizabeth, 25; and children James, 14, Allis, 9, Jane, 6, Susan, 4, George, 2, and Matthew, 2 months.
On 28 September 1890, Savanah Scott, 20, daughter of John and Nannie Scott, married Mathew Horton, 21, son of Nash and Betsey Horton, all of Springhill. Rufus Horton applied for the license, and he, SamuelTaylor and Anderson Horton witnessed.
In the 1900 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: Mathew Horton, 32; wife Savannah, 31; and children Roscoe, 7, Sidney D., 4, and James F., 1.
In the 1910 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: Mathew Horton, 42; wife Savannah, 41; and children Roscoe, 16, Sidney, 13, Freddy, 11, Alice, 9, Allie, 7, and Rhommie, 4.
In the 1920 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: M.H. Horton, 51; wife Savannah, 50; and children Alice, 18, Allie, 16, and Romey, 14; plus David Scott, 75, boarder.
In the 1930 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: Mathew Horton, 60, and wife Savanah, 59.
Mathew Horton died 25 July 1953, age 81.
Annie Scott Horton
Annie Scott 1867-1930
Perhaps this is the same Annie E.B. Scott, 20, daughter of John Scott, who married Haywood Horton, 22, son of John and Esser Horton, on 13 February 1887 in Springhill township in the presence of Samuel Taylor, Anderson Horton and Tony Mercer.
Annie Scott died 5 September 1930 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born about 1883 [sic] in Wake County to John and Annie Scott; worked as a laundress; resided at 618 Vance Street, Wilson. Informant was Savannah Horton, Wilson.
Susan Horton Beckwith Johnson Farmer
Susie Horton July 14, 1865 Jan. 18, 1945 wife of Richard Johnson mother of Aaron, Carrie, Curtis & Garland
In the 1870 census of Buckhorn township, Wake County, North Carolina: Nash Horton, 35; wife Elizabeth, 25; and children James, 14, Allis, 9, Jane, 6, Susan, 4, George, 2, and Matthew, 2 months.
On 21 May 1882, Joshua Beckwith, 28, of Chatham County, son of Wiley and Lucy Costin, married Susan Horton, 17, of Wilson, daughter of Nash and Elizabeth Horton, at Nash Horton‘s in Springhill township. Witnesses were John T. Hinnant, Nash Horton and Isaac Kirby.
On 2 October 1887, Richard Johnson, 22, of Wilson County, married Susan Beckford, 24, of Wilson County, in Springhill township. Witnesses were Anderson Horton, Samuel Taylor and Joel Oneil.
In the 1900 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: Susan Johnson, 34, widowed washerwoman; and children Ayren, 17, Cary, 12, Curtis, 10, and Garland, 4.
In the 1910 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: Robert Boykin, 28; wife Carrie, 23; daughters Vernell, 4, Lizzie D., 2, and Queen E., 2 months; and mother-in-law Susan Horton, 44, cook.
Susan Horton died 18 January 1945 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 14 July 1866 in Wake County to Nash Horton and an unnamed mother; resided at 417 South Goldsboro Street, Wilson; was the widow of Dock Farmer; and was buried in Boyett cemetery. Informant was Carrie Boykin, 417 South Goldsboro.
Rev. James Thomas Johnson
Rev. J.T. Johnson son of Susie Horton July 17, 1886 Dec. 18, 1933 A faithful member of the Free Will Baptist Church and a gospel preacher for twenty-two years
James Thomas Johnson died 18 December 1933 in Pine Level, Johnston County, North Carolina. Per his death certificate, he was born 17 July 1884 in Chatham County to Josh Beckwith and Susie Horton; was married to Martha Durham Johnson; and worked as a preacher. His wife was informant, and he was buried at Boyettes cemetery.
James H. Horton
James H. Horton born Sep 7 1855 died May 8 1943 Gone but not forgotten
In the 1870 census of Buckhorn township, Wake County, North Carolina: Nash Horton, 35; wife Elizabeth, 25; and children James, 14, Allis, 9, Jane, 6, Susan, 4, George, 2, and Matthew, 2 months.
In the 1900 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer James Horton, 45; wife Lona, 29; and children Louisa M., 7, James L., 6, Henry A., 2, and Roberta, 2 months.
In the 1910 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer James H. Horton, 55; wife Lunar, 38; and children James T., 16, Henry A., 12, Roberta, 9, Lizzie, 6, Cora, 4, and John, 1.
In the 1920 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: on Fremont & Kirby’s Crossing branch or avenue, widowed farmer James H. Horton, 64, and children Henry A., 21, Lizzie, 14, Cora, 12, and Johnnie, 10.
In the 1930 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: widowed farmer James H. Horton, 73; son-in-law James L. Lewis, 25; and daughter Cora, 23.
In the 1940 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: Black Creek Church to Kenly Fremount Road, farmer James Lewis, 35; wife Cora, 34; and children Lillie Mae, 11, and Saulie Mae, 6; and father-in-law James Horton, 85.
James H. Horton died 8 May 1943 in Springhill township. Per his death certificate, he was born 7 June 1860 in Wake County to Nash Horton and an unknown mother; was the widower of Lunar Taylor; and was buried in the Free Will Baptist cemetery. Henry Horton was informant.
John Horton
John Horton born Sept. 15th 1826 March 29th 1910
In the 1870 census of Buckhorn township, Wake County, North Carolina: farm laborer John Horton, 47; wife Espram, 35; and children Milly, 13, Nancy, 11, Anderson, 7, Haywood, 6, Rufus, 3, Mitty, 1, Doctor F., 39, and John W., 7.
In the 1880 census of Buckhorn township, Wake County, North Carolina: John Horton, 53; wife Hesper, 45; and children Anderson, 17, Haywood, 15, Rufus, 12, Annie, 9, Spencer, 7, Louis, 3, and Minnie, 1.
In the 1900 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: John Horton, 73; wife Esther, 65; and son Louis, 23; hired girl Roselle Peacock, 19; nephews Nathaniel Hopson, 16, and John W. Richardson, 17; and servant George Davis, 18.
Louzania Hinnant Barnes
Louzania H. Barnes Aug 14 186_ Mar 23 1953
On 14 March 1893, Dred Barnes, 33, of Black Creek, son of Nelson Barnes, married Luzana Hinnant, 30, of Black Creek, daughter of Hardy Hinnant, in Black Creek. Witnesses were J.B. Bardin, J.H. Mosley, and Ben Simms.
In the 1900 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Dred Barnes, 42; wife Lou Z., 37; son Johnnie, 14; and boarder Alex Johnson, 29.
In the 1910 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Dred Barnes, 54, and wife Louzanne, 48.
In the 1930 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Dread Barnes, 69, and wife Louisa, 47.
In the 1900 census of Beulah township, Johnston County: William O. Barnes, 61; wife Maggie B., 58; children Ruth, 17, and Mildred, 16; lodger Bennie Sheard, 17; and Louzannie Barnes, 77.
Mary Ayers
Mary Ayers wife of Council Ayers. Died Dec. 23, 1913.
On 30 April 1866, Council Ayers married Mary Carroll in Johnston County.
In the 1870 census of Beulah township, Johnston County: Council Ares, 52, wife Mary, 33, and William Smith, 3.
J.A. Kirby
J.A. Kirby born July 16, 1867 died Mch. 2, 1911
On 11 February 1900, James Kirby, 31, married Kizzy Bagley, 26, in Fork township, Wayne County.
In the 1910 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer James A. Kirby, 40; wife Kizzie E., 37; and son Rodgers Kirby, 22.
Lucy Cofield
Lucy Cofield, wife of Offin Cofield. Died Oct. 15. 1914, age 98 yrs. Honored beloved and wept, here mother lies.
Lucy Coffield died 13 September 1914 in Kenly, Johnston County. Per her death certificate, she was 90 years old, was born in Bertie County to unknown parents and was buried at Boyett’s Crossing. Simon Coffield was informant.
Manda Perry
Manda Perry July 7, 1865 Feb. 19 1950
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 107 North East Street, laundresses Halla Harris, 74, and Mandy Perry, 62, both widowed; and roomer Westley Hines, 25, a body plant laborer.
In the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: widow Mahaily Harris, 75; her widowed sister Manda Perry, 73; and Manda’s grandson Fred Perry, 22, a tobacco factory laborer.
1902 topographical map of Kenly quadrant.
circa 1975 topographical map of Kenly East quadrant.
The thirty-third in a series of posts highlighting buildings inEast Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
As described in the nomination form for East Wilson Historic District: “ca. 1908; 2 stories; Alice Jones house; locally rare two-thirds I house, with rear ell and added side wing; aluminum sided; Jones was a schoolteacher.”
This house does not appear on the 1908 or 1913 Sanborn fire insurance maps. The house shown as 122 Pender on those maps was across the street, next to Saint John A.M.E. Zion. On the 1922 map, it is labeled under a new number, 119 Pender. That number is now the address of Saint John, and lot once designated #122 is now the site of the Saint John parsonage, 121 North Pender.
Sanborn fire insurance map, Wilson, N.C., 1908.
This house, then, was built after 1922, and Alice Helena Albright Jones did not occupy it until after World War II.
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: building carpenter David Davis, 47; wife Hepsie, 47; and sons Frank D., 22, tire shop laborer, and Willie T., 19, tobacco factory factory. The family rented the house for $6/month.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Edward Pender, 33; wife Minnie, 26; cook Annie B. Holmes, 39; Walter Johnson, 49, and his wife Winnie, 27. Edward Pender’s occupation was driving a car for Walter Johnson.
The 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C. city directory lists tobacco worker Elijah Ellis at 122 Pender.
Alice Jones died 29 October 1957. Per her death certificate, she was 65 years old; born in Lexington, North Carolina, to John Albright and Alice Adams; died in a car accident in Durham, North Carolina; was a retired school teacher; and resided at 122 Pender Street. Robert L. Jones, 122 Pender, was informant.
These African-American men were among the Wilson Countians nominated as delegates to the North Carolina constitutional convention just after the Civil War. None were selected.
Henry Jones, age 30, farmer, black.
Lawrence Moye, age 25, preacher, black.
Gordon Grimes, age 35, farmer, black.
Mac. Jones, age 24, farmer, black.
Edw. Barnes, farmer, black.
Jeremiah Bullet, colored.
I have not found certain record of any of these men in any other Wilson County records.
From “Registers and reports of registrars recommended for the election of delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1868,” North Carolina Freedmen’s Bureau Assistant Commissioner Records, 1862-1870, http://www.familysearch.org.
