Goldsboro Daily Argus, 26 January 1918.
During a brief stretch in which he was not pastor of Wilson’s First Baptist Church, Rev. Fred M. Davis Sr. led the flock at Goldsboro’s First African Baptist.
Goldsboro Daily Argus, 26 January 1918.
During a brief stretch in which he was not pastor of Wilson’s First Baptist Church, Rev. Fred M. Davis Sr. led the flock at Goldsboro’s First African Baptist.
Pittsburgh Courier, 6 April 1940.
There was no 2008 Cannel Street in Wilson, then or now. (There is a Canal Drive, which did not exist in 1940, and no addresses numbered in the 2000s in that era.) I have found no record of Jean Blunt Davis or her son Walter Blunt in Wilson.
Well into the twentieth century, children faced harrowing odds against reaching adulthood. Disease, accidents, and violence bore them away with stunning regularity. In the 1910s, 17% of American children died before age 5, a figure that was higher for Southern and African-American children.
Few Wilson County children who died in that era were buried in marked graves. In town, original burials were in Oaklawn or the Masonic cemetery. The Oaklawn graves were exhumed and moved to Rest Haven in the 1940s, and headstones, if they ever existed, have been lost over time. By allowing us to call their names again, this series of posts memorializes the lives of children who died in the first twenty years in which Wilson County maintained death records. May they rest in peace.
Wilson Daily Times, 12 August 1921.
Wilson Daily Times, 10 March 1922.
The ninety-ninth in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East 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 the East Wilson Historic District, this building is: “ca. 1945; 2 stories; gable-front house with bungalow type porch posts; aluminum-sided.”
Edgar H. Diggs Jr. died 21 December 1925 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 5 days old; was born to Edgar H. Diggs of Wayne County and Mary Grant of Statesville, N.C., and resided at 205 North Vick. He was buried in Diggs cemetery, Wayne County.
In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Diggs Edgar H (c; Mary) barber W S Hines h 205 N Vick
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 205 Vick, valued at $2000, Edgar Diggs, 49, barber at Hines Barber; wife Mary, 39, teacher in Stantonsburg; and children Edgar, 13, Mary, 9, and Preston, 11.
Edgar Grant Diggs registered for the World War II draft in 1945. Per his registration card, he was born 14 January 1927 in Wilson; his contact was Mary Diggs, 205 North Vick; and he was a student.
Preston Walter Diggs registered for the World War II draft in 1946. Per his registration card, he was born 27 September 1928 in Wilson; his contact was Mary Diggs, 205 North Vick; and he was a student at Mary Potter School, Oxford, North Carolina.
Edgar H. Diggs died 17 November 1970 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 1 August 1890 to Sula (last name unknown); was married to Mary Estella Grant; resided at 205 North Vick; and was a barber.
Mary Diggs died 22 February 1974 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 12 March 1900 to unknown parents; was a widow; resided at 205 North Vick; and was a retired teacher. Walter Preston Diggs of Washington, D.C., was informant.
Photograph by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2018.
Rocky Mount Telegram, 29 January 1960.
The take-away:
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Wilson Daily Times, 26 January 1920.
Unsurprisingly, the Times endorsed Samuel H. Vick’s call for “a reformatory for colored people.”
Well into the twentieth century, children faced harrowing odds against reaching adulthood. Disease, accidents, and violence bore them away with stunning regularity. In the 1910s, 17% of American children died before age 5, a figure that was higher for Southern and African-American children.
Few Wilson County children who died in that era were buried in marked graves. In town, original burials were in Oaklawn or the Masonic cemetery. The Oaklawn graves were exhumed and moved to Rest Haven in the 1940s, and headstones, if they ever existed, have been lost over time. By allowing us to call their names again, this series of posts memorializes the lives of children who died in the first twenty years in which Wilson County maintained death records. May they rest in peace.
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Though it appears that there was relatively little intentional homicide, death by gunshot was a dispiritingly common occurrence:
Wilson Daily Times, 27 October 1911.
George Rufus Atkinson (1917-1968).
In the 1920 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Mark Atkinson, 40; wife Ada, 35; and children Sylvester, 15, Henry, 10, Mark, 9, Joanna, 7, Bettie, 5, R. George, 3, and Frank, 1.
In the 1930 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Mark Atkinson, 52; wife Ada, 45; and children Slyster, 25, Henry, 20, Mark, 18, Joanna, 16, Bettie, 15, George, 13, Frank, 11, Fannie, 10, Ophelia, 7, and Willie, 4, and nephew John H., 21.
In the 1940 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: widow Ada Atkinson, 55; children Betty, 25, George, 23, Frank, 21, Della, 21, Ophelia, 16, Willie, 14, and Geraldene, 9; grandchildren Cleo Atkinson, 9, Curtis Edwards, 8, and Thomas, 4, Minnie, 3, and Grey Atkinson, 2.
In 1940, George Rufus Adkinson registered for the World War II draft in Wilson. Per his registration card, he was born 15 November 1917 in Wilson; his contact was mother Ada Rebecca Adkinson; he resided on Route 2, Macclesfield, Edgecombe County; and he worked for Grady Skinner, Macclesfield.
On 31 December 1945, George Atkinson, 29, single, of Wilson, born in Wilson County, son of Mark Atkinson and Ada Battle, married Laura Hines McCray, 24, widowed, of Wilson, born in Edgecombe County, daughter of David Hines and Maggie Station, in Emporia, Virginia.
George Rufus Atkinson died 24 November 1968 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 17 November 1917 to Mark Atkinson and Ada Battle; was married to Laura Atkinson; and had worked as a laborer.
Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user jlegrandejr_1.
City directories offer fine-grained looks at a city’s residents at short intervals. The 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., directory reveals the types of work available to African-Americans during the booming tobacco era. This post is the thirteenth in an alphabetical series listing all “colored” directory entries for whom an occupation was listed. The address is the resident’s home, unless a business address is noted.
On February 5, I’ll be giving a lecture at Wilson County Public Library, 249 Nash Street N., Wilson, North Carolina, as part of the library’s ongoing commitment to supporting the study of local and African-American history. I hope to see you there.