Month: May 2019

The last will and testament of Hiram Forbes.

I, Hiram Forbes of the County of Wilson and the State of North Carolina, being of sound mind and memory, but considering the uncertainty of my earthly existance, do make & declare this my last will and testament in manner and form following, that is to say:

…

Item. I give and devise to my beloved wife the tract of Land on which I now live during the term of her natural life or widowhood and after her death or marriage to my son Romulus and also lend to my wife Two negro slaves, one woman named Mary Ann and man Jim. The above named negroes to remain on the land and work for the support of my wife and two younger children Romulus and Elizabeth, and if in case my wife should marry, my will is that the negroes above shall be equally divided between my three children – Randolph, Elizabeth and Romulus.

…

Item. I give for the support of my wife & her family, fifteen hundred pounds of Pork and thirty barrels of corn, eight stacks of fodder first choice, Three sacks flour and I also give to my wife and two children, Elizabeth and Hannah, three sows and six shoats. I also desire that my wife should take care of a negro child Hannah until it arrives to the age of ten years.

Item. I give and devise to my children Randolph, Elizabeth and Romulus, three negroes Tony Mace and Hannah to be equally divided between them, and if any one of the other should die without issue, the negroes to be equally divided between the other two and if one of the two should die without issue the one thats living should be his.

Item. I give and bequeath to my daughter Sally, wife of Thomas Baker, 1 negro girl named Silvey to have and to hold to her and her lawful children forever.

…

Item. I give and devise to my son Rufus Webb and my daughter Cinthia Webb, children of Tempa Webb, one negro woman named Gatsy, to be equally divided between them.

…

Item. I give and devise to my six children, Vesta Ann, Walter, Barney, Lipsicomb, Tempa and Amanda, one tract of land known as the Felton Land, beginning at the Mill and running to the road so as to include all the tract of land above named and adjoining the land formerly belonging to Tempa Webb to have and to hold to them and their heirs forever. Also two negroes named Tobey and Minna to them and their heirs forever. It is my will and desire that the last named negroes, Tobey and Minna shall remain on the land that I give to my six children … and work to support the said children, until they arrive to the age of twentyone years, and I also give to the said children, one black horse male, one cow & yearling. The cow is red and white color. One pair of cart wheels, wooden axle, one plow, ten barrels corn, two blade stacks fodder, three hundred pound pork.

…

Item. My will and desire is that the Mill shall be kept up by my four sons … for the benefit of all my children. My will and desire is that if I have enough owe me after selling my property to pay my debts that my negroes hereafter named, to be hired out until they hire for enough to pay — Tony, Mace, Gatsy.

…

And lastly, I do hereby constitute and appoint my trusty friend James Barnes my lawful executor of all intent and purposes to execute this my last will and testament according to the true intent and meaning of the same and every part and clause-thereby revoking and declaring all other wills and testaments by me heretofore made. In witness whereof I, the said Hyrum Forbes, do hereunto set my hand and seal the 18th day of December, 1861.    /s/ Hyrum Forbes

WITNESS: Wm. Ellis, John Carter Jr.

——

In the 1860 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Hiram Forbes, 55; wife Milly, 45; and children Martha, 21, Rufus, 18, Randal, 17, Bettie, 8, and Romulus, 4. Forbes reported owing $8800 in personal property, which would have consisted largely of enslaved people. Next door was [the mother of the other set of his children] Temperance Webb, 55, and her children Susan, 20, and Sintha, 15.

In 1866, Tony Forbes and Cherry Barnes appeared before a Wilson County justice of the peace to register their seven-year cohabitation. James Forbes and Sarah Barnes registered their ten-year cohabitation.

On 2 August 1867, Toby Forbes, son of Abraham Webb and Masin [Mace] Forbes, married Patience Mercer, daughter of Cila Mercer, at Henry Winston’s in Wilson County.

In the 1870 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: Toby Forbes, 25, farm laborer.

In the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farm laborer Tony Forbes, 25; wife Cherry, 23; and children Willie, 6, George, 5, Harriet, 2, and Bud, 2 months, plus Alfred Bynum, 25. Sharing the same household: James Forbes, 38, farm laborer; wife Sarah, 25; and children Garrot, 12, Joseph, 4, Bynum, 3, and William, 1.

In the 1880 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: James Forbes, 48; wife Sarah, 37; and children Garrett, 20, Joseph, 15, Bynum, 14, Murtheny, 10, Rose, 9, Movy, 8, Florence, 4, and Reddic, 6 months.

In the 1880 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Toney Forbs, 39; wife Cherry, 30; and children Wiley, 17, George, 16, Harrett, 12, Buddie, 10, Elizebeth, 8, Elishea F., 4, and Mary L., 3 months.

In the 1900 census of Ellis township, Pulaski County, Arkansas: farmer Wiley Forbes, 37; wife Penny, 27; daughter Lula, 6; siblings Johnnie, 18, Mary B., 16, Martha J., 15, and Tinsey, 12; and father Toney Forbes, 70. All were born in North Carolina, except Lula, who was born in Arkansas.

In the 1910 census of Union township, Pulaski County, Arkansas: farm manager Jacob C. Gay, 28; wife Mary, 25; children William, 3, and Mattie S.A., 8 months; and father-in-law Tony Forbes, 80.

Estate of Hiram Forbes, images available at North Carolina Wills and Estates, 1665-1998 [database on-line], http://www.ancestry.com.

Young lions.

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Photograph printed in Wilson Daily Times, 2 July 1976, owner unknown.

In fact, C.L. Darden is on the left on the front row, and Dr. William Mitchner is at right.

What the occasion for the photo? What does the group represent? Mitchner and Darden were members of Saint John A.M.E. Zion; Freeman, of Calvary Presbyterian; and the fourth man, identified below, was Episcopalian.

  • Dr. William A. Mitchner
  • Camillus L. Darden
  • Mr. Nelson — Note that Patrick M. Valentine’s The Episcopalians of Wilson County: A History of St. Timothy’s and St. Mark’s Churches in Wilson, North Carolina 1856-1995 does not list a Rev. Nelson among the priests that have served at Saint Mark’s. It is, in fact, Rev. Robert N. Perry.
  • Oliver Nestus Freeman

303 North Vick Street.

The one hundred-eighth 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: “ca. 1930; 1 story; James Moore house; bungalow with high hip roof and distinctive wraparound porch; aluminum sided; Moore was a barber.”

In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Small James barber W S Hines h303 N Vick and Small Maggie cook h303 N Vick [Is this James “Moore” above?]

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: owned and valued at $2000, barber James Small, 45; wife Maggie, 43; children James Jr., 9, and Kathryne, 7; and sister-in-law Dora Hawkins, 25, laundress.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: owned and valued at $1500, teacher (at “Sally B. School”) Margaret Hines, 37, widow, and roomers Separist Artist, [no age], barber at Artist Barber, and his wife Grace Artist, [no age], beauty parlor operator, and Annie Dupree, 38, high school teacher.

In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Hines Margt W (c) tchr Sallie Barbour Sch h303 N Vick

In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Hines Margt W (c; widow Ashley) tchr Sallie Barbour Sch h303 N Vick

Photo taken by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2018.

Co-workers sale.

In late 1927, Oettinger’s (“The Dependable Store”) held a “co-worker’s sale,” in which employees received commissions on the sales of items they vouched for. A full page ad set out the names of dozens of employees, from corsetiere to bookkeeper to wrapper girl, touting store goods. Miss Eula Cram, for example, of the Millinery Department stood to gain from the sale of “a table of new hats.” Mr. G.H. Sullivan, the Floor Manager, noted that “Children’s jersey and silk dresses are most attractively reduced.” In the sixth and last column of the page, at the bottom, without honorifics, appear three final names. These were Oettinger’s African American employees.

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Wilson Daily Times, 29 November 1927.

Where we worked: midwives and granny women.

Forty-three Wilson County midwives (41 black) met with state health officials to receive training. Wilson Daily Times, 17 June 1921.

Well into the 20th century, most babies in Wilson County were delivered by midwives, whose ranks were overwhelmingly comprised of African-American women. Here is a running list of them:

  • Rachel Armstrong Allen
  • Phereby Barnes Artis
  • Rosetta Farmer Barnes — Rosa Barnes died 29 January 1914 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 70 years old; was a midwife; and lived on Nash Street.
  • Violet Barnes Barnes — in the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farm laborer Benjamen Barnes, 52; wife Vilet, 54, midwife; and Elvy, 10, Ailcey, 7, and Spicey, 6.
  • Nannie Best — in the 1920 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Best Nannie midwife, h 332 S Lodge. Also, in 1927, per death certificate, Best attended the stillbirth of Elijah Parker and Lucy Whitfield‘s unnamed infant.
  • Nancy Staton Boykin
  • Sarah Dawes Bunn
  • Charlotte Bynum — in the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Bynum Charlotte, midwife 553 E Nash
  • Bertha Cade — in the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Cade Bertha midwife, h 412 E Walnut
  • Lucy Sorsby Dail — Lucy Dail died 15 March 1928 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 63 years old; was born in Nash County to Nelson Salisbury and Carolina Cooper; was the widow of Jos. Dail; lived at 519 South Spring; and had been a midwife. Mary Proctor was informant.
  • Viney Drake
  • Mary Fuller
  • Mariah Battle Gaston
  • Maria Hicks — in the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Owens Smith, 49, minister; wife Adora, 30; son Jesse, 19; daughter Flossie, 4; widowed mother Maria Hicks, 78, a midwife; and boarder Carry Pettiford, a widowed teacher.
  • Fortune Hilliard
  • Leah Hyman — per death certificate, Leah Hyman attended the birth of Hattie Olivia Reid, daughter of David and Lucinda Barnes Reid, on 28 December 1922 in Wilson.
  • Nannie Kirby — per death certificate, Kirby attended the stillbirth of Joseph Kent, son of Charlie and Victory Kent, on 6 October 1930 in Springhill township.
  • Anna Johnson — per death certificate, Johnson attended the premature birth of Olive Frances Hannah, daughter of Lemore Hannah and Almeda Morgan, who was born 21 November 1930 and died 28 December 1930 in Wilson. Also, Johnson was noted as midwife on the death certificate of Joseph D. Ashley, son of Anthony and Sarah Mears Ashley, who died 23 January 1931.

  • Fannie Lane — in 1927, per death certificate, Lane attended the stillbirth of Robert James Simmons.
  • Annie Leonard — in 1927, per death certificate, Lane attended the stillbirth of Nelson Farmer and Nancy Williams‘ unnamed infant.
  • Olive Lindsey — 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.
  • Mary McClain — in the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: McClain Mary, midwife h 615 Suggs
  • Mary Miller — in the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Miller Mary, midwife h 405 N Pine
  • Charlotte Minor — in the 1920 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Minor Charlotte midwife, h 121 Manchester
  • Susan Mitchell — in the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Susiana Mitchel, 65, a “grannie,” and son Edd, 33, a barber. [A “granny-woman” was a midwife.]
  • Mary Morgan — on the death certificate of Edward Barnes, who died 13 February 1940 aged 2 days: “Mary Morgan midwife who attended at birth advised me that she thought this baby strangled to death with phlegm.”
  • Etta Plummer — in the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Plummer Etta midwife, h 1104 Wainwright Av. Also, per death certificates, in 1927, Plummer attended the stillbirths of John Edwards and Anna Wright‘s unnamed infant, Setha Brooks and Frodia Williams‘ unnamed infant, and Marcellus and Martha Spells‘ unnamed infant.
  • Bettie Pree — listed as midwife on the death certificate of the infant of James H. and Lillie Taylor, who was stillborn on 24 December 1917.
  • Cherry Rogers — in the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Watson Stanton, 65, wife Rosa, 53, children Richard, 15, Adeline, 13, Feribee, 8, and Louisa, 21; midwife Cherry Rogers, 80; and Hardy Barnes, 20.
  • Isabella Samuel — in the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Samuel Isabella midwife, 509 Church [residence ditto]
  • Annie Thorne — in 1927, per death certificate, Thorne attended the stillbirth of Irene Knight and the birth of Isiah Edwards, who died at age 21 days.
  • Caroline Williamson Vick
  • Mittie Wood — in the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Wood Mittie midwife, h 701 Railroad
  • Eliza Woodard — in the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Woodard Eliza midwife, h 1109 Woodard Av. Eliza Woodard was reported as midwife on the death certificate of Laura Ross, daughter of John Henry Ross and Hattie Martin, who died 29 April 1931, age 19 days, and infant Joyner, who was stillborn on 20 November 1928.
  • Mae Hester Woodard

1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory, page 65.

Wilson Daily Times, 21 October 1921.

1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory, page 453.

The obituary of William J. Howell.

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Wilson Daily Times, 10 November 1939.

As noted here, William J. Howell was a member of the Red Hot Hose Company, Wilson’s all-black volunteer fire company.

——

William Howell, 35, son of J. and R. Howell of Fayetteville, North Carolina, married Susan Minche [Mincey], 40, on 29 October 1903 in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister E.S.W. Simmons performed the ceremony in the presence of J.P. Daniel, Carrie Pettiford and P. Henry Cotton.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Moore Street, William Howell, 40, factory laborer, and wife Susan, 35.

In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Howell Susan domestic h525 Stemmery and Howell Wm J lab h525 Stemmery

On 8 March 1929, W.J. Howell, 58, married Henrietta King, 50, in Wilson. Baptist minister B.F. Jordan perfromed the ceremony in the presence of Gen. W. Coppedge, Willie Faulkland and Eva M. Hines.

William J. Howell died 8 November 1939 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 67 years old; was born in Cumberland County, North Carolina, to Rachel Barnes; worked as a laborer; lived at 517 Church Street; and was buried at Rountree cemetery.

 

Where we worked, 1922 — R.

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.

  • Rawls, Lucy, domestic, rear 408 Whitley
  • Reavis, Etta, domestic, 505 Viola
  • Reed, Allen R., bricklayer, 415 South Goldsboro
  • Reed, John, tobacco worker, 808 Mercer
  • Reed, Elijah, drayman, 211 Sunshine Alley
  • Reed, William, tobacco worker, 212 East Jones
  • Reid, Brodie, tailor, 407 North Vick
  • Reid, J.D., active vice-president — The Commercial Bank of Wilson, 600 East Green, phone 577
  • Reid, Liston, carpenter, 316 Hackney
  • Reid, Lonnie L., tailor, 407 North Vick
  • Reid, Nora, domestic, 207 North Vick
  • Reid, Oscar, cleaner — Powell Cleaning Works, 207 North Vick
  • Reid, Sallie, domestic, 407 North Vick
  • Reid, William, barber — The Mayflower, 304 North Vick
  • Reid, William B., carpenter, 300 North Vick
  • Rice, George, barber — The Mayflower, 703 Viola
  • Rice, Visey, cook, 215 Manchester
  • Rich, George, carpenter, 902 East Vance
  • Rich, James, laborer, 502 Warren
  • Richards, Lucy, domestic, 123 Pender
  • Richardson, Cameron, laundress, 209 Stantonsburg Road
  • Richardson, Dock, laborer, 318 South Lodge
  • Richardson, George, laborer, 318 South Lodge
  • Richardson, Lee, laborer, 318 South Lodge
  • Richardson, Lena, domestic, 503 West Hines
  • Richardson, Richard, laborer, 503 West Hines
  • Richardson, Visie, laundress, 318 South Lodge
  • Richardson, Willard, porter, 209 Stantonsburg Road
  • Richardson, William, tobacco worker, 507 Hadley
  • Riggan, Marie, domestic, 626 East Vance
  • Rivington, Junius, laborer, 806 South Lodge
  • Robbins, Benjamin, barber — The Mayflower, 313 Pender
  • Robbins, Charity, grocer 600 South Lodge, 412 East Walnut
  • Robbins, John, horse shoer — J.Y. Buchanan, 418 South Lodge
  • Robbins, Louise, domestic, 917 Atlanta [Atlantic]
  • Robbins, Wilbert, laborer, 508 Banks
  • Roberts, Matilda, domestic, 802 East Vance
  • Robertson, Eugenia, laundress, 309 Hackney
  • Robertson, John, soft drinks 400 South Goldsboro, 212 East Jones
  • Robertson, Sue, cook, 508 South Goldsboro
  • Robinson, Gertrude, domestic, 526 Smith
  • Robinson, Golden, barber — W.S. Hines, 307 Pender
  • Rogers, Claude, plasterer, 1108 East Nash
  • Rogers, Early, grocer 401 Stantonsburg Road, 109 East
  • Rogers, J. Wesley, porter — Oettinger’s, 548 East Nash
  • Rogers, Mary L., grocer, 1108 East Nash
  • Rogers, Sallie, tobacco worker, 109 South East
  • Ross, William, fireman, 105 West Walnut
  • Rountree, Jesse, driver, 200 Stantonsburg Road
  • Rountree, Lucy, laundress, 505 East Green
  • Rountree, Luetta, domestic, 400 East Hines
  • Rountree, Martha, cook, 907 1/2 Mercer
  • Rountree, Peggy, domestic, 907 1/2 Mercer
  • Rountree, Warren, presser, 907 1/2 Mercer
  • Rountree, Wiley, plasterer, 102 Manchester
  • Rountree, William R., barber, cleaner and presser South Tarboro near N-S Railroad track, Wiona [Winona]
  • Rowland, James, cook, 519 South Spring
  • Royster, Lewis, mill hand, 502 South Goldsboro
  • Ruffin, Easter, laundress, 546 East Nash
  • Ruffin, Eliza, laundress, 808 East Nash
  • Ruffin, Gertrude, laundress, 808 East Nash
  • Russell, Jeff E., bricklayer, 910 Atlanta [Atlantic]
  • Russell, Julia, domestic, 910 Atlantic
  • Ryan, Eugene, tobacco worker, 500 South Daniel
  • Ryan, Rosa, cook, 500 South Daniel

 

There was something unusual in that green-looking country boy.

In which the Indianapolis Freeman enlightens us regarding Joseph H. Ward‘s journey from Wilson to Naptown:

Capture

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Indianapolis Freeman, 22 July 1899.

A few notes:

  • Joseph Ward’s mother was Mittie Ward Vaughn. His father Napoleon Hagans was a prosperous free-born farmer in Wayne County near Fremont.
  • The school in LaGrange at which Ward worked was surely Davis Military Academy:  “By 1880 a second school for boys … Davis Military Academy, was founded by Colonel Adam C. Davis. “School Town” became La Grange’s nickname as the military school would eventually have an enrollment of 300 students from every state and even some foreign countries. The school also had a band, the only cadet orchestra in the country during that time. The school prospered, but an outbreak of meningitis closed it in 1889.”
  • Dr. George Hasty was a founder of the Physio-Medical College of Indianapolis, which Joseph Ward later attended.

Physio-Medical College of Indiana, undated. IUPUI Image Collection.

Bicycles lost and found.

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Wilson Times, 21 January 1922.

——

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: John Rodgers, 30, day laborer; wife Mary E., 22; sister Minnie, 17; and boarder Sallie Barber, 35.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Railroad Street, John Rogers, 33, odd jobs; wife Mary E., 30; public school teacher; daughter Mary J., 2; and sisters Winnie, 22, cook, Ethel T., 12, and Ida E., 8.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: John Rodgers, 49, general laborer, and wife Mary, 38, at 555 [East] Nash Street.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 546 East Nash, John W. Rogers, 57, janitor at dry goods store; wife Mary R., 47; adopted son Leonard G., 7 (born in the West Indies to West Indian parents); and niece Ernestine Atkinson, 22.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: J. Wesley Rogers, 71, retail candy store operator, and wife Mary, 70, at 546 East Nash Street.

Mary Elizabeth Rogers died 24 May 1950 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 16 April 1878 in Smithfield, N.C., to John Thomas; was married; resided at 546 East Nash Street; and was buried in Thomas cemetery, Johnston County. Informant was Wesley Rogers.

John Wesley Rogers died 19 December 1951 at his home at 546 East Nash Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 12 May 1870 in Durham, N.C., to Charles Rogers; was a widower; had worked as a department store porter; and was buried in the Masonic cemetery. Earnestine Coley was informant.

Sankofa: the Wards come home.

Joseph Henry Ward left Wilson in the late 1880s on a journey that would lead him to a trail-blazing career as a physician in Indiana and Alabama. It does not appear that he ever returned to his birthplace. Yesterday, however, his granddaughter and great-granddaughter, both born and reared in the Midwest, came home. Zella Palmer FaceTimed me as she and her mother Alice Roberts Palmer stood outside David G.W. Ward‘s house near Stantonsburg, the house in which Joseph Ward’s mother Mittie Ward and grandmother Sarah Ward toiled while enslaved. David Ward was the father of at least three of Sarah Ward’s children, including Mittie.

Cousin Alice is an accomplished educator and politician, a former member of the Illinois state senate. Zella is chair of the Dillard University Ray Charles Program in African-American Material Culture in New Orleans. One hundred and thirty years after Joseph Ward left Wilson County, in the spirit of sankofa, they returned to claim their ancestors. There was laughter — Zella said she felt like she was in a scene from The Color Purple — and tears, as Cousin Alice, standing in her people’s footsteps, recalled the teachers who told her that black people did not have any history. The pilgrimage to North Carolina included time in Robeson County at a Lumbee pow-wow in honor of Dr. Ward’s wife, Zella’s namesake, Zella Locklear Ward. It was “magical, spiritual and sobering,” Cousin Alice said.

I’m so thankful to have been able to share, even if remotely, this incredible homecoming with you, cousins!

Zella’s photo of the house in which her great-great-great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother were enslaved by her great-great-great-grandfather.