Month: July 2019

Disturbing the peace.

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Wilson Advance, 9 July 1896.

Basically: Will Bullock, who worked at Best’s stables, was holding a horse for Ed Exum outside Batts’ bar. A drunk white man was found lying on the sidewalk, and “Prof. J. Louis Murphy” attempted to put him in Exum’s buggy. Bullock protested and, after some words, Murphy slapped him. Bullock flew at him, and Jim Holloway, accidentally or voluntarily, joined in. All three were arrested and fined, but appealed.

  • Will Bullock — probably, in the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Georgia-born day laborer Will Bullock, 29; wife Martha, 27; and son Clarence W., 2, and Walter N., 8 months; half-siblings Alice, 12, and Mack Scott, 10; and boarder Will Bullock, 29.
  • Jim Holloway

Escaped through the cemetery.

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Wilson Daily Times, 15 July 1910.

  • Henry Hagan —

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Smith Street, Katie Williams, 46, widowed boarding house cook, and boarder Henry Hagan, 54, widower, oil mill laborer. In the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Hagan Henry, lab h 404 Spring St alley. In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 616 Suggs Street, rented for $12/month, Henry Hagan, 75, sanitary department laborer, and wife Sarah, 55. Henry Haggan who died 21 October 1931 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 67 years old; was born in Wayne County, North Carolina, to Napoleon Haggan and an unknown mother; worked as a common laborer; and lived at 611 Suggs. Mary Gatling of Newport News, Virginia, was informant.

Burt Ellis stacks bricks.

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Philadelphia Inquirer, 7 March 1988.

This photograph of 79 year-old Burt Ellis of Wilson appeared in “Voices of the South,” an Inquirer article about the “evolving South” published in the lead-up to the 1988 presidential election.

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In the 1920 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Byrd Ellis, 47; wife Alice, 60; and children Charlie, 17, Jennie, 14, Bert, 13, and Minnora, 12.

Per the Social Security Death Index, Bert Ellis was born 25 October 1907 and died 15 November 1996.

Willis Bryant of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Willis Bryant was among the scores of African Americans who left Wilson County for Indianapolis, Indiana, in the last quarter of the 19th century.

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Indianapolis Star, 20 March 1915.

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Probably, in the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Louiza Bryant, 30; Cornelius Harriss, 23;  Catherine Harriss, 20; Cornelius Harriss, 1; Ann Bryant, 9; Willie Bryant, 8; and Alice Ellis, 15.

Bryant probably attended the Wilson Academy. Like Samuel H. Vick ’84 and Braswell R. Winstead ’85, he received a bachelor’s degree from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.

Catalogue of Lincoln University, Chester County, Pennsylvania, for the Academical Year 1886-87 (1887).

On 4 May 1890, Willis Bryant, 26, son of Wiley Bryant and Louisa Branch, married Ida M. Webb, 22, in Marion County, Indiana.

As were many Lincoln alumni, Bryant was very active in the Presbyterian church and helped found Senate Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Indianapolis News, 20 June 1892.

In the 1900 census of Center township, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana: at 808 Wyoming Street, coal dealer Willis Bryant, 36; wife Ida, 32; and children Ralph, 6, and Edna May, 1.

In September 1900, Wilson native Daniel C. Suggs, then teaching at Georgia State College, visited the Bryants in Indianapolis. Suggs was also a Lincoln graduate.

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Indianapolis News, 7 September 1900.

Fifteen years after he graduated, Bryant and his wife returned to Pennsylvania to attend a Lincoln graduation, then made a round of East Coast cities.

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Indianapolis News, 25 May 1901.

In 1901, Lucy Gay visited her uncle Willis Bryant in Indianapolis. In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farmer Sam Gay, 54; wife Alice, 50; and children Charlie C., 23, Edgar B., 25, Lucy, 17, Samuel, 14, Albert and Beatrice, 10, and Lily, 4. [Alice Gay was the 15 year-old Alice Ellis listed in the 1870 census above. When she married Samuel Gay, she gave her maiden name as Bryant.]

Indianapolis News, 28 December 1901.

In October 1904, the Indiana Recorder reprinted “His Trip West,” an article by Harry S. Cummings originally posted in the Afro-American Ledger. In the chronicle of his tour of Indiana cities, Cummings mentioned Wilson native Dr. Joseph H. Ward and Willis Bryant and his father-in-law Charles A. Webb’s transportation and hauling businesses.

Indianapolis News, 22 October 1904.

In 1907, Willis Bryant and other black businessmen formed a committee to assist the city’s Juvenile Court with finding employment for “delinquent colored boys and girls.”

Indianapolis Star, 24 April 1907.

In the 1910 census of Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana: at 808 Wyoming Street, Willis Bryant, 44; wife Ida M., 42; and children Ottis R., 16, Edna, 11, and Hulda M., 3.

Indianapolis Recorder, 13 March 1915.

Willis Bryant died 19 March 1915, barely a week after celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary.

Indianapolis Recorder, 18 March 1916.

His widow, Ida Webb Bryant, outlived him by decades, and was featured in this 1963 Indianapolis Recorder piece.

Indianapolis Recorder, 22 June 1963.

Mary Elise Jackson Jenkins of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Like her brother Paul L. Jackson, Mary Elise Jackson Jenkins migrated from Wilson to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Toward the end of her life, she was featured several times in Philadelphia Inquirer articles.

  • Art exhibit

Philadelphia Inquirer, 10 June 1983.

  • Education in the South

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Philadelphia Daily News, 17 February 1987.

The “very special block” was, of course, the 600 block of East Green Street, home to the Vicks, the Hines/Barnes family, the Hargraves, the Reids, and other striving East Wilsonians. However, Claflin University (then College) was an unusual choice for a Wilson family. I have not been able to determine who the “girl from my home” was.

  • The Great Migration

Elise Jenkins contributed keepsakes to “Let This Be Your Home,” a year-long exhibit at Philadelphia’s Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum [now the African American Museum] chronicling the lives of “the new Philadelphians” who arrived in the city as part of the Great Migration.

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Philadelphia Inquirer, 13 February 1990.

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In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Joseph Jackson, 37, minister; wife Annie, 45; and children Eloise, 8, Joseph, 5, Paul L., 2, and John, 2 months.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 616 Green Street, Joseph S. Jackson, 48, minister; wife Annie H., 45; and children Mary E., 18, Joseph S., Jr., 15, Paul L., 11, and John B., 9.

On 18 August 1926, Leroy H. Jenkins, of Philadelphia, son of John and Molie Jenkins, married Mary Eleis Jackson, 25, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister J.S. Jackson performed the ceremony in the presence of C.L. Darden, C.S. Thomas and H.S. Stanback.

In the 1930 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: at 2346 North 25th Street, owned and valued at $2900, South Carolina-born Leroy Jenkins, 33, a doctor of dentistry; North Carolina-born wife Elise, 28; and brother Augustus, 21, automobile works inspector.

In the 1940 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: at 2351 West Haggart, owned and valued at $3000, dentist Leroy H. Jenkins, 42; wife Elise, 39; and children Leroy, 8, and Anne, 5.

Mary Elise Jackson Jenkins died 6 May 1990 in Philadelphia.

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Philadelphia Inquirer, 8 May 1990.

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M. Elise Jackson Jenkins (1901-1990).

Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user GusJenkins.

The obituary of Gray Farmer.

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Wilson Mirror, 5 July 1893.

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Probably, in the 1870 census of Wilson , Wilson County: Clay Farmer, 60, Gray W. Farmer, 13, and Jonas Gay, 14. Gray worked in a brickyard.

On 15 March 1876, Gray Farmer, no age listed, married Argent Blount, 20, at Smith Knight‘s in Wilson.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: house carpenter Gray Farmer, 27, wife Argent, and children Ellenor, 3, and Charlie Gray, 2.

More re Gray Farmer here and here and here.

Snaps, no. 54: Alice Thorn Rountree of Xenia, Ohio.

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Alice Thorn Rountree (1862-1943).

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In the 1870 census of Gardners township, WIlson County: Preston Thorn, 23; wife Julia, 22; children William, 3, James, 1, and Charity, 5 months; [sister?] Alice, 10; and farm laborer John Bullock, 18.

Charles T. Rountree, 25, married Alice Thorn, 19, on 26 May 1880 at C.T. Rountree’s in Wilson. Rev. F.K. Bird performed the ceremony in the presence of Squire Sharp, Alfred Boyett and Preston Thorn.

In the 1880 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: on Charles Street, Charles Roundtree, 24, hotel cook, and wife Alice, 19.

In the 1900 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 16 Columbus Street, Charles T. Roundtree, 44; wife Alice, 38; and children Mary H., 19, Alice R., 18, Charles T., 16, John W., 15, Maggie H., 13, Benjiman J., 11, James D., 10, David G., 8, Shadrack R., 7, and Edith O., 2.

A hair switch was essentially a clip-in hair extension. Xenia Daily Gazette, 26 August 1904.

Charles and Alice Rountree lost several children in the early years of the 1900s, including daughter Alice R. Rountree. Xenia Evening Gazette, 11 August 1906.

In the 1910 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 325 East Main Street, hardware store driver Charles T. Rountree Sr., 51; wife Alice, 47; and children Charles T., Jr., 26; Ada A., 23; Benjamin, 21; Quint S., 16; Helen L., 9, Paul D., 7, and Ward T., 4. All the children were born in Ohio.

In the 1920 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 14 North Columbus, Charles T. Rountree, 63, laborer; wife Alice, 56; and children Charles T., Jr., 35, department store decorator, William H., 33, David G., 27, Paul D., 16, Ward V., 14, and Helen K., 18.

The “centennial” was the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial International Exposition, a world’s fair. Xenia Evening Gazette, 16 September 1926.

In the 1930 census of Xenia, Greene County, Ohio: at 14 North Columbus, widow Alice Rountree,

Fifty-two years after migrating to Ohio, Alice Thorn Rountree died in 1933. Xenia Evening Gazette, 21 November 1933.