Month: July 2019

1002 Atlantic Street.

The one hundred-twelfth 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. 1940; 1 story; modified brick-veneered hip-roofed cottage.”

In Hill’s 1928 Wilson, N.C., city directory: Sherard J W h 1002 Atlantic

In Hill’s 1930 Wilson, N.C., city directory: Sherard John W h 1002 Atlantic

John W. Sherard died 23 May 1931 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 62 years old; was born in Wayne County to Swinson Sherard and Laura Sherard; lived at 1002 Atlanta [sic]; worked as a carpenter; and was buried in Wayne County.

In Hill’s 1941 Wilson, N.C., city directory: Purefoy Dallie A Rev (c; Alberta; 3) h 1002 Atlantic

Albrater Purefoy died 23 October 1941 in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Per her death certificate, she was born in 1890 in Wilson County to Rufus Vinson and Johana Richardson; lived at 1002 Atlantic, Wilson; and was married to Dallie Purefoy.

Dallie A. Purefoy was pastor of Saint Luke A.M.E. Church in the 1930s and early 1940s. The church is located at the corner of Vick and Atlantic Streets, and 1002 Atlantic Street, which is adjacent to the rear of the church, has served as a church parsonage.

Photograph by Lisa Y. Henderson, July 2019.

Mercer vs. Mercer.

In 1911, Dempsey Mercer filed for divorce from his wife Mattie Knight Mercer.

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Wilson Daily Times, 11 October 1911.

In the 1900 census of Cokey township, Edgecombe County: farm laborer Laura Mercer, 65, and children Dollie, 26, farm laborer, Susan, 22, and Dempsey, 16, farm laborer.

In the 1900 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Cooper Farmer, 55; wife Caroline, 55; boarder Lewis Williams, 18, farm laborer; and servant Mattie Knight, 16.

On 23 January 1902, Dempsey Mercer, 20, married Mattie Knight, 20, in Edgecombe County.

In the 1910 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: Dempsy Mercer, 27; wife Mattie, 20; children Charles, 7, William, 6, Robert, 3, and Walter, 2 months; nieces Lula, 2, and Gertrude Hines, 1 month; and sister Maggie Hines, 19.

Dempsey Mercer died 7 July 1914 in Gardners township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 10 January 1914 in Wilson County to Dempsey Mercer of Edgecombe County and Mattie Hines of Nash County.

Mary Mercer died 11 February 1915 in Wilson township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born March 1912 to Dempsey Mercer and Maggie Hines.

In the 1920 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Dempsy Mercer, 40, widower; children Charley, 17, William, 15, Robert, 10, Walter, 9, and Maggie, 8; sister-in-law Maggie Hines, 24, and her children Lula, 8, Silvey, 7, and James, 4. [Dempsey Mercer was divorced rather than widowed.]

On 24 June 1921, Dempsey Mercer, 40, of Wilson County, son of Joe Williams and Louisa Mercer, married Fannie Barnes, 37, of Wilson County, daughter of Luke Holmes and Mary Holmes, at W.A. Pool’s in Black Creek.

In the 1930 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: Dempsey Mercer, 50; wife Fannie, 40; children Charlie, 27, Lee, 19, Jonah, 16, Jamar, 13, and C[illegible], 10; and lodger Rachel Melton, 30. [The younger children appear to be Fannie’s by an earlier relationship.]

In the 1930 census of Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County: Gilmore C. McCoy, 58, tobacco factory stemmer, and wife Mattie, 49, laundress.

Robert Mercer died 9 December 1930 in Gardners township. Per his death certificate, he was 23 years old; was born in Wilson County to Dempsey Mercer and Mattie Knight, both of Edgecombe; was a farmer; and was single.

Charlie Mercer died 9 December 1936 in Gardners township. Per his death certificate, he was born January 1902 in Edgecombe County to Dempsey Mercer and Mattie Knight, both of Edgecombe; was a farmer; and was single. Informant was Mattie McCoy of Rocky Mount.

Dempsey Mercer died 20 April 1949 in Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 6 September 1883 in Edgecombe County to Joe Mercer and an unknown mother and was married. Informant was Will Mercer of Bailey, N.C.

Mattie Knight McCoy died 31 December 1970 in Rocky Mount, Nash County. Per her death certificate, she was born 9 September 1897; resided in Edgecombe County; was widowed; and was a retired tobacco worker. Mary Bullock, 1205 Atlantic Street, Wilson, was informant.

Trinity A.M.E. Zion Church.

Now at 1626 Martin Luther King Parkway (formerly East Nash Street), Trinity, Wilson’s second A.M.E. Zion church, was originally located on Banks Street.

Hill’s Wilson, N.C., City Directory (1928).

Wilson Daily Times, 16 October 1948.

This granite plaque is affixed to eastern end of the church’s front porch:

Jesse T. McPhail is memorialized for his nearly 70 years of service to Trinity, which he joined just after his 19th birthday.

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In the 1910 census of Dunn, Harnett County: on Washington and Pearson, lumber mill laborer Arnold McPhail, 25; wife Norah, 20; and children Jesse, 3, and Ellis, 18 months.

In the 1920 census of Old Fields township, Wilson County: farmer Arnold McPhail, 35; wife Nora, 29; and children Jessie, 13, Ellis, 11, Isibell, 9, Neressa, 7, Ethel, 5, and Paul, 2; and niece Ruby Monroe, 3.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 813 Mercer Street, owned and valued at $1500, truck farmer Hardy Hinnant, 38; mother Mollie B., 35; son George, 8 months; and roomer Jessie McPhail, 24, bank elevator boy.

On 29 March 1931, Jessie McPhail, 24, of Toisnot, son of Arnold McPhail, married Minnie Barnes, 18, of Wilson, daughter of Frank and Chaney Barnes. Elder W.C. Chavers, minister of the “U. Holiness Church,” performed the ceremony in Wilson in the presence of Hardy Hinnant, Dave [illegible] and Arnold McPhail.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: post office janitor Jesse McPhail, 32; wife Minnie, 27; and children Jesse Jr., 8, Clarence, 7, Milton, 5, Geraldine, 4, Ester, 3, Nathaniel, 1, and Minora, 4 months.

In 1942, Alen McCrimmon registered for the World War II draft. Per his registration card, he was born 17 November 1923 in Wilson; resided at 9 Carolina Street; his mailing address was 1114 Carolina Street; his contact was Jesse McPhail, 7 Carolina Street; and he was unemployed.

Jesse Thurston McPhail died 24 May 1994 in Wilson.

Photographs by Lisa Y. Henderson, July 2019.

The Redd-Moore wedding.

An account of the wedding of Dr. James H. Redd to Inez Emily Moore, who had been a teacher at Wilson Colored Graded School for the past four years.

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The New York Age, 28 September 1911.

  • Inez Emily Moore– in the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: barber Walter Hines, 30; wife Sarah, 29; children Elizabeth, 2, and Walter D., 8 months; and boarder Inez Moore, 31, a school teacher.
  • Dr. James H. Redd
  • Prof. Chas. H. Moore — Charles H. Moore, organizer of the National Negro Business League and close associate of Booker T. Washington. Moore accompanied Washington during the latter’s historic 1910 visit to Wilson.
  • Anna L. Bullock
  • Prof. Chas. Stewart
  • Elizabeth Hines
  • Uhlma and Edith Moore
  • Rev. W.H. Goler — William H. Goler, educator, church leader, and president of Livingstone College.

 

 

Colored insurance organization sued.

Samuel Vick‘s Lincoln Benefit Society did business well beyond Wilson. In 1909, Annie Graham, executrix of the estate of Fred Graham of Wilmington, North Carolina, sued Lincoln for a $500 benefit the company refused to pay out, claiming the Grahams paid the final premium to an unauthorized person.

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Wilmington Morning Star, 16 July 1909.

To have and to hold the said land, no. 2.

Abstracts of deeds recording the purchase of real property by African-Americans in Wilson County during the first fifty years of freedom:

  • On 25 February 1878, A.W. Jones paid K.M. Jones, executor of the estate of Milly Jones, $300 for a half-acre parcel in the town of Wilson on Nash Street east of the railroad adjoining the lots of William Smith and Garry Edmundson. The purchase was recorded in Deed Book 14, page 174, Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

Milly Jones was the mother of A. Wilson Jones and Kernel Morris Jones.

On 26 September 1872, Morris Jones married Amanda Gillespie in Wilson.  In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: baker Morris Jones, 25; wife Amanda, 25; son Franklin, 6; and boarder Rosa Galespie, 16, a washwoman. In the 1905 census of Newark, Essex County, New Jersey: Morris Jones, 40, laborer, and wife Amanda, 42. In the 1910 census of Newark, Essex County, New Jersey: Morris Jones, 60, garden laborer; wife Amanda, 57; and son Frank, 38, concrete company driver.

In the 1880 census of Town of Wilson, Wilson County: on Nash Street, Wilson Jones, 22, shoemaker.

  • On 1 February 1880, Jordan Taylor paid John T. and Elizabeth Barnes $115 for a quarter-acre lot in Wilson township near the town of Wilson adjoining Peggy Farmer, John T. Barnes and others. The purchase was recorded in Deed Book 18, page 467, Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

There were at least two adult African American men named Jordan Taylor in Wilson in this period.

  • On 28 December 1881, Walter Kersey paid C.C. and Sallie Peacock $40 for a 100′ by 135′ lot on Stantonsburg Road near the town of Wilson adjoining John A. Clark and “Henry Ward (col).” The purchase was recorded in Deed Book 18, page 65, Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

Walter Kersey later migrated to Indiana.

  • On 27 January 1882, Noel Jones paid J.F. Eatman $228 for 45 acres in Old Fields township on the canal in “the Mill Stone Swamp.” The purchase was recorded in Deed Book 18, page 258, Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

In the 1880 census of Old Fields township, Wilson County: laborer Noel Jones, 34; wife Sarah, 32; and children Josiah, 13, Charity, 12, Edith J., 10, Noel J., 6, and Asberry, 6.

Per William Powell and Michael Hill’s North Carolina Gazetteer, 2nd ed., “Millstone Creek rises in nw Wilson County and flows e approx. 5 mi. to join Juniper Creek in forming Bloomery Swamp. Named prior to 1783 for the fact that millstones were made from a type of stone found there.”

 

Stabbed while asleep.

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Wilson News, 20 July 1899.

Another version:

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Wilson Daily Times, 21 July 1899.

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  • Warren Barnes — probably, in the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Warren Barnes, 50, ditcher; wife Agnes, 38, “stimmer”; and children Addie, 18, Willie, 17, and Jinnet, 11. Warren Barnes died 10 January 1918 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was about 70 years old; married; worked in a tobacco factory; and was born in Wilson County to Dink Barnes and Judia Barnes. Agnes Barnes was informant.
  • Mrs. Warren Barnes — Agnes Barnes died 21 March 1934 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 62 years old; was born in Edgecombe County to Agnes Powell; and was the widow of Warren Barnes. Addie Lee of 204 Pettigrew Street was informant.
  • Claude Jones

 

Smith transmits intelligence.

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Guthrie (Ok.) Daily Leader, 21 July 1899.

Among his duties as counsel to Liberia, Rev. Owen L.W. Smith was responsible for keeping the United States Secretary of State’s office informed about the well-being of American emigrants to Liberia. In 1899, an Oklahoma newspaper printed this transcription of Smith’s missive concerning the illness and deaths among the families of Anderson White, Joseph Brown, William House and Mann Hart, who had left Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, as members of the “Hawes emigration.”

406 North Reid Street.

The one hundred-eleventh 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; bungalow with cross-gable roof and engaged porch; probably built as rental property.”

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C, City Directory: Mercer Leroy (c; Mattie) driver C Woodard Co Inc h 406 N Reid

In 1940, Dempsey Mercer registered for the World War II draft. Per his registration card, he was born 19 November 1920 in Wilson; lived at 406 North Reid; worked for Willis Prince, 519 East Nash; and his contact was Leroy Mercer, 406 North Reid.

In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., City Directory: Mercer Leroy (c; Mattie) driver Peacock Gro Co h 406 N Reid

Mattie K. Mercer died 24 August 1959 at her home at 406 North Reid. Per her death certificate, she was born 6 May 1892 in Enfield, N.C. to Berry King and Adeline Bellen and was married to Leroy Mercer. Informant was Mattie Best, 807 East Green.

Photograph taken by Lisa Y. Henderson, July 2109.