Philadelphia was the site of my closest personal connections to the Great Migration. In the 1940s and ’50s, my father’s brothers and then his mother left Wilson for Philly, and every summer we hit the highway for a week or so at my grandmother’s house on Wyalusing Avenue. Her block was filled with migrants from Georgia and North Carolina and Virginia, and her broader social circle included relatives who had settled in other parts of the city.
(I lived in Philadelphia for a few years in the 1990s, in both West Philly and Germantown. By then, many of the first generation of Southern migrants had passed on, but their legacy is firm. The fourth generation of my eldest uncle’s offspring is growing up in North Philadelphia right now.)
Pennsylvania’s plethora of on-line records makes for easy documentation of a long list of Wilson County natives who sought new lives in the Keystone State. Not surprisingly, almost all landed in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh or their suburbs.
- Merritt, Kinney M., Philadelphia, bef. 1900
- Artis, Walter, Pittsburgh, betw. 1900 and 1909
- Davenport, Carrie Spicer, Philadelphia, bef. 1905
- Highsmith, Carrie Rountree, Philadelphia, bef. 1910
- Moore, Penelope Hagans, and daughters Florence, Corneda, Bessie, and Gussie Moore, Philadelphia, bef. 1910
- Barnes, Warren, Johnstown, bef. 1912
- Latham, John H., Philadelphia, bef. 1917
- Farmer, Paul, Philadelphia, bef. 1917 (returned to Wilson)
- Ferguson, Annie, Philadelphia, bef. 1918
- Shaw, Seth T., Philadelphia, bef. 1918 (returned to Wilson County)
- Gaston, Albert, Philadelphia, bef. 1918
- Gaston, George, Philadelphia, bef. 1918
- Allen, Iredell, Philadelphia, bef. 1918
- Bunn, Ben C., Philadelphia, bef. 1918
- Bynum, Augustus, Philadelphia, bef. 1918 (later, New York City)
- Cox, Jesse J., Philadelphia, bef. 1918
- Sharpton, Dave, Pittsburgh, bef. 1918
- Tucker, Walter, Homestead, bef. 1918 (later, New York City)
- Pender, David L., Philadelphia, bef. 1918 (later, New York City)
- Foreman, James, Lackawanna County, bef. 1919
- Fordham, Marie, Pittsburgh, bef. 1919
- Hagans, Charles W., Beaver Falls, bef. 1920
- Beal, Dora Deans Harding, Willow Grove, 1920
- Harper, Charles W., Pittsburgh, 1920s
- Rawlins, Allen, Philadelphia, 1920s
- Winstead, Willard, Pittsburgh, 1920s
- Sutton, Joseph B., and Malissa Thaggard Sutton, Pottstown, 1920s
- Wright, Bud, Philadelphia, bef. 1921
- Pender, Floyd, Philadelphia, bef. 1921
- Mercer, William, Coatesville, 1921
- Hall, William, Philadelphia, bef. 1924
- Carr, Pearl Lindsey, Philadelphia, bef. 1924
- Carter, Milford, and Beulah Aldridge Carter and children Dorothy and Elmer, Coatesville, mid-1920s (later Queens, N.Y.)
- Taylor, Aron, Pittsburgh, bef. 1925
- Parker, W. Henry and Ora Renfrow Parker and children Clovis, Tarrell, Dorothy and Henry, Philadelphia, betw. 1925 and 1930
- Jenkins, Mary Elise Jackson, Philadelphia, 1926
- Edwards, Edgar, Pittsburgh, bef. 1926
- Clark, George, Philadelphia, bef. 1927
- Barnes, George, Philadelphia, bef. 1927
- Johnson, Beatrice Brooks, Pittsburgh, bef. 1927
- Hines, Marion, Carlisle, bef. 1927
- Ennis, Samuel, Philadelphia, bef. 1928
- Battle, Matilda Roberts, Reading, bef. 1930
- Hawkins, Wynona Johnson, Pittsburgh, bef. 1930
- Mercer, Harriett, Philadelphia, bef. 1930
- Eatmon, Oliver, Pittsburgh, bef. 1930
- Winstead, Jerome, Pittsburgh, betw. 1930 and 1938
- Bullock, Clarence, Pittsburgh, bef. 1932
- Prince, Minnie Rogers, Philadelphia, bef. 1932
- Barnes, Julius, Pittsburgh, bef. 1933
- Pridgeon, William D., Pittsburgh, bef. 1933
- Peoples, Miriam Tart, Philadelphia, bef. 1935
- Bailey, Olivia Tart, Philadelphia, bef. 1935
- Parham, John, Pittsburgh, bef. 1937
- Bunn, Emma Ellis, Philadelphia, bef. 1937
- Ward, Kurfew M., Pittsburgh, bef. 1937 (later to California)
- Ward, Malachi, Pittsburgh, prob. bef. 1937
- Ward, Dempsey E., Pittsburgh, prob. bef. 1937
- Creech, Exum, Ambridge, bef. 1938
- Barnes, General, Philadelphia, bef. 1938
- Bullock, Mack, Pittsburgh, bef. 1939
- Campbell, Josephine Tart, Philadelphia, bef. 1940
- Pierce, Fletcher F., Philadelphia, 1940
- Earle, Benjamin E., Philadelphia, bef. 1940
- Johnson, James H.W., Pittsburgh, bef. 1940
- Grimes, Mittie Humphrey, Philadelphia, bef. 1940
- Moore, Carl, Philadelphia, bef. 1940
- Bowens, Sallie, and children Joseph, William and Earth, Philadelphia, betw. 1937 and 1940
- Ward, Willie, Pittsburgh, bef. 1940
- Edmundson, James, Philadelphia, bef. 1941
- Vick, Daniel L., Philadelphia, bef. 1942 (prior, in Washington, D.C.)
- Sample, Lonnie B., Pittsburgh, bef. 1942
- Barnes, Frederick D., Pittsburgh, bef. 1942
- Black, James, Pittsburgh, bef. 1942
- Brown, Minnie McGowan, Philadelphia, bef. 1942
- Brothers, Mary Godfrey, Philadelphia, bef. 1942
- Taylor, Willie, Philadelphia, bef. 1942
- Barnes, William I., Philadelphia, bef. 1942
- Woodard, William J., Pittsburgh, bef. 1942
- Farmer, Henrietta Wright, and children Jesse Jr., Ervin and Trumiller, Philadelphia, bef. 1942
- Barefoot, Hubert, Philadelphia, bef. 1943
- Harper, James E., Pittsburgh, bef. 1943
- Rankin, Winnie Locus, Pittsburgh, bef. 1944
- Kates, Ferebee, Philadelphia, bef. 1945
- Williamson, Turner, and Bessie Williamson, Philadelphia, bef. 1945
- Henderson, Maryetta McCoy, Philadelphia, late 1940s
- Jackson, Paul L., Philadelphia, 1947
- Howell, Henrietta King, Philadelphia, bef. 1948
- Henderson, Lucian J., Philadelphia, ca. 1948
- Allen, James I., and Clara Brown Allen, Philadelphia, ca. 1950
- Henry, Magnolia Boykin, Philadelphia, ca. 1951
- Pierce, Fletcher, Greencastle, bef. 1952
- Rountree, Fannie Best, Philadelphia, bef. 1953
- Barnes, James A., Coatesville, bef. 1954
- Barefoot, Michael, Philadelphia, bef. 1957
- Henderson, Jesse A., Philadelphia, bef. 1953 (after, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Md.)
- Ricks, Hattie Henderson, Philadelphia, 1958
Hattie Henderson Ricks and husband Jonah C. Ricks, a Nash County, N.C., native, on the porch of their home at 5549 Wyalusing Avenue in West Philadelphia, late 1950s.
Hello, my Great Grandmothers name is listed on this page. I am unsure if I still have family in wilson. She and my Great Grandfather came to Philadelphia and stayed.
What was her name?
I’m not sure how I missed responding to this post a few years ago. My grandmother’s brothers, Willard “Bud” Winstead and Wade Winstead did migrate to Pennsylvania back then. Both did end up in the military. I was told that members of our family also migrated with Dr. George Winstead, who is not related to us as far as I know but housed a bunch of people from North Carolina.
Thanks for this story as well.
I love hearing about the people who held literal space for migrants trying to gain a foothold in new cities. I’ve heard about a set of barber brothers in DC who were the first stop for many newly arrived from Wilson, and I had a distant cousin who ran a cafe and other businesses along U Street who played the same role.