Bessie Wife of John McGowan Born 1888 Jan 7 1925 Gone But Not Forgotten
At right, the headstone of Bessie Yancey McCowan looms amid a haphazard pile of more than a dozen grave markers in Odd Fellows Cemetery.
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In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: ditcher Benjamin Yancy, 50; wife Angeline, 39, washing; daughters Lizzie, 19, Bessie, 18, and Gertrude, 16, all cooking; and son Willie, 16, at school.
John McCowan, 21, of Wilson, son of Sam and Anne McCowan, married Bessie Yancey, 21, of Wilson, daughter of Ben and Angline Yancey, on 5 August 1903 at William McCowan‘s residence. Levi Jones applied for the license, and Baptist minister Fred M. Davis performed the ceremony in the presence of Alonzo Taylor, [illegible] Williams, and Fannie Jones.
In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: brickmason John McCowan, 27; wife Bessie, 26, laundress; daughter Annie, 5; and father Sandy, 91, widower.
In the 1920 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Nash Street, brickmason John McGowan, 40; wife Bessie, 35; and daughter Beatriss, 13.
Bessie McCowan died 31 December 1924 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born April 1884 in Goldsboro, N.C., to Benjamin Yancey and Angaline Houston; was married to John McCowan; and lived at 1203 East Nash Street, Wilson. John McCowan was informant.
what are the other persons/graves buried here?
The cemetery was abandoned 60+ years ago. Lane Street Project seeks to clear it and reclaim it as a sacred space. There is no known listing of the all the graves in Odd Fellows Cemetery, though we have found several dozen headstones.
I would be interested in learning more. Beatriss would have been my great Grandmother….my grandmother Bessie McCowan was her daughter. I also had an uncle named John, who was named after his grandfather.
I have no additional information about Bessie McCowan. For more information about Lane Street Project and our efforts to save Odd Fellows Cemetery from decades of neglect, please use the blog’s search function. Thank you!
Also, a local grave marker restoration company has offered LSP reduced rates for cleaning and restoring headstones in Odd Fellows. If you are interested in having Bessie McCowan’s marker cleaned, please reach out to me at blackwideawake at gmail dot com. Thank you!