This broken concrete headstone is lying atop the square marble base of a grave marker that has gone completely missing. The legible part of the broken stone reads: DIED APR 2 192 and MAY THE RESURRECTION FIND THEE ON THE BOSOM OF THY GOD.

A search of Wilson County death certificates filed in the 1920s reveals this possible identification of the deceased. Aaron Washington died 2 April 1923 in Wilson. (The bottom curve of the last digit in the year, above, is consistent with a 3.) Per his death certificate, he was born 21 February 1866 in Freemont [Fremont, Wayne County], N.C., to Gray Washington and Julie Sharp; was married to Stella Washington; worked as a drayman; and lived on Waynewright [Wainwright] Street.

Aaron Washington’s mother Julia Sharpe Washington and son Alexander Washington died in 1913 and 1918, respectively. If the marker above is in fact Aaron’s, it is likely that his family members were buried near him.

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On 10 August 1889, Aaron Washington, 21, married Stella Simms, 18, in Wilson.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: drayman Aaron Washington, 30; wife Stella, 25; and children Samuel, 12, Clera, 9, Ora, 3, and Aaron, 1.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Spruce Street, Aaron Washington, 46, drayman; wife Stella, 36, laundress; and children Clee, 17, cook, Ora, 12, cook, Grey A., 10, Hattie, 8, Alex, 6, Beatrice, 5, Lillie R., 2, and James W., 1.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Wainwright Street, Aaron Washington, 55; wife Stella, 40; and children Ava, 20, Hattie, 14, Beatrice and Lila, 12, James, 9, Dazelle, 7, Mary, 6, and Elmon, 5.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, January 2021.