Month: July 2021

Olive Freeman, nurse.

Wilson Daily Times, 5 March 1918.

Olive Freeman was the sister of O. Nestus Freeman and Julius F. Freeman Jr. and daughter of Julius and Eliza Daniel Freeman. 

——

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: house carpenter Julius Freeman, 65; wife Eliza, 54; and children Nestus, 28, brickmason labor, Ollie, 18, Daniel, 14, John, 7, Junius, 22, Ernest, 20, and Thomas, 17.

  • Lincoln Hospital — Per the website of the New York Public Library Archives and Manuscripts, “The Lincoln School for Nurses, a privately endowed institution, was founded in 1898 in the Bronx to train black women to become nurses at a time when this kind of education was not available elsewhere. It was the first school of its type in the United States. The Lincoln School was located on the site of the Society for the Relief of Worthy Indigent Colored Persons, which began operation in 1839. In 1902 its name was changed to Lincoln Hospital and Home, and in the 1920’s it became affiliated with Lincoln Hospital, which was operated by the City of New York. The Lincoln School’s first graduating class was in 1900, with a total of six graduates. 1961 was the year of its last graduating class. A total of 1,864 black women from the United States, Haiti and other Caribbean countries, Bermuda and Africa attended the Lincoln School for Nurses.”

412 East Green Street.

The one hundred thirty-second 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, this building is: “ca. 1940; 1 story; double shotgun with bungalow type porch.” (It’s not clear whether the house is still multi-family or has been converted to a single.)

Per the 1922 Sanborn fire map of Wilson, this single-family dwelling stood at 412 East Green prior to the double-shotgun there today.

In the 1928 and 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directories: McNeill Lucinda (c) dom h 412 East Green

In 1940, Ike Essex Collins registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 23 November 1907 in Camden, S.C.; lived at 412 1/2 East Green Street; his contact was mother Josephine Robinson Collins of Greensboro, N.C.; and he worked for Monticello Cafe, West Nash Street, Wilson.

In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Collins Isaac (c; Lula; 1) cook Monticello Cafe h 412 E Green

In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Collins Isaac E (c; Lula) cook M&J Restaurant h 412 E Green

[A comparison with the 2012 image in Google Maps Street View shows that this house has been updated. Large overgrown shrubs blocking the front steps are gone, and the white trim paint is fresh.]

Drapped the wrong one.

Casual violence among young men is not new. Unsurprisingly, historically newspapers have sensationalized such violence when it involved black men, playing into the stereotypes and fear-mongering of the era.

I recognize the viciousness of this propaganda.* I also recognize articles reporting violent crime as invaluable, if distorted, glimpses into the lives of ordinary African-Americans during a period in which they were poorly documented. Beyond the basic facts of the terrible crime reported here, what can we learn?

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 30 July 1907.

  • “on the Owens place” — This reference to the owner of the farm on which the events took place indicates the protagonists were likely sharecroppers or tenant farmers. The Saratoga Road is today’s U.S. Highway 264-A (formerly N.C. Highway 91.)
  • “a negro dance and barbecue supper was given by Robert Hilliard” — Hilliard, who was Black, hosted a Saturday night party on the farm, perhaps in a barn. He sold barbecue — surely Eastern North Carolina-style, with a vinegar-and-red pepper sauce — and sandwiches to patrons from a stand near the road.
  • “a wheezy fiddle” — the source of music for the dance. (Who was the fiddler? Was he locally renowned? Was there accompaniment? Was fiddling a common skill? I can’t name a single one from this era.)
  • “‘Hilliard is the n*gger I wanted to drap.” — The meaning and usage of this now-extreme pejorative has shifted over time. Here, it is almost, but not quite, neutral. More interesting, to me, is the now-archaic pronunciation “drap” for the  verb “drop.”

——

  • Will Scarborough 

On 29 January 1903, Will Scarborough, 21, of Saratoga, son of Ashley and Ellen Scarborough, married Lucy Anderson, 18, of Wilson, daughter of Bob and Winnie Anderson, in Wilson County. Jack Bynum applied for the license.

Will Scarborough died 6 August 1968 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 90 years old; was the son of Ashley Scarborough and Ellen [maiden name unknown]; was a widower; lived in Stantonsburg; and was buried at Saint Delight cemetery, Walstonburg. Informant was James E. Best, Stantonsburg.

  • Robert Hilliard

On 1 November 1900, Robert Hilliard, 20, of Wilson County, son of Jack and Laura Hilliard, married Ailsy Bynum, 19, of Wilson County, daughter of West and Sopha Bynum, in Gardners township, Wilson County.

Robert George Hilliard Sr. died 27 February 1944 at his home at 211 Finch Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 66 years old; was born in Wilson County to Jack Hilliard and Laura [maiden name unknown]; was a widower; was engaged in farming; and was buried in Rountree cemetery. Mattie Moore, 211 Finch Street, was informant.

  • Riley Faison  

On 8 May 1902, Riley Faison, 30, of Wilson County, son of Henry and Sophia Faison, married Frances Farmer, 26, of Wilson County, daughter of Tom and Polly Farmer, at “Mr. Frank Barnes Plantation.” A.M.E. Zion elder N.L. Overton performed the ceremony in the presence of Mattie V. Overton, James Smith, and Polly Farmer.

——

*See Brent Staples’ opinion piece in the 11 July 2021 New York Times, “How the White Press Wrote Off Black America.”

Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.

McGowan punished — “a move in the right direction.”

Wilson Advance, 26 August 1881.

It’s not clear what crime Nathan McGowan committed by “hurting a white boy,” but he was both fined and “severely flogged” for it.

McGowan, son of Tilghman and Charity McGowan, migrated to Indianapolis, Indiana, in the 1890s.

An explanation.

In January 1917, the Daily Times published an explanation cum apology to its white readers. The night before, its social column had led with announcement of a dance given by the Carnation Club at the Odd Fellows Hall. However, the Club was for “colored people” and the hall was “below the railroad.” (In other words, it was the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows’ hall, not the whites-only hall belonging to the  International Order of Odd Fellows Enterprise Lodge No. 44.) After making this clear, the paper claimed: “of course the notice should not have been placed in the social column for the reason that it was a paid notice and belongs in the advertising columns ….”

Of course. 

Wilson Daily Times, 5 January 1917.

I have not found anything further about the Carnation Club.

Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.

Benefit for the old people’s home.

Wilson Daily Times, 10 July 1917.

Did the “old people’s home, colored” ever open? Apparently so, at 310 Lodge Street.

Wilson Daily Times, 26 August 1918.

A.A.I. Davis soon moved on to another old folks’ home in Wilmington, North Carolina. (Per newspaper accounts, Davis was pastor of a Baptist church in Albany, New York, as late as 1915, but by 1916 was running an old folks’ home in Maxton, North Carolina, in 1916. What was going on here?)

Wilmington Morning Star, 11 November 1921.

——

Sanborn fire insurance map, Wilson, N.C. (1922).

The obituary of George Martin, electric company lineman.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 July 1928.

——

In the 1880 census of New Hope township, Chatham County, N.C., George Martin, 12, servant, in the household of Frederic Hartsoe, a 63 year-old white farmer.

In the 1910 census of Tarboro, Edgecombe County, N.C.: George Martin, 42, electric company electrician; wife Bettie, 36; and adopted son James, 3.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 110 Reid Street, George Martin, 54, electric company lineman; wife Bettie, 46; mother-in-law Lou Hunter, 67, widow; and son Vernon Martin, 14.

George Aldrich Martin died 16 July 1928 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 61 years old; was born in Chatham County, N.C., to Pomp Martin and Annie Crump; was married to Bettie Minnie Martin; worked as an electrician “wiring houses for himself”; and was buried in Wayne County, N.C.

Van Arnam’s minstrels in town for one night.

Wilson Daily Times, 2 January 1928.

Per Tim Brooks’ The Blackface Minstrel Show in Mass Media: 20th Century, John R. Van Arnam’s minstrel show was one of the last major troupe’s touring in the United States. Though not shown here, Van Arnam’s posters commonly carried the tag “All New-All White.”

The murder of Cora Lee Carr.

Wilson Daily Times, 22 April 1924.

The victim, in fact, was named Cora Lee Carr. I have not found more about her terrible death.

——

Cora Lee Carr died 21 April 1924 in Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was about 24 years old; was married to Earnest Carr; and was born in Norfolk, Virginia. Willie Williams was informant. Cause of death: “Crushed scull with axe Homicide Instant death.”

Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.