Month: October 2021

Handel’s Chorus begins rehearsals.

Under the direction of Hartford E. Bess, Handel’s Chorus club presented holiday season concerts for several decades.

Wilson Daily Times, 9 October 1940.

Handel’s Chorus officers:

  • Louise Spivey, president
  • Aaron Purdie, vice-president
  • Arthur Brodie, treasurer
  • Ernestine Floyd, secretary

Personnel:

A great day in Charlotte Court House.

This event didn’t happen in Wilson County, but it has everything to do with the mission of Black Wide-Awake, and I want to share it.

The freshly unveiled marker.

The program:

My remarks:
 
“First, I’d like to recognize my family, Joseph R. Holmes’ family, here today — including three of his brother Jasper’s great-granddaughters. Some here may remember their uncle, Dr. J. Maxwell Allen, who practiced dentistry in Charlotte Court House. His sister, my great-aunt Julia, first told me of Joseph Holmes when I was an inquisitive teenager digging for my roots. She did not know the details — only that her grandfather’s brother Joseph, born enslaved, had been killed because of his political activity. That was enough, though, to set this journey in motion.
 
“On behalf of the Holmes-Allen family, I extend thanks to all who made this day possible. So many in Charlotte County gave in so many ways — time, money, influence, prayer (look at God!) — and we are profoundly grateful for your embrace and support of this project.
 
“We are also grateful to Kathy Liston. When I reached out to Kathy nearly ten years ago, seeking help to find the truth of Joseph Holmes’ life, I did not even dream of this day. I first visited Charlotte Court House in 2012 at Kathy’s invitation. She took me to Joseph Holmes’ homestead; to Roxabel, the plantation on which he may have been enslaved; to the school at Keysville whose establishment he championed; and finally to this courthouse, to the very steps on which he bled and died. The historical marker we reveal today stands as a testament to Kathy’s persistence and insistence, her values and vision, her energy and expertise, and we cannot thank her enough.
 
“The beautiful story of Joseph R. Holmes’ life, and the terrible story of his death, were all but forgotten in Charlotte County — suppressed by some, repressed by others. This is an all too common phenomenon of American history. Though Africans arrived in this very state in 1619, the contributions of African Americans to the building of this country — both literally and metaphorically — are seldom recalled, much less memorialized. Black communities dealt with their trauma by hiding it away, refusing to speak of their loss and pain. It is never too late, however, to reclaim our heroes.
 
“For hundreds of years, the Akan people of Ghana have used symbols, called adinkra, as visual representations of concepts and proverbs. The word Sankofa, often depicted as a bird looking toward its tail, means ‘go back and get it.’ The broader concept of Sankofa urges us to know our pasts as we move forward.
Today, we have gone back for Joseph R. Holmes. In the shadow of Confederate monuments, we shine a light on his works; we affirm his life; we reclaim his legacy. As long as we speak his name, he lives forever. Will you say it with me?
 
“Joseph R. Holmes. Joseph R. Holmes. Joseph R. Holmes.
 
“Your family remembers. Your community remembers. We honor your life and sacrifice.
 
“Thank you.”
 
For press coverage, please see articles in the Washington Post, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Cardinal News.

William Burns of Elm City; Portland, Maine; and Washington, D.C.

While looking for more about William Burns, whose 1942 World War II draft registration indicated that he was born in Elm City, I ran across this entry in the 1940 census of Washington, D.C.:

William Burns, 51, born N.C., laborer on W.P.A. construction project; wife Lulu, 48, private family cook, born in Virginia; daughter Marjorie, 27, born in Maine, restaurant waitress; son-in-law Manuel, 26, born in Mexico, hotel waiter; granddaughter Carmelita, 4, born D.C.; daughter, Marion, 24, maid for private family, born in Maine; son William, 20, born in Maine; sons Herman, 18, and Carol, 18, born in D.C.; and daughter Janet, 6, born in D.C.

… Maine?

William Burns was born William Bunn. In the 1900 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Amos Bunn, 51; wife Mojano [Margianna], 40, cook; children Tildy, 24, cook, Amos, 21, farm laborer, William G., 19, farm laborer, Lewis B., 17, Genetta B., 14, Sallie B., 13, cook, Jonas B., 10, nurse, Louisannie, 7, Eddie B., 3, and James W., 2; and widowed mother Tabitha, 80, “idle.”

By 1910, William Bunn had left home. In the 1910 census of Portsmouth, Virginia: at 817 Queen Street, William Battle, 33, blacksmith helper, and wife Bettie, 31, shared a household with Charles Morris, 28, wharf stevedore, and William Bunn, 29, gas plant driver. All were from North Carolina. William Bunn reported that he was married.

In 1918, William Burns registered for the World War I draft in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine. He reported that he was born 26 July 1881; lived at 10 Deer Street, Portland; and worked as a cook and laborer for Portland Company (a marine repair company.) His nearest relative was Amos Burns, Wilson County, N.C.

8-10 Deer Street, Portland, 1924. Collections of City of Portland — Planning & Development, www.mainememory.net

On 24 September 1918, William Burns, 37, and Georgia Robinson, 31, both of Portand, Maine, were married in Portland. Both worked as cooks. William was born in Wilson, N.C., to Amos Burns and Margianna Bowser. Georgia was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, to Jarrett Robinson and Martha Cook.

Prior to this marriage, William had several children in Portland with Lulu Robinson, also of Virginia. (Was this Georgia, using a nickname?) An unnamed daughter born 27 September 1911 was described as the second living of three children. [Note that William is described as “W” — white. In other records, he is described as mulatto, and may have been light enough to pass.] An unnamed son was born 29 August 1917 in Portland. These children appear to be Marjorie and William Jr.

The Burneses left Maine around 1919. In the 1920 census of Washington, D.C.: Mary Williams, 38, charwoman for “Pullman (RR)”; William Burns, 28, apartment building porter; wife Lula, 30, laundress; and children Marjory, 8, Marion, 4, and William Jr., 2 (all born in Maine); and lodger Martha Robinson, 48, laundress.

In the 1930 census of Washington, D.C.: at 915 Fifth Street, William Burns, 44, rectory cook (birthplace: Maine); wife Lula, 36, rectory pastry cook (birthplace: Rhode Island); daughter Carmen Galan, 20, restaurant bus girl; granddaughter Carmen Galan, newborn; daughters and sons Marion, 15, William Jr., 12, Herman, 9, Carrol, 5, and Janet, 3; nephews Sin, 21, rectory dishwasher, and Henry Burns, 18, railroad cook; and lodgers Edward Young, 24, restaurant cook, and Mack, 6, and Margaret Herndon, 9.

In 1940, William Girard Burns registered for the World War II draft in Washington, D.C. Per his registration card, he was born 29 August 1917 in Portland, Maines; lived at 624 O Street, Washington, D.C.; his contact was mother Lula Martha Burns; and he worked for Z.D. Gilman.

Z.D. Gilman’s Drug Store, Washington, D.C. Historic American Buildings Survey, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

Per his 1942 World War II draft registration card, William Burns was born 26 July 1882 in Elm City, N.C. He lived at 624 O Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.; his contact was Jeanie Peoples, 629 Rhode Island Avenue, Washington; and he worked at the Archives Building, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.

Herman Amos Burns registered for the World War II draft in Washington, D.C. Per his registration card, he was born 27 December 1920 in Washington; lived at 624 O Street, N.W.; his contact was Mrs. Lula Burns; and he worked for Z.D. Gilman Drug Co., 627 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921, http://www.familysearch.org.

Wilson Normal and Industrial Institute, est. 1918.

Founded after Black parents boycotted the public Colored Graded School to protest mistreatment of Black teachers, Wilson Normal and Industrial Institute, (also called the Independent School) operated for about ten years.

The school had neither a crest nor a motto, but, in honor of its 103rd anniversary this month, I imagined both.

QUIA NOS STARE — Because we stand.

For more about Wilson Normal & Industrial Institute, see:

new-school-open

a-big-occasion-in-the-history-of-the-race-in-this-city

the-program

photos-of-the-colored-graded-and-independent-schools

the-industrial-or-independent-school-commemorated

Another Darden High School.

Wilson’s African-American high school was renamed for Charles H. Darden in 1938. Thirteen years later, Opelika, Alabama’s new high school for Black students was named for Darden’s first-born son, Dr. John W. Darden.

Both Darden High Schools graduated their last classes in 1970. Their buildings, however, remain in use. The newer section of Wilson’s Darden houses part of Samuel H. Vick Elementary. Opelika’s Darden is now home to Lee County Head Start Darden Center.

Architectural drawing posted at “First Black Doctor in Opelika, AL,” Valle Vision News blog, 22 February 2018.

The apprenticeship of the Artis boys (1871).

On 4 February 1871, a Wilson County probate judge indentured William “Bill” Artis, age 5 years, six months, and his brother Joshua Artis, age 4 years, one month, to Jacob H. Barnes. The boys were to serve Barnes until age 21 and learn farming skills.

——

In the 1870 census of Joyners township, Wilson County: George Barnes, 22, farm laborer; Temperance Barnes, 19; Joseph Barnes, 12, laborer’s apprentice; Nancy Artis, 36, farm laborer; William, 7, and Joshua Artis, 3; George Barnes, 20, works on railroad; Robert Barnes, 18, farm laborer; and Isaac Taylor, 19, works on farm.

In the 1880 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County, the Artises were still in Barnes’ household, described as “apprentices to farmer.”

United States Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939, database at https://familysearch.org.

Mattie Ward Robinson of Wilson, N.C.; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Danville, Illinois.

In researching Nora Ward Goens, I discovered her sister Mattie Ward Robinson, who spent her adult life as the wife of a coal miner in east-central Illinois.

——

Henry Ward, son of D.G.W. Ward and Sarah Darden, married Sarah Forbes, daughter of Henry Forbes, on 16 June 1870 in Wilson. Rev. L. Moye performed the ceremony at a M.E. Zion church.

In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farm laborer Henry Ward, 21, and wife Sallie, 19, next door to Henry Forbes, 48, domestic servant, wife Louise, 43, children Charles, 15, Georgiana, 21, and John, 21, and Patsey Forbes, 70. [The Forbes family migrated to Indianapolis before 1900. More about them later.]

I have not found the family in the 1880 census.

In the 1900 census of Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee: at 527 High Street, minister Edwin Ward, 44; wife Sallie, 43; and daughters Adelia, 20, seamstress, and Mattie, 16. Edwin and Sallie were described as North Carolina-born; their daughters, Tennessee. [This, presumably, is the family. Nora Goens’ death certificate lists her father as “Rev. Ward.” Mattie’s age is right, though her birthplace is not. Had the family migrated to Nashville directly from Wilson, or did they detour in Indianapolis, where Nora married Eugene Goens in 1894?]

In the 1910 census of Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois: at 216 Clements, coal miner John W. Robinson, 29; wife Mattie, 26; and children Magdelene, 7, Adelia, 4, William, 2, and Eugene, newborn. [I have not found John and Mattie’s marriage license.]

In 1918, John William Robinson registered for the World War I draft in Vermilion County. Per his registration card, he was born 8 April 1886; lived at 216 Clements, Danville; worked as a coal miner at Peabody Coal Company #24, Catlin, Vermilion County; and his nearest relative was wife Mattie Robinson.

Undated photograph of Peabody Coal Mine #24, located between Catlin and Bunsenville, Illinois. Courtesy of Christopher Stratton, “Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Cultural Resource Management Program, Abandoned Mined Lands Reclamation, Cultural Resources Evaluation: U.S. Fuel Company, Bunsenville Mine, Bunsenville, Illinois” (2002).

In the 1920 census of Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois: brickyard laborer John W. Robingson, 38; wife Mattie, 34; and children Magdeline, 14, servant at soldier’s home; Odelia, 12; Eugean, 10, Fay, 5, Dorothy, 3, and Walter, 1.

Mattie L. Robinson died 12 March 1921 in Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois. Per her death certificate, she was born 16 September 1884 in Wilson, N.C., to Henry Ward and Sallie Forbes; was married to J.W. Robinson; and was buried in Springhill Cemetery, Danville.

William Robinson, 23, son of J.W. Robinson and Mattie Ward, married Vivian Thurston, 19, daughter of William Thurston and Anna Logan, on 17 March 1930 in Danville, Illinois.

In the 1930 census of Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois: coal mine laborer John W. Robinson, 49, widower; children Eugene, 20, hotel porter, Fay, 15, Dorothy, 14, and John W., 22, coal miner; daughter-in-law Vivian, 19, restaurant waitress; and daughter Mae M. Rachold, 26, divorced, office building elevator girl.