Thank you to every person who pulled a weed, dragged a rake, hefted a chainsaw, donated a dollar, called a councilperson, or said a prayer for Lane Street Project during Season 2.
A special thank you to friends who made contributions to LSP’s maintenance fund in memory of my father. Your generosity touched my heart.
An extra special thank you to my LSP team for the beautiful flowers in his honor.
See y’all next winter.
(Unless you want to join the Senior Force, which plans to work at Odd Fellows throughout the year.)
Charlie Thomas was a longtime employee of the Gold family of newspaper publishers. Though his family had a plot in Odd Fellows — his wife Sarah Best Thomas and son Louis Thomas were buried there — his obituary reports that he was buried in Rest Haven. His death certificate, on the other hand, lists Rountree Cemetery is his place of burial (which meant, of course, Odd Fellows Cemetery) and, in fact, there is a marker in Odd Fellows engraved with his name and the order’s triple links.
Per his death certificate, 16 year-old Wallace Kent died of conditions brought about by schizophrenia. Given contemporary attitudes toward mental illness, the esteem in which his community held him is noteworthy.
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In the 1930 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: Joe Kent, 48, farmer; wife Minnie, 42; and children Joseph, 17, Elbert, 15, Elek, 13, Pauline, 10, Elve, 8, Addilee, 5, and Wallace, 3.
In the 1940 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: Joe Kent, 48; wife Minnie, 51; and children Elbert, 25, Alex, 23, Ella, 17, Addie Lee, 15, and Wallace, 13; as well as daughter Lillie Powell, 25, and her children Joseph, 9, Elmer Lee, 5, and Bill, 3.
Wallace Kent died 28 June 1943 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 16 years old; was born in Wilson County to Joe Kent of Johnston County, N.C., and Minnie Bailey of Harnett County, N.C.; was engaged in farming; and was single. He was buried at Mary Grove cemetery.
My father loved some Darden High School and Darden High School Alumni Association and kept a stack of these in his trunk for whomever he encountered that might have wanted one. It’s a list of every known graduate of Darden from 1924 until it closed its doors as a high school in 1970.
I didn’t attend Darden, but I grew up in the glow of its glory. Memorial Day weekend is synonymous with Darden Alumni Reunion. My father was a founder and an early president of the Association, and his class celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. Jean Wynn Jones lovingly spoke on their behalf at his funeral, and several of his classmates helped carry flowers from the church.
As I continue to celebrate and honor my father’s legacy, I raise a toast to the Class of 1952!
Georgia Burke was not, of course, a “girl.” She was close to 50 years old in 1944. Burke was one of eleven African-American teachers who resigned to protest the slapping of teacher Mary C. Euell by school superintendent Charles L. Coon and the disrespect shown them by Colored Graded School principalJ.D. Reid. With the others, Burke resumed teaching at the privately funded Wilson Normal and Industrial Institute, the institution referred to above as Wilson Training School for Negroes, and later was appointed principal. For more about Burke, see here and here, and about the Normal and Industrial school, see here. For more about the talented Hartford C. Bess, see here.
In the 1940 census of Fork township, Wayne County, N.C.: at Eastern North Carolina Insane Asylum, Negro, James Edward Gerald, 9. [He was not the youngest inmate. Mixed among the hundreds housed at the hospital were children as young as 5.]
The one hundred sixty-eighth 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. 1913; 1 story; Queen Anne cottage with double-pile, hip-roofed form, projecting front wing, and several intact turned porch posts.” [The house is misnumbered as #1008 in the nomination form.]
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In the 1928 Wilson city directory: Jones Lee C (c; Sadie L), dentist 559 1/2 E Nash h 1010 Atlanta
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1010 Atlantic Street, seamstress Sadie Jones, 32, and sons Emery L., 7, Clarance and Clinton, 3; and lodgers Catherine Joyner, 14, James Coley, 9, and Elaine Coley, 15. [Sadie Jones was described as “single” and presumably was divorced.]
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: owned and valued at $1500, Robert Lee, 27; wife Elaine, 25; and son Robert Jr., 3.
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Lee Robt E (c; Elaine L; 1) tchr h 1010 Atlantic av
In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Lee Robt E (c; Elaine ) tchr h 1010 Atlantic av
Per records, Haywood Baker was born in Greene County, North Carolina, and lived in Pitt, Nash, and Wilson Counties as well. In addition to Wilson, he owned barber shops in Stantonsburg and Farmville. Presumably, “first white restaurant in Stantonsburg” meant the first to cater to a white clientele. I have not identified the location of his tailor shop.
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On 5 November 1898, Haywood Baker, 20, son of Richard and Almira Baker, married Ora Harper, 19, daughter of Thomas and Leah Harper, in Greene County.
In the 1900 census of Carrs township, Greene County: farmer Haywood Baker, 22; wife Orra, 20; daughter Lula, 6 months; and widowed mother-in-law Laurer Harper, 54.
In the 1910 census of Farmville township, Pitt County: self-employed barber Haywood W. Baker, 30; wife Ora, 29; daughter Lular, 10; and adopted son Stiner, 9.
On 13 November 1912, Haywood Baker, 33, of Nash County, son of Richard and Milie Baker, married Mollie Vines, 26, of Nash County, daughter of Charles and Mahala Vines, in Nash County.
Doris M. Baker died 22 April 1917 in Stantonsburg, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 3 October 1916 in Wilson County to H.W. Baker and Mollie Vines and buried in David graveyard. H.W. Baker was informant.
In 1918, Haywood William Baker registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he resided in Stantonsburg; was 24 February 1870; worked as a barber; and his nearest relative was Mollie Baker.
In the 1920 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: on Railroad Street, Haden [Haywood] W. Baker, 40, barber; wife Mollie, 33; and children Hilda R., 6, Jasper, 4, Harold, 2, Mary C., 2 months; and Haywood, 12; plus Exum Joyner, 25, barber, and wife Bertha, 24.
An unnamed child died 17 June 1922 in Stantonsburg, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was 20 days old and was born in Wilson County to Hawood W. Baker and Mollie Vines. Informant was H.W. Baker.
In the 1930 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Haywood W. Baker, 52; wife Mollie, 43; and children Charles, 17, Hildarene, 16, Jasper, 14, Harold, 13, Mary P., 11, Richard T., 7, and Carlton Baker, 5.
In the 1940 census of Farmville township, Pitt County: farmer Haywood W. Baker, 62, and children Jasper, 22, Tensley James, 26, Richard Thomas, 16, and Carlton Baker, 14, and Mary Joyner, 20. All reported living in Greene County in 1935 except Tensley, who had lived in Goldsboro, Wayne County.
On 21 October 1941, W.H. Baker, 63, of Farmville, Pitt County, son of Richard and Miley Baker, married Blanche Thomas, 47, of Wilson, in Snow Hill, Greene County, N.C.
In 1942, Richard Thomas Baker registered for the World War II draft in Wilson. Per his registration card, he was born 24 August 1923 in Stantonsburg; resided at 719 East Green Street, Wilson; his contact was Haywood Baker of the same address; and he worked at G.H.T.M. in Goldsboro, North Carolina.
In 1943, Carlton Baker registered for the World War II draft in Wilson. Per his registration card, he was born 26 May 1925 in Stantonsburg; resided at 718 East Green Street, Wilson; his contact was H.W. Baker; and he worked for J.E. Gregory, Southern Dairies, 200 Railroad Street, Wilson.
Haywood Baker died 17 August 1946 at Duke Hospital in Durham. Per his death certificate, he was born 14 February 1883 in Greene County; was married to Blanch Baker; resided at 719 East Green Street, Wilson; was a barber; and was buried in Marlboro cemetery, Farmville, Pitt County.
Jasper Bruce Baker died 25 August 1963 in Kinston, Lenoir County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 17 December 1915 in Pitt County, N.C., to Haywood Baker and Mollie Vines; was married to Naomi Baker; lived at 1119 Oak Street, Kinston; and worked as a janitor at F.W. Woolworth.
Tensley James Baker died 3 May 1974 in Goldsboro, Wayne County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 7 May 1911 to Haywood Baker and Ora Harper; was single; and was retired. Dock Baker was informant.
For more about the sinking of H.M.T. Rohna by a German glide bomb, see here.
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In the 1930 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: widow Hattie Johnson, 36, and children Willie, 23, John W., 20, Herbert, 16, Clement, 11, and James, 10.
