Wilson Daily Times, 4 June 1942.
The Carolina Theatre, which ordinarily did not seat Black patrons anywhere other than the balcony, treated newly inducted African-American soldiers to “a special motion picture show” before they shipped off to war.
In the spring of 1949, five month-old William Earl Isam died in his crib after a large rat bit his face.
Wilson Daily Times, 27 April 1949.
The county coroner was incensed. Not only had the boy died in horrific circumstances, but he had not been seen by a doctor beforehand, and his adoptive father Henry Gervin had buried his body before receiving a death certificate.
Wilson Daily Times, 30 April 1949.
William Isam finally received a death certificate six days after he died. Per the record, he was born 3 November 1948 to Annie Bell Isam. The document bristles with details of the boy’s death. The “Register of Deeds gave burial permit without death certificate.” The cause of death was “Probably blood stream infection from rat bite. Bitten in its crib about midnight. Died 9 hours later Coroner not notified. Heard about 24 hours after burial.”
Three days later, the Daily Times followed up with a report on little William’s neighbors’ concerns. What they thought about the boy’s death went unmentioned, but their indignation that Rock Ridge’s reputation had been smeared is clear.
Wilson Daily Times, 3 May 1949.
April clippings courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.
I love it when the Wilson diaspora finds Black Wide-Awake!
The one hundred-seventy-first 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. 1930; 1 story; Hattie Sims house; bungalow with gable roof and prominent gable-front porch; asbestos veneer; Sims was a tobacco worker.”
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In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Simms Hattie (c) h 1213 Washington
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1213 Washington, owned and valued at $1500, Hattie Simms, 61, and sister Louvenier Hales, 55. Both worked in “green tobacco & tobacco factory.”
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Simms Hattie (c) tob wkr h 1213 Washington
Hattie Simms died 20 September 1943 at her home at 1213 Washington Street. Per her death certificate, she was 56 years old; was born in Wilson County to Ben Artis and Faribee Barnes; was married to James Simms; worked as a farm laborer; and was buried in Rountree cemetery.
In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Hales Louvenia (c) dom h 1213 Washington [Louvenia Hales [or Hayes] died in 1947.]
Wilson Daily Times, 17 December 1949.
In the 1950 census of Wilson, North Carolina: at 1213 Washington Street, railroad mail carrier James M. Artis, 40, and wife Sarah F., 38, cook in domestic service.
James McKinley Artis died 7 April 1961 in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Per his death certificate, he was born 4 August 1909 in Wilson to Wade Artis and Martha Gardner; was married to Sarah Artis; and lived at 1213 Washington Street. [James Artis’ father Wade Artis was a brother to Hattie Artis Simms and Louvenia Artis Hales.]
Sarah M. Artis died 16 January 1948 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 10 March 1908 in Gaston, North Carolina, to Walter McClure and Ella Lightner; was a widow; and lived at 1213 Washington. Informant was Marie Everette, 1213 Washington Street.
Wilson Daily Times, 19 December 1984.
Marie Everett inherited 1213 Washington Street from her aunt Sarah McClure Artis. The E emblazoned on the house’s storm door is her touch.
Detail from plat prepared for Marie Everett in 2003. Plat Book 32, page 69, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office.
Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, June 2022.
Jesse and Levan Wilkins Handy.
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In the 1900 census of Red Bluff township, Marlboro County, South Carolina: wood cutter George Handy, 36; wife Mary, 30; and children Neill A., 12, George, 8, Simeon, 5, Iola, 2, and Jessee, 2 months.
In the 1910 census of Stewartsville township, Scotland County, North Carolina: farmer George Handy, 55, and children Neill, 20, George, 18, Sim, 15, Iola, 12, Jessie, 9, Mary, 6, and Archie, 4.
Neil Handy registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County in 1918. Per his registration card, he lived at Route 6, Wilson; was born 30 May 1886; was a farmer for Jesse Barnes; and Nellie Handy was his nearest relative.
In the 1920 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Black Creek Road, George Handy, 60, and children Douglass, 18, Arch, 12, and Mary Sudie, 14.
In the 1930 census of Jonesboro, Lee County, North Carolina: odd jobs laborer Jesse Handy, 25; wife Janie, 25; and daughter Mary J., 2.
In the 1930 census of Mannings township, Nash County, North Carolina: farmer John Wilkins, 52, widower, and children William C., 20, farm laborer, Levian, 17, and Zollie, 15, farm laborer.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Spring Street Alley, brickmason Douglas J. Handy, 40; wife Evan, 28, laundress; and daughter Mary J., 12.
Jessie Dugles Handy registered for the World War II draft in Wilson in 1942. Per his registration card, he was born 14 April 1898 in Marion County, South Carolina; resided at 404 South Spring Street Alley; worked for Jones Brothers Construction on Lodge Street; and his contact was brother, Neal Handy, a brickmason.
In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Handley Jesse (c; Levan) brklyr h929 Carolina
Jessie Handy died 19 August 1979 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 14 April 1900 in Cumberland County, North Carolina, to George and Mary Handy; resided at 107 South East Street; worked as a brick mason; and was married to Levan Wilkins Handy.
News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 13 August 2005.
Photo courtesy of Cassandra Handy Horsley. Thank you for sharing!
R.C. Henderson and his girls, 1401 Carolina Street, 1971.
I think of my father every day, but this one hits different this year. Still, I’m grateful for his love and legacy.
Happy Father’s Day, Black Wide-Awake. (And Juneteenth, too.)
In a recent post, I asked if anyone knew the location of Ola and Georgia Dupree‘s Silver Boot Grill, and reader D.C. came through.
Ads described the restaurant’s address only as Highway 301-A South, which once cut through East Wilson following the path of what is now Pender Street. D.C. forwarded me this detail from a 1945 plat with two lots highlighted. 301-A Highway shows a center median that I suspect was aspirational. At top center is a proposed new highway — today’s four lane U.S. 301/Ward Boulevard. The street cutting downward at top right is Black Creek Road and, off it at an upward angle, is what was then Stantonsburg Road.
Detail from Subdivision of the Farrior-Fleming Farm Near Wilson, N.C., Plat Book 4, Page 19, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office.
A little searching on the Wilson County Register of Deeds website revealed that Ola and Georgia Anna Dupree bought lots 40 and 43 from Annie V. Farrior on 26 January 1945. Five years later, to secure a $3500 loan, the Duprees mortgaged both lots, as well as two electric refrigerators (a Jordan Drink Box Model 40-6 and a Hussman Reach-In Refrigerator); a gas cooking stove; a Marston Steam Table Model #90; all tables, chairs, and counters; and all other stock and equipment “used in the operation of their restaurant business now known as Silver Boot Grill.”
Lots 40 and 43 of the Farrior-Fleming tract are now 915 Pender Street South and are the site of a defunct used tire dealership. I am pretty sure that this side building at Rolling Tires started life as the Silver Boot. Painted brick appears to have been applied over the original cladding, and the stepped side walls were leveled off to support a fairly recent gabled roof.
June 2022.
Thanks, D.C.!
Thelma Braswell Forbes, age about 12, as a student at Lucama School, circa 1949.
Thelma Braswell Forbes, who passed away in Wilson last week, graciously shared with Black Wide-Awake her recollections of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church. May she rest in peace.
Many thanks to Dawn Forbes Murphy for sharing this wonderful photograph.
For more about the cases, see these posts about Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, J.C. Farmer and Lee Locus. More about Otis Newsome to come.
