Wilson Daily Times, 18 February 1948.
Month: June 2022
Snaps, no. 98: Jimmy Forbes and his grandfather.
James T. Forbes recently celebrated his 85th birthday. Here he is, circa 1939, with his grandfather Joseph McCoy on the front steps of Bill Hines’ home on East Vance Street.
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In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer George Bynum, 59; wife Tamer, 54; sons Robert, 18, and Jesse, 13; daughter Leesy McCoy, 25; son-in-law Willie McCoy, 22; grandchildren Joseph, 2, and Lossie, 1; and lodger Walter Taborn, 17.
In the 1910 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Will McCoy, 34; wife Leesie, 32; and children Joe, 11, Lossie, 9, Nancy, 8, Robert, 4, and Mary, 3.
In the 1920 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Saratoga Road, farmer Willie McCoy, 47; wife Leecy, 45; and children Joe, 21, Nancy, 16, Robert, 15, Arena, 13, and Eddie, 10.
Joseph McCoy, 25, married Mittie Forbes, 25, on 17 October 1927 in Wilson. Oscar Reid applied for the license, and Free Will Baptist minister E.S. Hargrove performed the ceremony in the presence of Tom Joyner, Annie Hargrove, and Purl Hodge.
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1110 East Nash Street, paying $16/month, barber Joe McCoy, 30; wife Mittie, 29, laundress; and roomer Sarah Wood, 45, widow, laundress.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 307 Reid Street, paying $14/month, barber Joe McCoy, 40, and wife Minnie [Mittie], 49, laundress; paying $4/month, Willie Forbes, 22, truck driver for Boykin Grocery Company, wife Goldie, 21, private cook, and son Jimmie, 3; also daughter Emma McCoy, 16, housekeeper; and roomer Elton Thomas, 17, tobacco worker.
In the 1941 Wilson, N.C., city directory: McCoy Jos (c; Mittie) barber John B Barnes h 307 N Reid.
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 923 Atlantic Street, hotel bell hop Willie Forbes, 32; wife Goldie, 32, theatre cashier; and son James, 12.
Many thanks to Dawn Forbes Murphy for sharing this wonderful image. Happy birthday, Mr. Forbes!
Edgar Moore dies at the funeral home.
Wilson Daily Times, 15 April 1948.
In the 1900 census of Rocky Mount township, Nash County, North Carolina: farmer Edmon Moore, 43; wife Zannie, 45; children Mary, 22, Susa, 19, Edgar, 18, Wily, 15, and Matilda, 13; and grandson Fred, 5.
On 31 December 1902, Eddie Moore, 21, and Addie Winstead, 18, both of Nash County, were married by W.D. Carter, Justice of the Peace, at Charles Winstead’s.
In the 1910 census of Rocky Mount township, Nash County, North Carolina: farmer Edgar Moore, 28; wife Addie, 24; ad children Viola, 6, Pauline, 4, Grover S., 2, and Olivia, 1.
In 1918, Edgar Moore registered for the World War I draft in Wilson. Per his draft card, he was born 15 March 1882; lived on Route 2, Rocky Mount; was a farmer for W.D. Carter; and his nearest relative was Addie Moore.
In the 1920 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Edgar Moore, 37, widower, and children Viola, 16, Pauline, 13, Grover, 12, Omeda, 10, Edgar, 9, Zanie, 7, Effner and Hattie, 5, George, 4, John, 2, and Fenner, 10 months.
In the 1930 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farm laborer Edger Moore, 48, widow, and children Pauline, 24, Ometia, 21, Edger, 19, Jannie, 17, Efner, 16, Hattie, 15, Hermond, 14, John M., 14, and Fenner, 11.
In the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Edgar Moore, 58, widower; daughter Pauline, 32; and lodgers James Joyner, 23, and Herman, 23, Clara, 20, Edwin, 2, and Dorothy Moore, 10 months.
Edgar Moore died 14 April 1948 at 608 East Nash Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 66 years old; was born in Nash County, N.C., to Edmon Moore and Zannie Daniel; worked as a farmer; was separated; and was buried at Williams Chapel. Herman Moore, Elm City, was informant.
Wilson Daily Times, 17 April 1948.
The obituary of Robert Inman.
Wilson Daily Times, 27 May 1947.
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In the 1920 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: Lem Inman, 36; wife Edna, 25; and children Robert, 9, Pearle, 7, Jessie, 4, Lillie, 2, and Edna, 2 months.
In 1941, Robert Inman registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 25 August 1911; lived at 400 Viola Street; his contact was mother Edna Inman, Elm City; and he was unemployed.
Robert Inman died 24 May 1947 in Vanceboro, Craven County, North Carolina. Per his death certificate, he was born 26 August 1919 in Lumberton, N.C. to Lem Inman and Edna McNeil; was married to Arnetta Inman; worked as a farmer; and was buried in Wilson. Cause of death: “shotgun wound on abdomen region of the navel.” The coroner added: “at home 12 gauge shotgun #8 shell in the belly.”
Cheers to the Class of ’52, part 2.
Wilson Daily Times, 3 June 2022.
These are my father’s beloved classmates. Marking their 70th anniversary, Darden High School Class of 1952 raised $8700 — more than a quarter of the donations contributed this year to Darden Alumni Association’s scholarship and building funds.
Marian Sewell Farmer.
Jean Wynn Jones.
James Edward Farmer Jr.
Herman McNeil.
Leonard P. Sherrod Jr.
Eloise Ward.
Doris Ward Heath.
Rederick Caswell Henderson.
Senior class photos courtesy of The Trojan (1952), the yearbook of Charles H. Darden High School.
Lincoln Heights — a wonderful place for your home, garden, hogs and chickens!
Wilson Daily Times, 18 April 1947.
In the spring of 1947, Economy Homes, Inc., a Winston-Salem developer, filed a plat map for a subdivision to be laid out two miles southeast of town along Black Creek Road. The lots were offered to African-American buyers and, with post-war housing in Wilson scarce, and they sold immediately.
The smaller lots were filled with single-family homes, but the long, narrow lots at the edge of the development, closest to Hominy Swamp, became the site of Lincoln Trailer Park.
Today, nearly all this land is scrub pine and weedy fields. Lincoln Heights had no height at all, and eventually the repeated flooding by the swamp canal won the day.
For more about the fate of Lincoln Heights, see here.
Bulloch kills three.
The Semi-Weekly Messenger (Wilmington, N.C.), 18 June 1907.
The Union Republic (Winston-Salem, N.C.), 20 June 1907.
- Marion Bulloch [Bullock?]
Mad dogs in Black Creek; or Sam Rice loved his dog so much.
Wilson Daily Times, 7 June 1934.
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In the 1930 census of Crossroads township, Wilson County: farmer Samuel Rice, 35; wife Nettie, 36; and children Essie M., 17, Jeneva, 14, and Beatrice, 13.
In the 1940 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Sam Rice, 43; wife Nettie, 47; and son Richard, 11.
In 1945, Richard Rice registered for the World War II draft in 1945. Per his registration card, he was born 2 December 1927 in Wake County, North Carolina; lived at Route 1, Lucama, Wilson County; his contact was father Sam Rice; and he worked for Lannie Smith, Five Points, Wilson.
Sam Rice died in Black Creek township on 16 January 1946. Per his death certificate, he was born in 1885 in Spartanburg, South Carolina; was married to Nettie Rice; and worked in farming.
Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.
Singers lose their clothes.
Wilson Daily Times, 2 June 1922.
Two unnamed African-American entertainers, described as “singers of note and the highest priced among their race,” were robbed of their wardrobes before a performance at the Globe Theatre. Booker Dew and Sylvester Jones were charged with the theft, and Gussie Davis, Marie Wallace, and Maggie Jefferson with receiving stolen goods. Globe owner Samuel H. Vick, Allen Armstrong, and Noah Tate appeared in court as witnesses.
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- Booker Washington Dew — Booker T. Washington was a popular inspiration for names of African-American boys in the early 20th century. Almost universally, however, such children were named “Booker T.,” rather than “Booker W.” Thus, in the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 602 Stantonsburg Street, widow Maggie Dew, 48, and children Maggie, 21, Alfred, 18, T. Booker, 14, and Mildred, 3. Booker T. Dew died 22 May 1923. Per his death certificate, he was born 20 July 1905 in Wilson to Jackson Dew and Maggie Thompson; worked as a day laborer; and lived at 602 Stantonsburg Street. Maggie Belle Rutherford was informant.
- Sylvester Jones
- Gussie Davis
- Marie Wallace
- Maggie Jefferson — perhaps, in the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 607 Spring Street, carpenter John Jefferson, 68, and wife Maggie, 31. And/or, in the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Jefferson Maggie tobwkr 622 Wiggins
- Samuel H. Vick
- Allen Armstrong — in the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: public laborer Allen Armstrong, 35, and mother Ellen Armstrong, 70, widow, cook. [Both were described as born in Texas, but other records indicate the more likely North Carolina.]
- Noah Tate
Hotel proprietors busted running whiskey and numbers.
Wilson Daily Times, 16 March 1936.
Wilson’s Green Book-listed Biltmore Hotel offered more than a place to stay.
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- Walcott Darden — Charles Walcott Darden, a native of Nash County, North Carolina. In the 1940 census of Washington, District of Columbia: at 2130 – 11th Street N.W., whiskey wholesale truck driver Walcott Darden, 30, and wife Annabelle, 33. Both had been living in Wilson, North Carolina, in 1935.
- Floyd Fisher — Floyd Fisher also moved on after this misadventure. The son of Edwin W. and Nanny D. Fisher, Floyd Fisher had been born in New Haven, Connecticut, and arrived in Wilson in the 1920s. In the 1940 census of New York, New York: at 582 Saint Nicholas Avenue, paying $65/month rent for an apartment, Ann Snipes, 35, born in Connecticut; her daughter Robnette Snipes, 18, born in Virginia; her brother Floyd Fisher, hotel bellhop, born in Connecticut; and lodger Louise Evans, 28, artists’ studio maid, born in North Carolina. Five years prior, Fisher had been living in Wilson, and Evans was in Wilberforce, Ohio (presumably as a student.) The Snipes women each reported two years of college; Fisher and Evans, four.