Wilson Daily Times, 5 October 1950.
Lula Marie McKeithan (1943-2017) was the daughter of Daniel and Naomi Jones McKeithan.
[Personal note: Naomi “Ma Keit” McKeithan provided loving daycare in her home to a generation of East Wilson children, including my sister (and me, on school holidays.) Lula Marie was a recent college graduate during the time we spent in the McKeithan home at 1206 Queen Street, and continued to sing beautifully.]
Four year-old Bud Horne‘s cause of death is unfathomable: “It is supposed this child swallowed matches, fire was flaming from his mouth when discovered.”
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In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Lodge Street, brickyard laborer Richard Horne, 59; wife Lizzie, 60, laundress; children Elizabeth, 17, Mary, 15, and Emma, 8; and granddaughter Rosa, 1.
In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: also on Lodge Street, widow Adeline Suggs, 48, and her children Alex, 18, Pattie, 15, and Fannie, 14.
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Sarah Jackson, 21; brother-in-law Gabriel Bowden, 40, brother-in-law, laborer; sister Anna, 32, cook; nephews Columbus, 11, house servant, and James, 9; son B.F. Jackson, 6; mother Vinus Ruff, 52; and boarder Whitehurst Wiswould, 64, laborer.
In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: jailor Columbus Gay, 39; Silva Mix, 24, housekeeper; Vinous Wisber, 72, housekeeper; and Sarah Jackson, 47, cooking.
In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Sarah Jackson, 55, widow, private cook; mother Venus Ruff, 73, widow; and adopted daughters Effie, 17, private nurse, Bessie, 17, private cook, and Etta, 12.
There is no accounting for the 27-year gap between Ruff’s estimated age in the census and her age on her death certificate, made the same year. Earlier census records, however, suggest that she was closer to 82 than 100 when she died.
To stave off responsibility for caring for poor women and their children, unwed mothers were regularly brought before justices of the peace to answer sharp questions about their circumstances.
On 25 July 1866, Jane Horn admitted to Wilson County justice of the peace Solomon Lamm that her two-month-old child’s father was Barry Lawrence. Lamm ordered that Lawrence be arrested and taken to a justice to answer Anderson’s charge.
I have not been able to identify Horn or Lawrence with certainty.
Bastardy Bonds, 1866, Miscellaneous Records, Wilson County Records, North Carolina State Archives.
Wilson Daily Times, 21 March 1936.
Who were “the colored painters of Wilson” during this period?
I’ve been able to identify James Ashley Whitfield, David Dupree, Butler E. Jones, Alexander Obery, and Samuel Swinney as painters active in the 1930s. (Commercial painter Ramon Martinez was in Wilson by 1940, but probably had not yet arrived in 1936.)
This house is not within the bounds of East Wilson Historic District. However, the blocks of Mercer Street southwest of the Norfolk & Southern Railroad lines have been an African-American residential area since the early twentieth century.
The house was likely built 1900-1920 and appears on the 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map.
In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Holloway Henry (c; Millie) lab h 908 Mercer. Also: Holloway Narcissus (c) dish washer h 908 Mercer. Also: Holloway Elizabeth (c) maid h 908 Mercer
In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory, 908 Mercer is listed as vacant.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: renting for $4/month, Priscilla Little, 47, laundress; daughter Margaret, 21, “hang or shake tobacco” at redrying plant; and granddaughters Leigh Virginia, 2, and Romaine, 7 months.
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Bynum Paul (c; Dollena; 3) lab h 908 Mercer. Also: Bynum Mollie (c) h 908 Mercer
Delores Bynum died 9 November 1941 at her home at 908 Mercer Street. Per her death certificate, she was born 4 June 1941 in Wilson to Paul Bynum and Dorlena Anderson and was buried in Rountree Cemetery.
Mollie Bynum died 25 October 1947 at her home at 908 Mercer Street. Per her death certificate, she was born 22 November 1879 to Louis Haggans and was a widower. She was buried in Rountree Cemetery. Paul Bynum, 2306 Marshall Avenue, Newport News, Virginia, was informant.
Wilson Daily Times, 27 October 1947.
In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Whitley James (c; Hazel) carp h 908 Mercer
In December 1866, someone reported swore to two justices of the peace that Amanda Edmundson, who was unmarried, had given birth to a child. When questioned, Edmundson admitted the birth and named Sidney Edmundson as the child’s father.
I have found neither in Wilson County records.
Bastardy Bonds, 1866, Miscellaneous Records, Wilson County Records, North Carolina State Archives.
We first visited the hundred-year-old John and Armincie Moore house here. Four years later, the house was undergoing renovation. It is now, per real estate ads, days from hitting the market.
At $250,000.
Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, August 2022.
Wilson Daily Times, 21 July 1949.
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In the 1910 census of Faison, Duplin County, N.C.: William Carr, 41; wife Dora, 41; and children William P., 17, Jesse, 16, Cicero, 15, Willie M., 13, Eliza, 11, and Vance C., 6.
In the 1920 census of Faison, Duplin County, N.C.: William Carr, 50; wife Dora, 49; and children Sam, 23, and Calvin, 17.
On 5 December 1925, Calvin Carr, 23, son of William and Dora Carr, married Lena Blount, 19, daughter of Aaron and Millie Blount, in Wayne County, N.C.
In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Carr Calvin (c; Lena) lab h 421 Stantonsburg
In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Carr Calvin (c; Lena) janitor h 421 Stantonsburg
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 419 Stantonsburg, bank janitor Calvin Carr, 27; wife Lena, 23, private cook; and sister-in-law Ina Blount, 25.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 104 South Vick, Calvin Carr, 36, “messenger man” for National Bank, and wife Lena, 34, private housekeeper.
In 1942, Vance Calvin Carr registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 5 September 1902 in Duplin County, N.C.; his contact was Lena Carr; and he worked for National Bank of Wilson.
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 309 Stantonsburg, Calvin Carr, 47, National Bank porter; wife Lena, 42; and daughter Joyce A., 7.
Calvin Carr died 8 January 1956 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 5 September 1901 in Duplin County, N.C., to William Carr and Dora Brock; was married to Lena Carr; lived at 309 Stantonsburg Street; and worked as a janitor.
Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.
To stave off responsibility for caring for poor women and their children, unwed mothers were regularly brought before justices of the peace to answer sharp questions about their circumstances.
On 18 December 1866, Aby Anderson admitted to Wilson County justice of the peace John Nichols that she was unmarried and had given birth to a child whose father was Johnathan P. Locus. Nichols ordered that Locus be arrested and taken to a justice to answer Anderson’s charge.
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I have not been able to identify Locus with certainty. Aby Anderson may have been Tabitha “Abi” Anderson, born about 1848, who married Gray Ruffin in Wilson County on 18 October 1893.
Bastardy Bonds, 1866, Miscellaneous Records, Wilson County Records, North Carolina State Archives.