Month: August 2022

Lane Street Project: December 1994 aerial.

This aerial view of Lane Street (now Bishop L.N. Forbes Street), date-stamped 27 December 1994, offers surprises.

First, the bare expanse of Vick Cemetery, outlined in solid yellow. The city first cleared the cemetery with bush hogs in 1991. In late 1994, the period during which the photo was taken, city council was engaged in debate that led to reclearing, grading, and the complete removal of Vick’s headstones in the spring of 1995.

Second, the relative openness of Odd Fellows, whose approximate boundaries are outlined in dotted orange. The dark smudges closest to the street are pines that apparently were removed when Vick was cleared. The rear two-thirds of the parcel is overgrown with what appear to be bare deciduous trees. These trees, primarily poplars, hickory, and sycamore, remain today. The pines now cluster near the tree line on the southwestern half of the lot.

Rountree Cemetery, outlined in broken red, shows mostly a dark canopy of pine trees except along the edge of Sandy Creek.

Many thanks to Matthew Langston for the link to the 1994 aerial, NCDOT Historical Aerial Imagery Index, arcgis.com.

Funeral directors argue over girl’s body.

The competition between rival undertakers was ferocious. Martha Lucas died two days after her twelfth birthday. Unbeknownst to the family, a nurse at the “local colored hospital” (later known as Mercy Hospital) called Batts Brothers and Artis undertaking firm to prepare the girl’s body for burial. Later, the Lucas family asked C.H. Darden & Sons to perform the service. When Darden discovered the body missing, they showed up at Batts and Artis demanding possession. Batts and Artis refused to hand her over unless Darden paid transportation expenses. Darden went to court.

Wilson Daily Times, 11 August 1921.

Three days later, Martha’s father Wiley Lucas and Camillus L. Darden also appealed to the court of public opinion. Lucas stated that he, not Darden, had caused the sheriff’s department to file a claim and delivery action on the advice of police when Amos Batts dramatically claimed he would rather die than surrender Martha’s body. (Replevin, or claim and delivery, is a legal remedy that enables a person to recover personal property taken unlawfully and to obtain compensation for resulting losses.) Lucas “emphatically [denied] that any undertakers but C.H. Darden & Sons were instructed to attend to the funeral arrangements, as I knew of no other colored funeral directors in Wilson at the time ….”

C.L. Darden chimed in to direct readers to the magistrate’s record for the facts, noting that Batts had been told he could sue the hospital if he felt aggrieved. “But Batts knows as the public knows — as I can prove if it comes to a showdown — that Artis’ wife, who is head nurse in the institution, solicits in the hospital for the firm of Batts Bros. & Artis, of which her husband is a member of the firm.” “Artis” was Columbus E. Artis, and his wife was registered nurse Ada Artis.

Wilson Daily Times, 14 August 1921.

Batts Brothers and Artis responded three days after that, “that the public may not be misled.”  They denied having refused to give up the girl’s body, contending that they only sought to be paid for services rendered. The firm claimed the trial justice agreed they were entitled to a “small fee,” but, perhaps taking the temperature of public sentiment, they agreed to drop their claim and pay court costs.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 August 1921.

Martha Lucas’ death certificate.

Ministers Alliance expresses regrets.

Wilson Daily Times, 6 August 1932.

Benjamin F. Jordan of First Missionary Baptist Church submitted to the paper a tribute to tobacconist R.P. Watson on behalf of the Negro Ministerial Alliance of Wilson. Watson had been a benefactor of Mercy Hospital.

Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.

Levi Simmons is the state 4-H champion!

Wilson Daily Times, 2 August 1940.

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We read here the letter Pfc. David Levi Simmons wrote to the newspaper . Before he was a soldier or college student, Simmons was a member of the Minshew 4-H Club and 4-H state champion, with winning projects in pigs, gardening, tobacco, cotton, corn, potatoes, and peanuts. 

W.H. Barnes is called for jury duty.

Wilson Daily Times, 29 August 1935.

In 1935, William H. Barnes‘ selection for jury duty made the news after county commissioners determined that “negroes were to be included in the jury lists of the County.” 

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In the 1880 census of Sauls Crossroads, Wayne County: farmer Samuel Barnes, 37; wife Jane, 34; and children Robert, 14, Frances, 11, Ora, 9, Bettey, 6, William, 2, and Annie, 1.

In the 1910 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County: widower William H. Barnes, 33, farmer.

In the 1930 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer W.H. Barnes, 52; wife Minnie, 46; and children Dida, 23, Johnie, 21, and Willie V., 19.

In the 1940 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer W.H. Barnes, 62; wife Minnie, 54; children Dottie, 35, Verona, 30, and Jane, 10; and grandson John Lee, 3.

William H. Barnes died 10 November 1944 in Black Creek township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 4 October 1877 in Wayne County to Samuel Barnes of Wayne County and Jane [maiden name unknown] of Georgia; was the widower of Minnie Barnes; was engaged in farming; and was buried at Turner Swamp, Wayne County. Dedie Barnes Reid was informant.

Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.

Studio shots, no. 199: Frank Taylor.

Frank Taylor (ca. 1880-??).

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On 20 December 1899, Frank Taylor, 21, of Wayne County, son of Alfred and Pleasant Taylor, married Hattie Sutton, 22, daughter of Calvin and Sylvania Sutton, at Calvin Sutton‘s house in Spring Hill township, Wilson County. Rev. W.H. Horton performed the ceremony in the presence of R.R. Braswell, A.B. Braswell, and L.H. Horton. [Note: Per family information, Frank Taylor’s biological father was not Alfred Taylor, but a white man.]

In the 1900 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Frank Taylor, 19;  wife Hattie, 23; and nephew Alfred, 7.

Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user Regan Crump.

Jasper R. Locus moves to a new service station.

Wilson Daily Times, 29 December 1944.

At the end of 1944, J. Ollie Mercer announced that Jasper R. “Jabo” Lucas had left Meek’s Gulf Station to work at Mercer Esso Service. 

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In the 1910 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: on Stantonsburg Road, Edd Locus, 34; wife Winnie, 26; and children Leonezo, 18, Diawas, 11, Rosevelt, 7, Elizebeth, 6, and Anner, 2.

In the 1920 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: at “Cross Roads toward Fremont,” farmer Ed Locust, 50; wife Winnie, 45; and children Dowes, 22, Rosevelt, 18, Lula, 18, Amma, 12, and Herman, 5.

Jasper Roosevelt Lucas registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County in 1942. Per his registration card, he was born 3 September 1901 in Wilson County; lived in Stronach Alley; his mailing address was 807 West Nash Street, Wilson; his contact was Winnie Lucas, Spring Street, Wilson; and worked at Donnie Meeks Service Station, Wilson.

Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.