Wilson Daily Times, 11 August 1950.
This photo shows a group standing under a shelter engaged in stringing tobacco for curing, including two African-American women and a child.
Stringing tobacco on the Minshew farm.
Month: September 2022
Roster of Negro city school teachers.
Wilson Daily Times, 22 August 1941.
In 1941, Wilson City Schools employed 58 African-American teachers at five schools — Darden High School, Sallie Barbour and Vick Elementary Schools, and Lane (just south of Wilson near present-day Wedgewood Golf Course) and Barnes (on what is now Airport Road) graded schools.
Bushrod Dew’s crop lien.
On 17 January 1903, Howard, Graves & Company agreed to advance Bush Dew up to one hundred thirty dollars in supplies to enable Dew to cultivate the land in Wilson township Dew rented from S.H. Morris. In return, Dew gave Howard, Graves a lien on his crop as well as a eleven year-old black mare mule, an iron axle cart, an open buggy and harness, and all his farming implements.
Deed book 66, page 233, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office.
1200 Washington Street.
The one hundred eightieth 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: “ca. 1922; 1 story; hip-roofed, two-bay cottage with side hall.”
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In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Pitt Leaston (c; Maggie) cooper h 1200 Washington
In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: McNeil Jesse (c; Cornelia) h 1200 Washington
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1200 Washington Street, “plaster helper” John L. Hart, 49; wife Eloise, 20; and lodger Ross Barnes, 41; his wife Emma, 32; and their daughter Bettie, 1.
Ben Hart died 7 November 1951 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 20 March 1881 in Edgecombe County to Wiley Hart; was a widower; resided at 1200 Washington Street, Wilson. Informant was Rev. J.L. Hart, 1200 Washington Street.
John L. Hart died 6 February 1963 at Mercy Hospital. Per his death certificate, he was born 28 January 1901 in Wilson County to Benjamin Hart and Temie Ann Jones; was a minister; lived at 1200 Washington Street; and was married to Elouise Hart.
917 Mercer Street.
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.
In-fill building in the 1920s and ’30s caused house numbers in this block to shift several times. Now 917 Mercer, it was once 913 1/2, and briefly 915 1/2.
In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moses Narcissus (c) lndrs h 915 1/2 Mercer
In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moses Narcissus (c) dom h 913 1/2 Mercer
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 913 1/2 Mercer Street, rented at $12/month, Narcissus Moses, 35; Elsie B. Moses, 70, mother; and roomer Darthy Curry, 26, cook.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 917 Mercer Street, Narcissus Moses, 51, hangs tobacco at redrying plant; cousin Effie Read, 38, private cook; and adopted son Jerome Wallace Lassiter, 9.
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moses Narcissus (c; 1) lndrs h 917 Mercer
In 1942, Narcissus Moses hosted a banquet for the Saint Rose Bible Band at her home at 917 Mercer Street.
Wilson Daily Times, 25 March 1942.
In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moses Narcissus (c) tob wkr h 917 Mercer
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 917 Mercer, Narcissa B. Moses, 62, and cousins Effie B. Read, 46, cook, and Ralph B. Read, 6.
Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, September 2022.
State vs. Jeffrey Simms.
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 11 December 1866, Rebecca Barnes admitted to Wilson County justice of the peace Washington Barnes that she had given birth to a child whose father was Jeffrey Simms. Barnes ordered that Simms be arrested and taken to a justice to answer Barnes’ charge.
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In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Jeffrey Simms, 24, wife Caroline, 22, and an unnamed one month-old infant, plus Bryant Simms, 80.
Bastardy Bonds, 1866, Miscellaneous Records, Wilson County Records, North Carolina State Archives.
Recommended reading, no. 8: the Second Middle Passage.
You cannot understand the men and women who emerged from slavery to appear in the 1870 census of Wilson County without understanding who was not there — the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and children sold South in America’s domestic slave trade, known as the Second Middle Passage.
I have no ancestors from Alabama or Mississippi or Louisiana or Texas, but my DNA matches scores of African-Americans who do. They are descended from the close kin of my North Carolina and Virginia ancestors, and the bits of identical chromosome we share is the only evidence of the crime that befell our common forebears.
To understand the depth and breadth of this trade, please study Edward E. Baptist’s The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism.
To glimpse how this trade unfolded among our own Wilson County people, see:
- Luke, Guilford, Orange, and Willis, who were taken to Alabama by John Scarborough circa 1836
- Aberdeen and Abraham, who were sent to Mississippi in 1848
- Martha, John, Adeline, Viney, and Mary, who were taken by local slavetrading firm Moye and Adams to Mississippi in 1849
- Jason, who was sold out of state by “Father of Wilson County” Joshua Barnes in 1855
- Arch Daniels‘ heartbreaking provisions for his long-lost children
To see how buying and selling men, women, and children even locally devastated families:
- the sale of Sukey in 1842
- the sale of Marina in 1849
- the sales of Harry, 19, Alfred, 18, Oney, 17, and Gray, 14, in 1855
- the purchase of Agnes and her child in 1855
- the sales of Penelope, Emily, Rose, Caroline, Isham, Harriet, Lewis, Haywood, and Eugena in 1856
- the sale of Silah and her daughter Lucinda, about 1856
- the sale of Easter, 9, in 1857
- the sale of Westley, 8, in 1858
- the sales of 15 unnamed children in 1859
- the sale of Axey and two of her children in 1859
- the sale of Rachel and her child in 1859
- the sales of Dicy, Teresa, Guilford, Mary “Moll,” Judah, and William “Bill” in 1859
- the sale of George, 12, in 1859
- the sale of Harry, 28, in 1859
- the sale of Albert, 8, in 1859
- the sales of Peggy, 25, and her children Henry, 7, and Mourning, 3, and Harry, 19, in 1860
- the sales of Elvy, Essex, Aaron, and Julia in 1860
- the sale of Matilda in 1861
- the sale of Charity, 30, Aaron, 13, Sarah, 7, Lucinda, 5, and Cloe, 9, on Christmas Eve 1861
- the sale of Mariah, age 17, circa 1864
Wilson County’s own Vanilla Powell Beane honored as she turns 103!
Nothing I could write could improve upon Jeni Hansen’s remarks about her remarkable grandmother, so I take the liberty to share them here:
“This past week, on the evening of her 103rd birthday, Vanilla Powell Beane received the 2022 Mayor’s Arts Award for Distinguished Honor. Thank you, Mayor [Muriel] Bowser, and thank you DC for showing up to honor the oldest small business owner in Washington!
“I’ve said this before but it stands true today — one of the things I remain most inspired by, is my grandmother’s desire to do something without being recognized.
The other day we were talking about becoming who you are — the dedication, determination, triumphs, and challenges. I am not surprised she did the damn thing without analytics, likes, and without a platform – her passion wasn’t built around the approval of others but a genuine love for her craft. She was inducted into the National Association of Fashion & Accessories Designers in 1975, has more than one day named after her in Washington, and hats are featured on a U.S. Postal Service stamp and in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
“If it takes you 103 years to be recognized for your talents, work hard and enjoy every day. When you make it where you’re going, overcome the obstacles you and others put in your way, and become who you are destined to be — I hope you’ll look in the mirror and say exactly what my grandma said to me, ‘Well, I’m here aren’t I?’
“The life you lead, truly, is the legacy you leave.”
Photo by Salah Djimbananou and text courtesy of Jeni Hansen, via Sandy Alston, Mrs. Beane’s great-niece.
The death of Lizzie Bullock.
Wilson Daily Times, 26 February 1936.
“Liz” was 81 year-old Lizzie Pitt Bullock, who may or may not have adored Sallie Egerton Blount, but surely did not love the Blounts as much as she loved her own children.
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On 15 May 1877, Lizzie Pitt married Frank Bullock in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.
In the 1880 census of Lower Town Creek township, Edgecombe County: Frank Bullock, 27; wife Lizzie, 23; and son Ruffin, 1.
In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: brick setter Frank Bullock, 45; wife Lizzie, 41, cook; and children Ernest, 14, house servant, Hugh, 11, nurse, Malvina, 9, and Obed, 5.
In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Lee Street, garden laborer Frank Bullock, 65; wife Lizzie, 60, cook; children Ernest, 25, odd jobs laborer; Hudy, 23, livery stable laborer; Petronia, 20, private nurse; and Obert, 16, drugstore servant. [By the way, the Bullocks were next-door neighbors to my great-grandparents, Michael and Rachel Barnes Taylor.]
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 410 Pine Street, widow Lizzie Bullock, 65, cook “McLean” [i.e., the family of Sallie Blount’s daughter Sallie Blount McLean]; daughter Gertrude, 25, cook; and son Obert, 24, cook in cafe.
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 409 Pine Street, rented for $12/month, Lizzie Bullock, 70, widow; children Ernest, 43, house painter, Obert, 33, hotel cook, and Gertrude, 35, laundress; and lodgers Charlie Moye, 29, truck gardener, and Edward Williams, 53, farm laborer.
Earnest Bullock died 16 May 1931 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 12 April 1886 in Edgecombe County to Frank Bullock and Lizzie Pitt; was the widower of Flora Bullock; lived at 409 Pine; and worked as a painter. Gertrude Bullock was informant.
Lizzie Bullock died 26 February 1936 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 81 years old; was born in Edgecombe County to Jack Pitt and Lucinda Pitt; was a widow; and lived at 409 Pine Street. Informant was Gertrude Bullock.
Gertrude Eddie died 14 November 1953 at her home at 409 North Pine Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 17 March 1897 in Wilson County to Frank Bullock and Lizzie Petts, and was married to John Eddie.
Nurse Mabel Weaver Ellis.
My father told me:
“She was — they called her ‘the shot lady.’ [Laughs.] They used to come to school, and you had to line up. And you talking ‘bout hollering and screaming. [Laughs.] And then you’d line up to take your shot. And she’d come in there, had on her — I remember she had on a blue cape, with a whatchacallem … cap. One of them nurse’s caps. I think it was red and blue. And had on heeled shoes. A little heel. Clunky-heeled shoes and all. And she had a black bag that she brought all her stuff in. And you’d line up to get shots. I mean it was a mess. They’d be holding folk, and they’d be hollering and screaming and …. And she’d be coming. Mable Ellis. Nurse Ellis, the Shot Lady.”
Wilson Daily Times, 12 September 1964.
Wilson Daily Times, 1 October 1964.
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In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: oil mill laborer Nathan Weaver, 35; wife Sallie, 30; and children Doretha, 9, Mable, 7, Louis, 2, and Sallie, 4 months.
On 28 September 1927, George W. Ellis, 52, of Wilson, married Mable Weaver, 26, of Wilson in Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister B.F. Jordan preformed the ceremony in the presence of James Whitfield, Robert Haskins and Rosa Arrington.
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1101 Atlantic Street, owned and valued at $2500, Geo. W. Ellis, 56, public school janitor; wife Mabel, 28, grocery store proprietor; and children Elizabeth, 13, and Montie, 16.
Per this history of the organization, in 1934 Mabel W. Ellis joined North Carolina’s chapter of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses. I have not been able to determine where she received her nursing training, but Raleigh’s Saint Agnes Hospital or Durham’s Lincoln Hospital.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1101 Atlantic Street, owned and valued at $1400, George Ellis, 65, school carpenter; wife Mabel, 38, health department nurse; and daughter Elizabeth, 23.
George Washington Ellis died 7 September 1943 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 29 February 1875 in Wilson County to Jacob Ellis and Millie Forbs; lived at 1101 Atlantic Street; was a carpenter; and was buried in Rountree Cemetery.
Mable Weaver Ellis died in Wilson on 8 February 1995.
Interview with R.C. Henderson by Lisa Y. Henderson, January 1995, all rights reserved.