Month: March 2022

Lane Street Project: the power poles.

Yes, indeed. What you’re looking at is a long line of utility poles marching down Bishop L.N. Forbes (formerly, Lane) Street, well within the historic boundaries of Vick and Rountree Cemeteries. 

Three enormous poles pin down the edge of Vick Cemetery. I don’t know when the easement was granted for the lines, or when they were erected, but I can guarantee it was decades after the Lane Street cemeteries were established. 

The first pole below stands on the high ridge at the front of Rountree Cemetery. Its base is completely engulfed by at least a decade of woody growth. Not thirty feet away, under a canopy of honeysuckle and other vines, is a pile of broken headstones dating to the 1920s. Were they moved to make way for power poles?

Whose lines are these?

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, March 2022.

The last will and testament of Millie Bryant.

On 3 August 1936, Millie Bryant made her mark on a will leaving all her property to her niece Cecelia Norwood. Bryant died ten weeks later. Her house was at 608 East Green Street, and Norwood held the property until she died though she lived around the corner on North Pender.

Boxing tomorrow nite!

Wilson Daily Times, 7 March 1928.

For Chapel Hill, N.C.-native Addison “Kayo” Warren and Joe “Biff” Bennett’s ten-round boxing match at Wilson’s Farmers Warehouse, African-American fans could purchase tickets for seats in the “section reserved for colored people.” McNeil’s Barber Shop was likely a business operated by barber Angus A. McNeill and John Hargrove at 420 1/2 East Nash Street.

Rachel Lassiter provides for her daughter.

Deed Book 1, page 657. Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

This Indenture made this the 27th day of decr 1860 one thousand eight hundred & sixty between Rachel Lassiter of the county of Wilson & State of North Carolina of the first part & Matthew Lassiter of the county & state aforesaid of second part witnessed: That the said party of the first part for & in consideration of the sum of ten Dollars to her in hand paid by the said Matthew Lassiter for the [illegible] & [illegible] the trust, hereinafter mentioned at & before the sealing & delivery hereof the receipt whereof he does hereby acknowledge have given, granted, bargained & sold & by these presents doth grant, bargain sell & convey unto the said Matthew Lassiter his heirs & assigns forever all my personal property including her whole estate say 3 head of Cattle one bed & furniture household & Kitchen furniture & about eighty dollars in bonds or notes to have & to hold unto the said Matthew Lassiter his heirs & assigns & for the following & none other that is to say for the sole & separate use of my child Zelphia Lassiter & any other heirs I may hereafter have & the issues & profits thereof shall be for their use & benefit. In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand & seal this 27th day of Dcr 1860    Rachel X Lassiter  Matthew X Lassiter

——

In the 1850 census of Edgecombe County: Hardy Laster, 73, wife Beady, 54, and children Mathew, 26, Silas, 26, Green, 25, Hardy, 21, and Rachel, 20; all described as mulatto. Hardy reported owning $650 of real property.

In the 1860 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Green Lassiter, 36; [his wife] Mary, 24; [and his siblings] Matthew, 37; and Rachel Lassiter, 30. [Where was Zilpha?]

On 29 December 1860, Rachael Lassiter married Daniell [actually, David] Read in Wilson County.

This marriage surely precipitated the transfer of Rachel Lassiter’s assets to her brother Matthew Lassiter three days prior. David Reid was a widower with children. When Rachel Lassiter married, her personal property would in effect become her husband’s property. In order to preserve her assets for her own daughter’s benefit, Rachel Lassiter sold everything she had to Matthew Lassiter in trust for Zelphia Lassiter. 

In the 1870 census of Otter Creek township, Edgecombe County, N.C.: farm laborer David Reid, 58; wife Rachel, 40; and children Gustin E., 18, Nancy A., 16, and Zylpha, 17.

I have not found anything further about Rachel Lassiter Reid or Zelphia Lassiter, alias Reid, but note that David Reid’s 1910 estate papers do not list either of them.

[Update, 16 March 2022: Bernard Patterson, a descendant of Rachel Lassiter’s sister Penelope Lassiter Woodard, immediately went looking for Zilphia Lassiter and found this: on 23 March 1876, Amandiburt Mills, 30, married Sylphy Lassiter, 22, in No. 9 township, Edgecombe County. 

With that information, I found: in the 1880 census of Roxabel township, Bertie County, N.C.: Mandaburt Mills, 35; wife Zilpha A., 25; and son Thadius, 12; plus servant Francis Clark, 18.

in the Death Register of Greensville County, Virginia: Zilphia Mills died 15 March 1892 of dropsy She was reported as 25 years of age; was born in Wilson, N.C., to Rachel Lussiter; and was married to M.B. Mills. In the 1900 census of Belfield township, Greensville County: Mandyburt Mills, 53, widower, farmer.] 

Wilson County, North Carolina County Marriages 1762-1979, http://www.familysearch.org.

Lane Street Project: the Mercer siblings.

In June 1964, the Rocky Mount Telegram reported the tragic death of two teenaged siblings from Spring Hope, Nash County. Seventeen year-old Nora Jane Mercer had drowned trying to save her 16 year-old brother William Earl Mercer, who also drowned in a pond a few miles north of Bailey.

Rocky Mount Telegram, 12 June 1964.

Nora Mercer’s death certificate listed her cause of death as “drowning … while swimming in farm pond” and described her accident as “trying to save her brother.” William Toney’s Funeral Home, still active today in Spring Hope, handled the burial, which took place in … Rountree Cemetery? In 1964?!?

William Mercer’s death certificate also lists Rountree Cemetery in Wilson as his burial place. Why would two Spring Hope children be buried more than 20 miles away in Wilson?

I first wondered if this were a family cemetery — Rountree is not an uncommon surname here — located just over the Nash County line in Wilson County. (I don’t know of any such cemetery, but I wondered.) However, the double obituary for the siblings made clear that they were indeed buried in Rountree (or its sister cemeteries, Vick and Odd Fellows, collectively and confusingly known as Rountree). Further, their funeral was also in Wilson — at Piney Grove Free Will Baptist Church.

Rocky Mount Telegram, 14 June 1964.

The obituary gives Nora and William Mercer’s parents as Mr. and Mrs. Willie Austin. However, this was likely their stepfather and mother (and the surname, per the death certificate, was Alston.) Louise Alston was informant for the certificates, and she named the children’s parents as William Mercer and Louise Webb. William Mercer and Louvenia [actually, Louisianna] Webb were married in Wilson County in September 1946. Both were Wilson County natives. It appears that they divorced, and Louise Webb Mercer married an Alston. So, as we can establish that the Mercer children did have close ties to Wilson, we can be more certain that they were buried in one of the set of cemeteries on (former) Lane Street collectively called Rountree Cemetery.

Now to the most puzzling fact — 1964.

This is an aerial view of Vick, Odd Fellows, and Rountree Cemeteries in 1964.

Vick Cemetery had been condemned in the late 1950s as unfit for human burial. (Vick is the most likely of site of the children’s burials as it was a public cemetery, they were not members of Rountree Missionary Baptist Church, and there is no evidence that their father was an Odd Fellow.) By 1964, all three cemeteries were severely overgrown, with none of the bare-earth family plots so readily observable in earlier decades.

I checked Joan L. Howell’s Wilson County Cemeteries, Vol. V: The Two City-Owned African-American Cemeteries, which contains a list of 600+ burials from the last 25 years or so  these cemeteries were active as burial sites. In her searches of local death certificates, the latest burials Howell found were three from 1960, six from 1961, and one from 1962. Thus, as far as now known, Nora Jane and William Earl Mercer were the last people buried in Vick, Odd Fellows, or Rountree Cemeteries.

Many thanks to Noelle Vollaro for bringing the Mercer siblings to my attention.

L. Henry and Elizabeth Lassiter Daniels, exodusters.

After reading the recent post about Hardy Lassiter, Thelma Simmons reached out to alert Black Wide-Awake that another Lassiter migrated to Arkansas. Elizabeth Lassiter Daniels and her family arrived in Pine Bluff around the same time as her cousin Hardy.

In the 1860 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer Silas Lassiter, 38; wife Orpie, 34; children Sallie, 12, Mary, 11, James, 9, John, 7, Elizabeth, 5, Penina, 4, Hardy, 3, Silas, 1, and George, 2 months; and Delpha Simpson, 14. [Note: there were several Hardy Lassiters in this family. Silas Lassiter’s father was named Hardy Lassiter, and Silas named a son after him. Similarly, Silas’ brother Green Lassiter also named a son Hardy, and this Hardy was the one who migrated to Arkansas.]

In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farm laborer Silas Lassiter, 47, and children Ophelia, 25, Mary, 20, Elizabeth, 16, Handy, 14, Penninah, 15, Silas W., 12, Milly, 8, and Jerusha, 4.

On 24 December 1879, Henry Daniels, 33, married Elizabeth Lassiter, 24, at E. Lassiter’s in Wilson County. B. Barnes and Short Barnes were witnesses.

On 20 May 1892, Henry Daniels, alias Henry Lewis Daniels, applied for an invalid pension for his service in Company K, 14th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery. [I am seeking more information about his Civil War service.] Daniels filed from Arkansas, the state to which the family had recently migrated.

In the 1900 census of Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas: day laborer Henry Daniels, 55; wife Elizabeth, 46; and children William H., 17, Martha A., 15, Mary J., 15, and Rice B., 7. All were born in North Carolina except the youngest child.

In the 1908 Pine Bluff, Arkansas, city directory: Daniels Henry (c) mach Prescott Table & Furn Co r 1013 w 8th av

In the 1910 census of Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas: odd jobs laborer Henry Daniels, 66; wife Bettie, 37; and children Henry, 27, street laborer, and Matilda, 10. Bettie reported that only three of her ten children were living.

On 3 March 1912, W.H. Daniel, 30, married Willie Floyd, 24, in Pine Bluff.

In 1918, William Henry Daniels registered for the World War I draft in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Per his registration card, he was born 23 September 1879; lived at 506 East 17th Avenue; worked as a laborer for Standard Lumber Company, Pine Bluff.

In the 1920 census of Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas: at 500 East 17th, Henry Daniels, 78; wife Elizabeth, 65; daughter Mary Webb, 30, and grandchildren Ulus, 10, Felton, 9, Louise E., 8, and Mary, 3. Next door: W. Henry Daniels, 38, born in N.C., railroad shop laborer; wife Willie, 32, born in Georgia; and children Justine, 6, Thurland, 4, Rosabelle, 3, and Doretha, 4 months. [Hardy and Nellie Lassiter occupied the household on the other side of Henry and Elizabeth Daniels, in effect right around the corner.]

Lewis Henry Daniels died 30 May 1920 in Pine Bluff. Per his death certificate, he was 79 years old; was married; was born in North Carolina; was “bright” colored [i.e. very light-skinned]; and lived at 500 East 17th Street. W.H. Daniel was informant. The cause of death: “operation of the eye and heart troubles.” Contributing factor: “Old cival war Soldier.”

In the 1927 Pine Bluff, Arkansas, city directory: Daniels Elizabeth (c) h 500 e 17th av

In 1942, William Henry Daniels registered for the World War II draft in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Per his registration card, he was born in 23 September 1881 in Wilson, N.C.; lived at 506 East 17th; he worked for Cotton Belt Railroad, East 2nd Avenue, Pine Bluff; and his contact was Mrs. Willie F. Daniels.

William Henry Daniels Sr. died 25 November 1945 in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas. Per his death certificate, he was born 23 September 1880 in Wilson, N.C., to Lewis Henry Daniels and Elizabeth Lassiter; was a laborer; and was married to Willie L. Daniels. Doretha M. Daniels was informant.

Coley v. Artis, pt. 8: They call me Tom Pig.

The eighth in a series excerpting testimony from the transcript of the trial in J.F. Coley v. Tom Artis, Wayne County Superior Court, November 1908. The dispute centered on 30 acres of land. Thomas “Tom Pig” Artis began renting the property in 1881 from William J. Exum, a wealthy white farmer. In 1892, Exum’s widow Mary sold the land to Napoleon Hagans. Hagans died in 1896, and the land passed to his sons Henry and William S. Hagans. In 1899, Henry sold his interest to his brother William, who sold the 30 acres in 1908 to J. Frank Coley, a young white farmer. Tom Artis laid claim to the property, arguing that Napoleon Hagans had sold it to him. Coley filed suit and, after hearing the testimony of more than a dozen witnesses, the court decided in his favor. (Paragraph breaks and some punctuation have been inserted for better readability.)

Defendant introduces TOM ARTIS, who being duly sworn, testifies:

My name is Tom Artis. They call me Tom Pig. I own some land, 30 acres. (Plaintiff objects.) I have been living on the 30 acre tract of land 25 years, except one year. I mortgaged this land to Mr. [William J.] Exum. (Plaintiff objects.) I don’t know about how long it was. About 25 or 30 years. (Plaintiff objects.) I don’t know what became of that mortgage. I got [Napoleon] Hagans to take it up. (Plaintiff objects.) I don’t know who was present when I got Hagans to take it up. When Hagans agreed to take it up, Mrs. Exum, Hagans and myself were present. I own the 30 acre tract and lived on the tract adjoining. After Hagans took up the papers, he told me that I could build on that place, or on the 24 acre piece. He said he thought it best for me to build on mine, he might die sometime, and there might be some trouble about me holding the house. I did so. He furnished the lumber, and I did the work. I decided to build on his side. After I built there I had been paying the 800 lb. of lint cotton year in and year out. (Plaintiff objects to each and every statement of the foregoing evidence.) The 800 lb. of cotton was to keep up the taxes and the interest of the money. (Plaintiff objects.) I have been paying this 800 lb. of cotton all the time. (Plaintiff objects.) I left that place one year. I left because my house got in such a bad fix, and I couldn’t stay there and run my business like I wanted to, and I went over to Mr. Jones’. I rented the land. I rented it to Simon Exum. He gave me 950 lb. for the 30 acre place. I rented the Calv[in Artis] Place and the Adam Artis place. I moved back after one year at Mr. Jones’ place. I built on the Hagans place. Since then I built the piaza and shed room, to my own expense. Borrowed money from Hagans. I paid him back. He didn’t pay for the repairing of it. He furnished some shingles. Got 1/4 covered. I never asked W.S. Hagans to sell the 30 acre tract of land. I never said to Hagans in the presence of [Henry S.] Reid or anybody else that I wanted him to sell it. I never asked anybody to buy the 30 acre tract of Hagans. Not the 30 acre tract. I had a conversation with Mr. [J. Frank] Coley with reference to buying that land. I was talking about the Calv place. My land wasn’t brought in. The Calv place is the place I rented and lived on. That’s the land I spoke to Mr. Coley about buying from Hagans. He said if Mr. Cook and Hagans didn’t trade to send him a note. I told Hagans, he said tell him Coley, if his hands were not tied. I remember going over to Mr. Coley’s mill with Hagans. I didn’t hear any conversation between Hagans and Coley with reference to buying this tract of land. They were off from me. I didn’t know what they were talking about. I heard them say when they came back to the buggy, Hagans said that he would see him again shortly. I don’t know if he said what day. Next I heard after that was that Hagans had sold it all to Mr. Coley, mine and all. I never rented the 30 acre tract of land. I know Jno. Rountree. I never asked him to go to Will Hagans and ask him to give me an opportunity of buying the 30 acre piece of land. I never said to Will Hagans, Jno. Rountree or Henry Reid, or anybody that I wanted Hagans to give me the opportunity of seeing my boys in Norfolk, so I could buy the 30 acre piece. I asked Hagans what he would take for the acre back of my house, of the Calv place. I told him I would buy that. His answer was, “Can you find a buyer for the other part of the Calv place.” I told him I didn’t know. He walked about his buggy house door. He said, “Uncle Tom, I can’t take what that mortgage calls for for your land, land is so much more valuable now than it was when yours was given.” It passed off at that. Next I heard he had sold it to Coley.

Notice of sale of Mincey property.

Wilson Daily Times, 14 March 1955.

Benjamin Mincey died in 1950. In the settlement of his estate, a commissioner advertised a lot on Wiggins Street that Mincey had purchased 17 February 1905. At the time of purchase, the lot bordered property owned by Charles Darden, Daniel Vick, Gilbert Stallings, and James T. Wiggins. It may have been the lot at 712 Wiggins upon which Mincey built the house he lived in when he died. Wiggins Street was obliterated with the construction of Carl B. Renfro Bridge and the extension of Hines Street in the early 1970s.