Month: February 2023

Tragedy befalls the Haskins family.

We read here of the electrocution death of John Haskins by a downed live wire. This brief article reveals that his seriously ill sister died the same day, and their father two weeks later.

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 9 April 1915.

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In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farm laborer Damp Haskins; wife Hester, 43; and children Dora, 24, Martha, 19, Lossie, 18, Robert, 16, William, 15, James, 13, Lesley, 10, John, 9, Norma, 7, Earnest, 4, and Damp, 1.

John Haskins died 7 April 1915 in Wilson township. Per his death certificate, he was 20 years old; married; had no occupation; and was the son of Damp Haskins and Steller Sharp. William Haskins was informant.

Dora Thomas Haskins [Haskins Thomas?] died 7 April 1915 in Wilson township. Per her death certificate, she was 42 years old; a widow; a cook; and was the daughter of Damp Haskins and Stettie Sharp. William Haskins was informant.

Damp Haskins died 22 April 1915 in Wilson [and not of tuberculosis, but of inanition (exhaustion caused by lack of nourishment) due to hemiplegia (paralysis on one side of the body). Per his death certificate, he was 64 years old; was married; was born to Charles Haskins and an unknown mother; and had been a farmer. William Haskins was informant.

The roots of many Wilson County Artises, no. 1: Solomon and Vicey Artis Williams.

Vicey Artis, a free woman of color, and Solomon Williams, an enslaved man, had eleven children together – Zilpha Artis Wilson, Adam Toussaint Artis, Jane Artis Artis, Loumiza Artis Artis, Charity Artis, Lewis Artis, Jonah Williams, Jethro Artis, Jesse Artis, Richard Artis, and Delilah Williams Exum — before they were able to marry legally. On 31 August 1866, they registered their 35-year cohabitation in Wayne County. Vicey died soon after, but Solomon lived until 1883.  The document above, listing his and Vicey’s six surviving children and heirs of their deceased children, is found among Solomon Williams’ estate papers.

In the antebellum period, Vicey Artis and her children, who were apprenticed to Silas Bryant, lived in the Artis Town area of Bull Head township, Greene County, N.C., just a few miles over the border of Wilson County. Solomon Williams presumably lived relatively close by. Before 1860, the family shifted west into the Eureka area of Wayne County (which may have been their original home territory), and Vicey died around 1868. Descendants of at least five of Vicey and Solomon’s children — most notably son Adam T. Artis — migrated into Wilson County starting around 1900, settling in and around Stantonsburg and Wilson.

We have met Jonah Williams here and here and elsewhere. We’ve also met Loumiza Artis Artis’ husband Thomas Artis. Stay tuned for more about my great-great-great-grandfather Adam T. Artis, Zilpha Artis Wilson, Jesse Artis, and Richard Artis.

[Sidenote: Artis was the most common surname among Wayne County free people of color. In the 1840, 1850 and 1860 censuses, Artis families primarily are found clustered in northern Wayne County, near present-day Eureka and Fremont. Though eastern North Carolina Artises ultimately share common ancestry stretching back to mid-17th century Virginia, the precise relationships between various Wayne County lines — not to mention other Greene and Johnston County Artis lines — is not clear. In other words, though many of today’s Artises in Wilson are descended from Vicey Artis and Solomon Williams (or Vicey’s siblings Sylvania Artis Lane and Daniel Artis), none should assume descent from this line.]

The obituary of Robert E. Vick.

Wilson Daily Times, 13 September 2001.

Educator Robert Elliott Vick was the youngest son of Samuel H. and Annie Washington Vick.

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In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: dealer in real estate Samuel Vick, 47; wife Annie, 38; and children Elma, 17, Daniel L., 13, Samuel E., 10, George, 7, Anna, 5, and Robert, 2.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Vick Robt E (c) student h 622 E Green

In 1940, Robert Elliott Vick registered for the World War II draft in Essex County, New Jersey. Per his registration card, he was born 1 February 1908 in Wilson, North Carolina; he lived at 83 Kenilworth Place, Orange, Essex County, N.J. (and later 620 Queen Street, Wilmington, North Carolina; “wears glasses at all times;” and worked for Mr. O’Hara at Dugan Baking Company, Abingdon Avenue, Newark, Essex County, N.J.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Annie M. Vick, 78, widow; sons Sam Jr., 43, beauty product salesman, and Robert, 40, principal of county school; son-in-law George A. Cowan, 34, agricultural teacher at Edgecombe County schools; sister Monte L., 31, home economics teacher at county school; and brother Samuel Washington, 82, retired postal clerk.

Numbers racket busted up.

Wilson Daily Times, 15 July 1935.

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  • Moon Jones
  • George Porter — in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 508 South Spring, pressing club operator George Porter, 34, divorced; Jeneva Brown, 30, divorced,  housekeeping servant, and her children Brown, 15, Esther, 13, Martha, 12, and Olive, 9; and George M. Porter, 4.
  • Frank Jenkins
  • Willie Smith
  • Jesse Whitehead

Colored skating rink.

Fifty years earlier, a reference to a colored skating rink seemed to suggest a freestanding building, but this suggests a “Colored Night” at an otherwise segregated facility.

Wilson Daily Times, 21 September 1936.

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  • Bob Speight — in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 624 Viola, barber Thedo S[p]eight, 27; wife Marie, 25; children Robert E., 3, and Margret E., 9 months; and brother Rufus, 22.
  • Lillian Black — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 616 Viola, house servant Bessie Thomas, 44, and niece Lillian Black, 17.
  • Buster Horton
  • Goldwin Robertson Jr. — Golden Robinson Jr. In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 202 Vick Street, barber Golden Robinson, 30; wife Bertie, 23; and children Parthenia, 5, Gold M., 3, and Glean, 1.
  • Clarence Dawson [Jr.] — in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 619 East Green Street, printing office laborer Charlie Thomas, 65; daughter Elizabeth Dawson, 32; son-in-law Clarence Dawson, 31; and grandchildren Eris Dawson, 11, Naomi, 9, Clarence, 7, and Thomas V. Dawson, 3; and daughters Sarah, 19, theatre ticket seller, and Beatrice Thomas, 17.
  • Ray Hines — Clifton Ray Hines. In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: barber Walter Hines, 50, wife Sarah, 48, and children Elizabeth, 21, Walter, 20, Carl W., 16, and Clifton R., 7.

Reunions, no. 2.

I don’t often get to see my high school friends, and I can’t recall the last time we gathered in numbers. Last June, however, we came together to celebrate Thelma Braswell Forbes and lift up her daughter, Dawn Forbes Murphy. I have known all of these folks since at least elementary school (or in the case of Thomas Lofton Jr., since birth), but only recently discovered that two are actually my cousins.

Felicia Wilkes Curry (in the gray teeshirt) and I share common ancestry in the Artises of Artis Town, Greene County, N.C., and we’re just two of many of that early 19th century family to wind up in Wilson. (Now that I’m thinking about it, an Artis Town post is probably warranted here at Black Wide-Awake. Stay tuned.) 

Kimberly Bynum Deans (yellow shirt), via her great-grandfather James W. Cooper, is descended from my great-great-great-grandfather Adam T. Artis’ brother Richard Artis, which means she has Artis Town roots and is Felicia’s cousin, too. 

Among the most rewarding aspects of researching for Black Wide-Awake are discovering, uncovering, and recovering lost family connections, both my own and others’. I was particularly excited to piece together the Taylor family puzzle, which linked three of my childhood friends (and possibly me to one of them, Gregory Wilkins, via an Eatmon ancestor). Wilson County is small enough that it’s not surprising that many of us share distant common roots, but finding out just who those long-lost cousins are is always a delight. 

Other suns: Elijah and Marie Haskins Warren, Washington, D.C.

Donna Warren Davis reached out to me after discovering references to her ancestors at Black Wide-Awake. Elijah Warren, Marie Haskins Warren, and their family joined the Great Migration in the mid-1930s, landing, like so many North Carolinians, in Washington, D.C.

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In the 1910 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: William Warren, 42; wife Millie J., 42; and children Ezekiel, 18, Keturrah, 17, Joseph, 14, Elijah, 13, Samuel, 11, Deborah, 9, William, 8, Millie, 5, Alchester, 3, and Edie, 2.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Ada Haskins, 27, odd jobs laborer; daughter Arena, 12, born in Virginia, house servant [is this Marie?]; and lodger Alfred Williams, 32, widower, machinist.

On 21 October 1928, Marie Williams, 26, of Wilson, married Elijah Warren, 29, of Black Creek, in Wilson. Primitive Baptist church Johnie Bunch performed the ceremony in the presence of Cora W. Farmer, William Warren, and Wilson Farmer. [This was a second marriage for Marie Haskins Williams.]

In the 1930 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer William Warren, 62; wife Millie, 62; daughter-in-law Marie, 26; grandson Jerome, 11 months; granddaughter Mary, 10; sons Elijah, 32, Chichi, 23, and Sam, 30; and adopted son Richard Edmundson, 12.

In the 1940 census of Washington, D.C.: at 2816 Pennsylvania Avenue, W.P.A. laborer Elijah Warren, 38; wife Marie, 38, beauty parlor operator; step-daughter Mary Williams, 20; and children Jerome, 10, Jonathan, 9, and O’Donnell Warren, 7. All were born in North Carolina, except Mary, who was born in Pennsylvania. The census taker noted that the family had been living in the “same place” in 1935, which narrows the date of their migration to D.C. to about 1934.

In February 1942, Elijah Warren registered for the World War II draft in Washington, D.C. Per his registration card, he was born 2 April 1897 in Fremont, Wayne County; lived at 2816 Pennsylvania Avenue; worked for National Defense Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.; and his contact was Marie Warren.

The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 21 August 1942.

The Evening Star, 11 March 1944.

In the 1950 census of Washington, D.C.: at 2816 Pennsylvania Avenue, beauty shop proprietor Marie Warren, 46; children Jerome, 20, mechanic at auto dealer, Donald, 17, and William V., 6; and mother Ada Haskins, 80, widow.

In the 1950 census of Washington, D.C.: at 1616 – 10th Street N.W., lodger Elijah Warren, 54, separated, mechanic at Navy Yard.

The Evening Star, 6 January 1954.

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  • Whitelaw Hotel — designed, financed, and built by African-Americans for African-Americans, the Whitelaw was an upscale apartment hotel in the U Street Corridor neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
  • First Baptist Church of Georgetown
  • 2816 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. — Elijah and Marie Warren arrived in Georgetown in the last decades of the long period that it was home to a sizable African-American minority. By the 1950s, gentrification was pushing Black Washingtonians out. Built about 1900, the two-story brick building at 2816 Pennsylvania Avenue now houses a high-end spirits retailer and is just down the street from the Four Seasons Hotel.

Funeral program courtesy of Donna Warren Davis. Thank you!