Tarboro Free Press, 2 August 1831.
In 1831, William Knight prepared to join the exodus of white farmers from the tired soil of North Carolina to the newly opened lands of the Deep South. He offered his 800-acre plantation on White Oak, in what is now eastern Wilson County, for sale for cash, credit, or “young Negroes.”
Tarborough Southerner, 21 June 1856.
Dr. Newsom Jones Pittman practiced in Tarboro and apparently was renowned for his successes in lithotomy, the removal of stones from the bladder, kidney or gallbladder. With anesthesiology in its infancy, the surgery must have been excruciating for this six year-old.
Tarboro’ Press, 13 July 1833.
By time this public notice was published, Levi Daniel had migrated to Harris County, Georgia, from the Black Creek area of what is now Wilson County. He left behind an enslaved woman, Barbara, with his kinswoman Judith Daniel. Other than it involved levying of property to satisfy a debt, the nature of the civil action is not clear, but Judith Daniel claimed ownership of both Barbara and 165 acres of land Levi Daniel also left behind.
I don’t know the outcome of the suit, but when Judith Daniel made out her will in 1837, she did not mention Barbara. Rather, to her daughter Sarah Barnes, she left “negro boy Amos“; to daughter Temperance Jordan, “negro woman Rhody“; and to daughter Eliza Bass, “negro girl Ginna.”
Daily Southerner (Tarboro, N.C.), 28 October 1921.
William Dorsey Pender, Confederate major general, was born near Pender’s Crossroads in what is now northwest Wilson County. He died after a shrapnel wound to the thigh at Gettysburg. Almost 60 years later, his nephew James Pender was anxious to set the record straight about who had been his body servant.
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Get ready to be a part of history. Season 4 is coming. Save the dates.
Oil your tools, limber up your joints. Lane Street Project’s Season 4 will soon be here. Stay tuned for more details on ways you can help reclaim historic Odd Fellows and Rountree Cemeteries.
It’s always wonderful when readers share photographs of the men and women of Black Wide-Awake. Special thanks to Belinda Pitt-Bulluck for these images of her grandmother Rosa Pitt Battle and father Frank Pitt.
Rosa Pitt Battle (1884-1919).
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Pettigrew Street, farmer William Pitts, 34; wife Violet, 25; and children Ailsey, 10, Martha, 5, Hattie, 3; and Laura, 10 months.
In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Violet Pit, 50, washing, and children Martha, 24, washing, Hattie, 22, cooking, Lula, 21, cooking, Ben, 19, tobacco stemmer, Carry, 12, cooking, Rosa, 16, nurse, Meaner, 11, Jenney, 5, and Edward, 2.
In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: laundress Violett Pitt, 58; daughters Lula, 28, Matha, 34, and Hattie, 30; and grandchildren Mary, 10, Harvey, 8, Frank, 7, Lizzie, 6, Jonie, 18, and William, 9; and daughter Mena, 20.
On 7 November 1915, Ed Battle, 24, of Wilson, son of Allan and Mariah Battle, married Rosa Pitt, 24, of Wilson, daughter of Bill and Viola Pitt, in Wilson. Shade Hines applied for the license, and A.M.E. Zion minister B.P. Coward performed the ceremony in the presence of Frank Barnes, Leonard Kornegay, and B[illegible] Edmundson.
Rosa Pitt Battle died 26 December 1919 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 2 January 1884 in Wilson County, N.C, to William Pitt and Violet Edmundson; was married to Eddie Battle; and lived at 804 Vance. Mena Pitt was informant.
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 804 Vance, widow Violet Pitt, 70, and daughters Elise, 45, Lula, 39, Mena, 29, and Elizabeth, 16.
Elsie Pitt died 19 June 1938 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born in 1875 in Wilson to William Pitt of Nash County and Violet Emerson [Edmundson] of Wilson County; was single; lived at 903 East Vance; and was buried in Wilson [probably in Vick Cemetery, but possibly the newly opened Rest Haven.] Ximena Martinez was informant.
Rosa Pitt Battle’s son, Frank Pitt (1902-1980).
In 1942, Frank Pitt registered for the World War II draft in Brooklyn, New York. Per his registration card, he was born 7 June 1902 in Wilson; lived at 574 Baltic Street [crossed out and 2199 East 55th Street, Cleveland, Ohio, added]; his contact was Carrie Deshert, 201 West 121st Street, Apartment 23, New York; and he worked for Subway Advertising Company, Brooklyn.
Frank Pitt.Â
Photos courtesy of Belinda Pitt-Bulluck.
We first met Mordecai Hagans, born a free man of color, here, as an employee of Wilson’s Confederate hospital.
Fifteen or so years later, Hagans was murdered.
Wilson Advance, 16 July 1880.
(Josephus Daniels was editor of the Advance at the time, so it’s no surprise he thought it paramount to note that Hagans faithfully voted the white supremacist Democratic ticket. He tells us nothing of Hagans’ family, his occupation, his history — but we know this.)
Wilson Advance, 30 July 1880.
The Advance‘s follow-up was devoted almost exclusively  to the exculpation of J. Frank Eatmon, primarily via inferences from the testimony of Hagans’ “old, half-idiotic” unnamed wife, who had been severely beaten the night her husband was killed.
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In the 1860 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County: Mordecai Hagans, 23, farm laborer, living alone.
In the 1870 census of Upper Town Creek township, Edgecombe County: farm laborer Mordecai Hagans, 37, and wife Cherry, 45.
In the 1880 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: laborer Mordicia Hagins, about 50, and wife Cherry, about 45. [They are listed immediately after the households of J. Frank Eatmon and Pearson Eatmon’s mother Aquilla Eatmon and likely lived on the property of one or the other.]
Wilson Daily Times, 8 July 1919.
I have not been able to match a death certificate to the “Aunt Mary” described in this torn news clipping.
The City is again foot-dragging in response to Public Records Act requests. Yesterday, I submitted a follow-up request for documents originally requested July 23 and August 7.
Well, that was a disappointment.
First, before the meeting, not one of the four council members I wrote on August 11 — Bell, Creech, Johnson, and Morgan — responded with as much as an acknowledgment of receipt. Needless to say, none moved for any of the actions requested.
Second, the New South Associates presentation was rather less … robust than I expected. I did appreciate the modified recommendations, which I’ll detail once I get my hands on the actual report, but included a comprehensive cemetery management plan to ensure that future leaders know exactly what exists at the site and what has been done there.
Third, the utter lack of engagement by council, whose members asked exactly two questions. Bell wanted to know what pages the recommendations are on. Evans wanted to know what “cmbs” means (which tells me he didn’t read the report he got in April) and what thirty centimeters is in inches. Nobody else cracked their lips. To be fair, it was not until New South Associates’ representative had begun to speak that Rebecca Agner and another city employee actually trooped in to hand out copies of the updated version of the report to council members. City attorney Jim Cauley, in trying to execute some kind of flex, pointedly asked New South when they had provided the City the report, seeming to imply that it was hot off the press. New South flatly countered with a date four days prior to the meeting — Monday, August 14. (And thus Cauley violated the first rule of cross-examination — don’t ask questions you don’t know the answer to.) Once again, a city staffer got the report and sat it on it until the absolute last minute before giving it to council, turning last night’s presentation into pure performance. What was the point of bringing New South all the way from Greensboro if the city wasn’t going to give council a chance to study and develop questions? Though all seven councilmembers have had the original version since April, and this one is not radically different in content, withholding the updated report smells bad. Still, they needn’t have read the report to ask questions like, “Specifically, how does one install a fence under these conditions?” “Is digging up the parking lot a good idea?” “Should we be concerned about the graves in the public right-of-way?” “How can we mark the graves?”
Fourth — and the good part — come *clap* through *clap* Lane Street Project! Although I couldn’t watch them — Wilson shuts off cameras during public comment — kudos to the citizens who stepped to the mic to give voice to the desires of the descendant community. As Briggs Sherwood said, “We are here to claim our ancestors, to redeem our past. Hallelujah, what an opportunity!”