The Colored American (Washington, D.C.), 8 April 1899.
When Samuel H. Vick renewed his subscription to the Colored American, he made a telling remark about the delay in sending his two dollars. “We have had so much race trouble in N.C. until a man felt he might need every penny toward getting into cooler climes.” Six months earlier? The Wilmington Massacre.
The 500 block of East Nash Street is justly remembered as the 20th century epicenter of Wilson’s African-American-owned businesses. However, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Black entrepreneurs and tradespeople also operated across the tracks. As Wilson’s downtown experiences a resurgence, let’s rediscover and celebrate these pioneering men and women.
Check in each Sunday for the latest in the Historic Black Business Series!
By 1925, Ada Davis Winstead‘s dressmaking business, Ada’s Modeste Parlor, was booming at 108 West Nash Street, upstairs in the Wilson Theatre building at the heart of downtown. She employed at least five dressmakers catering to the fashion needs of her white clientele, including her sister-in-law Ella Davis, Louise Wilson, Lovella Cotton, Eliza Best, and Lessie Locust.
1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory.
Wilson Daily Times, 25 April 2024.
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In the 1930 census of Oak Level township, Nash County, North Carolina: farmer William Gray, 68; wife Georgeanna, 48; sons Bennie, 19, and Stephen, 13, and grandchildren Robert, 12, Walter, 9, Boney, 8, and Ellen Gray, 10, and Loneva Battle, 5.
On 4 June 1937, Elroy Battle, 21, of Wilson County, son of Alfred and Exie Battle, married Ellen Gray, 18, of Wilson County, daughter of William and Georgeanna Gray, in Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina. Witnesses to the ceremony included Eva Gray of Black Creek and Alice Artis of Wilson.
In 1940, Elroy Battle registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 15 August 1918 in Wilson County; lived on R.F.D. 3, Wilson; his contact was wife Ellen Battle; and he was self-employed.
In the 1940 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Elroy Battle, 21; wife Ellen, 20; sister Daisy, 19; brother-in-law Barney Gray, 18; and brother Lonnie Battle, 13.
In the 1950 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Elroy Battle, 31, farmer; wife Ellen, 30; son Richard Ray, 4; and cousin Walter Gray, 29.
News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 1 June 1925.
News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 29 August 1938.
News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 25 September 1947.
Walter S. Hines Barber Shop regularly advertised for barbers in the Raleigh News and Observer. Hines died in 1941, but his son Carl W. Hines continued to manage the business. By 1947, Hines’ ad touted the availability of housing — likely in the family’s large real estate portfolio — for a family man.
The Freeman (Indianapolis, Ind.), 12 June 1915.
Whaaatttt? In 1915, Dr. Joseph H. Ward was planning to leave Indianapolis to come home to Wilson to practice medicine??? He went so far as to resign his leadership position with the Y.M.C.A. — what changed his mind?
The 66-year arc of Wilson’s beloved Monitors postdates Black Wide-Awake ‘s focus, but I don’t need an excuse to recommend John Harris’ brand-new history of this legendary band. The Monitors have been a constant my entire life, and I knew their basic story, but every other page — especially in the narrative of their early years and Sam Lathan‘s tidbits about East Wilson in the 1940s — was a delightful reveal.
Ann Williamson, who lived in what was then far western Nash County, made out her will in November 1807. Its bequests included three enslaved people — woman named Pat and Rachel and a boy named Arch. (Bartley Deans was a witness.)
We examined Williamson’s estate here.
Will of Ann Williamson (1807), North Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 [database on-line], Ancestry.com.
I was looking for an African-American family in the Evansdale area when I ran across this notation in the 1910 census of Stantonsburg township. A closer look revealed that enumerator R.B. Barnes divided Enumeration District 110 into four sections — the white residents of the town of Stantonsburg, the black residents of the town of Stantonsburg, the black residents (who made up the majority) of the rest of the township, and finally the rest of the white residents.
No other township is enumerated this way and, in fact, I’ve never seen this imposed segregation in any other census record anywhere.
