We first encountered foot doctor Zebulon Myer Johnson in a post about his will. His obituary and a tribute letter yield more details of his singular life. Per Silas Lucas, a former mayor of Wilson, Johnson attended Cornell University and studied chiropody under a practitioner in Nashville, Tennessee. He was licensed to practice in North Carolina and Virginia and traveled a circuit through eastern North Carolina caring for patients’ feet. In 1926, he married Roberta Battle (one of the school boycott teachers) and settled in Wilson.

Wilson Daily Times, 14 July 1934.

Wilson Daily Times, 16 July 1934.

Wilson Daily Times, 16 July 1934.