Month: October 2024

The estate of Arnold Peele (1873).

We read here of half-brothers Jack Williamson and Willis Barnes, who were sons of Toney Eatmon. We now have evidence of another brother of Williamson, Arnold Peele.

Both Arnold Peele and his wife Hannah Eatmon Peele died in 1873.

On 10 July 1873, Jack Williamson renounced his intention to serve as administrator of Arnold Peele’s estate and requested that public administrator Larry D. Farmer serve instead.

The same day, Farmer applied for and was granted letters of administration. By his estimate, Peele’s estate was worth about $200 and his heirs were Jack Williamson, Charity Bynum, (who likely was his sister), and Joseph Farmer, executor of the estate of Hannah Peele. (Arnold Peele had no known living children, and the omission of Willis Barnes as an heir suggests that Peel and Williamson were maternal siblings.)

Receipt from L.D. Farmer to Isabell Eatman for “attending to stock &c of Arnold Peel,” dated 30 July 1873.

On 30 July 1873, L.D. Farmer offered Arnold Peele’s personal property for sale at auction. Isabella Eatmon, who may have been his stepdaughter, bid most often, winning numerous small household items. Among the neighbors who forked over small sums for various goods were John Kates [Cates], Sam Locust, Jack Williamson, Jacob Jones, and Orren Taborn. The entire sale netted only $215.55.

Hannah Peele died with a will, but I have not found a copy. Isabelle Eatmon, who presumably was her daughter, was her sole legatee and was paid out on 22 December 1873. (Hannah Eatmon Peele also had a son, Benjamin Eatmon, who seems to have predeceased her.)

On 26 September 1876, Sampson Bailey of Monticello, Arkansas, filed acknowledgement of receipt of the payout made to his wife, Charity “Cherry” Bailey.

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On 23 August 1866, Arnold Peel married Hannah Eatmond in Wilson County.

On 11 December 1868, Benjamin Eatman, son of Benjamin Winbun and Hanna Eatman, married Dina Locus, daughter of Gains and Zina Locus, in Wilson County.

In the 1870 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: Arnand Peel, 39, farm laborer; wife Hannah, 40; and Hannah Jr., 14.

Snaps, no. 114: William and Martha Ann Bynum Finch.

William and Martha Ann Bynum Finch.

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In the 1880 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: Calvin Bynum, 31, farmer; wife Pherabe, 28; and children Olive, 9, Fannie, 7, Martha Ann, 5, Joseph, 2, and Benjamin, 3 months.

On 23 January 1898, William Finch, 29, married Martha Bynum, 22, in Wilson County.

In the 1900 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer William Finch, 39; wife Martha A., 25; children Luginia, 12, Anachy, 9, and David, 1; and aunt Lanie Finch, 54.

In the 1910 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: William Finch, 44; wife Mattie, 36; and children Anachie, 18, David, 12, John W., 10, Lafayette L., 6, Pearlie, 4, Leora, 2, and James H., 1 month.

In the 1920 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer William Finch, 56; wife Mattie, 45; and children David, 20, John William, 19, Lafayette L., 15, Pearlie, 14, Leora, 12, James, 8, Willie, 6, and Lessie, 1.

In the 1930 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer William Finch, 65; wife Martha, 57; and children Lafayette L., 24, James, 20, Willie, 17, Lessie, 13, and Moses, 7.

William Finch died & March 1936 in Lucama, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 1 November 1860 in Nash County; was married to Marthann Finch; worked as a farmer; and was buried in “home cem.” Johnnie Finch was informant.

In the 1940 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: Marthy Finch, 68; sons Layette, 36, Lessie, 21, and Mose, 19; daughter-in-law Eldora, 35; and grandson Robert Lee, 4.

Martha Finch died 7 February 1958 in Lucama, Springhill township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 17 June 1873 in Wilson to Calvin Bynum and Farbee [maiden name unknown]; was the widow of William Finch; and was buried in Finch Cemetery. Pearley Finch was informant.

Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com Neshele Godfrey.

The last will and testament of Sally Barnes.

Sally Barnes drafted her simple will on 22 April 1909, leaving all her property to her husband Ed Barnes and nieces Lizzie and Bruce Adams. Samuel H. Vick and Julia Burnett signed the document as witnesses. Barnes died months later, and Vick was appointed administrator of her small estate on 8 January 1910.

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On 3 June 1897, Ed Barnes, 22, married Sallie Johnson, 21, at N.A. Adams’ in Wilson County. Missionary Baptist minister Crockett Bess performed the ceremony in the presence of Adams, Alfonzo Graves, and J.W. McKay.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farm laborer Edwin Barnes, 25, and wife Sallie, 24. Next door: sawmill fireman Nathan Adams, 30; wife Bruce, 26; and daughters Lizza, 6, and Sissie, 4. [It appears in fact that Nathan Adams’ wife was Lizzie, and their daughter was Bruce.]

Bruce Adams died 25 April 1914 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 27 June 1894 in Wilson County to Nathan Adams and Lizzie Adams; worked as a cook; and was buried in Wilson [likely Vick Cemetery.] Lizzie Adams was informant.

Will of Sally Barnes (1910), Wilson, North Carolina, Wills 1663-1978, http://www.familysearch.org.

Aldridge and Boseman links to Wilson County.

We have seen the notices Guilford Horn published in 1850 seeking the return of a runaway enslaved man named Harry. Horn lived four miles north of Wilson in what was then Edgecombe County (and is now roughly just west of the Bridgestone tire plant.) He suggested that Harry might be “lurking” in the Texas neighborhood of Wilmington, North Carolina, where Sally Bozeman, his free-born wife, had recently moved.

Two years earlier, Guilford Horn had stood as bondsman for John Mathew Aldridge, a free man of color, who applied for a license in Edgecombe County to marry Catherine Bozeman, a free woman of color and likely the sister or close kin of Sally Bozeman.

In the 1850 census of Wilmington, there’s no sign of Sally, but: Matthew Ollage, 28; wife Catharine, 19; and sons William, 6 months, and J.H., 5. [John Henry Aldridge was Mathew Aldridge’s son by a first wife whose first name may’ve been Tabitha. John H. Aldridge’s children James Aldridge and Nina Faison Kornegay Hardy settled in Wilson in the early 1900s.] By 1860, Mathew and Catherine Aldridge were in Buck Swamp township, Wayne County (west of modern Pikeville), closer to his kin in southern Wayne County. Twenty year-old James Bosman lived with them and, like Mathew, worked as a railroad hand.

The obituary of Charlie W. Harper.

Petersburg Progress Index, 19 July 1967.

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In 1942, Charlie Wesley Harper registered for the World War II draft in Petersburg, Virginia. Per his registration card, he was born 30 January 1896 in Robinson [sic] County, North Carolina; lived at 469 Byrne Street, Petersburg; his contact was Mary Harper, same address; and he worked for Boyle Russell Wise Contracting Company, Richmond, Virginia.

In the 1950 census of Petersburg, Virginia: at 300 Gill Street, Charlie Harper, 54, widower, born in North Carolina, wholesale tobacco factory laborer.

Charlie Wesley Harper died 18 July 1967 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Durham, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 17 April 1896 in Cumberland County, N.C.; was a widower; worked in construction; and lived at 508 New Bern Street, Wilson.

Albert Finch’s patriotic utterances.

Wilson Daily Times, 29 August 1918.

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On 27 October 1909, William A. Finch, 27, of Nash County, son of Z.D. Finch and Minnie Ann Finch, married Lougene Finch, 20, of Cross Roads township, daughter of Billie and Mattie Finch, in Wilson.

In the 1910 census of Dry Wells township, Nash County, North Carolina: farmer Albert Finch, 25, and wife Lula, 20.

In 1918, William Albert Finch registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 3 December 1881; lived at R.F.D. #3, Lucama, Wilson County; farmed for W.J. Newsome; and his nearest relative was Lugenia Finch.

In the 1920 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Albert Finch, 33, and wife Lugenia, 31.

Lougenia Finch died 30 August 1923 in Cross Roads township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, her birthdate was unknown; she was born in Wilson County to William and Flossie Finch; was married to Albert Finch; and was buried in the Zid Finch Cemetery in Middlesex [Nash County].

In the 1930 census of Dry Wells township, Nash County, North Carolina: Zid D. Finch, 78; wife Minnie A., 68; son Albert, 51; daughter Mamie, 24; and grandchildren Joseph W., 14, Clois E., 10, James T., 8, and Warnealy Ward, 6.

In the 1940 census of Dry Wells township, Nash County, North Carolina: Albert Finch, 58; son Thomas, 19; and daughter Junita, 16.

William Albert Finch died 26 May 1962 in Rocky Mount, Nash County. Per his death certificate, he was born 3 December 1881 in Wilson to Zid and Men Finch; was the widower of Lugenia Finch; lived in Middlesex, Nash County; and was buried in Finch Cemetery, Nash County.