Wilson Daily Times, 1 November 1929.

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This suit is most interesting, in my view, because Camillus L. Darden, in his capacity as administrator of the estate of Evan Powell, was going up against R.G. Lassiter and Company, the roadwork behemoth.

Powell was born in far southeast North Carolina, 125 miles from Wilson. He had left Columbus County before he was 20, finding work as a furnace man at a Baltimore copper smelting company. He registered for the World War I draft in Maryland, listing his mother in North Carolina as his nearest relative. By 1920, he had returned home to Whiteville. When he arrived in Wilson is unknown, but he settled into a house on Hadley Street and took a job as a day laborer with R.G. Lassiter. On 28 December 1928, he was digging a ditch at a Mercer Street construction site when the trench collapsed, crushing him under the dirt. He was pulled free, paralyzed, but died two days later.

Darden’s lawyers pursued the case to the North Carolina Supreme Court, where Powell’s estate ultimately was awarded $5234.03, with costs and interest. The final account Darden filed shows payments for attorneys and other litigation expenses, a a nice commission for Darden, and the remaining 40% divided between Powell’s four siblings.

Wilson County, North Carolina, Property Settlement Records 1923-1931, http://www.familysearch.org.