Having joined the Great Migration north, in 1903 William and Fannie Best Rountree sold the property William inherited from his father Warren Rountree. The Rountrees settled first in Philadelphia, then moved to Asbury Park, New Jersey, around 1904.

Deed Book 68, page 224, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson, N.C.

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In the 1880 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer Orren Best, 31, wife Hansey, 31, and children James, 9, Oscar, 6, George, 4, Fannie, 2, and Hattie, 3 months.

In the 1880 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: farmer Alfred Woodard, 50; wife Sarah, 45; children Florence, 28, Mary, 22, Howell, 18, Sarah E., 16, Zilly A., 17, Lundon, 13, Minnie, 12, Willie, 10, Josephine, 7, and Evvy, 4; and grandchildren Elizabeth, 7, Robt. B., 5, and John H. Bynum, 4. [Willie and Josephine were Alfred Woodard’s stepchildren. Their father Warren Rountree died in 1871, and Alfred Woodard’s wife Harriet Woodard Woodard soon after. On 13 February 1873, Alfred Woodard married Warren Rountree’s widow Sarah Woodard Rountree, who was his first wife’s sister.]

On 28 March 1900, Fannie Best, 22, married Willie Rountree, 28, at Orren Best’s house. Minister R.S. Rives performed the ceremony in the presence of Levi James, Fred Vastenable and Martha Vastenable.

In the 1900 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farm laborer Willie Rountree, 29, and wife Fannie, 22. 

In the 1910 census of Asbury Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey: at 1310 Springwood Avenue, William Roundtree, 38, born N.C., odd jobs laborer; wife Fannie, 32, born N.C.; children Viola, 9, born N.C., Ethel, 6, born Pennsylvania, and Virginia, 5, born New Jersey; and boarders Henry Dixon, 49, and Edna Williams, 3.

In the 1915 state census of Asbury Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey: at 8 Borden Avenue, mail carrier William Roundtree, 45; wife Fanny, 37; children Viola, 14, Ethel, 11, Virginia, 10, and William Jr., 4; and boarders Richard M. Brooks, 43, and William Vance, 22.

In the 1920 census of Asbury Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey: hotel waiter William Rountree, 49; wife Fannie, 46; children Ethel, 16, Virginia, 14, and William Jr., 9; and lodgers Bertha Bess, 32, and Arthur Green, 12.

Asbury Park, New Jersey, city directory (1922).

In the 1930 census of Asbury Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey: at 8 Borden Avenue, owned and valued at $3000, city laborer William Rountree, 59; wife Fannie, 49; children Ethel, 26, maid, and William Jr., 20, chauffeur; and boarded Lulu Vann, 59, maid.

William W. Roundtree died 16 November 1932 in Asbury Park.

Asbury Park Press, 16 November 1932.

In the 1940 census of Asbury Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey: at 8 Borden Avenue, owned and valued at $2000, widow Fannie Rountree, 62, laundress, and five boarders. 

Fannie Rountree died 2 September 1953 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per her death certificate, she was born 2 February 1876 in Wilson, North Carolina, to Oren Best and Nancy Harper; lived in Asbury Park, New Jersey; was a widow; and was buried in White Ridge Cemetery, Eatontown, New Jersey. Ethel L. Rountree was informant.