To stave off responsibility for caring for poor women and their children, unwed mothers were regularly brought before justices of the peace to answer sharp questions about their circumstances.
On 9 August 1869, Ann Anderson admitted to Wilson County justice of the peace F.W. Taylor that she had given birth to a child whose father was John Brown. Taylor ordered that Brown be arrested and taken to a justice to answer Anderson’s charge.
Wilson Advance, 28 June 1888.
Wilson’s “colored nines” beat Tarboro’s 8-1!
Hat tip to Cliff Darden. Thanks!
Wilson Daily Times, 27 March 1948.
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In the 1900 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: farmer Spencer Wilkins, 45; wife Martha A., 27; and children Mary J., 18, Silva A., 17, Walter, 14, John, 9, Steller, 7, Annie B., 5, Susia, 3, Alger, 1, and Dianie, 0 months.
On 9 January 1906, John Wilkins, 20, of Oldfields township, son of S.M. and Riney Wilkins, married Rosa Arrington, 21, of Oldfields township, daughter of Tempy Arrington Coley, in Oldfields township, Wilson County. Ed Coley applied for the license.
On 26 July 1920, Johnie Wilkins, 38, of Nash County, N.C., married Effie Allen, 28, of Taylor township, in Wilson,
In the 1930 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: farmer John Wilkins, 53, and wife Effie, 38.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 617 Hines, John Wilkins, 59; wife Effie, 50; daughter Victoria, 28; and grandson David W. Wolf[?], 6.
John W. Wilkins died 22 March 1948 at the County Home, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 20 October 1882 in Wilson County to Spence Wilkins and Ronnie Locus; lived 617 West Hines Street; was married; worked in farming; and was buried in New Vester Cemetery. Walter Wilkins was informant.
The two hundredth in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
The photo above was taken in April 2008 for Google Maps Streetview. A year later, the house at 106 South East Street was sold to the City of Wilson and demolished to make way for the Freeman Place housing development.
As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District: “ca. 1913; 1 story; Dempsey Lassiter house; L-plan cottage with hip-roofed porch; aluminum-sided.”
In 1918, Dempsey Lassiter registered for the World War I draft. Per his registration card, he lived at 103 East Street; was born 28 October 1874; was a blacksmith for Hackney Wagon Company; and his nearest relative was Mary Jane Lassiter.
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on East Street, wagon factory laborer Dempsey Lassiter, 35, and wife Mary, 25.
Detail from 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson.
In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Lassiter Dempsey (c: Mary J) farmer h 106 S East
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 106 East Street, owned and valued at $1250, Dempsey Lassiter, 55, wife Mary J., 44; nephew Charles Bynum, 16; and nieces Katie Powell, 10, and Willie M. Leonard, 6.
In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Lassiter Dempsey (c: Mary J) farmer h 106 S East; Lassiter Robt (c) h 106 S East
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 106 South East Street, farm laborer Dempsey Lassiter, 65; county school teacher Mary, 55; and widowed sister-in-law Carrie Bynum, 30, a housekeeper.
In 1940, Charles Lee Powell registered for the World War II draft in Wilson. Per his registration card, he was born 10 June 1918 in Nash County, N.C.; lived at 114 South East Street, Wilson; his contact was uncle Dempsey Lassiter, 110 [sic] South East Street; and he worked for G. S. Tucker & Company, South Goldsboro Street, Wilson.
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Lassiter Dempsey (c: Mary J) farmer h 106 S East
Dempsey Lassiter died 16 July 1946 at his home at 106 South East Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was married; was 68 years old; was born in Wilson County to Green Lassiter and Mary Powell; was a farmer; and his informant was Mary J. Lassiter. He was buried in Rountree cemetery [actually, Odd Fellows cemetery].
Mary Jane Lassiter died 21 August 1966 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 84 years old; was born in Wilson County to Charles Bynum and Julia Ann Davis; was a school teacher; and was a widow. James Bynum was informant.
The twenty-first in a series of posts highlighting the schools that educated African-American children outside the town of Wilson in the first half of the twentieth century. The posts will be updated; additional information, including photographs, is welcome.
Sims School
Sims School is listed in “Survey File Materials Received from Volunteer Surveyors of Rosenwald Schools Since September 2002.”
Location: Down a dirt path behind Flat Rock Church of Christ Disciples and a mobile home, Flat Rock Church Road, Sims.
Per sale advertised for several weeks in the Wilson Daily Times in the fall of 1951: “SIMS COLORED SCHOOL in Oldfields Township, near the Town of Sims, and being Lots Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, in Block H as shown by map or plat recorded in Book 78, at page 125, Wilson County Registry, containing 1 5/8 acres more or less. Also the lot excepted from the deed from the Board of Education of Wilson County to Ruben Peele dated 14 March, 1929 and of Record in Book 179 at Page 478, Wilson County Registry. See deeds recorded in Book 179, at pages 513 and 514, Wilson County Registry.”
On 19 November 1951, Grover L. Jones made the high bid of $800 at the auction of Sims School, but the Board Education determined the bid was inadequate. Jones raised his bid to $925, and he and his wife Allencia Jones took possession.
When Research Report was published, Sims School was one of two Rosenwald schools more-or-less standing in Wilson County, as shown in this photo from the report:
Since then, the school building has completely collapsed.
Known faculty: principal Howard M. Fitts; teachers Alice M. Shaw, Vivian M. Speight.
Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, March 2025.
Yearbooks can be a valuable source of photographs of community members whose images were infrequently captured or retained. The 1952 edition of Charles H. Darden High School’s yearbook, The Trojan, highlighted the custodial staff, which included Lessie Mercer, born in Wilson County in 1892.
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In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: day laborer Hayard Cooper, 50; wife Jula, 30, washing; and children Willie, 8, Lessy, 7, Hallie, 4, and George, 2.
In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Lipscomb Road, widow Julia Cooper, 40, farm laborer, and children Lessie, 18, cook, Mahaly, 16, cook, Jessie, 9, and Allen, 5.
On 21 March 1911, Isiah Mercer, 2o, of Wilson, son of Henry and Florence Mercer of Wilson, married Less Cooper, 19, daughter of Heywood and Julia Cooper of Wilson, at July Cooper’s residence in Wilson. Primitive Baptist Minister Jonah Williams performed the ceremony.
In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Mercer Lessie (c) lab h Harper’s Ln nr Herring av
Mable Mercer died 28 January 1915 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 8 March 1913 in Wilson to Isear Mercer of Florida and Lessie Cooper of North Carolina and was buried in Wilson [probably, Vick Cemetery.]
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 217 Hackney, Isax Mercer, 28, factory laborer; wife Lessie, 27; and lodger Walter Mumford, 19, lumber yard laborer.
In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Mercer Lessie (c) laundress h 314 Hackney
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 908 Carolina Street, tobacco factory laborer Isear Mercer, 51; wife Lessie, 48, laundress; and mother Julia Johnston, 68.
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Isear Mercer, 63, “drives floor truck – local tobacco factory”; wife Lessie, 58, maid at local colored school; mother-in-law Julia Johnson, 76, widow; and nephew Augustus Mercer, 25.
Isear Mercer died 4 June 1953 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 13 June 1892 in Wilson County to Henry Mercer and Florence Farmer; was married; lived at 908 Carolina Street; and worked as a laborer. Lessie Mercer was informant.
Lessie Cooper Mercer died in August 1975.
Wilson Daily Times, 7 March 1950.
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In the 1920 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: Charlie Proctor, 48, farmer; daughters Bessie, 14, Lessie, 10, Emma, 9, and Gessie, 7; sister-in-law Rosa Ruffin, widow, 37; and her sons Garfield, 19, and Thomas, 14.
In 1940, Thurman Ruffin registered for the World war II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 3 March 1907 in Lucama, N.C.; lived at 518 East Walnut Street, Wilson; his contact was mother Rosa Ruffin, 901 Mercer Street; and he worked for Williams Lumber Company.
Rosa O. Ruffin died 5 March 1950 at 604 South Spring Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 15 January 1897 in Wilson County to Steven Ruffin and Etta [no maiden name listed] and was a widow. Emma Bradberry was informant.
From the obituary of General Joshua Barnes, Zion’s Landmark, vol. 24, no. 3, 15 December 1890:
“A great benefactor as well as a special friend of so many individuals, General Barnes, in the 78th year of his age on the 13th day of October, 1890, at the residence of his son in law, Mr. A. Branch of Wilson, lingering only a few weeks, after a second attack of paralysis, with no indications of pain, gently breathed out the last of his mortal existence.
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“He spent his entire life in this community — was aggressive in style, turning up things rather than waiting for them to turn up; and in spite of his liberality and charitableness, this world’s goods continued to accumulate around him; and although in consequence of the late war his loss in slaves and other property was immense, he was nevertheless left in possession of a handsome estate.
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“Early in life he embraced the Primitive Baptist doctrine … [and] about 14 years ago at Toisnot Bridge near Wilson, by Elder P.D. Gold and Elder Wm. Woodard and Dick Pender, the faithful colored janitor, he together with his brother Wm. Barnes Jr., were immersed. Considering his weight some 250 pounds, that he was so helpless his entire left side still being paralized, and that he had to be baptized in an invalid’s chair, the baptism was considered a most remarkable one. …”
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On 16 January 1869, Jolly Taylor, son of Spencer Farmer and Cherry Taylor, married Patsey Farmer, daughter of Benj. and Ellen Farmer, in Wilson.
In the 1870 census of Joyners township, Wilson County: farm laborer Jolly Taylor, 35; wife Patsey, 48; Dock Taylor, 15; and Nellie, 12, Haywood and Richard, 12, and George Farmer, 16.
In the 1880 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Jolly Taylor, 60; wife Cherry, 38; son Richard, 18, farm laborer; and David Cotton, 18, farm laborer.
In the 1900 census of Concordia Parish, Louisiana: farmer Patrick Jackson, 44, born in Mississippi; wife Anna, 26; stepson Charlie Armstrong, 12; uncle Jolly Taylor, 86; aunt Cherry Taylor, 69; and orphan Susie Harris, 8. All except Patrick Jackson were born in North Carolina. [Pat Jackson married Anna Armstrong 16 October 1899 in Concordia Parish, Louisiana.]
Cherry Tillery died 30 November 1916 in Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was about 72 years old; was born in Wilson County to Jollie Taylor and Jinnie Farmer; was married; and was buried in Elm City. Henry Ruffin was informant.
Ellen Taylor died 21 February 1919 in Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was about 70 years old; was born in Wilson County to Jolly Taylor; and was buried in Elm, City. Charlie Armstrong was informant.
Lucy Taylor died 25 June 1928 in Township No. 10, Edgecombe County. Per her death certificate, she was about 74 years old; was born in Wilson County to Jollie Taylor; was married; and was buried in Pitt Burying Ground, Edgecombe County.
My childhood “village” has lost another father — James Edward Farmer Jr. Mr. Farmer and my dad were members of Darden High School’s beloved Class of 1952, and I last saw him at my father‘s funeral in 2022. He had deep, deep Wilson County roots, and I’ve written of his childhood home and his Farmer, Barnes, and Hunter-Whitehead kin.
My deepest condolences to his wife of nearly 67 years (and childhood sweetheart), Marian Sewell Farmer; his sons James Edward III and Allegro M. Farmer; his grandson James Edward IV; and all who loved him.
Top photo courtesy of the family; bottom photos from 1952 Darden High School yearbook.