Month: July 2025

Nurse Faison makes a recovery.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 24 June 1933.

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  • Charlotte Hall Faison

In the 1900 census of Cross Creek township, Cumberland County, N.C.: seamstress Alice Hall, 44, widow, seamstress; children Caroline, 22, seamstress, Mary A., 20, schoolteacher, George B., 19, day laborer, Theodosia, 14, Charlotte, 12, Rosa D., 7, Henry W., 4, and Isaac B., 24, farmer; daughter-in-law Mary E., 20; grandchildren Willie Ann, 2, and Alice P., 8 months; mother-in-law Jessie D., 74, widow; and cousin Annie, 27, day laborer.

On 24 April 1909, Austin McQueen, 22, born in South Carolina to Sidney and Annie McQueen, married Charlotte Hall, 20, born in North Carolina to Isaac and Alice Hall, in Manchester, Virginia.

In the 1910 census of Fayetteville, Cumberland County, N.C.: carpenter Louis Gill, 68; wife Alice H., 49, seamstress; stepchildren Carrie, 23, seamstress, Theodolia, 19, Rosa D., 15, and Henry W. Hall, 13; stepdaughter Mary A. Butler, 21; stepson-in-law Austin McQueen, 22, clothes cleaner at tailor shop,  and stepdaughter Charlotte, 19.

On 12 September 1916, Cape Fear News, reported that public health nurse Charlotte Hall McQueen had visited 258 patients.

On 4 December 1917, Grant J. Faison, 35, of Rocky Mount, N.C., son of Bill and Hannah Faison, married Charlotte M. Hall, 26, of Fayetteville, N.C., daughter of Isaac B. Hall and Alice H. Gill, in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, N.C.

In 1918, Grant Jackson Faison registered for the World War I draft in Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County, N.C. Per his registration form, he was born 3 March 1881; lived at 406 Carolina Avenue, Rocky Mount; was a tobacco worker for Imperial Tobacco; and his nearest relative was Charlotte Faison.

In the 1920 census of Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County, N.C.: Grant J. Faison, 37, tobacco factory fireman, and wife Charlotte, 37, trained nurse.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Faison Grant J (c; Charlotte M) gro 502 N Vick h 801 E Green

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 801 East Green Street, owned and valued at $3000, grocery store merchant Grant Faisson, 46, and wife Charlotte, 42, trained nurse at hospital.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 801 East Green Street, owned and valued at $2500, retail grocery store operator Grant T. Faison, 58, and wife Charlotte M., 52, saleswoman at retail grocery store.

In 1942, Victor Morie Hall registered for the World War II draft in Asbury Park, N.J. Per his registration card, he was born 3 May 1923 in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, N.C.; lived at 621 West 25th Street, Winston-Salem; had a temporary mailing address at Monterey Hotel, Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park, N.J.; his contact was Charlotte Faison, 801 East Green Street; and he worked for the Monterey Hotel, Asbury Park.

In the 1950 census of Kings County, New York: at 548 McDonough Street, Frank [sic] J. Faison, 68, restaurant porter, and wife Charlotte, 61, hospital nurse.

  • Mary Mahoney Nurses’ Club of Wilson

Roney Baker’s class portrait.

At Wilson Colored Graded School (also known as Stantonsburg Street School and, later, Sallie Barbour School), classes regularly posed for group photos on the school’s front steps.

In this photo, taken in the late 1910’s, Roney Baker sits third from right on the second row. He was about six years old. Though this was one teacher’s class, notice the range in her pupils’ ages. As noted here, “[t]hree thousand African-American children in Wilson County were enrolled in eight grades during the 1923-1924 school year. They ranged from six to twenty years of age. The 1689 first graders ranged from six to seventeen years old, and nearly two-thirds were classified as ‘over age.’ There were three nineteen year-old second graders, and a full fifth of all third graders were thirteen years old. One was twenty. Only 17 of 269 fourth graders were age-appropriate. The eighth grade class — the highest grade offered to black children — tallied a single pupil.”

Do you recognize the teacher or any other students?

Many thanks to Verona Barnes True for sharing this photo.

Presbyterian popularity contest winner.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 22 April 1939.

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In the 1930 census of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: Jesse Winn, 38, railroad shifter; wife Katie, 37; and children Ralph, 16, George, 14, Charlie, 9, Jennie M., 7, Marie, 6, Herbert, 4, Katie, 2, and Edward, 1.

In the 1940 census of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: on Main Street, Jessie Wynn, 45, grocery store merchant; wife Kattie, 45; and children Ralph E., 25, garage mechanic, Charlie, 19, Jennie Mae, 17, Marie, 16, Hurbert, 14, Kattie D., 12, Rudolph, 11, Lindbergh, 8, and Joyce, 4.

In the 1950 census of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: on Main Street, grocery store salesclerk Katie Wynn, 55, and children Marie, 25, Herbert, 23, cabdriver,  Katie, 22, and Joyce, 14.

Funeral Program Friday: Jeanette Barnes Plummer.

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In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Warren Barnes, 50; wife Agnes, 38; and children Addie, 18, Willie, 17, and Jinnet, 10.

On 1 October 1908, Samuel Plummer, 23, of Wilson, son of David and Ella Plummer, married Jenette Barnes, 20, of Wilson, daughter of Warren and Agnes Barnes, at the bride’s residence. A.M.E. Zion minister N.D. King performed the ceremony in the presence of Levi Jones, Charles Holland, and Charles Woodard.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Nash Street, box factory laborer Sam Plummer, 23; wife Jennette, 21; and son Aron, 11 months. 

In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Plummer Jeanette (c; laundress) h 522 e Nash

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 544 Nash Street, Sam Plumer, 34; wife Jennette, 28; and children Irean, 10, and Christeen, 7.

In the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Plummer Jennie (c; dom) h 553 e Nash

In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Plummer Jeanette (c; laundress) h 607 e Green

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Plumer Jeanette (c; lndrs) h 522 e Nash

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 112 Pender, Jenette Plumber, 40, widow, laundress; daughters Irene, 20, Christine, 18, and Jennette B., 21, all cooks; mother Agnes Barnes, 75; and lodger Lizzie Bryant, 28, cook.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 542 East Nash, Jeannette Plummer, 49; grandson Sam Latham, 9; nephew John Lee, 36, servant; and lodger Maggie Bradley, 28, laundress in Chinese laundry.

In 1942, Scott Bradley registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 13 March 1902 in Sumter, South Carolina; lived at 542 East Nash Street; his contact was Jennett Plumer, 542 East Nash; and he worked for A.C.L.R.R. Co., Tampa, Florida.

In the 1950 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: William Dew, 46; wife Irene, 41; and mother-in-law Jenette Plummer, 59.

Courtesy of Samuel C. Lathan.

Lane Street Project: College View Cemetery.

Though I will always be of Wilson, I have lived in Atlanta for most of my adult life. It is very much “home” for me, too, and its bottomless well of African-American culture and history often informs the way I process research and works related to Black Wide-Awake and Lane Street Project.

I’ve recently begun visiting metro Atlanta’s historic African-American burial grounds. How have they weathered exploding population growth, shifting demographics, outmigration, land loss, and other pressures? The fourth in a series — College View Cemetery, College Park, Fulton County.

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College View Cemetery is at the end of a dead-end street behind a church in a Black neighborhood a few blocks west of downtown College Park. Per Findagrave.com, the cemetery, which sprawls down into a gulch and back into brushy woods, holds at least 800 graves and “at one time served as one of the only cemeteries for African American residents in south Fulton County.” It is quasi-maintained, with small clearings opening off a central mowed pathway. The grave markers are generally in bad shape, with many broken or skewed.

The area nearest the street is well-mowed, but its grave markers and plot walls show extensive damage.

Kudzu is relentless in Georgia. It is evident that it has swallowed a significant percentage of this cemetery.

An Eldren Bailey-made marker.

Another cleared area is visible beyond mounds of kudzu.

An unmarked vault cover at the edge of the center aisle.

Burials appear to range from the 1920s to about 2000.

The Jackson plot.

Terribly, this broken burial vault is filled with water. 

The Goodrum plot resists kudzu, creeping charlie, and Japanese stiltgrass.

Around the bend, more burials.

Curiously, the large granite plaque leaning against the pole reads “Bethany Baptist Church/ Established in 1896/ Rebuilt 1945/ Present building built 1995” and lists a pastor and several officers. However, the adjacent church is Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist, founded in 1917, and there is no Bethany in College Park today.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, July 2025.

Robbers convicted of attack on Vick and Robinson.

The Virginian-Pilot, 19 May 1921.

When we first read of the robbery of Samuel H. Vick and Alfred Robinson (not Albert Roberson), a man named George Jenkins had been arrested. However, Henry Berkley and Jack Bullock were found guilty of the crime and sentenced to seven years in state prison.

The Farmer-Cooke wedding.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 17 July 1943.

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  • Quentin A. Farmer

In the 1930 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: Howard Farmer, 52, wife Sarah, 51, and son Quinton, 7.

In the 1940 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: Howard Farmer, 61, wife Sarah, 61, and son Quenten, 17.

In 1942, Quentin Alston Farmer registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 16 December 1922 in Wilson; lived at Route 2, Elm City; and his contact and employer was father Howard Farmer.

On 21 June 1943, Quenton Farmer, 20, of Elm City, son of Howard and Sarah V. Farmer, married Annie Elizabeth Cooke, 22, of Wilson, daughter of J.L. and Clara R. Cooke, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister William A. Hilliard performed the ceremony in the presence of J.L. Cooke, Charles James, and Carter Foster.

On 4 June 1952, Quentin A. Farmer, 29, of Wilson, son of Howard and Sarah Farmer, married Cecil Chaminade Clinton, 28, of Wilson, daughter of Willie and Lottie Clinton of Silver Spring, Maryland, in Weldon, Halifax County, N.C.

  • Annie E. Cooke

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Hadley Street, railroad mail clerk Jerry L. Cook, 43; wife Clara, 39, teacher; children Henderson, 20, Edwin D., 18, Clara G., 14, Georgia E., 12, Annie, 8, Jerry L., 6, and Eunice D., 4; sister Georgia E. Wyche, 48, teacher; and nieces Kathaline Wyche, 7, and Reba Whittington, 19.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 916 East Green Street, railway clerk J.L. Cook, 54, born Wake County; wife Clara, 48, born Craven County; children Henderson J., 30, Clara, 24, Annie, 18, Jerry, 16, and Eunice, 14; and cousin Ella Godette, 18. Henderson and young Clara were born in New Bern; the remaining children in Wilson.