A couple of weeks ago, I discovered that Columbus E. Artis‘ grave in Rest Haven Cemetery was unmarked. 

For a time, C.E. Artis and Camillus L. Darden ran competing funeral homes in Wilson, with Artis arguably the more prestigious. Here’s what Samuel C. Lathan said about him: 

“I remember C.E. Artis – I think it was a ‘48 hearse. They went to Detroit and bought that thing. And it had a record player in it. And then it had a hydraulic cable in it where, when you open up the side, that hydraulic would raise up and come out, and the casket would come out by itself. And the pallbearers would stand right there and take it right out. Oh, man, it was all kind of – them people would wear hickory-stripe pants, black wool and silk jacket with the vest. Aw, man.”

Darden Memorial was the “old standby.” Artis Funeral Home was fly and flashy. Beautiful cars. Snazzy attendants. His, as his ads touted, was “the home of personal service.” 

Wilson Daily Times, 10 January 1950.

Artis’ first wife, Ada D. Artis, died in early 1951. He quickly remarried. His life began to slide downhill. In 1953, he was charged with violating a city ordinance by failing to buy a license for his business, which seems to have ceased operations the previous year. As early as 1956, he began taking lodgers into his fine East Green Street home, men and women who regularly appeared in the newspaper for petty crime. In 1961, Artis himself spent a few days in jail on a larceny charge. By 1973, it appears there was nothing left but the house, which passed to his widow Ruby Barber Artis at his death. 

Columbus E. Artis is now forgotten by all but the oldest Wilsonians. In his day though, he was an influential businessman and engaged civic leader. He was also my grandmother’s paternal uncle. His was a life worth remembering, and he now has a headstone.

My thanks to Heather Goff of Wilson Cemetery Commission for confirming the location of Artis’ grave and to my cousins Louis Hall Jr. and Louis Hall III of Eastern Carolina Vault Company for quickly turning around my order. Rest in Peace, Columbus Estell Artis.