Freddie Sauls‘ death certificate reveals that he, like Clarence B. Best, worked for a marble company in Wilson.

City directories show that Sauls and Turner Mitchell were employed as stone polishers as early as 1912. They likely worked for E.L. Cobb’s Wilson Marble and Granite Company (also known circa 1920 as Wilson Marble, Mantle & Tile), which was established in 1908 and succeeded J.C. Lanier’s Wilson Marble Company, which was active as early as 1891. Cobb’s business operated at 108 West Nash Street, then 106 North Railroad.

Wilson Mirror, 23 December 1891.

When Clarence Best registered for the World War I draft, he described himself as a stone rubber at Wilson Marble Mantle & Tile Company and, by 1920, as a marble cutter. Within a few years, Best was designing and cutting headstones for African-American clients as a side gig. In 1946, after 32 years with E.L. Cobb, Best opened his own monument business.

Though not a stone cutter, William J. Brake also worked for Wilson Marble, listing his occupation as driver in the 1928 Wilson city directory.

Wilson Times, 21 October 1921.