Author: Lisa Y. Henderson

History. Genealogy. Culture.

To have and to hold said land, no. 9.

Abstracts of deeds recording the purchase of real property by African-Americans during the first fifty years of freedom (or earlier):

  • Pursuant to a Superior Court writ dated 21 June 1869 against Sarah Rose in favor of A.G. Brooks, on 6 September 1869 Wilson County sheriff B.F. Briggs auctioned off a 68-acre parcel of land in Cross Roads township adjacent to B.H. Tyson, Clary Raper, Benajah Scott and others. William Hawley was the high bidder at $50. (William Hawley had married Sarah Rose’s daughter Nancy Rose in 1867.) Deed book 3, page 145.
  • On 28 December 1871, for $500, R.J. and Sallie Taylor sold Thomas Brantley part of the “old Carpenter tract” on “the road” and measuring about 100 acres. Deed book 6, page 386.
  • On 1 January 1872, for $500, R.J. and Sallie Taylor sold George Rountree part of the “old Carpenter tract” bounded by Taylor, Tom Brantley, and “the road” and measuring about 100 acres. Deed book 5, page 506.
  • On 26 February 1872, for $300, Moses Adams bought Thomas Brantley and wife for “a part of the old Carpenter tract” deeded to Thomas Brantley by R.J. Taylor. The property was adjacent to Thomas Brantley, Hilliard Ellis, and George Rountree and contained about 58 acres. Deed book 13, page 417. Adams bought the property on credit, and if he timely paid the Brantleys $240.25 by 1 December 1873, the mortgage deed was void. If not, the land would be sold for cash at auction. Deed book 6, page 58.
  • On 3 March 1873, for $625, David and Edny Peel of Wayne County, N.C., sold Albert Adams of Wilson County a tract adjoining William Hawley, Mabrey Renfrow, Jesse H. Peel, and Sandy Run, containing 173 acres. Deed book 7, page 357.
  • Moses Hagans died intestate on about 20 March 1873, leaving a widow Treasey Hagans. On 17 April 1873, Thomas and Lucinda Brantley and Treasey Hagans agreed that the Brantleys would convey to Hagans as her dower about nine acres adjoining Ellick Eatmon. (Lucinda Brantley was Moses and Theresa Lassiter Hagans’ daughter. Moses Hagans’ estate was meager, and the conveyance apparently was made to provide Treasey Hagans some security.) Deed book 7, page 541.

Lane Street Project: buy a white rose.

Even if you can’t make the ceremony, you can celebrate the occasion and honor the ancestors with flowers. Each white rose will be placed alongside a large floral arrangement at Vick Cemetery.

Please place your order — early and often — with Braswell’s Flower Shop at (252) 218-4265 or (252) 903-7241 or via CashApp $gr480. Thank you!

John and Ida Clark, as imagined.

I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.

I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated.

——

John H. Clark (1863-1949), mail carrier and Episcopal lay leader, and Ida R. Crenshaw Clark (1863-1942), teacher.

Bon voyage to the Butterfields; Dr. Ward stops through; and other social doings.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 18 July 1931.

——

 

1100 East Nash Street, revisited.

Known as the Sallie Barbour house, 1100 East Nash Street was demolished in the early 2000s.

Houses, 700-1497 E. Nash Street, East Wilson Historic District, Wilson, Wilson County, Survey and National Register Branch, State Historic Preservation Office, Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and Records, Raleigh.

600 East Green Street, re-re-re-visited.

I’m not still not clear about the first owner of the lot at 600 [originally 601] East Green Street. However, the house mouldering there now is not the original.

Here is that house:

In the 1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory shows:

So we know the Reids owned and built on the lot prior to 1908. The 1913 Sanborn fire insurance map shows this two-story house at 601 East Green:

But here is the house in the 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map. It has two stories, but does not resemble the one above. (However, it does match the house now onsite.)

What happened between 1913 and 1922?

Lane Street Project: trespass.

Yeah. That’s exactly what you think it is. A car … all the way at the back fence of Vick Cemetery. This kind of trespass — and disrespect — continues to happen, though every vehicle that enters has to pass at least one granite pillar emblazoned with the cemetery’s name and climb a curb out of the paved parking lot. 

Vick Cemetery is a sacred space. Lane Street Project — and now the City’s Vick Cemetery Advisory Committee — are working hard to restore dignity to this place and raise awareness of its significance and history. We need the community’s help.