1890s

What was the Independent School …?, part 2.

In a recent post, I queried the origins of the building used for the Independent School and found a 1897 reference to Silas Lucas moving an old Baptist to “the Tate lot” below the railroad.

Here’s what else I found:

On 26 December 1896, for $250, Hardy and Mary Tate sold Silas Lucas a lot on “____ Street, in or near the corporate limits of the town of Wilson” bounded on the east by the late J.A. Tynes’ property and on the west by the Perry Taylor lot. The lot was the same that Hester A. Winstead had sold J.A. Tynes (recorded in Deed book 25, page 22) and contained one-half acre. Deed Book 42, page 561. Penelope Tynes had inherited the property from her husband J.A. Tynes and had sold it to Mary Tate for $250 on 3 January 1895. Deed book 38, page 230.

In a nutshell:

Mary Tate bought a half-acre lot from Penelope Tynes in January 1895. It was located beyond town limits, i.e. the railroad, on an unnamed street.

In December 1896, Mary Tate and her husband Hardy Tate (because, at that time, what was hers was his) flipped the property to Silas Lucas for no profit.

In early 1897, Lucas moved a disused church to the site and renovated it as a tenement, i.e. a multi-family rental building. The building is first seen on the 1913 Sanborn fire insurance map on Vance Street, just east of Pender Street.

In 1904, Samuel H. Vick bought the tenement from Lucas.

And, in 1918, Vick offered it up for use as a private alternative school for children whose parents were boycotting the Colored Graded School.

Possible Oakdale removals to Rest Haven, no. 1.

I was talking with someone recently about Oakdale Cemetery, Wilson’s first black public cemetery. The city moved its graves to Rest Haven Cemetery in 1941, but no records survive that identify who was disinterred/reinterred or where they were placed. 

Walk the rows though, and Rest Haven yields up some of its secrets. Row E, Section 1, holds this cluster of seven gravestones that bear dates before Rest Haven was established in 1933. Though some may have been moved from Rountree or Odd Fellows, it’s likely that most were originally Oakdale burials.

  • Tommie Johnson, died 1902.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: mail carrier Thomas Johnson, 53; wife Alice, 40, laundry woman; sons Rufus, 18, “employee A.T. Co.,” Thomas Jr., 1, and William, 30, cook; and daughter Daisy, 22, cook; plus lodger Katie Black, 19, cook. 

  • Dewey L. Barnes, died 1912.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: fireman Mack Barnes, 31; wife Emma, 25, washwoman; and children Etheldred, 9, Mathew, 4, and Dewey, 1; plus lodger Charles McGuire, 20. 

  • Milby Hadley, died 1905.

Photographs by Lisa Y. Henderson, September 2026.

I.P. Thorne’s time with Sherwood’s Youth Band.

When Isaiah Prophet Thorne wrote to the Daily Times in 1941 asking for information about his family, he mentioned that he “was placed, when a small child, in Sherwood’s [Orphans] Schools, and later traveled with a school band.”

Preston and Edna Thorne and their elder children are listed in the 1880 census of Wilson County, and Isaiah was born about 1885. Both parents were reported living in 1890 when their daughter Hattie Thorne married, but may have died soon after, when Isaiah was still a young boy.

By 1893, Isaiah Thorne was the drum major of Sherwood’s band. Contemporary newspaper accounts, even when peppered with the casually cutting racism of the era, single out Thorne’s talent. In May, the band was in New England:

Morning Journal-Courier (New Haven, Conn.), 26 May 1893.

In August 1894, they entertained in the streets of Buffalo, New York:

Buffalo (N.Y.) Commercial, 7 August 1894.

Buffalo (N.Y.) Weekly Express, 9 August 1894.

 

Doctors vs. professors — a baseball game!

Savannah Tribune, 19 August 1893.

Wilson-born Daniel C. Suggs was captain and catcher for the Georgia State Industrial Institute’s professors’ baseball team in this exhibition game played at Savannah’s Bolton Street Park. Located between Bolton Street and Park Avenue east of the railroad tracks running parallel to East Broad Street, this ballpark was home to Savannah’s professional baseball clubs between 1885 and 1909.

The apprenticeship of Lutory Fields (1896).

On 4 July 1896, Clerk of Superior Court J.D. Bardin apprenticed Loutoria Fields, age 6 years, 3 months, to George W. Fields until she was 18 years old.

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Lutory Fields was George Washington Fields‘ granddaughter. Her mother Jane Fields likely died shortly before this indenture. Here we see an example of apprenticeship as a form of intrafamily adoption.

In the 1880 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Washington Fields, 30; wife Julia, 35; and children Renda, 12, Penninah, 11, Jane, 9, Christany, 8, London, 6, William, 5, and twins Isaac and Jacob, 3.

In the 1900 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Washington Fields, 60; wife Julia, 53; daughters Chrischanie, 25, Amanda, 15, and Lutory, 10; grandson Peter, 10; and granddaughters Julia, 5, and Lillie, 7 months.

On 9 November 1905, John H. Battle, 20, of Cross Roads township, married Lutora Fields, 18, of Cross Roads, in Lucama, Wilson County.

In the 1910 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer  John H. Battle, 28; wife Loutorie, 24; and son Johnie L., 2.

In the 1920 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer John H. Battle, 39; wife Lutoria, 30; and children John L., 16, Lenetta, 7, Bessie L., 5, Mary L., 3, Rosa, 2, Thurman, 1, and Armetta, 1 month.

In the 1930 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer John H. Battle, 49; wife Leutoria, 40; and children Johnie L., 21, Nettie, 19, Bessie L., 16, Mary L., 15, Roosevelt, 14, Armettie, 11, Alphnza, 8, Estelle, 7, Augustus, 4, and Harvey L., 2.

Imettie Battle died 18 September 1933 in Goldsboro, Wayne County, N.C. Per her death certificate, she was 12 years 0ld; was born in Wilson County to John Battle and Lutora Fields; was a school girl; and lived in Wilson County. She had suffered a skull fracture after being struck by a car.

In the 1940 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer John Battle, 59; wife Lutory, 50; children Estelle, 17, Augustus, 15, Harvey, 13, Luberta, 8, and Alberta, 7; son-in-law Leondus Speight, 26, and granddaughter Katherine Speight, 4.

In the 1950 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer John H. Battle, 70; wife Lulorie, 60; and children Agustus, 25, Harvey L., 22, Lubortha, 18, and Aberta, 16.

John Hardy Battle died 9 March 1962 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 8 July 1878 in Wilson County to Haywood Battle and Eliza Battle; lived near Lucama; worked in farming; was married to Lutory Battle; and was buried in Mary Grove cemetery.

Lutory Battle died 22 April 1964 in Lucama, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 12 February 1890 in Wilson County to Wilbert [last name unknown] and Janie Field; was married to John Hardy Battle; and was buried in Mary Grove Cemetery.

Apprentice 1896, Miscellaneous Records, Wilson County Records, North Carolina State Archives.

The apprenticeship of James William, Mary Ellen, Minerva S., and Laura Anderson (1895).

On 3 December 1895, Clerk of Superior Court J.D. Bardin apprenticed James William Anderson, age 4 years, 2 months, and 4 days; Mary Ellen Anderson, age 2 years and 7 days; Minerva S. Anderson, age 7 years, 7 months, and 11 days; and Laura Anderson, age 6 years, 6 months, and 4 days, to Redmon Barnes until they were 18 years old.

I have not found the Anderson children in other records. Redmond Barnes perhaps was this man.

Apprentice 1895, Miscellaneous Records, Wilson County Records, North Carolina State Archives.

Convicting White Caps.

As late as 1897, black men could still sit on Wilson County juries hearing cases charges brought against white men.

In State vs. Pharaoh Rowe, James Montgomery, J.V. Lamm, and John Bone, the jury included James J. Jones, Louis Townsend, Lee Moore, and Scott Johnson.

On 9 February 1897, the jury found the defendants guilty. They were White Caps, members of extralegal vigilante groups that targeted not only black people, but white people who flouted moral standards or otherwise defied the group norms.  Just months before this trial, Pharoah Rowe had been shot in the stomach when a band of his confederates sought to tear down the fence of a white Lucama man’s fence who had opposed a road project.

Wilson Advance, 11 February 1897.

In June 1896, a man who had been initiated into the White Caps by defendant James Montgomery testified that he had been told the group “was a good thing for the country, in that it saved expenses by attending to those who made themselves obnoxious to the community” and that “their signs were a peculiar whistling and the passing of the hand across the face.”

Montgomery’s good word notwithstanding, these vigilantes were looked down upon by Wilson County’s white elite, and the White Cap era seems to have been short-lived.

The apprenticeship of Patsy and Treasy Whitaker (1895).

On 15 July 1895, Clerk of Superior Court J.D. Bardin apprenticed Patsy Whitaker, 11, and Treasy Whitaker, 5 1/2, to Alford Jordan until they were 18 years old. 

Alford Jordan was a black man, and the four of his neighbors — Nathan, Hardy, Perry, and Shade Bass — were called upon to vouch for his character: “Alfred Jordan has been living in our neighborhood Several years. He has a family of children and we never have heard of his cruelly treating them. Some of his children are grown and we never have heard any charges brought against them. Since Alfred moved into our neighborhood he has conducted himself fairly well so far as we know.”

In the 1900 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Alfred Jordan, 56; wife Cherry, 50; children  Sallie, 14, Jannie, 12, George and Mary, 9; and Albert, 8; stepchildren [sic] William, 26, Frances, 20, Patsy, 17, and Creasy Farmer, 10; and brother [actually, son] Benjamin Jordan, 35.

When Dr. T.L. Brooks reported vaccinations in the Black Creek area in 1902, he listed Patsy Whitaker and Cresy Whitaker.

On 2 December 1908, E.F. Hooker, 19, of Wayne County, and Patsy Whitaker, 21, of Black Creek township, applied for a Wilson County marriage license. 

In the 1910 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: widow Cherry Jordan, 60; children Rosetta, 22, Trecie, 20, Mary and George, 19, and Albert Jordan, 17; and grandchildren Lizina, 4, and Adlina Jordan, 3 months. 

Emerson F. and Patsy Hooker eventually migrated to Richmond, Virginia, where Patsy Whitaker Hooker died in 1945. Per her Social Security application, she was born in February 1888 in Wilson County, N.C., to Jacob Whitaker and Viney Jordan.

These records reminds us that we cannot take census entries at face value. Patsy and Creasy Farmer are certainly Patsy and Treasy Whitaker, but (1) their surnames are inconsistent; (2) Treasy’s name is altered; (3) Patsy’s age is slightly off; and (3) they are described as Jordan’s stepchildren (and Treasy as Cherry Jordan’s child.)

Alford Jorden and Cherry Ellis married in August 1884, when he was 40 and she was 35. Given norms of the time, it stands to reason that both had prior marriages. (Per his death certificate, Benjamin Jordan — described as “brother” in the 1900 census — was actually Alford’s son.) The four Jordan children listed in the 1900 census were born after the marriage and presumably were Alford and Cherry’s together. Patsy could have been, but Treasy was too young to have been brought into Cherry’s marriage.

It appears that the Whitaker girls were close kin on their mother’s side to Alford Jordan. Their apprenticeship served essentially as an informal adoption into Alford Jordan’s family. 

Apprentice 1895, Miscellaneous Records, Wilson County Records, North Carolina State Archives.

Four guilty of gambling.

Wilson Advance, 16 June 1892.

Judgment was suspended against Arthur Young, but James Eatman, Wiley Simms, and Mack Dozier were sentenced to serve two months in jail to be followed by a period in which jail officials could hire out their labor.

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  • James Eatman
  • Wiley Simms
  • Arthur Young
  • Mack Dozier 

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: painter Mack Dozier, 60; wife Elibeth, 48; children Julia, 17, and Sid, 15; and mother Charlotte, 69.

Mack Dozier died in Richmond, Virginia, on 28 February 1905 at the City Almshouse. Per his death certificate, he was 64 years old; was born in Wake County, N.C.; was married; and worked as a painter.