Two ads placed by “Hughes, the white barber.” Barbering in this era — and well into the twentieth century — was a trade plied overwhelmingly by African-American men. White barbers like “Hughes” often emphasized their ethnicity in their advertising. Here, “white” signaled Hughes’ suitability for handling the hair of white women.
The Daily News (Wilson, N.C.), 20 September 1900.
Daily News (Wilson, N.C.), 20 September 1900.
Minstrel shows were sure-fire crowdpleasers for white audiences well into the twentieth century. Al. G. Field’s Big Minstrels’ national touring company brought forty minstrel stars to town, including Welby & Pearl, America’s Fin de Siecle Exponents of Refined Negro Comedy — who were not decidedly not Negro.
The Daily News (Wilson, N.C.), 20 September 1900.
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In the 1870 census of Lower Conetoe township, Edgecombe County, N.C.: Gaib Bowden, 23, Daniel Wiggins, 25, Albert Lovett, 19, Orphan Knight, 23, and Richard Suggs, 19, farm laborers.
On 18 April 1875, Gabriel Bowden, 26, married Anne Ruff, 24, in Wilson.
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Sarah Jackson, 21; brother-in-law Gabriel Bowden, 40, brother-in-law, laborer; sister Anna, 32, cook; nephews Columbus, 11, house servant, and James, 9; son B.F. Jackson, 6; mother Vinus Ruff, 52; and boarder Whitehurst Wiswould, 64, laborer.
Gabel Bowden died 17 January 1911 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 71 years old; was born in Edgecombe County; was a widower; lived at 410 Green Street; worked as a common laborer; and was buried in Wilson [probably, Oakdale Cemetery.]
In May 1911, Betsey Sauls took the extraordinary step of suing Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company for serious injuries she suffered at Black Creek depot. The law firm of James H. Pou and William A. Finch, well-known in the state for their high-profile civil and criminal litigation, filed on her behalf (and her husband Haywood Sauls‘, as was required by law for married women at the time.)
In a nutshell, on 3 May 1909, Betsey Sauls bought a train ticket to travel from Wilson to Black Creek. The train overshot the depot at Black Creek, but announced “All off for Black Creek!” as usual. As Sauls attempted to disembark, she fell from the train and was injured.
Pou and Finch asserted that by stopping beyond the usual location, Sauls was forced to step down from an excessive height and near a side track with sharp, exposed sills (the long, heavy timbers used as a foundation for crossties.) As Sauls stepped down, the train suddenly began to move backward, throwing Sauls to the ground.
Pou and Finch further asserted that A.C.L.R.R. had failed to provide a stepstool customarily provided for older passengers faced with a higher-than-usual descent.
Sauls was 65 to 70 years old, was “corpulent,” and not used to train travel. The knee injuries she sustained were serious, painful, and — she believed — permanent. She had difficulty walking and sleeping, could not work, and was forced to use a stick or crutch. She also had back and hip pain.
Sauls was now “an invalid and sufferer” of both physical and mental anguish. She could not visit family, friends, or church and had incurred considerable expense for medical treatment.
Sauls sought $5000 in damages.
In a brief, spare decision, the judge G.S. Ferguson awarded Sauls $500 (roughly $17,000 in 2026 dollars.)
Civil Action Papers, Wilson County (N.C.) Court Records (1909), http://www.familysearch.org.
On 3 June 1899, a Wilson County Superior Court clerk ordered brothers Alonzo Finch, 14, and Jack Finch, 5, bound as an apprentice to Zealous Howard. The arrangement proved disastrous for the elder boy.
On 2 October 1902, an attorney submitted a petition to the clerk of Superior Court In the Matter of Alonzo Finch, Apprentice. The document asserted that Finch had served Howard faithfully until forced to leave “by threats or other conduct.” Finch claimed Howard had failed to provide him with adequate clothing, that “outside parties” gave him clothes, and that he often had to work at night to earn money to buy clothes. Further, Howard had not educated him as required per the terms of his indenture, such that Finch “did not know the letters of the alphabet and therefore [was] unable to read and write.” Worse, Howard hired Finch out and took the money the boy earned. Because of Howard’s “cruel treatment,” Finch requested that the indenture be annulled and cancelled.
After hearing the evidence, clerk J.D. Bardin found Howard “morally unfit” and released Alonzo Finch from his indenture.
In this series, which will post on occasional Wednesdays, I populate the landscape of Wilson County with imaginary “historical markers” commemorating people, places, and events significant to African-American history or culture.
We been here.
Second oldest active African Methodist Episcopal Zion church in Wilson. Former sanctuary stood here on land purchased in 1909 from Rev. O.L.W. Smith, former consul to Liberia and A.M.E.Z. presiding elder.
On 7 December 1909, Rev. Owen L.W. Smith and his wife Cynthia A. Smith sold the trustees of Trinity A.M.E. Zion Church — Rev. William J. Moore, Rev. Wyatt Studaway, and Morrison Speight — a 50′ by 100′ lot on the south side of Banks Street, 45 feet west of Goldsboro Street in Wilson.
Deed book 86, page 299, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.
Trinity built its first church on the site and, to my amazement, owned the property until February of this year.
Detail, Wilson County, N.C., GIS Mapping Website.
When Harriet Ayers married John W. Proctor in Wilson County in 1894, the couple was prosecuted for “living together as man and wife, [Proctor] being a white man and [Ayers] being a colored woman.”
Despite their conviction in a Wilson County court, the two remained together and are found in the 1900 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farm laborer John W. Proctor, and wife Hattie, 26. They described themselves as white and reported they had been married six years and had no children. John Proctor died four years later in November 1904.
In January 1907, Harriet Ayers Proctor crossed into Nash County to marry Allen Whitley, another white man, and no one blinked.
In the 1920 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: Allen J. Whitley, 34, and wife Hattie, 44.
In the 1930 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farm laborer Allen Whitley, 45, and wife Hattie, 48.
In the 1940 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: farmer Allen Whitley, 56; wife Hattie, 60; and lodger Jhon Bardin, 67.
Harriet Ayers Proctor Whitley died in 1953 and was buried in Maplewood Cemetery.
Deed Book 66, page 565, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.
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J.D. Reid borrowed $200 from Nancy Harriss in January 1904, guaranteeing the loan with a mortgage on a lot he owned on Green Street that bordered Short Barnes and Louis Battle. The loan was to be repaid in twelve months, but margin notes reveal the mortgage wasn’t cancelled until March 1912. Note that S.H. Vick acted as Reid’s agent.
