1920s

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?

Miss Summers entertains.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 5 February 1927.

Miss Phenon A. Summers? At “her home” at 600 East Green? Weren’t J.D. and Eleanor Reid there then?

The following month, Phenon Summers again welcomed a guest to 600 East Green Street.

Journal and Guide, 12 March 1927.

And in April she did a little visiting herself.

Journal and Guide, 30 April 1927.

Phenon Adel Summers French Brown Jones — who reverted to her maiden name in between and after her divorces — was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1895. I have found nothing to shed light on her brief time in Wilson, and by 1928 she had moved on to teach at the Henderson Institute in Henderson, North Carolina. My best guess is that she was a lodger with the Reids and a teacher at either Wilson Colored High School or the Sallie Barbour School (also known as the Colored Graded School). By the summer of 1929, Summers was back in Columbus and seems to have remained there until her death in 1976.

The Sanchas-Bowden family fights to save their house.

On 22 September 1924, John Sanchas, his wife Mary Adams Bowden Sanchas, and her sons Timothy and Willie Bowden mortgaged their house on Finch Street to secure payment of a $150 loan from William Adams. The Sanchas-Bowden family paid off the loan, the mortgage deed was void. If they defaulted, the house would be sold at public auction.

The Sanchas-Bowden house at 210 Finch Street, as shown in the 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson.

A note stamped across the document noted that the mortgage and note had been satisfied as of November 1925.

Deed book 155, page 24, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

In March 1928, John and Mary Sanchas took out another mortgage on their house. This time, however, they defaulted, and trustee D.S. Boykin advertised a public sale in March 1931. However, as late as 1937, Sanchas appears in published tax lists as owner of a lot on Finch Street.

Wilson Daily Times, 28 March 1931.

Indoor circuses and other social events.

Baltimore Afro-American, 12 May 1928.

  • M. Lenard
  • Mrs. J.D. Reid — Eleanor P. Reid.
  • Mrs. Aline Darden
  • Mrs. Sarah Wilson — probably, in the 1930 Wilson, N.C., city directory: Wilson Sarah L (c) tchr Stantonsburg St Graded Sch r 209 N Reid
  • Mrs. M.S. Gilliam — Annie L. Gilliam.
  • Mrs. C.L. Darden — Norma D. Darden.
  • Artelia Barnes — Leo Artelia Barnes.
  • Inez White
  • Elroy Barnes
  • M. Fisher — probably, Milton Fisher.
  • William McCullers — in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1008 Washington Street, Clarence McCullers, 42, hardware store laborer; wife Rosa E., 37, who did washing; and son William E., 17.
  • Fletcher Pearce
  • Jesse Bullock — in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farmer Joshuy Bulluck, 47; wife [illegible], 43; children Kattie, 23, Ruel, 21, Jessie, 20, Percy, 18, Maggie, 17, Joshuy, 16, Lonnie, 13, Mark, 12, James A., 10, Hermon, 9, Zeb, 5, Annie L., 8, and Wytelluse, 4.
  • Ruel Bullock 
  • Esmond Langley
  • Ameta Ellis — Ometa Ellis died 3 May 1928 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was married to Morriss Ellis; resided at 702 Nash Street; was 42 years old; and had been born in Wilmington, North Carolina, to Weldon Perrington of Wilmington and Louisa Scarborough of Wilson. Louisa Parrington was informant.
  • Sarah Williams
  • James H. Clarke — John H. Clark?
  • Thelma Barnes
  • Scott Hines — Elizabeth Scott Hines.
  • Rosa Lee Kittrell
  • Gerald Barnes — probably, Jerrell Randolph Barnes, who died 14 December 1929 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 7 May 1909; was single; worked as a common laborer; and was born to Ned Barnes and Louisa Gay. Informant was Alice Bryant, Wilson.
  • John E. Farmer — perhaps, in the 1940 csus of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Eula Farmer, 51, household servant; son John E., 30, laborer; and daughter Clifton, 24, movie theatre cashier.
  • Rufus Speights — Rufus Speight. in the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Speight Rufus (c) porter Wm Hines h 624 Viola. In 1940, Rufus Edward Speight registered for the World War II draft. Per his registration card, he lived at 624 East Viola; was born 4 October 1907 in Whitaker, North Carolina; his contact was brother Theodore Speight; and he worked for Bill Hines at 130 South Goldsboro Street.
  • Klondike Club
  • Herbert Mitchner — Hubert Mitchner.
  • Andrew Tate — in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 307 North Pender, seamstress Hattie Tate, 44, widow, and children Hellen, 23, insurance agent, and Andrew, 21, hotel bellboy, as well as lodger Lucy Davis, a public school teacher.
  • Douglass Ellis — in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 411 Pine, Windsor Ellis, 42, greenhouse gardener; wife Rachel, 34; children Douglas, 20, John H., 10, and Elaine, 5; and lodger Fred Moye, 26, cafe cook.
  • Charlie Thomas

Dr. Moore’s funeral.

Salisbury Post, 22 October 1927.

——

As principal of Wilson Academy, Dr. Edward E. Moore influenced a generation of boys to attend Lincoln University, including Samuel H. Vick, his brother William H. Vick and cousin Frank O. Blount; Daniel C. Suggs; and Braswell R. Winstead. A professor of Greek and Latin, Dr. Moore had been a professor and administrator at Livingstone College. His widow, Serena Suggs Moore, was D.C. Suggs’ sister.

Map of the Town of Wilson, 1928.

Here’s a closer look at East Wilson. The streets north of Vance, except Lipscomb, were white residential, as were Railroad Street and Pettigrew Street (not labeled) south of Nash.

Town limits ran just behind Darden (then Wilson Colored) High School at roughly today’s Blakewood Street; south roughly along today’s Wainwright Street to Nash Street (at Freeman Round House Museum); then at a diagonal across Finch, Lane, New Bern Streets, etc.

Note School Street (named for the Colored Graded School), which became Elvie Street.

Just west of the railroad were a working-class white neighborhood centered along Factory Street (which no longer exists) and a working-class black neighborhood, Happy Hills, centered at Banks and Lodge.

Town of Wilson (1928), Maps, Wilson County Records, North Carolina State Archives.

Haywood Sauls passes century mark?

Winston-Salem (N.C.) Sentinel, 15 October 1923.

Claims of ages of one hundred or more raise my eyebrow. They are unreliable enough to warrant cross-checking with other sources.

Tracing Haywood Sauls proved an unexpected challenge. Available records reveal more than one man named Haywood Sauls in the area.

Lee H. Sauls claimed Haywood was born 17 February 1821 according to family records. (Do those records still exist???) Lee Sauls’ grandfather Etheldred Sauls (1801-1859) lived in the Nahunta area of northeastern Wayne County, but had close ties just across the county line in Black Creek township. Etheldred Sauls executed a will and died in 1859. The will named 19 enslaved people, including Haywood, whose age was not listed. Haywood was allotted to Etheldred’s son Lawrence J. Sauls for the benefit of daughter Elizabeth Sauls Becton.

On 29 August 1866, formerly enslaved Haywood Sauls and Fannie Newsome registered their four-year cohabitation in Wayne County, North Carolina. Another Haywood Sauls registered a 40-year cohabitation with Lidia Sherrard in the same county on 2 September 1866.

In 1868, James P. Hooks, son of Solomon and Sarah Hooks, married Mariah Sauls, daughter of Hawood and Silvey Sauls, in Wayne County. James P. Hooks changed his name to Patrick Sherrod by the 1870 census. He, Mariah, and a child lived next door to “Howard,” 80, and Lindy Sauls, 65, in Goldsboro, Wayne County, that year. I believe Howard and Lindy are the Haywood and Lidia who married in September 1866. By 1880, Howard/Haywood apparently was deceased, but Sidney Sauls is listed with Patrick and Maria Sherrod. Celia Williams may have been another of this Haywood. She died 20 November 1913 in Township #13, Edgecombe County. Per her death certificate, she was born 20 November 1851 in Wayne County to Hawood Sauls and Sidney Sherod. This Haywood Sauls does not appear to be the man referred to in the article.

In 1874, Haywood Sauls and his wife Fannie were named among the heirs of his father-in-law Elijah Cox.

In the 1880 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: wagon driver Haywood Sauls, 46, and wife Fannie, 56.

Fannie apparently died 1880-1890 and, on 12 April 1890, Haywood Sauls and Lishia Yelverton were married in Wayne County.

Lishia died soon after and, on 23 May 1893, Haywood Sauls, 50, of Black Creek township, and Bettie Saunders, 45, were married at Haywood Sauls’ residence in Black Creek.

In the 1900 census of Fremont, Nahunta township, Wayne County: farmer Haywood Sauls, 66; wife Bettie, 53; and daughter Delber, 15.

In the 1910 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Haywood Sauls, 74, and wife Betsey, 60.

In May 1912, Betsey Sauls executed a will leaving her property to her husband Haywood Sauls and son Frank Sanders. [Betsey Sauls had received a significant settlement in a tort suit a few years prior. More about this later.]

Bettie/Betsey Sauls died within months, and her husband quickly remarried. On 5 September 1912, Haywood Sauls, 77, of Wayne County, married Frances Davis, 40, of Wayne County, in Fremont, Nahunta township, Wayne County.

In the 1920 census of Buck Swamp township, Wayne County, N.C.: farmer Marcellus Sauls, 53; wife Fannie, 46; and father Haywood, 83, widower. [Marcellus Sauls died 19 December 1937 in Cross Roads township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was 70 years old

Over the next few years, a few human-interest articles appeared in North Carolina newspapers noting Haywood Sauls’ great age and revealing his penchant for baseball and the Tobs. One mentions Sauls selling photographs of himself at the 1923 Wilson County fair. (Do any survive??)

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 11 October 1923.

Wilson Mirror, 21 October 1924.

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 27 April 1925. 

Greensboro (N.C.) Daily News, 29 April 1925.

Heywood Sauls died 8 January 1927 in the Wilson County Home, Wilson township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was 101 years old; was a widower; and was buried in Wilson County.

Sauls’ death certificate places his birth in 1825, a few years after the February 1821 claim. However, census and marriage records indicate a birth year between 1834 and 1843, averaging 1836. This would have made Haywood Sauls actually about 90 when he died in early 1927, still an extraordinary age for a man who’d grown to adulthood in slavery.

A belated birthday visit with Mrs. Bell.

I sent Inez Dickerson Bell a card for her 101st birthday last month, but decided to pop in to see her, too. She was enjoying a little quiet time in her room, but was happy to see me, and we spent a pleasant half-hour or so chatting about the old neighborhood. She marveled at her great age (“That’s a lot of birthdays! I must have done something right”); spoke fondly of my parents (“Beverly is so pretty. And so sweet. She looks good, and she acts like she feels good.” “Rederick! We miss him! He wouldn’t ask for nothing, and next thing you know that garbage can is in the back. Who did it? Rederick! He was doing something good all the time. I’m a witness to that!”); praised me and my sister for our good comportment; reminisced about the Belette Women’s Club; shared tips (“The Bible says ‘do unto others!'”); and philosophied (“I’ve had a good life if I go ‘way from here tomorrow.”) Finally, as I stood to leave, she motioned to her side table: “Take one of these. Enjoy it! ‘Cause I’m gon enjoy mine!” 

As always, thank you so much, Mrs. Bell! See you next time!

The talented and enterprising Calvin S. Edwards.

Per his 1918 World War I draft registration card, Calvin S. Edwards worked as a plumber for J.E. Alphin, a commercial heating and plumbing systems contractor doing business across eastern North Carolina. Around 1921, Edwards branched out on his own, working from a shop at 529 East Nash Street.

Wilson, N.C., city directory (1922).

The 1925 Wilson, N.C., city directory reveals the many pots in which Calvin S. Edwards had a finger, listing him four times:

  • Edward Calvin S (c) plumber 549 E Nash h Carolina nr Reed
  • Edwards Calvin (c) (Carnation Hotel) h 1109 Carolina
  • Carnation Hotel (c; Henry Lassiter, Calvin Edwards) 518 E Nash
  • PLUMBERS-GAS AND STEAM FITTERS Edwards Calvin S (c) 549 E Nash

He had moved his plumbing shop up the block to a storefront in the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall and, with Henry Lassiter, opened the short-lived Carnation Hotel in the building we know better as the Orange Hotel.

The two-story Carnation Hotel was at 518 East Nash in the early 1920s. Detail, 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map.

By 1930, as seen in this Sanborn map,

Throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, Edwards remained engaged in plumbing work, but invested in real estate in east Wilson, including the corner grocery at 1114 Carolina Street.

Wilson Daily Times, 19 February 1945.