Greensboro Daily News, 17 May 1939.
The “Wilson County negro” was a nine year-old boy.
Ned Kent was born 1 January 1930 in Wilson County to Isiah Kent and Clyde Pettieford; lived at Route 1, Wilson; and was a student. He was taken to Woodard-Herring Hospital, where he was pronounced dead of a fractured skull.
Greensboro Record, 26 June 1938.
Tuh.
Hickory (N.C.) Daily Record, 7 March 1939.
In 1940, Aaron Yelverton registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 9 March 1914 in Wayne County, N.C.; lived at 204 Moore Street, Wilson; his contact was wife Alma Yelverton; and he worked for Stephens Lumber Company, Wilson.
Aaron Yelverton lived fifty years beyond his freak auto accident. He passed away in West Palm Beach, Florida, in March 1989.
Among other things, a committee formed to inspect county property reported on the condition of schools. Most were found to be in good condition, but, unsurprisingly, schools serving black students had more serious deficits.
The most common problems were lack of heat shields under heaters, broken window panes, leaky roofs, crumbling pillars, and “bad” toilets. Saratoga School was in good condition, and Penders was very good. On the other hand, Wilson High School was crowded and, at Lover’s Lane, the “building [was] about to fall down” and had “no water, no toilet.”
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Wilson Daily Times, 11 February 1933.
The article went on to report the condition of the school system’s 41 buses, which delivered students to and from ten schools across the county — all serving white students. Black children walked to school in rain, snow, and blazing heat — often to the jeers and curses of their counterparts riding past.
This editorial questioning the police powers of Alcoholic Beverage Control employees reveals the death of an unnamed black Wilson County man who jumped into the Tar River to escape arrest in Nash County. His body was not recovered for nearly three months.
Greensboro (N.C.) Daily Record, 16 April 1936.
A search of death certificates reveals that the decedent was Freeman Tump Leach. Leach was born 21 April 1902 in Rowland, North Carolina, to Jack Leach and Nellie Johnson; died 21 January 1936 in Cooper township, Nash County; lived at 900 Elvie Street; was married; worked as a railroad worker for Norfolk Southern Railroad; died “by falling in Tar River accidentally drowning”; and was buried in Wilson [probably, Vick Cemetery.] Jessie Leach was informant.
Wilson Daily Times, 24 January 1936.
Wilson Daily Times, 1 June 1933.
Founded in 1926 on the eastern bank of the Chowan River, about 100 miles northeast of Wilson, Chowan Beach was a thriving African-American resort for decades, drawing family vacationers and legendary chitlin circuit musicians for decades. In this slim book packed with photographs, Frank Stephenson brings to life a favored vacation spot for generations of Wilsonians.
Wilson Daily Times, 26 July 1940.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 27 May 1933.
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Wilson Daily Times, 16 May 1935.
I did not find a death certificate for Rosa Woodard and assume she survived Frank Barnes‘ murder attempt.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 26 December 1936.
James A. Whitfield Jr. died 17 December 1936 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 24 July 1912 in Wilson to James Whitfield and Elizabeth McNeal; was single; worked as a school teacher; and was buried in Wilson. James Whitfield, 1004 Washington, was informant.
John R. Keaton died 18 December 1936 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 26 years old; was born in Statesville, N.C., to Haywood A. Keaton and Suzanne Lackey; was single; lived in Wilson; and worked as an insurance agent for N.C. Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Wilson Daily Times, 18 December 1936.
Agnes Melton died 19 December 1936 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 42 years old; was born in Lunenburg County, Virginia, to Washington Hopkins and Julia Ghee; was married to Thomas Melton; lived at 104 Carroll; and was buried in Wilson.