Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 23 March 1940.
With the destruction by fire of Elm City’s black high school in 1940, the education of local children slammed to a halt. Amanda Mitchell Cameron was in the eighth grade at the time. She recalls that, rather than delay their high school studies, two of her older siblings carpooled to Wilson with a neighborhood boy to attend Darden High School. Most children, however, stayed home until the newly built school opened in 1941.
We saw this 1923 plat map of Daniel C. Suggs‘ property here.
Plat Book 1, page 215.
The plat map below shows that most of Suggs’ property was purchased by W.E. Batts. In 1925, a Durham auction house prepared a new plat for the Batts property.
Plat Book 3, page 17.
Here’s a present-day view of the area. New Street kept its name, but a truncated Hines Street is now Blount Street at its west end, and Elvie School Drive at its east. This map makes clear that the south end of the old Oakdale Cemetery (“colored cemetery” on both plats) lay under the circular driveway and front law of Elvie Street School [later M.M. Daniels Learning Center.] Its graves (or some of them, anyway) were moved to Rest Haven in 1941.
In 1946, to assemble land on which to build a replacement for the Sallie Barbour School, the Board of Trustees of Wilson City Schools began to buy up parcels in the property, also known as Suggs Heights and adjacent lots, including these:
This aerial photograph of C.H. Darden High School likely dates to the late 1960s. The original Rosenwald-funded section of the school, with later added wings, at right. The building with a central entrance at lower center, adjacent to the original building, is an addition that dates to the 1940s. The buildings behind, which included an auditorium, gymnasium, lunchroom, and additional classroom space, were added in the 1950s and ’60s.
The photo is also interesting for the glimpse of the surrounding neighborhood. The streets behind the school were developed starting in the 1950s from a large parcel owned by Martha Woodard, Louise Fike, and Hadley Blake. Darden faced Carroll Street, of course, and the termini of Viola and East Green Streets. The houses that once stood on land now occupied by Seeds of Hope Wilson’s garden are visible near bottom left.
Vick Elementary School now stands on the site.
Photo courtesy of C.H. Darden High School Alumni Association.
Pink Reid borrowed $585 from the Farm Security Administration on 10 January 1942. To guarantee his loan, he pledged two mules, a Poland China brood sow, and a milch cow, as well as his farm equipment.
Deed Book 275, page 303, Wilson County Register of Deeds, Wilson.
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In the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer Pink Reid, 58; wife Matilda, 57; and son Allen T., 20. All were living in Wayne County five years earlier.
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1003 Stantonsburg Street, Pinkey Reid, 68, yard cleaner; son Horace Reid, 32, butler; nephew Randolph Braswell, 26, bricklayer, and his wife Sarah, 25; and wife Matilda Reid, 67, nurse maid.
Pinkney Reid died 30 November 1961 at his residence at 504 North Vick Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 25 July 1881 in Wayne County to William Reid and Bettie Wilson; was married to Matilda Reid; was a farmer; and was buried at Turner Swamp cemetery, Wayne County.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 24 February 1945.
Another account of the burning of Saint John A.M.E. Zion‘s mortgage, this one revealing a number of notable facts, such as Orren R. Best, Charles H. Darden, Daniel Vick, Washington Suggs, and Lawrence Moore as charter members of the church. (One note, however: Saint John was not the oldest Black church in Wilson, though it was the “mother” of all the county’s A.M.E. Zion churches.)
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 24 February 1940.
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The social columns Jack Sherrod and Johnnie Mincey contributed to the 24 February 1940 Journal and Guide reported on the comings and goings of dozens in Wilson’s black folks.
Plat Book 4, page 51.
On 30 September 1946, Dr. B.O. Barnes and his wife Flossie H. Barnes sold the Board of Trustees of Wilson City Schools a tract bordered by North Reid Street, East Vance Street, an unopened section of North Vick Street, and an unopened section of Crowell Street. Deed Book 326, page 43.
As the Google Maps aerial below shows, the property is adjacent to land on which the former Vick Elementary School sits. (Vick had opened ten years earlier.) Ultimately, however, much of it was sold to developers who built a row of houses in the 800 block of East Vance Street.
During Black History Month two years ago, when they were still playing near Zebulon, North Carolina, as the Carolina Mudcats, the Wilson Warbirds highlighted throwback jerseys honoring the Raleigh Grays, a semi-pro Negro League team.
The Grays and the Raleigh Tigers, who played from the mid-1940s to early 1960s, had a Wilson connection — Johnie Brewington, who briefly managed both teams.
News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 23 July 1941.
News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 15 May 1946.
News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 4 June 1946.
News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 20 June 1946.
When necessary, Brewington stepped behind the plate to play catcher.
News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 10 September 1946.
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In the 1920 census of South Clinton township, Sampson County, N.C.: farmer Cnelus Brewington, 36; wife Emma, 26, retail grocery merchant; and children Norward, 22, Mabel, 6, and John, 3.
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 912 East Nash, rented for $24/month, Frank Williams, 50, building mechanic; wife Emma, 36, public school teacher; and stepchildren Norwood, 21, odd jobs laborer, Mabel, 16, and Johnie Brewington, 14.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 309 Elba Street, rented for $20/month, widow Emma Williams, 45, public school teacher; daughter Mable Brewington, 25, public school teacher; son Johnie Brewington, 24, new worker; and lodgers Walter Holmes, 35, veneer factory laborer, and Alice Bryant, 33, household servant.
In 1940, Johnie Marion Brewington registered for the World War II draft in Wilson. Per his registration card, he was born 3 February 1916 in Clinton, N.C.; lived at 309 Elba Street, Wilson; worked for Imperial Tobacco Company, Wilson; and his contact was mother Emma Williams.
News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 23 July 1941.
Even as he managed the Grays, Brewington played football at North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University.)
News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 4 October 1941.
Johnnie Brewington enlisted in the United States Army on 26 January 1942 in Daytona Beach, Florida, and was discharged 4 August 1945, having achieved the rank of first sergeant in Company A, 184th Engineer Combat Battalion.
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 411 North Vick, John E. Dixon, 38, science teacher in city school; wife Mable E., 33, elementary educator in county school; sons John E. II, 6, and Levie, 4; mother-in-law Emma B. Williams, 50; and brother-in-law Johnie M. Brewington, 31.
Johnie Marion Brewington died 20 November 1964 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Durham, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 3 February 1916 in North Carolina to Neal Brewington and Emma Moore; was never married; lived at 411 North Vick Street, Wilson; and was a merchant (“general work & sports”); was a World War II veteran; and was buried in Rest Haven cemetery. Emma Williams was informant.
Last week, a group led by Rev. William Barber gathered in Wilson to take their first steps on a three-day march to Raleigh. The mobilization event, dubbed This Is Our Selma Love Forward Together, draws attention to “unabridged voting rights; living wages and ending poverty; welcoming immigrants; embracing religious values of mercy, grace, empathy and not religious nationalism; supporting fully funded public education; guaranteeing health care for all; spreading love, not hate; keeping peace, not ICE raids and unchecked militarism; saving our environment instead of turning it over to the polluters; letting the people be in control, not a few millionaires and technocrats; and health care for all.” The marchers set forth from Saint James Christian Church on Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in East Wilson.
Per its website, in “1917, Saint James Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ was founded by George and Daniel Dupree (two laymen brothers who lived in the community). The church’s ministry began as a Sunday School. The Church’s name was changed in 1966 to Saint James Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Our anniversary is celebrated on the fourth Sunday in the month of May. Saint James Christian Church has called five Senior Pastors: Rev. George Washington Little (1917-1920); Bishop Wilbert B. Parks (1920-1959); Rev. Amos Artis, Sr. (1959-1976); Rev. Dr. Charles E. Barnes (1979-2020); and Interim Pastor Rev. Mary Ann Glover (2020-2021). On December 1, 2021, the Reverend Dr. Della J. Owens was called to serve as the Senior Pastor.” The church’s history includes this photograph of an early church building.
The Dupree brothers lived in Pitt County, so it was not clear to me which community was indicated here. Researching Saint James’ history is complicated by by what appear to be related churches in neighboring counties that were also called “Saint James” and shared pastors; by the number of unrelated churches in Wilson and neighboring counties called “Saint James”; and by an apparent switch from Free Will Baptist to Church of Christ Disciples of Christ.
The first recorded Wilson County property purchased by the church was a one-acre lot in Saratoga township, adjacent to “Old Speight’s Chapel Church.” Trustees Charles Ruffin Sr., Charles Ruffin Jr., and Howard Barrett handled the transaction for the church, paying $225 on 6 July 1946. Deed Book 325, page 48. It is not clear that a church was built here though, as newspapers references to Saint James place it in Fountain, a few miles into Pitt County. In fact, it appears that Saint James built its first church in Wilson only in the late 1990s, when the present building was constructed. Nonetheless, wherever it met, Saint James was active in Wilson County from at least the 1940s.
History courtesy of stjamesdoc.org.
Wilson Daily Times, 13 February 1947.