1940s

Theirrell Hagans celebrates her third birthday.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 6 April 1940.

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  • Theirrell Theresa Hagans

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1002 Mercer Street, drugstore delivery boy Charles Hagans, 21; wife Cleora, 19; and daughters Therrol, 3, and Lula Mae, 7 months.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 206 North East Street, Charlie Kendall, 63, widower; Cleora Hagans, 27, cook, lodger, and her daughters Therrell, 13, and Lula M., 10.

  • Marjorie R. Bynum

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1000 Mercer Street, gardener Herbert Bynum, 55; wife Ella, 48; daughter Mabel, 21; and granddaughter Marjorie, 2.

  • James Patrick

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 919 Mercer Street, James A. Patrick, 29, “professional minister”; wife Josephine, 29, day work at redrying plant; and children Emily Dorothea, 10, Joyce Gloria, 5, and James Alexander, 3.

  • Jean Watson

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 919[?] Mercer Street, James Watson, 29; wife Golden, 30; and daughters Earnestine, 11, Bessie Jean, 4, and Lucy Gray, 1.

  • J.D. Wooten

 

Naomi Freeman mourned.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 27 July 1940.

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In the 1920 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Saratoga Road, Oliver N. Freeman, 38; wife Willie May, 31; and children Naomi, 8, Oliver N. Jr., 7, Mary F., 5, and Connie, 4.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1300 East Nash Street, valued at $6000, Oliver N. Freeman, 48, building contractor; wife Willie May, 41, born in Tennessee; and children Naomi, 18, Oliver N. Jr., 17, Mary F., 16, and Connie H., 14.

Naomi O. Freeman died 20 July 1940 in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Per her death certificate, she was born 3 September 1911 in Wilson to Onstus Freeman and Will May Haddie; was single; was a Sunday school missionary; and was buried in Rountree Cemetery [likely Vick Cemetery], Wilson.

Death claims S.H. Vick.

 Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 27 July 1946.

John H. Mincey was an occasional correspondent to Norfolk’s regional African-American newspaper, the Journal and Guide, and it fell to him to write an obituary for Samuel H. Vick. Some of the facts are a little off, but the piece reveals little-known  details like Vick’s desire to study medicine.

Mary Potter graduates, 1947.

The 1947 edition of The Ram, the annual of Mary Potter Academy in Oxford, North Carolina, featured two seniors from Wilson, Preston Walter Diggs and Charity Wells:

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 205 Vick Street, barber Edgar Diggs, 49; wife Mary, 39; and children Edgar, 12, Mary, 9, and Preston, 11.

In 1946, Preston Walter Diggs registered for the draft in Wilson, Wilson county. Per his registration card, he was born 27 September 1928 in Wilson; lived at 205 North Vick Street, Wilson; was a student at Mary Potter School in Oxford, N.C.; and his contact was Mary Diggs, 205 North Vick.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Mazzie Wells, 42, county schoolteacher; children George, 17, and Charity, 12; and brother-in-law George Cooper, 40, fireman at Watson Tobacco Company.

In the 1950 census of Raleigh, Wake County, N.C.: at Estey Hall, Shaw University, Charity M. Wells, 19.

Philadelphia Inquirer, 15 February 1978.

Taylor-Stokes nuptials.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 30 April 1949.

Mary Joyce Taylor and Franklin Stokes were married 9 June 1949 in Wilson.

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In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 610 East Green Street, rented for $20/month, barber Roderick Taylor, 45; wife Mary, 39; and children Edna G., 8, Mary J., 4, and Roderick Jr., 1.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 607 East Green Street, barber Roderick Taylor, 58; wife Mary J., 50; and children Edna G., 18, Mary J., 14, and Roderick Jr., 12.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1208 Atlantic, barber James Stokes, 45; wife Viola, 35; and children Frank, 18, tobacco factory laborer, Dorothy, 14, Thomas, 12, Annie M., 9, Jannie L., 7, Donnie, 5, and Carlton, 4.

In 1942, Frankin Roosevelt Stokes registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 21 November 1921 in Troupland [Treutlen] County, Georgia; resided at 1208 Atlanta [sic] Street; his mailing address was Carter Hall, Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte; and his nearest relative was James Stokes, 1208 Atlanta Street.

On 9 June 1949, Frank Stokes, 26, of Wilson, son of James Stokes and Viola Reese Stokes, married Mary Joyce Taylor, 23, daughter of Roderick Taylor and Mary John Taylor, in Wilson. Presbyterian minister O.J. Hawkins performed the ceremony in the presence of Johnnie K. Boatwright, Sue Faucette, and Frances E. Williams.

In the 1950 census of Boulder, Boulder County, Colorado: at the University of Colorado,  Franklin R. Stokes, 28, lodger.

In the 1955 Boulder, Colorado, city directory: Stokes Franklin R (Joyce M) lab Maaco Puget Sound h 1906 Pearl

Mary Joyce Taylor Stokes Crisp died 26 September 2006 in Mount Clemens, Michigan.

Obituary of Mary Joyce Taylor Stokes Crisp, vickfuneralhome.com

Johnson C. Smith University’s Student Union building was renamed in Crisp’s honor.

Campus map, Johnson C. Smith University.

Franklin R. Stokes died 21 December 2006 in Denver, Colorado.

Obituary of Franklin R. Stokes, Newcomer Cremations, Funerals, Receptions.

A&T alumni form electrical service company.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 13 August 1938.

Though Arnold Walker and Carl Hines were full-time high school teachers, and V.A. Burgess appears to have left Wilson before 1940, Walker Electric was in business at least eleven years.

Wilson Daily Times, 22 April 1946.

Wilson Daily Times, 8 October 1948.

In March 1949, Walker Electric filed letters of incorporation with the State of North Carolina. A.G. Walker, his wife Doris Vick Walker, and Sallie Steverson were stockholders.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 March 1949.

On 21 May 1949, the Journal and Guide ran another feature on the company in which we learn that Walker employed nine salesmen and electricians and had two trucks covering service routes.

Several months later, the company auctioned off a Westinghouse refrigerator in order to satisfy a laborer’s lien, i.e. a claim against the company’s property for unpaid wages.

Wilson Daily Times, 30 August 1949.

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  • A.G. Walker — Arnold G. Walker. In 1940, Arnold George Walker registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 22 February 1907 in Columbus, Georgia; lived at 622 East Green Street, Wilson; his contact was mother Della Walker, Talledega, Alabama; and he was employed by the City Board of Education in Wilson.
  • Doris Vick Walker
  • Carl Hines
  • V.A. Burgess

Pioneer educator dies.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 9 May 1942.

Sallie Barbour‘s credit as Wilson County’s earliest proponent of the Rosenwald Fund is an interesting detail in this obituary. It’s also puzzling. The Stantonsburg School was in Stantonsburg. The Stantonsburg Street School, formerly known as the Colored Graded School and later formally renamed for Barbour, was on Stantonsburg Street in Wilson, but was built well before the Rosenwald era.

Cornet player Worsley visits Suffolk.

Suffolk News-Herald, 17 May 1940.

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  • James Worsley

In the 1910 census of Tarboro, Edgecombe County, N.C.: on Saint James Street, Albert Worsly, 39; wife Maggie, 34; and children Lavinia, 15, George, 13, Johnny, 9, James, 6, Maud, 4, and Willis, 3.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 900 Mercer Street, owned and valued at $2000, James Worsley, 26, musician; wife Mabey, 26, laundry; son Frank, 12; and mother-in-law Martha Melton, 56, widow.

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory:

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 900 Mercer Street, owned and valued at $1000, widow Marie Melton, 71; daughter Madie M. Worsley, 45, “in service”; grandson Frank Barnes, 25, scrap room overseer in tobacco factory; granddaughter Jewel Worsley, 8; nephew Jim Barnes, 39, gardener assistant; roomer Percy Farrell, 37, rolls hogsheads in redrying plant; grandson James Williams, 30, stick boy in redrying plant; and son-in-law James Worsley, 37, trumpet player in dance band.

In the 1950 census of Goldsboro, Wayne County: at 704 Crawford Street, James Worsley, 46, and Lillian Worsley, 27, were two of four minstrel show entertainers lodging in the household of Ransom Corbett.

James Albert Worsley Jr. died 17 August 1953 in Tarboro, Edgecombe County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 16 December 1904 in Edgecombe County to Albert Worsley and Maggie Caine; was divorced; lived at 404 Wagner Street, Tarboro; was a musician; and was buried in Wilson Cemetery, Princeville, N.C.