Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 22 January 1944.
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agriculture
Rocky Branch Demonstration Club at the Whitley home.
Wilson Daily Times, 25 April 1944.
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- Retha Whitley — in the 1940 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer Rosco Whitley, 33; wife Retha, 26; and children Annie, 8, Mary Ella, 5, William R., 4, and Joice T., 1.
- Esther Barnes — in the 1940 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer Joe Barnes, 82; wife Lizzie, 65; daughter Ester, 18; niece Gladys Smith, 14; grandchildren Francis, 7, and Bubble Ashby, 5; son Sevil Barnes, 24; and his wife Bulah, 14.
Praise for Lancaster’s Cotton Seed Sower: “any intelligent negro man” can work one.
Wilson County planters George W. Stanton, Robert M. Cox, and Benjamin H. Bardin lent effusive praise to this advertisement for Lancaster’s Cotton Seed Sower. None of them actually worked the fields themselves, so Stanton and Cox made clear that the “machine” was not too complicated for black farmhands.
The Norfolk Virginian, 21 February 1866.
Hog-killing time in Dixie.
On 1 January 1949, the Baltimore Afro-American ran a story on hog-killing time featuring Olford Ricks of R.F.D. 1, Wilson. Ricks actually lived just over the line in Nash County, but his close ties with Wilson County more than warrant his inclusion here. (Plus, we’ve already met members of his family who did live in Wilson.) The article not only detailed the work that went into processing hogs, but emphasized Ricks’ accomplishments as a prosperous, modern farmer.
The Afro-American (Baltimore, Md.), 1 January 1949.
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Olford Ricks died 5 September 1973 in Rocky Mount, Nash County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 22 January 1897 to Joseph Ricks and Nancy Jones; was a retired farmer; was married to Odell Brodie Ricks; and was buried in William Chapel cemetery, Wilson County.
4-H Club members receive certificates.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 13 August 1938.
In 1938, Wilson 4-H Club members racked up certificates of completion awarded by the state agricultural extension service. Among those recognized were: Mittie Sutton, Leamon Jones, Hilda Joint [Joyner], Levi Simmons, Beatrice Jones, William Bynum, Cleo Jones, Herman Alston, Hattie Armstrong, Rosa Armstrong, Mary E. Barnes, Luther Battle, Lucille Best, Lillian Bullock, John Bunch, Lucille Earl, Charlotte Exum, Marie Hilliard, John A. Jones, Willie Jones, William Kirby, Mary D. Lenzy [Lindsey], Marie Lucas, Christine Mitchell, Warren H. Mitchell, Calona Montague, Alexander Pearce, William Pearce, Ruth Sanders, Sudie Spinner, Mary Terry, and Dollie M. Williams.
H. Farmer leads Negro Farmers Advisory Committee.
Wilson Daily Times, 14 November 1942.
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- Howard W. Farmer of Elm City
- S.T. Shaw of Rocky Branch
- Robert Mitchell of Elm City
- Charlie Ruffin of Fountain
- Walter Moore of Walstonsburg
- James Ward Jr. of Saratoga
- Henry Armstrong of Elm City
- Ernest Jones of Bailey
- John Jones of Bailey
- Mark Sharpe of Macclesfield
- Joseph Clay of Black Creek
- C.W. Foster
Idell Jones appointed to 4-H specialist position.
Tobacco factories dismiss stemmers, citing law and machinery.
In the fall of 1938, federal minimum-wage law and mechanization combined to erase hundreds of stemming jobs from Wilson tobacco factories.
Wilson Daily Times, 24 October 1938.
“Each year here in Wilson hundreds of negroes leave private employment in the fall to take more lucrative jobs in the factories while hundreds of other negroes who are out of work at the time get work at that time.”
Tobacco production.
[This photo says “1940s” or maybe even ’50s to me, not 1926, but 1926 is how it is labeled.]
Tobacco Production, 1926, Wilson County, Black and White Photographic Print 0019, in the Commercial Museum (Philadelphia, Pa.) Collection of North Carolina Photographs (P0072), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
McGirt is champion canner.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 16 September 1944.
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In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: McGirt Archie (c; Archie) lab 821 Stantonsburg
In the 1930 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farm laborer Archie McGirt, 35; wife Pearl, 28; children John, 13, Lillian, 11, and Belton, 7; and roomer Georgia Souther, 29.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Archie McGirt, 52, fertilizer plant laborer; wife Pearl, 47, tobacco factory laborer; son John, 23, fertilizer plant laborer; daughter Lillian Simms, 21, tobacco factory laborer; son Belton [McGirt], 19, delivery boy for grocery store; [grandson] Walter, 5; and son-in-law Allen Simms, 25, cement finisher for contractor.
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Archie McGirt, 58; wife Pearl P., 54; and son James, 15; and grandchildren Loretta, 8, and Bobby, newborn.
Pearlette McGirt died 19 July 1970 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 25 October 1902 to Ace Patterson and Dora McCray; was married to Archie McGirt; and lived at 803 South Ward Boulevard. Informant was Lillian McGirt Simms, 901 Stantonsburg Street.