Births Deaths Marriages

Williamson v. Williamson.

Isaac and Sarah Williamson lived in Old Fields township, Wilson (formerly Nash) County. In 1853, Sarah Williamson filed for divorce from her husband, citing, among other things, serious physical and emotional abuse. The Williamsons lived in a part of Wilson County that was then in Nash County. Their divorce file is replete with accusations and counter-accusations of violence, alcohol abuse, infidelity and general profligacy. It also contains several references to the Williamsons’ enslaved laborers and free colored neighbors.

The court required Isaac Williamson to sequester $2500 pending a decree in the case and was given the choice to post a bond or to hand over to the sheriff “negroes Harry, Lewis, Viney, Reuben, Ben & Margarett.” [Isaac Williamson died in 1854 or 1855, ending the proceedings.]

In her deposition, Nancy Williamson, Isaac and Sarah’s 20 year-old daughter, swore that “at another night he run mother and me out of the house and then called in a Negro fellow made him get the gun, powder and shot — the gun was loaded and he, my father took it and said if he found my mother he would drop her wherever he found her. …” “At another time my father asked a negro fellow who had a wife there, to come into the house and he did so, cursed and abused my mother — and my father would not allow my mother to say any thing to the negro but told him to say what he pleased to her.”

Neighbor Jethro Harrison testified that “I am well acquainted with Isaac Williamson the Defendant, He is a man who drinks hard — when he has not liquor at home he goes off and drinks he does not attend to his business like a man ought to. I have seen the Defendant on my bed and one morning about an hour per sun I saw him on a bed at Elijah Powell‘s a free negroe who had living with him a daughter grown and a wife & other children. …” On cross examination, Harrison stated: “… the Defendant was lying across the bed at the free negroes house with his shoes off and a quilt over him I think his clothes were not off. He was drunk or quite drinkey.”

Son-in-law Robertson Baker testified: “Some five or six years ago the Defendant and myself were riding in the night along together he had a coloured woman supposed to be a Negro riding on his horse behind him, he stopped in the path I went back and found him on the woman — I rode off and in a short time he came on with the woman behind him I saw the woman put up behind him as we started from a sale or hireing at A[illegible] At the Defendant’s request there being two Negro girls at our horses where we went to start I took one of them behind me for the purpose of getting him off home.”

Daughter Kesiah Williamson, 17, testified that Isaac Williamson told her “if I stuck up to him that I would get a negro or two but if I stuck to mother I never should have any of his property.”

Dempsey Powell was subpoenaed to testify in a deposition, but the file does not contain a record of any such statement.

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  • Harry, Lewis, Viney, Reuben, Ben & Margarett — A document in the Williamson divorce notes that Isaac Williamson owned about 12 enslaved people. In 1864, Williamson’s youngest sons received their inheritance from their father.  Isaac Jr. took possession of Harry, Jacob, Priscilla and Wesley, and son Eli Williamson, Reuben, Margaret and child Riney, Hittie and Elias.
  • Elijah Powell — in the 1850 census of Nash County, listed next door to Isaac and Sarah Williamson: Robert Simpson, 36, farmer; Elijah Powell, 50, cooper; wife Selah [Celia Taylor], 48; and children Denis T., 22, Henry, 21, Elijah, 19, Mary, 18, Stephen, 10, Jane, 6, Jabe, 2, and Sally, 18. [Presumably, the girl on the bed was either Sally or Mary Powell.]
  • Dempsey Powell — in the 1860 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: turpentine worker Dempsey Powell, 30, who claimed $130 personal estate; Sallie Simpson, 28; and Sallie Simpson, 9.

Many thanks to Traci Thompson for sharing these documents, which are housed in Nash County Records at the North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh.

Australian?

Fourteen year-old Lessie Manor, described as “colored,” died of heart disease in April 1927. She was a student living in Saratoga township, and her parents were listed as M.E. Manor and Minnie Henderson. Of Australia and Arizona. … What?

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Lessie’s birthplace was also listed as Arizona, though the person completing the form had begun to write “California” in the field. It is not impossible that Australians and Arizonans were living in Saratoga in the 1920s, but it’s unlikely. Did “colored” mean Aborigine? Native American? What is the story here?

A little digging turns up Lessie’s sister’s death certificate.

Lena Mainor died 16 October 1923 at the Colored Hospital in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was Negro and was born 17 August 1908 in North Carolina to M.E. Mainor of Milburn, Australia, and Minnie Henderson of Arizona.

Lessie and Lena’s mother’s death certificate yields important answers. Minnie Maynard, colored, died in March 1920 in Wilson township. Her birthplace? Troy, Alabama. Her parents were described as Alabama-born as well. M.E. Maynard was informant. The Arizona attribution, then, began after Minnie Maynard’s death.

M.E. Mainor remarried quickly. On 10 October 1920, in Black Creek, M.E. Mainor, 31, colored, of Wilson, son of Charles and Julia Mainor of Alabama, married Rebecca Blackman, 19, colored, of Black Creek, daughter of Green and Lizzie Blackman. A.M.E. Zion minister B.J. Kornegay performed the ceremony in the presence of John Ellis, Lira Clay, and Joseph Clay. (Per the 1920 census of Black Creek township, Blackman was a Georgia native and was black.)

Rebecker Maynard died 7 June 1928 in Black Creek township. Per her death certificate, she was colored; was born 13 May 1903 in Wilson County to Green Blackwell of Caseda, Georgia, and Lizzie Burk of Steward County, Georgia; was married to M.E. Maynard; and farmer for Wade Brooks.

Evilla Rebecca Brown died in 1973 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Her death certificate, with information provided by sister Lucille Speight of Stantonsburg, identified her parents as Moyed Efford Maynor and Rebecca Blackmon. And she was Negro.

Evidence of Lessie and Lena Maynor’s death certificates notwithstanding, it appears that the family was African-American and its roots were in Alabama.

Lane Street Project: a list of likely burials in Rountree, Vick, or Odd Fellows cemeteries.

This is a running annotated list of people who are believed, on the basis of family information, death certificates, obituaries or other sources, including my strong hunch, to be buried in Rountree, Vick or Odd Fellows cemeteries.

These contiguous cemeteries were known commonly and collectively as “Rountree cemetery” making it difficult to determine the exact location of each burial.  Though county residents were more likely to be buried in church or family cemeteries, nearly every African-American city resident who died between about 1910 and 1940 was buried in Rountree, Vick or Odd Fellows. (Those who weren’t were laid to rest in the “old” Colored Cemetery, also known as Oaklawn or Oakdale, or the Masonic cemetery, around the bend of Lane Street.) C.H. Darden & Sons (CHD) conducted most of the burials in these cemeteries and, until the 1940s, often referred to their location on death certificates only as “Wilson, N.C.” (Thankfully, the various undertaking businesses run by Columbus E. Artis specified Rountree cemetery (even if Vick or Odd Fellows was the actual burial ground.)

This list does not include burials listed in Joan Howell’s cemetery book or individuals for whom gravestones are intact. All death certificates noted were issued in Wilson County unless otherwise noted.

  • Artis, Fabie — Died 1930. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertaker C.E. Artis.
  • Barnes, Infant — Stillborn 1925 to Lewis Barnes and Annie Taylor, a “5th month fetus.” Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Barnes, Infant — Stillborn 7 January 1926 in Wilson to George Barnes and Pattie Hill. Death certificate: Rountree’s cemetery, undertakers Artis & Freeman.
  • Battle, Paul — Died 1927. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Batts, John — Died 1927, age 60. Death certificate: Rountree’s cemetery, undertaker Artis & Freeman.
  • Boykin, Nancy Staton — Died 1946, age 88. Death certificate: Roundtree cemetery, undertaker C.H. Darden & Sons.
  • Bowen, Infant — Stillborn 30 January 1926 in Wilson to Jack Bowen and Flossie Cobb. Death certificate: Rountree’s cemetery, undertakers Artis & Freeman.
  • Bridgers, Infant Child — Died 1940, age 1 day. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, C.E. Artis.
  • Brooks, Unnamed — Stillborn 1927 to Setha Brooks and Frodia Williams. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, Artis & Flanagan.
  • Bryant, Infant — Stillborn 3 February 1926 in Wilson to Norwood Bryant and Laura Dodson. Death certificate: Rountree’s cemetery, undertakers Artis & Freeman.
  • Cannon, Infant — Stillborn 11 February 1926 in Wilson to Willie Cannon and Helen Harris. Death certificate: Rountree’s cemetery, undertakers Artis & Freeman.
  • Clark, Sarah Hill — Died 1927, age 64. Death certificate: Rountree’s cemetery, undertaker Artis & Freeman.
  • Coley, Infant — Stillborn 1927 to John Coley and Rosetta Harriss. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, Artis & Flanagan.
  • Dale, Joe — Died 1925, age 62. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Daniel, Boisie — Died 1927, age 1. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, Artis & Flanagan.
  • Davis, Infant — Stillborn 1927 to John Davis and Lula Jernigan. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Davis, Laura — Died 1925. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Dew, Alfred — Died 1925. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Edmundson, Infant — Died 1927. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, buried by family.
  • Edwards, Charlie — Died 1940. Death certificate: Rountree cemetery, undertaker I.W. Lee, Fremont, N.C.
  • Edwards, Isiah — Died 1927, infant. Death certificate: Rountree’s cemetery, undertaker Artis & Freeman.
  • Ethridge, Wiley — Died 1932, born in 1876. Death certificate: Roundtree, Darden.
  • Farmer, Mattie — Died 1938, age 28. Death certificate: Rountrees, C.E. Artis.
  • Foster, William Calvin — Died 1929, age 1. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, C.E. Artis.
  • Gay, Albert S., Sr. — Died 1932. Probably Rountree (family info). Death certificate: Wilson, N.C., CHD.
  • Gill, Daniel — Died 1918, age 100. Death certificate: Wilson, N.C., CHD.
  • Guest, Infant — Died 1918. Death certificate: Rountrees Church.
  • Haggans, George — Died 1918. Death certificate: Rountree cemetery, CHD.
  • Hawkins, Dorothy Lee — Died 1927, age 6. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, Artis & Flanagan.
  • Henderson, Archie — Died 1930, age 4. Death certificate: Wilson Co., N.C., C.E. Artis. Family info.
  • Henderson, Jesse Jr. — Died 1929, age 5 months. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, Wilson, N.C., C.E. Artis.
  • Hines, Perry — Died 1927, age 25. Death certificate: Rountree cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Hinnant, Hercules H. — Died 1934, age 23. Death certificate: Wilson, N.C., CHD. Per his obituary, buried in Rountree cemetery.
  • Hobbs, George — Died 1927, age 59. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, Artis & Flanagan.
  • Howell, William J. — Died 1939, age 67. Death certificate: Roundtree Cemetery, Hamilton Funeral Home. Per his obituary, buried in Rountree cemetery. (Howell was a member of Red Hot Hose Company, and may actually have been buried in Odd Fellows with Benjamin Mincey and other firemen.)
  • Jackson, Florence — Died 1925, age 7 months. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Jacobs, Infant — Stillborn 1928 to Roderick Taylor and Hattie Mae Jacobs. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, Wilson, N.C., C.E. Artis.
  • Johnson, Infant — Stillborn 17 January 1926 in Wilson to William Johnson and Lula Willis. Death certificate: Rountree’s cemetery, undertakers Artis & Freeman.
  • Jones, Edward — Died 1940. Death certificate: Rountree, CHD.
  • Jones, Infant — Stillborn 27 January 1926 in Wilson to Luther Jones and Lula Herring. Death certificate: Rountree’s cemetery, undertakers Artis & Freeman.
  • Jones, Infant — Stillborn 1927 to Samuel Jones and Everline Harrell. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Jones, Sam, Sr. — Stillborn 1 February 1926 in Wilson. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Freeman.
  • Lassiter, Dempsey — Died 1946. Death certificate: Wilson, N.C., CHD.
  • Lassiter, Doris — Died 1943, age 5 months. Death certificate: Rountree’s, Hamilton Funeral Home.
  • Lucas, Infant. — Died 25 January 1940, premature. Death certificate: Rountrees, undertaker: family.
  • McCall, Willie Mae — Died 1927, age 11 months. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • McEachin, Margarette — Died 1927, age 6 months. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, Artis & Flanagan.
  • McNeill, Susie — Died 1927, age 28. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Melvin, John — Died 1939. Buried in Rountree cemetery, per obituary.
  • Moore, Ellias — Died 1918, age 40. Death certificate: Roundtree cemetery.
  • Moore, James Henry — Died 1927, age 32. Death certificate: Rountree cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Morgan, Sarah — Died 1927, age 16. Death certificate: Rountree cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Murray, Emma — Died 1927, age 41. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, Artis & Flanagan.
  • Perry, Lena — Died 1927, age 44. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, Artis & Flanagan.
  • Pitt, John Henry — Died 1927, age 3 months. Death certificate: Rountree cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Plummer, William Henry — Died 1925, age 70. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Pope, Mary Ella — Died 1932, age 24 days. Death certificate: “Roundtree (Wilson),” Amerson-Boswell Company.
  • Richardson, Infant — Stillborn 30 January 1926 in Wilson to Lizzie A. Richardson. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Freeman.
  • Rountree, Jack — Likely, Odd Fellows. Daughter Delzela Rountree is buried in Odd Fellows.
  • Rountree, Lucile — Died 1930. Likely, Odd Fellows. Death certificate: Wilson, N.C., CHD. Daughter Delzela is buried in Odd Fellows.
  • Simmons, Robert James — Died 1927. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Simms, Silva — Died 1927. Death certificate: Rountree cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Smith, Baby. Died 1940, aged 1 month. Death certificate: Rountrees, C.E. Artis.
  • Tate, Noah J. — Died 1926. Death certificate: Rountree cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Taylor, Eliza — Died 1934, age 47. Death certificate: Wilson, N.C., C.E. Artis. Probably Rountree or Vick, family info.
  • Taylor, Greeman — Died 1922, age 23. Death certificate: Wilson, N.C., CHD. Probably Rountree or Vick, family info.
  • Taylor, Hennie L. — Aged 1917, age 1. Death certificate: Wilson, N.C., undertaker A.D. McGowan. Probably Rountree or Vick, family info.
  • Taylor, Henrietta G. — Died 1916, age 19. Death certificate: Wilson, N.C., A.D. McGowan, undertaker. Probably Rountree or Vick, family info.
  • Taylor, Mike — Died 1927, age 68. Death certificate: Wilson, N.C., CHD. Probably Rountree or Vick, family info.
  • Taylor, Rachel — Died 1925, age 54. Death certificate: Wilson, N.C., CHD. Probably Rountree or Vick, family info.
  • Utley, Turner H. — Died 1928, age 52. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, C.E. Artis.
  • Vick, Annie M. Washington — Died 1952, age 81. Death certificate: Rountree cemetery, Edwards Funeral Home. However, the Vick family plot was in Odd Fellows cemetery. [Update: grave marker found 15 December 2020, Odd Fellows cemetery.]
  • Vick, Samuel H. — Died 1946. Death certificate: Rountree cemetery, Edwards Funeral Home. However, the Vick family plot was in Odd Fellows cemetery. [Update: grave marker found 15 December 2020, Odd Fellows cemetery.]
  • Vick, Viola — The Vick family plot was in Odd Fellows cemetery.
  • Ward, Helen — died 9 February 1926 in Wilson. Death certificate: Rountree’s cemetery, undertakers Artis & Freeman.
  • Ward, Mart Etta — Died 1925, age 41. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Weathers, Cleola — Died 1927, age 22. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • White, Clara — Died 1927, age 25. Death certificate: Rountree cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • White, Cora L. — Died 1927, age 1. Death certificate: Rountree cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.
  • Williams, Edgar — Died 1949, age 54. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, C.E. Artis.
  • Wilson, Fred — Died 1927, age 21. Death certificate: Rountree’s cemetery, undertaker Artis & Freeman.
  • Woodard, Lucy Simms — Died 1929, age about 48. Death certificate: Rountree Church Cemetery; Black Creek Undertaking Company. [Thank you, John Stembridge.]
  • Woods, Minnie A. — Died 1927. Death certificate: Rountrees cemetery, undertakers Artis & Flanagan.

The obituary of Rose Artis Stewart, 106.

Ms. Rose Artis Stewart, age 106, of 2578 W. 5th Street, Greenville, formerly of Wilson was called from labor to reward on Saturday, January 18, 2020.  A celebration of her life and legacy will be held Saturday, January 25, 2020 at 12 noon in the Robert King, Sr. Memorial Chapel of Carrons Funeral Home, 726 South Tarboro Street, Wilson.  Evangelist Myra Artis will deliver the eulogy, and Minister Gail Batts Shiver will preside.  Interment will follow in Rest Haven Cemetery.

To celebrate her life and cherish precious memories, Mother Rose leaves her son, Lester Artis; her daughter, Ruth Artis Smith; three grandchildren, James Artis (Cheryl), Kirk Artis (Angie) and Alice Lavinia Dozier (Ronald); eight great grandchildren, Keith, Quiana (Amaree), Jason (Latonya), Jerrod (Laura), Kaleisha, D’netra, Michael, Crystal (Jamal) and Maysha (Vadym); thirteen great great grandchildren, Mckeever, McKayla, McKenzie, Mya, Jordan, Reagan, Ava, Alivia, Jason II,  Solanam, Nailah, Amir and Emma; a god daughter, Anetra; two dear close friends, Virginia Bolling and Mother Rumella Patterson; her special nieces, Marie and Geneva; her spiritual father, Bishop Ed W. Thomas; a host of nieces, nephews, Redeemer Church Family, other church families and a host of other relatives and friends.

Obituary courtesy of Carrons Funeral Home.

In Memory of Mrs. Mena Townsend Faison.

Mena Townsend Faison‘s funeral was held 16 August 1981 at London Primitive Baptist Church. Elder Lonnie Barnes performed the service.

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Will Faison, 24, of Wilson, and Mena Townsend, 19, of Wilson, daughter of Louis Townsend, were married 15 August 1912 in Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister William Baker performed the ceremony in the presence of Rosa Greene, Ora Bunch and Josie Strickland.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Banks Street, tobacco factory worker Willie Banks, 31; wife Mena, 26; and children Edward, 6, Willie Mae, 4, Addie, 2, and Adell, 7 months.

Mabel Eliza Faison died 25 December 1929 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 17 years old; a school girl; single; and was born in Wilson to Willie Faison and Mena Townsend. Informant was Maggie Katis.

Henry Cornelius Faison registered for the World War II draft in Wilson in 1942. Per his registration card, he was born 22 February 1921 in Wilson; lived at 504 Banks Street; his contact was Meana Faison; and he worked for Export Tobacco Company. Ethel L. Hines was registrar.

In the 1957 Newark, New Jersey, city directory: Faison William (Mena) longshoreman h 146 S 9th

Thanks to Lisa R.W. Sloan for sharing this funeral program from a family collection.

Fatal fall from truck.

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Wilson Daily Times, 3 January 1941.

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In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farmer Frank Ward, 26; wife Lizzie, 23; son Columbus, 11 months; and niece Geneva, 8.

On 7 September 1913, Frank Ward, 31, son of Frank and Rhoda Ward, married Minnie Harriss, 21, daughter of Arch and Rose Harriss. Holy Church minister E.E. Hicks performed the ceremony at Willie Ward’s residence in the presence of Willie Ward, Willie Ellis and Johney Rhodes.

In 1918, Frank Ward registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born in March 1884, worked on Henry Love’s farm, and his nearest relative was Minnie Ward.

In the 1920 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Frank Ward, 40, farmer; wife Minnie, 28; and children Zeus, 10, Lucile, 8, Minnie Belle, 5, Frank, 5, Floyd, 4, Mary, 2, Columbus, 10, and Albert, 8.

In the 1930 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Frank Ward, 44, farmer; wife Minnie, 35; and children Albert, 20, Lucile, 19, Frank, 14, Floyd, 13, Mary, 12, Hazel, 9, David, 6, Estell, 4, Rosa, 3, and James, 1, and grandson William, 11 months.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Frank Ward, 52, City of Wilson laborer; wife Minnie, 48; and children David, 16, farm laborer, Estell, 13, and James, 9.

In 1940, Columbus Ward registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 15 October 1909 in Wilson County; he lived at 808 Sugg Street; his contact was father Frank Ward; and he worked for C. Woodard.

Frank Ward died 1 January 1941 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 10 September 1884 in Wilson County to Frank Ward and Rosa Ward; worked as a laborer for the  city of Wilson; and he lived at 808 Suggs Street. He was buried in Rest Haven cemetery. Minnie Ward was informant. Ward’s cause of death was “fractured skull/falling from truck.” (Ward was declared dead at Woodard-Herring Hospital, which ordinarily treated whites only.)

A list of known burials in the Masonic cemetery.

Around the same time the Odd Fellows were establishing a cemetery at the far end of Lane Street, the Mount Hebron Lodge #42, Prince Hall Masons, set out their own on a lot purchased from Cain and Margaret Artis in 1900. These days, clumps of weedy shrubbery have trapped some of the oldest gravestones, and others have been victimized by overzealous mowing. The cemetery remains active, however, with burials as recently as December 2019.

  • Aiken, John H. — Born 1872, died 1914. Death certificate: buried in Wilson by C.H. Darden & Sons (CHD).
  • Barnes, Armena — Died 1907.
  • Barnes, Cora — Born 1875, died 1917. Death certificate: buried in Wilson Co., N.C., CHD.
  • Barnes, Ida Hinton — Born 1875, died 1953. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, Darden Memorial Funeral Home.
  • Barnes, Samuel — Born 1868, died 1933. Death certificate: Wilson, CHD.
  • Barnes, Short W. — Died 1943. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, CHD.
  • Battle, Charles — Born 1842, died 1910.
  • Battle, Edith — Born 1818, died 1899.
  • Battle, Leah — Born 1851, died 1898.
  • Battle, P.P. — Parker P. Battle.
  • Brown, Ruth Jones — Born 1904, died 1970. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, Edwards F.H.
  • Bryant, Harry H. — Headstone not located. Per obituary and death certificate, born 1873, died 1946, buried in Masonic cemetery.
  • Bryant, Julia Suggs — Headstone not located. Wife of Harry Bryant and likely buried in Masonic cemetery. Death certificate: Wilson, CHD.
  • Bullock, Louise J. — Born 1909, died 1968. Death certificate: Masonic, Edwards F.H.
  • Bullock, Ruel — Born 1908, died 1969. Death certificate: Masonic, Edwards F.H.
  • Bullock, Ruel, Jr. — Headstone not located. Infant son of Ruel and Louise Bullock. Born 1931, died 1932. Death certificate: Wilson, CHD.
  • Burton, William — Headstone not found. Died 1927, aged about 51. Death certificate: Mason cemetery.
  • Clark, Ida Ross — Born 1873, died 1942. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, CHD.
  • Clark, John H. — Born 1863, died 1949. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, Darden Memorial F.H.
  • Coward, B.P., Rev. — Bryant P. Coward. Born 1864, died 1940. Death certificate: Masonic, Hamilton F.H.
  • Coward, Sarah A. — Born 1867, died 1946. Death certificate: family cemetery, Wilson, N.C., CHD.
  • Dawson, Fester — Born 1922, died 1982.
  • Dawson, Harriet — Born 1892, died 1967. Death certificate: Masonic, Edwards F.H.
  • Dawson, Vanderbilt — Born 1887, died 1969. Death certificate: Masonic, Edwards F.H.
  • Edwards, Calvin S. — Born 1887, died 1947. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery.
  • Foster, Rachel — Born 1900, died 1902.
  • Hardy, Clifton — Born 1893, died 1968.
  • Hicks, Maria — Born 1821, died 1902.
  • Hill, Henry L. — Headstone not found. Husband of Malissia Hill. Died 1957. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, CHD.
  • Hill, Malissia — Born 1887, died 1929. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, CHD.
  • Hines, Nathan — Died 1925 in Wilson. Death certificate: “Mason cemetery,” Wilson.
  • Hockaday, Eva Mae (wife of J.D. Hockaday) — Born 1892, died 1953. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, Hamilton F.H.
  • Jones, Butler — Died 1961. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, Darden Memorial F.H.
  • Jones, Charles T., Rev. — Born 1878, died 1963. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, Edwards F.H.
  • Jones, M. Gertrude — Born 1881, died 1968.
  • Jones, Myrtie — Born 1884, died 1951.
  • Kittrell, Mary F. — Born 1882, died 1947. Death certificate: Mason’s cemetery, C.E. Artis F.H.
  • Kittrell, William — Born 1869, died 1952. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, C.E. Artis F.H.
  • Levy, Betty J. (daughter of Emanuel Hill)– Born 1942, died 1975.
  • Lucas, Henry — Born 1872, died 1942. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, CHD.
  • Lucas, Mamie Battle — Born 1881, died 1942. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, CHD.
  • Mitchell, Elizabeth — Died 1917. Death certificate: died in 1916, buried Wilson, CHD.
  • Moore, Lee A. — Died 1948. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, CHD.
  • Moore, Sarah A.J. — Born 1841, died [illegible].
  • Moore, William J. — Born 1837, died 1914. Death certificate: Wilson, CHD.
  • Pierce, Ada Davis Winstead — Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, C.E. Artis F.H.
  • Pitt, Billie J. — Born 1910, died 1967. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, Darden F.H.
  • Pitt, Roscoe — Born 1895, died 1935.
  • Rogers, John W. — Headstone not found. Died 1951. Death certificate, buried in Mason cemetery, C.E. Artis.
  • Smith, Carrie Emma — Born 1899, died 1917.
  • Smith, Flossie — Headstone not found. Daughter of O.L.W. and Adora Smith, almost certainly buried in Masonic.
  • Smith, Owen L.W., Rev. — Died 1926. Headstone not found. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, CHD.
  • Spell, John S. — Born 1865, died 1946. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, C.E. Artis F.H.
  • Spell, Martha Gordon — Born 1874, died 1966. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, Edwards F.H.
  • Suggs, G.W. — George Washington Suggs. Born 1836, died 1914. Death certificate: Wilson, CHD.
  • Suggs, Esther — Born 1839, died 1902.
  • Tabron, Myrtie Ruth — Born 1918, died 2011.
  • Tabron, William — Born 1914, died 1966.
  • Taylor, Addie Washington — Born 1897, died 1963. Death certificate: Rest Haven, Darden Memorial F.H.
  • Taylor, Russell Buxton, Rev. — Born 1881, died 1954. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, Darden Memorial F.H.
  • Vinson, Walter — Born 1899, died 1979.
  • Wilkins, Mary Boddie — Born 1874, died 1956.
  • Winstead, Braswell R. — Born died 1934. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, Artis & Freeman undertakers.
  • Young, R.J., Rev. — Richard J. Young. Born 1872, died 1933. Death certificate: Wilson, N.C., CHD.
  • Zachary, Lurean Barnes — Born 1900, died 1963. Death certificate: Masonic cemetery, Darden Memorial F.H.

The death certificate of Henry Moses.

Henry Moses had two death certificates, each of which offers unique information.

The basics: Henry Moses died 15 December 1913 of a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Certificate #1. This document is most complete. Moses lived on Youngs [Alley or Avenue]; was born 27 May 1878 in Franklin County, North Carolina; was married; could read and write; and operated both a restaurant and a pressing club. Undertaker A.D. McGowan buried him in Wilson.

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Certificate #2 appears to start off as a copy of the first, though on a slightly different form. The person who filled it out misread the signature of the registrar, L.A. Hinnant, writing “Hinerant.” He or she (most likely he) also misread the first name of the informant, who was Henry Moses’ father Caesar Moses. This document dispensed with Moses’ occupation, but added two details to his cause of death: (1) it was a homicide and (2) “gambling” was the contributory cause.

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On 22 November 1905, Henry Moses, 27, of Wilson, son of Caesar Moses, married Sandora Dancey, 25. Rev. P.H. Howell, a Christ Disciple minister, performed the ceremony at Henry Moses’ home in the presence of W.M. Mayo, L. Studeway and Frank Sims.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: tobacco factory laborer Henry Moses, 31; wife Dora, 31; and daughter Luevenia Dancy, 16, servant.

Also in the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on TIllmans Road, house carpenter Caesar S. Moses, 56; wife Alice, 53; and children Oliver, 22, and Walter, 13.

Caesar Moses died 19 January 1917 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was a widower; was 63 years old; worked as a carpenter; and his father was named Crofford Stone. Oliva Moses was informant.

[Note: the 1900 census of Jeffreys township, Florence County, South Carolina, lists a Henry Moses in the household of his father Caesar Moses. As uncommon as the names are, this is a coincidence. This Henry Moses died of typhoid fever in 1917 in Florence County.]

Nancy Staton weds Rev. James Boykin.

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Wilson Daily Times, 16 January 1928.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Vick Street, house carpenter James Boykin, 49; tobacco factory worker Eliza, 47; and children Albert, 15, and Ruth, 9; Arthur Chester, 28, transfer car driver; wife Fannie, 28; and children Arthur Jr., 7, Joseph, 5, Irvin, 3, and Charlie, 1.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 713 Viola Street, midwife Nancy Staten, 52, widow; house carpenter James Jenkins, 24, and wife Annie, 19.

On 22 December 1927, James Boykin, 50, married Nancy A. Staton, 55, in Wilson. Rev. B.J. Gregory of Christian Church Colored performed the ceremony at the bride’s home in the presence Glenn S. McBrayer, Lillian McBrayer and Bettie Whitley. [Note the article got the bride’s name wrong.]

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 900 Viola Street, owned and valued at $4000, private practical nurse Nancy S. Boykin, 59; husband Christian Church clergyman James, 44; daughter Lila R., 19; and roomers Ines Williams, 23, and Minnie Nelson, 20, both servants.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 812 Viola, owned and valued at $1500, James Boykin, 60, and wife Nancy, 79; and, renting at $12/month, Lucias Smith, 28, skilled sewer contractor laborer, wife Jacqueline, 18, daughter Louise, 2, and Sidney Ramsouear, 89; and, renting at $4/month, Ray Brockman, 33, skilled sewer contractor laborer, and wife Hattie, 22. The Smiths and Brockmans were from South Carolina.

The death certificate of the infant son of Geo. Ferguson.

North Carolina did not mandate death certificates statewide until 1914, but some towns and cities implemented the requirement earlier.

Wilson’s first death certificates date from late 1909. As the record below shows, in the early days there was sometimes confusion about who was to fill in what blanks. It appears here that the family took a shot at writing in personal information about the decedent, a duty that should have fallen to the undertaker. The result, however, is a fascinating collection of details that would otherwise have gone unrecorded.

The basic facts: George and Bettie Ferguson‘s infant son was still born (or died the day after he was born). The family lived at 505 Spring Street, Wilson.

The facts as entered:

  • The baby’s name — was it Stephen?
  • His sex? “Nov. 24” — apparently his birthdate, though this date should match his death date, which was recorded by Dr. W.A. Mitchner.
  • His color? “Color.”
  • His age? “No” years, which was true, as the boy was stillborn.
  • Father’s birthplace? “22 bone 1887 Nov 7.” This was George Ferguson’s age and birthdate.
  • Mother’s birthplace? “Mother bone 1888 August 10.”
  • Occupation? “Stem tobacco.” This, of course, was the occupation of one or both of the baby’s parents.
  • Informant? Charles Darden, though Darden did not serve as undertaker. Quinn-McGowan Firniture Company did.

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George Ferguson, 20, son of Sam and Mary Ferguson, married Bettie Barnes, 18, daughter of Aaron and Margaret Barnes, in Wilson on 12 July 1909. W.H. Neal of Saint James Holy Church performed the ceremony in the presence of J.A. McKnight, Annie Pitt and Edmonia Perrington.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: George Ferguson, 21, factory worker, and wife Bettie, 18.

Bettie Ferguson died 24 July 1918 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 10 August 1890 in Wilson to Aaron Barnes and Margarett Blount; was married to George Ferguson; lived at 117 Wiggins; and worked as a stemmer at “Emperial Tobacco Co.” She was buried in Wilson by C.H. Darden & Sons.

George Barnes Ferguson registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County in 1940. Per his registration card, he was born 8 October 1914 in Wilson County; lived at 1120 East Nash Street, Wilson; his contact was wife Wilhelmina Ferguson; and he worked for R.B. Carroll Grocery.

Georgia L. Barnes died 3 June 1945 in Goldsboro, Wayne County. Per her death certificate, she was born about 1913 in Wilson to George Furgerson of Edgecombe County and Betty Barnes of Wilson County and was married.