City of Wilson

The Oblate Sisters at home.

In 1945, the Reid family sold 600 East Green Street to the Redemptorist Fathers of North Carolina, who converted it into a school and a convent for the Oblate Sisters of Providence. (Saint Alphonsus Catholic School moved to Carroll Street circa 1948.)

The 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County, lists sisters Mary Juliana, Mary Antoinette, Mary Miriam, Mary Antonio, and Mary Cornelia in the house. Sister Mary Juliana was head of the convent. Three sisters were described as Catholic school elementary teachers, and one as a kindergarten teacher. The fifth, Sister Mary Antoinette, a native of Martinique and the eldest by twenty-plus years, did not work. (At least in the way defined by census takers.)

Wilson Daily Times, 9 September 1948.

A graveside visit.

I finally saw Julia Boyette Bailey‘s grave for myself. 

Getting there required a slog along the edge of Buckhorn reservoir, which has retreated from the wood line under a ferocious and prolonged drought. At water’s edge, I nearly lost my boot when the crust of the soft yellow-gray mud gave way beneath my step. 

The snags of old cypresses now stand fully exposed, and Julia Bailey’s grave is now well above the waterline.

Randy Marshburn and Al Letchworth have placed flowers at the site, cut back the briars growing over it, and stood up the cleaned headstone in a temporary, but solid, repair. Julia Bailey’s footstone is visible at the bottom of this photo. Andrew W. Terrell‘s footstone lies across her grave. His broken headstone was once visible underwater, but has since disappeared. Depressions near Bailey’s grave suggest other burials.

I’ll say it again. This is the grave of “Julia Boyette Bailey, a woman who was born into slavery; grew to adulthood, married, and bore children under its yoke; and lived only four years beyond it. Hers is one of the, if not the, oldest known burials of an African-American person in Wilson County.”

We know that R. Ward Sutton, a Rocky Mount undertaker, was contracted to disinter, remove, and reinter 16-18 graves in the “Bailey-Tarell” cemetery in 1998. We also know that he never did it. Sutton ran adds on four consecutive weeks in April 1998, notifying the public that Julia Bailey, Andrew W. Terrell, and unnamed others would be reburied in Bailey Cemetery. And yet here they are, still on the City of Wilson’s land.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, July 2026.

604 East Green Street.

The two hundred-second in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District: “ca. 1913; 2 stories; Dr. William Michner [sic] house; L-plan Queen Anne structure with cutaway front-facing bay; Michner was a physician.”

Prior to Dr. William A. Mitchner’s purchase of this house, it was numbered 605. Primitive Baptist elder Jonah Williams likely built the house around 1910. His daughter, teacher Clarissa Williams, inherited it and lived there with her niece’s family.

Earnestine Ford died 10 November 1916 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was five months old; was born in Wilson to Curtis Ford of Dillon County, S.C., and Mamie Battle of Wayne County, N.C. Curtis Ford, 605 East Green Street, was informant.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Clarcy Williams, 50; roomer Curtis Ford, 37, house carpenter; [niece] Mamie Ford, 24, and her children Lear L., 4, and Quincey B., 2.

Williams died in October 1921. Her estate consisted of a house and lot (at 605 East Green Street) worth about $3000 and an estimated $100 in personal property. Her heirs at law were her nieces and nephews Mamie Ford, Fanny Battle, Clinton Battle, and Glynn Battle.

In the 1925 Wilson, N.C., city directory:

In the 1928 Wilson, N.C., city directory:

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 604 East Green, physician William Mincher [sic], 55, divorced; mother Lucy, 65, widow; and nephew Hubert, 30, tobacco factory laborer.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 604 East Green Street, Dr. W.A. Mitchner, 53, born Johnston County; wife Marie, 40, born Wake County; and mother Lucy Mitchner, 80, born in Johnston County.

Dr. Mitchner died in 1941, and his mother in 1946.

Wilson Daily Times, 5 November 1941.

Wilson Daily Times, 25 April 1946.

Marie Mitchner began to take lodgers into the large home, including members of her family.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 604 East Green, widow Marie R. Mitchner, 49, and lodgers Doris Raynor, 36, city social worker, and Mary A. Huggins, 24, elementary teacher in city schools.

Wilson Daily Times, 7 January 1956.

Wilson Daily Times, 21 April 1962.

Marie Mitchner died 30 April 1971 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 24 December 1899 in Henry Person and Dora Radley; was a widow; lived at 604 East Green Street; and was a retired teacher.

604 East Green Street was converted into apartments after Mitchner’s death, and tenants cycled in and out well into the 1990s. In January 2003, Wilson City Council accepted donation of the property by its owner, Jean Tedder. It was later demolished.

N.87-12-274-278 [N.80.11.904], Dr. William Michner House, 604 E. Green Street, East Wilson Historic District, Wilson, Wilson County, Survey and National Register Branch, State Historic Preservation Office.

Abe and Edna Darden buy a house.

Deed Book 290, page 596, Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

Abe and Edna Darden bought 701 East Vance Street from Home Development Company on 18 October 1944.

Home Development Company was a real estate subsidiary created by Durham, N.C.-based North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, once the oldest and largest black-owned life insurance company in the world. North Carolina Mutual used H.D.C. to acquire, build, and develop residential properties for African American buyers, who were largely marginalized or completely shut out of the traditional mortgage market at the time.

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In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 701 [East Vance], ditcher Abe Darden, 53; wife Edna, 48; grandson Delma Earl Darden, 7; granddaughter Eva Gray Kerney, 18; and nephew John T. Johnson, 29.

Edna Darden died 13 February 1966 in Goldsboro, Wayne County, N.C. Per her death certificate, she was born 6 May 1902 to Henry and Ida Tyson; was married to Abe Darden; lived at 701 East Vance Street, Wilson; and worked as a tobacco factory laborer.

Pauline Coley buys a cemetery plot.

Deed Book 290, page 592, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

On 8 November 1944, Pauline Coley bought lot number 24, Street H, of the Southwest section of Rest Haven Cemetery. This would seem to indicate that Wilson Cemetery Trustees (as opposed to the Colored Cemetery Trustees or Commission) were handling lot sales by this time, but no records remain from this period.

603 East Green Street, updated.

We saw 603 East Green Street here and here.

Below are photos of the Washington Wilkins house taken circa the mid-1980s for the East Wilson Historic District nomination report.

603 East Green today.

N.87-12-360-362, Washington Wilkins House, 603 E. Green Street, East Wilson Historic District, Wilson, Wilson County, Survey and National Register Branch, State Historic Preservation Office; photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, July 2026.

Immunization schedule for colored.

Wilson Daily Times, 7 July 1948.

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  • Jack Vale’s store, Elba Street — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 316 Elba, Jack Vail, 50, retail grocery store manager; wife Addie, 45; and son J.C., 22.
  • Best Stewart‘s store
  • Calvary Baptist church
  • Lodge Street store

601 East Green Street, part 2.

601 East Green is described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District: “ca. 1950; 1 1/2 stories; stone-veneered cottage with Neo-Colonial motifs.”

This house, built for physician William C. Hines and his family in the late 1940s, was a latecomer to the 600 block of East Green. It was demolished more than 20 years ago.

601 East Green, today.

Wilson Daily Times, 12 June 1951.

Contact sheet frames from N.87-12-363-375, Dr. William Hines House, 601 E. Green Street, East Wilson Historic District, Wilson, Wilson County, Survey and National Register Branch, State Historic Preservation Office; photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, May 2026.

A belated birthday visit with Mrs. Bell.

I sent Inez Dickerson Bell a card for her 101st birthday last month, but decided to pop in to see her, too. She was enjoying a little quiet time in her room, but was happy to see me, and we spent a pleasant half-hour or so chatting about the old neighborhood. She marveled at her great age (“That’s a lot of birthdays! I must have done something right”); spoke fondly of my parents (“Beverly is so pretty. And so sweet. She looks good, and she acts like she feels good.” “Rederick! We miss him! He wouldn’t ask for nothing, and next thing you know that garbage can is in the back. Who did it? Rederick! He was doing something good all the time. I’m a witness to that!”); praised me and my sister for our good comportment; reminisced about the Belette Women’s Club; shared tips (“The Bible says ‘do unto others!'”); and philosophied (“I’ve had a good life if I go ‘way from here tomorrow.”) Finally, as I stood to leave, she motioned to her side table: “Take one of these. Enjoy it! ‘Cause I’m gon enjoy mine!” 

As always, thank you so much, Mrs. Bell! See you next time!