Economics

Leaving for the turpentine districts of Georgia and South Carolina.

By 1890, North Carolina’s long-leaf pine forests had been decimated, and the state’s once-dominant share of the national naval stores production had plummeted. As highlighted in Imagination Station‘s exhibit “Journey to Wilson,” though the county was never a major player in the turpentine game, western Wilson County had a thriving naval stores industry through much of the nineteenth century. When workers began to follow the work, the Advance took notice.

Wilson Advance, 2 January 1890.

Wilson Advance, 25 December 1890.

Vick is land-poor.

Baltimore Afro-American, 9 May 1931.

We have seen that on a single day in 1935, during the depths of the Great Depression, Samuel and Annie Washington Vick lost nearly all their real property to, in essence, foreclosure. This article in the Baltimore Afro-American, which carries a faint whiff of schadenfreude, reveals some of the financial pressures that lead to the collapse of their economic empire.

Numbers racket busted up.

Wilson Daily Times, 15 July 1935.

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  • Moon Jones
  • George Porter — in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 508 South Spring, pressing club operator George Porter, 34, divorced; Jeneva Brown, 30, divorced,  housekeeping servant, and her children Brown, 15, Esther, 13, Martha, 12, and Olive, 9; and George M. Porter, 4.
  • Frank Jenkins
  • Willie Smith
  • Jesse Whitehead

“He was faithful and upright in all his works”: the life and legacy of Samuel H. Vick.

Speaking to my home community at Wilson County Public Library has been a highlight of my Februarys lately, and I’m excited to return in person this year. I’ll be trying to do justice to the extraordinary life of Samuel H. Vick in an hour or so, and I look forward to seeing you there.

Sky-high taxes.

Wilson Daily Times, 20 January 1930.

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Store keeper Michael Barker, born in Lithuania in 1885, adopted the tone and tenor of native-born Wilsonians in his contribution to the paper regarding a conversation with Rebecca Daniel Pate, who was born enslaved and lived along enough to chat with folks like Barker at the start of the Great Depression.

Rebecca Pate’s parents were Arch and Leah Daniel. In a different article, Pate is said to have identified her former owners as “the Duprees.” Neither Daniel nor Dupree is a surname associated with Wayne County’s Quaker meetings.

Nelson Eatmon fosters a small boy.

From Nash County, North Carolina, Minutes of Wardens of the Poor, 1844-1869:

367 — Nov 20th 1851 Nelson Eatman To an order $20.00 By allowance for keeping a small child by the name of Cage Locust.

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Nelson Eatmon lived in far western Wilson County, an area once part of Nash County. Micajah, or Cage, Locust is not listed in his household in census records.

  • Cage Locust

In the 1880 census of Jackson township, Nash County: Ruffin Grice, 44, carpenter, and wife Mary, 51, with Cage Locus, 26, works on farm.

Butterfield delivers for his District’s history.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today [22 December 2022], the United States House of Representatives passed the Fiscal Year 2023 omnibus appropriations package, which contains $32,879,497 in Community Project Funding secured by Congressman G.K. Butterfield (NC-01) for projects across the First Congressional District of North Carolina.  The House’s vote now sends the funding package to President Biden to be signed into law.

“It’s extremely special to me that my last vote as a Member of Congress will send nearly $33 million to the First Congressional District of North Carolina.  Representing the First District has been a labor of love for me over the past 18 years and it feels good to know my last effort will positively impact so many hard-working families across the district long after my time in Congress comes to an end,” said Congressman Butterfield.

“I am a product of eastern North Carolina, and it has been the honor of my life to represent the First District for the past 18 years in Congress. The First District has given so much to me not only over the past 18 years, but all my life.  I am incredibly proud to have secured this funding that will have a profound impact in the district long after I’m gone.”

Congressman Butterfield championed funding for 14 projects that will directly benefit NC-01 residents[, including:]

Thank you, Congressman!

J.G. Mitchell, helping his colored people.

Wilson Daily Times, 27 March 1934.

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In the 1880 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: Wilson Sharp, 52; wife Cherry, 45; nephew Jerry Bynum, 6; and James Mitchel, 47; wife Rose, 33; and son James G., 11.

On 24 December 1889, James Mitchell and Amanda Edwards, both 20, applied for a marriage license in Nash County, North Carolina.

In the 1900 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer James G. Mitchell, 31; wife Armanda, 30; children Chestar, 9, Regenia, 8, Henretta, 6, William R., 4, and Dewry, 2; and widowed mother Rose Mitchell, 50.

Amanda Edwards Mitchell died between 1900 and 1910. In the 1910 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer James G. Mitchell, 38; mother Rosa, 58; and children Kester R., 14, Cynthia, 14, Robert L., 12, Jimmie D., 10, and Lelia B., 8.

Cinderilla Cotton died 27 December 1928 in Toisnot township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was 35 years old; was born in Wilson County to James G. Mitchell of Wilson County and Armanda Edwards of Nash County; was married to Sidney Cotton; and was buried at William Chapel Church cemetery.

In the 1930 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: on Elm City and Wilson Road, farmer James G. Mitchel, 61; wife Mamie I., 42; and children Mary M., 15, William F., 12, and Samuel B., 11.

In the 1940 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farm laborer William Mitchell, 23; wife Rosa, 20; father Grey, 65; and brother Samuel, 21.

In 1940, Samuel Bryant Mitchell registered for the World War II draft in Cumberland County, N.C. Per his registration card, he was born 15 September 1918 in Elm City, N.C.; his home address was Route 2, Elm City; his contact was father James Gary [Gray] Mitchell; and he was a resident student at Fayetteville State Teachers College

James Mitchell Jr. died 19 May 1953 in Elm City, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 14 May 1869 in Wilson to James Mitchell Sr. and Rosa Parker; was married; operated a farm; and was buried in William’s Chapel cemetery. Robert L. Mitchell was informant.

Pierce asks, “Will you do your part?”

Though I have not been able to find Fletcher F. Pierce‘s letter to the editor concerning the state teachers association, I did find these letters, published in sequence in the 26 September 1933 edition of the Wilson Daily Times.

Pierce was about 21 years old at the time and clearly had a voice that he was willing to use. In these letters, he first called on the Times to act on its commitment to justice for the laboring class by sharing information about the New Deal’s impact on low area wages.

Next, he called the employers of domestic servants to task for the abysmally low wages paid to these men and women (who were overwhelmingly African-American.) “Now how in the name of sound economics can these low salaries raise the standard of living in this town?,” Pierce asked.

Wilson Daily Times, 26 September 1933.