Elder London Woodard‘s estate file contains this glimpse of the creature comforts he enjoyed, however briefly. On 4 October 1870, just over a month before he died, Woodard bought an eight-dollar mattress from R.R. Cotten & Company. He paid five dollars cash on November 5, and his executor paid off the bill the following January.
Wilson, North Carolina, Probate Estate Files 1854-1959, http://www.familysearch.org.
Beth Nevarez of Beth Nevarez Historical Consulting passed along some information about Boyette Slave and School House she knew the Black Wide-Awake audience would be interested in. I couldn’t find a flyer for the event, so I made one.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia user DanTD, uploaded to Wikipedia 16 December 2021.
What a gem!
This undated Christmas card from Camillus L. and Norma Duncan Darden features their home at 108 North Pender Street.
Image courtesy of an anonymous reader. Thank you!
Wilson Daily Times, 20 November 1945.
Wilson Daily Times, 19 October 1945.
An ad appealed to “better class” African-Americans to sell houses on Lincoln and Viola Streets.
Wilson, 8 September 1921.
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The reverse side of this aerial photograph of downtown Wilson reveals that it was taken by the United States Army Air Service, 20th Photo Section. In the bottom left corner of the image there appears to be a date: 8-3-25. Tested against the construction of dates of the former Atlantic Coastal Line passenger station, completed in 1924 and visible here; the Wilson County Courthouse, completed in 1925 and visible here; and the former United States Post Office and former First National Bank building on Nash Street, both completed in 1927 but not even under construction here, 1925 can be confirmed.
In its lower right corner, the photo offers a rare glimpse of Wilson’s primary Black business block at, arguably, its prime in the decade before the Great Depression.
Identifiable buildings include:
Wilson Daily Times, 20 October 1948.
Wilson city limits at East Nash Street at that time ran approximately with Highway 301.
The one hundred ninety-eighth 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; 1 story; Queen Anne Cottage with double-pile, hip-roofed form, projecting front wing, intact turned-post porch; good example of the type.”
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 921 Atlanta, rented for $20/month, Jasper Turner, 42, sawmill sawyer; wife Mary, 37; and children Isodel, 17, Ruth, 16, Floyd, 12, and Therman, 10.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 921 Atlantic, farmer Weslie Swinson, 59; wife Addie, 53, tobacco factory stemmer; and children John H., 35, Contentnea Guano laborer, Willis, 30, “Darden Funeral-tobacco factory,” Iola, 20, tobacco factory stemmer, Odessa, 18, tobacco factory stemmer, and Doris, 15.
In 1940, Willie Lee Swinson registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 1 August 1907 in Greene County, N.C.; lived at 921 Atlantic; his contact was wife Isadell Swinson, 804 East Green Street; and he worked for Boyd Clark at Carolina Warehouse on Tarboro Street.
In the Hill’s 1941 Wilson, N.C., city directory: Swinson Wesley (c; Addie) h 921 Atlantic av
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Wesley Swinson, 67; wife Addie B., 62; and son Willie, 41, chauffeur for local tobacco buyer.
Wesley Swinson died 3 August 1953 at his home at 921 Atlantic Street. Per his death certificate, he was born 7 November 1883 in Greene County to Aaron Swinson and Sarah Taylor; was married to Addie Swinson; lived at 921 Atlantic; and worked as a laborer.
Wilson Daily Times, 3 August 1953.
Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, August 2024.
The one hundred ninety-seventh 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. 1935; 1 story; modernized clipped-gable bungalow.”
In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: David Robt G (c; Elizabeth) barber h 903 Atlanta
In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: David Robt G (c; Eliz) barber 903 Atlantic av
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 903 Atlantic, owned and valued at $500, Fred Pender, 33, furniture store laborer, and wife Ezzie M., 30.
In 1940, Fred Pender registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 22 June 1905 in Wilson; lived at 903 Atlantic Street; his contact was wife Ezzie Mae Pender; and he worked for R.E. Quinn Company, 137 South Goldsboro Street.
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Pender Fred (c; Ezzie M) linoleum layer R E Quinn & Co of Wilson h 903 Atlantic av
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Ellis Brown Jr., 47; wife Margaret, 45; and son Ellis Jr., 29, history teacher at local city school.
