New York Times, 12 March 1942.
Dr. Frank S. Hargrave‘s New York Times obituary omitted mention of his groundbreaking work during his two decades of practice in Wilson, including the founding of Wilson Hospital and Tubercular Home, later Mercy Hospital.
We met Dr. James A. Battle, born in Wilson in 1885 to Parker and Ella Battle, here. His granddaughter, Mae Castenell, recently shared several family photographs.
Dr. Battle and wife Della Plummer Battle. Della Battle’s sister was E. Courtney Plummer Fitts, who lived in Wilson.
The Battle house on West 4th Street in Greenville, North Carolina. The Battles and their young daughter Ella are seated in the lawn.
Dr. Battle, seated at left, with an unknown group of young African-American men.
Many thanks to Mae Castenell.
The pandemic has iced plans for formal unveilings, but Wilson County Historical Association carried through with the installation of four markers commemorating Black people, places, and events who left outsized impressions in Wilson’s history. Please look for the four — Dr. Frank S. Hargrave, Charles H. Darden, Operation Dixie, and the Wilson Normal and Industrial Institute — in East Wilson as part of your Black History Month activities.
I’m honored to have been asked to collaborate with W.C.H.A. on the selection of subjects for the 2020 markers, and I appreciate the Association’s commitment to telling the stories of all of Wilson.
Wilson Daily Times, 29 January 1924.
Dr. Frank S. Hargrave did not take a position at Tuskegee Veterans’ Hospital, but he left Wilson in 1924 nonetheless, migrating to Orange, New Jersey. Who got the job, then? Dr. Joseph H. Ward of Indianapolis, who was a Wilson native.
Statesville Landmark, 7 June 1932.
Statesville Daily Record, 20 April 1934.
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In the 1880 census of Salisbury, Rowan County: tanner Robert Lord, 48; wife Rosetta, 40; and children Robert, 19, tobacco factory worker, Nora, 15, Irene, 12, Alonzo, 8, and Elizabeth, 21.
In the 1900 census of Statesville, Iredell County: on Garfield Street, Alonzo Lord, 28, physician; wife Lula, 24; and sister Nora B., 31.
Alonzo Richardson Lord was born 26 April 1904 in Cabarrus County, N.C., to Lula Hart and Alonzo David Lord.
In the 1930 census of Statesville, Iredell County: A. Loid, 54, physician, and wife Lula, 52.
In the 1930 census of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, N.C.: Alonzo Hart, 25, teacher, lodger in the household of W.F.G. Moore.
Alonzo D. Lord died 15 April 1934 in Statesville, Iredell County. Per his death certificate, he was born 24 October 1874 in Salisbury to Robert and Rosetta Lord; was married to Lula Lord; and was a physician.
In the 1938 Hill’s Rocky Mount, N.C., city directory: Lord Alonzo R (c) prin Booker T Washington Sch h 232 Atlantic av
In the 1940 census of Statesville, Iredell County: on Adams Road, Lula Lord, 63, widow, and Henrietta Thomas, 49, widow, private nurse.
In the 1940 census of Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County, N.C.: Alonzo Hart, 35, principal and teacher, lodger in the household of Marion Hood, 35.
In 1942, Alonzo Richardson Lord registered for the World War II draft in Edgecombe County. Per his registration card, he was born 26 April 1904 in Concord, N.C.; lived 232 Atlantic Avenue, Rocky Mount, N.C.; his contact was Lula H. Lord; and he worked for Rocky Mount City Schools at Booker T. Washington High School.
On 1 October 1943, Alonzo R. Lord, 39, of Statesville, N.C., son of Alonzo and Lula Hart, married Mae McKoy, 36, of Mebane, N.C., daughter of David and Alice Murray, in Wilson. Dr. B.O. Barnes applied for the license, and Presbyterian minister J.W. Barnette performed the ceremony. [Per Beverly A. Henderson, Dr. Barnes and Alonzo Lord were close friends from their college days at Johnson C. Smith University.]
The 1962 Elizabeth City State College Catalogue lists A.R. Lord as principal and M.M. Lord as a teacher at Fourth Street Elementary School, Plymouth, N.C.
Alonzo R. Lord died 3 June 1986 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Alonzo R. Lord, Bertha Hart, a Murphy (first name not known), Minnie McNeely, Ardeanur Smith, Statesville, N.C., mid-1920s.
Photo in collection of Lisa Y. Henderson.
Thus ends the week. Who will pick up the blogging mantle to create a one-place study chronicling the lives and history of Iredell County African-Americans?
Johnston County native William A. Mitchner practiced medicine in Wilson from about 1908 until his death in 1941. At the end of his career, he practiced from this small brick office at 528 East Nash Street.
Hill’s Wilson, N.C., City Directory (1941).
Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, September 2020.
Wilson Daily Times, 3 June 1937.
Allen died two days later of complications from her surgery.
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In the 1900 census of Stewarts Creek township, Harnett County, N.C.: farmer Ed Armstrong, 29; wife Mary, 25; and six daughters Josephine, 12, Ella, 9, Mary, 6, Rachel, 5, Ola, 3, and Julia, 1.
In the 1910 census of Duke township, Harnett County: farmer Ed Armstrong, 45; wife Cornelia, 45; and children Ellie, 19, Mamie, 17, Rachael, 15, Viola, 14, Julia, 12, Maggie, 10, Ernest, 8, and James, 6.
In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Allen James B (c; Rachel) rest 217 S Goldsboro h 900 Atlanta [217 S. Goldsboro is the site of today’s Worrell’s Seafood.]
On 26 November 1929, Rachel Armstrong, 36, of Harnett County, daughter of Eddie Armstrong and Lelia Smith, married James Bland Allen, 45, divorced, of Craven County, N.C., son of Wyatt Allen and Eliza Hicks, in Greensville County, Virginia.
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 900 Atlantic Street, cafe proprietor Jim Allen, 45; wife Rachel, 32, private nurse; children Elouise, 10, and Fred, 8; and these lodgers — farm laborer Floyd Baker, 26; cook Gertrude Kannary, 27; and Katherine, 10, Martha, 7, and Elouise Baker, 1.
Rachel Allen died 5 June 1937 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born about 1897 in Dunn, N.C., to Edward and Cornelius [sic] Armstrong; was married to James Allen; lived at 405 East Green Street; and worked as a midwife and hospital nurse. Informant was Maggie Armstrong, Durham, N.C.
News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 8 June 1913.
Joe Saunders was arrested for shooting Charles Coley at a house at 114 Wiggins Street. Wilson Hospital and Tubercular Home (later known as Mercy) did not open until 1914. Other hospitals in town would not admit African-Americans, so Coley was carried to a boxcar to die or recuperate.
Wilson Daily Times, 10 February 1920.