Religion

Flat Rock Church of Christ holds revival.

Wilson Daily Times, 21 May 1946.

In May 1946, Evangelist Lloyd Price, a preacher out of Sampson County, North Carolina, conducted a revival at Flat Rock Church of Christ. Flat Rock at that time was at 402 Vick’s Alley. By late 1948, Elder D.C. Artis had established a second church with the same name in Sims, which remains active today.

Artis was a Greene County native who arrived in Wilson in the mid-1940s by way of Wayne County. In 1950, he, his wife Rosa Lee, and adopted daughter Mary lived in Parker’s Alley, Wilson. (Parker’s was a later name for Vick’s Alley.)

David C. Artis died 15 October 1972 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 27 April 1903 to Ruffin Artis and Florence Cannon; was married to Rosa Lee Artis; lived at 402 Parker Avenue; worked as a carpenter and minister; and was buried in Masonic cemetery.

Saint Mark’s sanctuary faces uncertain future.

After Jackson Chapel and Saint John A.M.E.Z., the building in which Saint Mark’s Episcopal worships is the third oldest continuously occupied  African-American sanctuary in Wilson. However, recent structural stresses have imperiled its future. 

Around 1925, Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist erected a church on Reid Street just south of East Nash. Ten years later, Mount Sinai had vacated the building. Looking for a location away from the downtown tobacco warehouse district and closer to its congregants, the Episcopal diocese purchased the church to house Saint Mark’s. With a few repairs, and the installation of its old circular stained glass cross, the church was ready for its new occupants in January 1936.

I took a few photos on a recent visit to Saint Mark’s, but they don’t adequately capture its simple beauty. Though its liturgical articles and ornaments have largely been removed, its altar, pews, and simple stained glass windows tell a century-old story.

The spine of Saint Mark’s building is broken, but the spirit of its worshippers, now largely members of the Guadalupana Mission, continues to soar. 

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2025.

Darden senior preaches first sermon.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 1 October 1938.

Though Leroy Foster did not make his career in the pulpit, he remained a lifelong A.M.E. Zion lay leader.

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  • Leroy Foster

In the 1920 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: tenant farmer Claud Foster, 37; wife Cora, 37; and children Mammie, 16, Booker T., 12, Maggie, 9, Claud Jr., 7, Carry, 6, Leroy, 5, Sammie, 1, and Estell, 1 month.

In the 1930 census of Jackson township, Nash County, N.C.: farmer Claud Foster, 48; children Claud Jr., 16, Carrie Lee, 14, Leroy, 13, Samuel, 11, Cora, 10, Douglas, 8, and Marie, 6; and grandson Jimmie, 7.

In 1940, Leroy Foster registered for the World War II draft. Per his registration card, he was born 10 January 1917 in Wilson; lived at 303 North Vick Street; his contact was sister Carrie Highsmith, 1910 North 21st Street, Philadelphia; and he was a student at Livingstone College, Salisbury, N.C.

On 4 October 1944, Leroy Foster, 27, of Wilson, son of Claude and Cora Foster, married Lula Margaret Moore, 26, of Wilson, daughter of Louis Arrington and Lula Moore, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister W.A. Hilliard performed the ceremony in the presence of Arthur Lee Battle, Viola McPhail, and Mary Elizabeth Thomas.

Leroy Foster interrupted his college education to serve in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946.

The Livingstonian yearbook (1947), Livingstone College.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 925 Washington Street, science teacher Leroy Foster, 33; wife Lula M., 32; and aunt Delphia V. Battle, 57, presser.

Leroy Darden died 10 March 1978 in Greenville, North Carolina.

Wilson Daily Times, 12 March 1978.

The obituary of Hattie Dafney.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 13 February 1954.

I feature this obituary primarily for its mention of “Bishop S.C. Johnson’s Church” on Walnut Street, a church formally known The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith. and founded in 1930 by Edgecombe County native Sherrod C. Johnson. The church purchased several adjoining parcels — which were consolidated as 513 and 515 East Walnut Street — from Asa and Annie Locus in July 1950 after commencing a radio ministry earlier that year. Church trustee Isaiah Mercer founded the adjoining Whole Truth Lunchroom. The church’s adherents, known colloquially as “Bishop Johnsons,” were once numerous in Wilson.

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Hattie Dafney died 29 January 1954 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 10 February 1892 in Cumberland County, N.C.; was married; and lived at 927 Carolina Street. Mary McIntosh was informant.