Religion

Who was James H. Bynum?

I don’t know how I missed him, but I recently came across a Lincoln University catalog listing James H. Bynum of Wilson as a freshman in 1902-’03. Bynum graduated from Lincoln with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1906 and entered the university’s Theological Department.

I have not identified Bynum in Wilson records or found him after he left Lincoln. A search for “Rev. James H. Bynum” revealed a Methodist minister by that name in Mississippi, but he was already preaching when Bynum of Wilson was still a student.

Rev. Woodward meets success at revival.

Raleigh Gazette, 17 April 1897.

Rev. W.T.H. Woodward’s surname often appears as “Woodard,” which suggests roots in what is now Wilson County. However, he is apparently absent from Wilson County census records and appears only sparingly elsewhere, such as the listed officiant on marriage licenses between 1892 and 1898. (See, for example, Alex Warren and Ida Davis in 1896 and Jordan Taylor and Eliza Taylor in 1897.) When he, as a 31 year-old, married Martha S. Paschall in Warren County, N.C., in 1881, he listed his residence as Greensboro, N.C. In 1898, when he married Mollie J. Paschall in Vance County, he listed Halifax County as his home. The family is found in Littleton, Halifax County, in the 1910 census, and I have not found Woodward after.

The Wilson County roots of Bishop J. Delano Ellis.

Bishop Jesse Delano Ellis II of the Pentecostal Church of Christ was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Jesse Lee Ellis, a migrant from Wilson County, North Carolina, and Lucy Mae Harris Ellis.

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In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 508 East Walnut Street, ice plant laborer Calvin Ellis, 33; wife Matha, 29; and son Jessie L., 10; plus roomers Wilson Webb, 47, a Contentnea Guano laborer, wife Victoria, 40, and daughter Minnie Webb, 2.

In the 1940 census 0f Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: domestic Martha Ellis, 39, widow; sister Lucy Lucas, 33; and son Jessie, 20, coal yard laborer. In 1935, Martha Ellis had lived in Atlantic City, New Jersey; Lucas, in Philadelphia; and Jesse Ellis in Wilson, North Carolina.

In 1940, Jesse Lee Ellis registered for the World War II draft in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his registration card, he was born 18 August 1919 in Wilson, N.C.; his contact was mother Martha Ellis; and he worked for the 1355th Company, Civilian Conservation Corps, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Jesse and Lucy Mae Ellis, presumably at their 1943 wedding in Philadelphia.

In the 1950 census of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Martha Ellis, 49, widow; son Jesse L. 30, stevedore on docks; daughter-in-law Lucy Mae, 21; and grandsons Jesse D., 5, James B., 1, and John C., born in November [1949].

In 1950, Jesse L. Ellis applied for World War II compensation in Pennsylvania. Per his application, he was born 18 August 1919 in Wilson; lived at 616 Mercy Street, Philadelphia; and his dates of service were 22 June 1942 to 26 March 1943.

Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user Dawn Speaks. 

B.W.A. Historical Marker Series, no. 15: Saint Alphonsus Catholic School.

In this series, which will post on occasional Wednesdays, I populate the landscape of Wilson County with imaginary “historical markers” commemorating people, places, and events significant to African-American history or culture.

We been here.

SAINT ALPHONSUS SCHOOL

Second location of Black Catholic school, 1948-1968, staffed by sisters of Oblate Sisters of Providence. Succeeded by co-op kindergarten Kiddie Kollege of Knowledge.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, August 2024.