Violence

Dobson kills wife over skirt.

Wilson Daily Times, 29 May 1928.

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  • Charley Dobson

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Dobson Charles (c) firemn First Natl Bk Bldg h 707 E Vance

On 23 December 1936, Charlie Dobson, 58, of Wilson, son of George and Betsy Dobson, married Sue Ellis, 37, of Wilson, daughter of Robert and Lula Ellis, at the home of A.M.E. Zion minister John A. Barnes in Wilson. John A. Barnes Jr., Frank W. Barnes, and Wade Barnes were witnesses.

Charlie Dobson died 5 October 1953 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 69 years old; was born in Duplin County, N.C., to George Dobson and Bessie Savage; worked in farming; was divorced; and was buried in Duplin County.

  • Hannah Dobson

Hannah Dobson died 26 May 1928 at “Wilson Col. Hospital.” Per her death certificate, she was 26 years old; was born in Onslow County, N.C., to Thomas Rhodes and Sarah E. Lee; was married to Charlie Dobson; and was buried in Shepherds Cemetery, Onslow County. Willie Rhodes of Verona, N.C., was informant.

Jones stabbed to death on farmworker truck.

Goldsboro News-Argus, 28 May 1932.

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  • Hattie Jones — per her death certificate, Hattie Jones died 28 May 1932 in Goldsboro, Wayne County, N.C.; was 25 years old; was married; and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Goldsboro. Cause of death: “killed by a stab in throat; homicide.”
  • Walter Powell

The death of Henry Ray.

Wilson Daily Times, 6 October 1945.

I don’t know Henry Ray or his frame of mind, but I am suspicious of this quick conclusion about his manner of death. His death certificate underscores the cursory nature of any investigation into his shooting, listing his cause of death as “probably suicide gun shot wound in chest” (emphasis added.)

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In 1942, Henry Ray registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was lived in Sharpsburg, Wilson County; was born 23 October 1923 in Nash County, N.C.; his contact was H.P. Massengill, Sharpsburg; and he worked on the Claud Albritton farm, Sharpsburg, Nash County, N.C.

Henry Ray died 5 October 1945 in Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was single; was 20 years old; was born in Nash County to Coley Ray of Nash County and Ida Barnes of Wilson County; he worked in farming; and he was buried in Sharpsburg.

Lynching averted.

News and Observer, 24 August 1924.

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In the 1900 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: common laborer John Wiggins, 50; wife Mollie, 40; and children Elizabeth, 14, nurse, John, 12, brickyard worker, Arthur, 3, and Clarence, 1.

In the 1910 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farm laborer John Wiggins, 55; wife Mollie, 50, cook; and children Elizabeth, 24, cook, Auther, 13, Clarence, 11, and Annie May, 4.

In 1918, Clarence Wiggins registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 10 November 1899; lived at Route 4, Elm City; worked as a farmer for Offie Parker; and his nearest relative was mother Mary Wiggins.

In the 1920 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Clarence Wiggins, 30; mother Mary, 60; and brothers Frank, 28, and Arther, 17.

On 26 August 1925, Clarance Wiggins, 26, of Wilson, son of John and Mary Wiggins, married Harriette Barnes, 27, of Wilson, daughter of Henry and Martha Barnes, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister Wyatt Studaway performed the ceremony in the presence of Eliza Mattocks, Elizabeth Joyner, and Walter Battle.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C.: Wiggins Clarence L (c; Harriet) lather h 405 E Green

The 107th anniversary of the school boycott.

Today marks the 107th anniversary of the resignation of 11 African-American teachers in Wilson, North Carolina, in rebuke of their “high-handed” black principal and the white school superintendent who slapped one of them. In their wake, black parents pulled their children out of the public school en masse and established a private alternative in a building owned by a prominent black businessman.  Financed with 25¢-a-week tuition payments and elaborate student musical performances, the Independent School operated for nearly ten years. The school boycott, sparked by African-American women standing at the very intersection of perceived powerless in the Jim Crow South, was an astonishing act of prolonged resistance that unified Wilson’s black toilers and strivers.

Sallie Roberta Battle Johnson, one of the Graded School teachers.

The school boycott is largely forgotten in Wilson, and its heroes go unsung. In their honor, today, and every April 9 henceforth, I publish links to Black Wide-Awake posts chronicling the walk-out and its aftermath. Please read and share and speak the names of Mary C. Euell and the revolutionary teachers of the Colored Graded School.

we-tender-our-resignation-and-east-wilson-followed

the-heroic-teachers-of-principal-reids-school

The teachers.

a-continuation-of-the-bad-feelings

what-happened-when-white-perverts-threatened-to-slap-colored-school-teachers

604-606-east-vance-street

mary-euell-and-dr-du-bois

minutes-of-the-school-board

attack-on-prof-j-d-reid

lucas-delivers-retribution

lynching-going-on-and-there-are-men-trying-to-stand-in-with-the-white-folks

photos-of-the-colored-graded-and-independent-schools

new-school-open

the-program

a-big-occasion-in-the-history-of-the-race-in-this-city

womens-history-month-celebrating-the-teachers-of-the-wilson-normal-industrial-school

the-roots-of-mary-c-euell

respectful-petition-seeks-reids-removal

lucas-testifies-that-he-accomplished-his-purpose

there-has-been-an-astonishing-occurrence-in-wilson

no-armistice-in-sight

And here, my Zoom lecture, “Wilson Normal and Industrial Institute: A Community Response to Injustice,” delivered in February 2022.

More on the trial of Caesar Wooten.

Wilson Advance, 12 November 1891.

I posted here about the death of Mittie Strickland and the years-long search for her killer, Caesar Wooten. This account of the trial reveals a new detail — the jury included two African-American men, Ishmael Wilder and Daniel Vick.

Rolesville reckons with lynching.

The Wake Weekly, 12 September 2024.

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Kudos to Rolesville! This is what community looks like.  Descendants, teachers, and students — the Wake County Community Remembrance Coalition; the Historic Rolesville Society; and the mayor and town board collaborated with Alabama’s Equal Justice Initiative to commemorate the only documented lynching in Wake County, that of George Taylor in 1918.

Taylor was arrested — abducted, actually — in Wilson County and taken to Rolesville in the trunk of car. I blogged about his terrible death here.

Equal Justice Initiative partners with communities to install narrative historical markers at the sites of racial terror lynchings.

“Historical markers are a compelling tool in the creation of a permanent record of racial terror violence that provides everyone in the community exposure to our shared history of racial injustice. EJI’s historical markers detail the narrative events surrounding a specific lynching victim, or group of racial terror lynching victims, and the history of racial terrorism in America.

“Through the Historical Marker Project, local communities are motivated to confront historical trauma that is both universal and also very specific to the Black experience. EJI’s Historical Marker Projects are led by community coalitions that include individuals representing a diversity of experiences and affiliations in the local community. EJI believes that reckoning with the truth of racial violence that has shaped our communities is essential for healing.”

Two of these markers are waiting for Wilson County.

Detective Gay, former Buffalo Soldier, killed in the line of duty.

Charles Francis Gay Jr., a detective with the Philadelphia Police Department, was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a murder suspect on Christmas Eve 1925. Gay was born in Wilson or in Philadelphia just after his Wilson-born parents, Charles and Lucy Mitchell Powell Gay, migrated north.

Philadelphia Inquirer, 26 December 1925.

Pittsburgh Courier, 2 January 1926.

Lancaster New Era, 4 October 1926.

Philadelphia Inquirer, 8 January 1927.

Nolly was executed by electric chair in September 1927.

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In the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farm laborer Charles Gay, 35, wife Emma, 25, children Charles, 5, and Mary, 1, and two farm laborers Rich’d Harper, 20, and Haywood Watson, 17.

In the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Susan Mitchell, 35, and children Anna, 17, George, 12, Lucy, 9, Louisa, 7, Edwin, 4, and Joseph, 4.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Emma Gay, 35; children Charlie, 15, a steam-mill worker, Mary, 11, Etheldred, 8, and Willie, 6; plus a boarder Fannie Thompson, 19, cook.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Spring Street, washerwoman Susan Mitchell, 47, with children Lucy, 19, and Louiza, 15, both house servants, Eddy, 12, and Joseph, 9.

On 18 October 1880, Lucy Mitchell, 19, married Mashal Powell, 18, at Susan Mitchell’s house, witnesses were Small Blunt, Mary Blunt, and Susan Mitchell.

In the 1900 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA: driver Charles Gay, 36, wife Lucy, 37, children Nellie, 11, and Charles, 7, and brother William Gay, 26, all born in NC.

Charles Gay died 22 December 1908 at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his death certificate, he was 44 years old; was born in North Carolina; was single [sic]; worked as a laborer; his regular residence was at Iseminger Street; and he was buried in Merion Cemetery. W.P. Allmond was informant.

Lucy Gay died 13 June 1912 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per her death certificate, she was a widow; was born 20 May 1872 in North Carolina to father [first name not given] Mitchell and an unnamed mother; resided at 1229 Quarry Street rear, Philadelphia; and was buried in Eden Cemetery.

In 1917, Charles Gay registered for the World War I draft in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his registration card, he was born 13 April 1893 in Philadelphia; lived at 146 North Isenminger Street, Philadelphia; worked as an ink mixer(?) for Ault Wiborg Company; and was single.

Pennsylvania World War I Veterans Service and Compensation Files 1917-1919, 1934-1948, http://www.ancestry.com.

In the 1920 census of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: at 146 Iseminger Street, Clarence Gross, 40, pool room proprietor; wife Nellie, 30, born in North Carolina; brother-in-law Charles Gay, 26, city police officer; brother Fred Gross, 35, automobile porter; and roomer Joseph Bargon, 36, hotel bootblack.

Charles F. Gay died 25 December 1925 at Hahnemann Hospital, Philadelphia, of “Gun shot wound Homicide.” Per his death certificate, he was 33 years old; was born in Pennsylvania to Chas. Gay and Lucy Mitchell, both of North Carolina; worked as a police officer; lived at 1326 Brown Street; and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery. Mrs. Nellie Gross was informant.

U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards 1917-1918, http://www.ancestry.com.

Nellie Gay Workwell applied for a military headstone for her brother in 1937. The application reveals that Gay had been a sergeant in Company C of the 813rd Pioneer Infantry, who were among World War I’s famed Buffalo Soldiers.

U.S. Headstone Applications for Military Veterans 1861-1865, http://www.ancestry.com.