Wilson County

Golden wedding … and more.

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Wilson Daily Times, 1 December 1953.

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Wilson Daily Times, 23 November 1963.

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B.H. Edwards, 23, of Nash County, married Lucy Kearney, 17, of Wilson, on 9 November 1903 in Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister Fred M. Davis performed the ceremony in the presence of J.J. Murfree, J.H. Pulley and W.L. Hardy.

Lucy K. Edwards died 26 March 1966 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 8 November 1886 in Franklin County, North Carolina, to Anna Williams; resided in Elm City, Wilson County; was married to Buck H. Edwards; and was buried in William Chapel cemetery.

Buck H. Edwards died 12 December 1967 in Elm City, Taylors township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 6 February 1891 in Nash County to Robert Edwards and Sallie Parker; was married to Bettie M. Edwards; was a minister; and was buried in William Chapel cemetery. Informant was Mrs. Mae Guzman, 1214 Queen Street, Wilson.

Woman-slapping superintendent explodes again.

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New York Age, 20 September 1919.

Charles Henry Moore, an Amherst College graduate who helped establish North Carolina State Agricultural and Technical University, served as a regional director for the Rosenwald Fund, whose school-building initiative Charles L. Coon largely opposed. Moore published an account of his school tour in May 1920 in volume 49, number 5, of The Southern Workman, Hampton Institute’s monthly magazine. The article did not mention Coon’s rudeness during Moore’s visit to Wilson County.

Clinton J. Calloway was director of agricultural extension work at Tuskegee Institute and managed the Rosenwald program.

J.D. Reid, then principal of the Wilson Colored Graded School, played a significant role in the “woman-slapping” incident.

For more re Wilson County’s Rosenwald schools, see here.

Studio shots, no. 91: William H. Richardson.

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William Henry Richardson (1911-1983)

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In the 1920 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer George Richardson, 44; wife Lottie, 37; and children Annie George, 15, Mary J., 11, and William H., 9.

In the 1930 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Lewis Barnes, 73; daughter Charity, 27; sons Needam, 25, and David, 23; grandson Rosco, 15; daughter-in-law Hannah Bullock, 15; and roomer William Richardson, 25.

On 8 October 1932, William Henry Richardson, 21, son of George Richardson and Laura Bullock, married Queen Esther Evans, 21, daughter of Levy Evans and Lucy Coleman, in Greensville County, Virginia.

In 1940, William Henry Richardson registered for the World War II draft in Rocky Mount, Nash County, North Carolina. Per his registration card, he was born 28 November 1911 in Wilson County; resided at 2206 South Church Street, Rocky Mount; his contact was wife Queen Ester Richardson; and worked for the W.P.A. in Rocky Mount.

Photograph courtesy of Ancestry.com rogerbarron52.

Signatures, no. 5.

Signatures are often-overlooked scraps of information that yield not only obvious clues about literacy, but also subtleties like depth and quality of education and preferred names, spellings and pronunciations. They are also, in original documents, tangible traces of our forebears’ corporality — evidence that that they were once here.

This is the fifth in a series of posts featuring the signatures of men and women born before 1900, men and women who could not take even a basic education for granted.

  • Alexander Barnes Joyner (1896-?), 1917, World War I draft registration card, Wilson; 1942, World War II draft registration card, New York, New York.

  • William M. King, 1912, the marriage license of Banks Blow and Mag Parker, Wilson.

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Studio shots, no. 89: the Mobley family.

I posted the obituary of Jane Rountree Mobley here.

Her great-great-granddaughter, Carolyn Maye, has graciously shared these photographs of Jane Mobley’s descendants, many of whom moved into Edgecombe and Pitt Counties in the early years of the 20th century.

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Rhoda Mobley Barnes

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farm worker John Mobley, 35; wife Jane, 28; and children Rhoda, 9, Henrietta, 6, Jane, 5, Isaac, 4, and John H., 1.

On 13 January 1889, Ben Barnes, 42, of Wilson township, married Rhoda Mobley, 21, of Toisnot township, on F.A. Woodard’s plantation in Wilson township. Primitive Baptist minister Samuel Burston performed the ceremony in the presence of Harry Sharp, Dennis Bynum and Mike Barefoot.

Rhoda Barnes died 1 June 1951 in Macclesfield, Edgecombe County. Per her death certificate, she was born 1 October 1854 [actually, about 20 years later] in Wilson County to John Mobley and Jane [maiden name unknown]; was a widow; and was buried in Harrell cemetery near Crisp, North Carolina. Mattie Howard was informant.

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Benjamin Barnes

Ben Barnes died 19 April 1935 on Amanda Pitts’ farm in Edgecombe County. Per his death certificate, he was born 12 December 1835 in Wilson County to Isaac Barnes and Julia [maiden name not given]; was married to Rhoda Barnes; was buried at Harrell cemetery. Informant was Jessie Barnes.

Martha Lee Roberson Maye (1932-2014), daughter of Willie and Annie Barnes Roberson, at age 7 and shortly before her death.

Mattie Barnes Howard (1905-1977), daughter of Rhoda and Ben Barnes.

He supposes it’s a boll weevil.

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Wilson Daily Times, 24 December 1919.

By 1922, there was no longer any question that boll weevils could thrive in North Carolina. The rapacious insect was not eradicated in the state until 1987.

  • Jim Summerlin — in the 1940 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Jim Summerlin, 59, farmer, born in Alabama; wife Rosa, 57, born in Alabama; and son Lucius, 14, born in North Carolina; plus, lodger Olvin Horne, 17, farm laborer.

A tobacco thief is caught.

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Wilson Daily Times, 21 August 1933.

  • Robert Artis — in the 1930 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Robert Artis, 46; wife Malindy, 31; children Adam, 17, James, 28, Edgar L., 13, Luciea, 13, Christirene, 12, Georgia, 10, and Noah, 9; step-sons Hesicar, 8, and Eugenia, 6; children Lizzie, 4, Richard, 2, and Minnie B., 9 months; and mother-in-law Henrietta [Artis?], age illegible.
  • Walter Leach

Richard C. Artis and father Robert E. Artis, circa 1950s. Photo courtesy of Melissa Mack.

The Bear Creek Baptist Association meets at Rountree Baptist Church.

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Baltimore Afro-American, 3 November 1917.

“The Bear Creek Missionary Baptist Association was organized in 1872 by Rev. R.H. Harper, who was in the organization of Educational and Missionary Convention, together with Rev. W.H. Croom, Rev. J.C. Carroll and Rev. I.N. Patterson. Much credit is also given to Rev. A.A. Smith, the secretary who did much to strengthen the cause of the Bear Creek Baptist Association.” Rountree Missionary Baptist is not listed as a current member of the Bear Creek Association.