News-Argus (Goldsboro, N.C.), 9 August 1939.
Wilson undertaker Columbus E. Artis was appointed administrator of the estate of his aunt Delilah Williams Exum, the sister of his father Adam T. Artis.
Wilson County
Study shows most Black children underweight.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 13 August 1938.
A study conducted by county agricultural extension agent C.L. Spellman determined that children in 12 rural communities ranged from 33 percent to 90 percent underweight.
Wishing the Mitchell Family a great reunion!
Family reunion season continues, and I was thrilled when Tondra Mitchell-Talley shared news of the upcoming Mitchell Family Reunion. This Mitchell family descends from Primus Mitchell, born in the early 1840s, and his wives Caroline Mitchell and Ophelia Davis Mitchell. The Mitchells lived in Toisnot township, likely in the Sharpsburg area, which was once part of Edgecombe County. Their largest branch descends from son Lawrence Mitchell Sr., born about 1868, who eventually settled in Cross Roads township in southern Wilson County and married Easter Darden, daughter of Martin and Jane Dew Darden, and later Louisa Dew, daughter of Isaac and Easter Edmundson Dew.
The story of the resurrection of the Mitchell Family Reunion, which had gone dormant more than 20 years ago, is told at the National Family Reunion Institute’s website. It’s an inspiring tale of healing and redemption within a family and the role of reunions in making that possible.
Extra shout out to Tondra’s mother, Oazie Jones Mitchell, who graciously agreed to be interviewed as part of my exploration and documentation of the life in Wilson County before the Civil Rights era.
Have a great reunion!
Stantonsburg news, June 1934.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.,), 23 June 1934.
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This piece offers a rare look at the social life of Stantonsburg’s African American community.
- Marion Artis — It opens with an account of the funeral of Marion Artis. Though detailed, the decedent was misgendered. (This suggests that the correspondent did not know Artis personally and was making assumptions from second-hand information.) Marion Artis died 8 June 1934 in Stantonsburg, Wilson County. He was born in 1909 in Wilson County to Will Artis and Frances Ford; was married to Bessie Lee Artis; and worked as a farmer.
- Bethel A.M.E. Zion Church
- Rev. C.W. Jones
- J.E. Edwards
- C.E. Artis — Columbus E. Artis, a Wilson undertaker with roots across the county line near Eureka. Artis operated a small grocery in Stantonsburg circa 1910.
- C.F Fuller — probably, Clyde Fuller. In the 1930 census of Stantonsburg, Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: on “Delaware Line (on street),” renting for $8/month, Clyde Fuller, 40, chauffeur; wife Mattie, 34, servant; and lodger Pete Whitley, 35, sawmill fireman.
- Artelia Whitley and Irene Whitley were sisters. In the 1930 census of Stantonsburg, Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: on “Delaware Line (on street),” owned and valued at $600, John Whitley, 49, blacksmith; wife Mollie, 25; children Artillia, 18, Irene, 15, D.H., 13, John W., 10, Mary F., 8, Marjorie, 3, and Claron, 1 month; and father-in-law Wiley Locus, 70, widower, school janitor. Artelia and Irene worked as washerwomen.
- Katie B. Coward — Katie Coward was the daughter of Rev. Bryant P. and Sarah Coward. In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Coward Katie B (c) student r 1013 Atlantic av
- Marion B. Jordan
Lt. H.P. Exum, Tuskegee Airman.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 24 February 1945.
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In the 1930 census of Eureka, Nahunta township, Wayne County: farmer John E. Artis, 41; wife Cora, 39; and children Virginia D., 17, Ed R., 13, Oscar O., 11, Mary L., 10, Hurvin P., 9, Devaughn, 7, Olga M., 4, and Erman D., 2.
In the 1940 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County: farmer John Ed Exum, 51, and children Hervin, 18, Devon, 17, Ossie Mae, 14, Erman D., 12, and John Collins Exum, 8.
In 1942, Herven Percy Exum registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 6 November 1921 in Eureka, N.C.; lived at 611 East Green Street, Wilson; his contact was C.E. Artis, 571 East Nash Street; and he worked for undertaker C.E. Artis, 571 East Nash Street, Wilson.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 28 October 1944.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 11 November 1944.
Lt. Exum’s obituary appeared in the Washington Post with a clear copy of his photo in flying goggles.
[Sidenotes: Exum’s ancestors had lived in or adjacent to northeastern Wayne County for generations. His mother Cora Artis Exum was the daughter of Noah Artis and Lucinda Artis (later Sherrod), who were first cousins, as was not uncommon at the time. His father John Ed Exum was the son of George B. Exum, who had been enslaved in Wayne County, and Pernicey Hobbs Artis, who was born free in Johnston County. The uncle for whom Exum worked was his father’s half-brother, Columbus E. Artis. I have not been able to determine who the Bahamian or the Cherokee were.]
Lucama news, March 1943.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 20 March 1943.
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- Roxanna Kirby Exum
In the 1940 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer William Kirby, 55; wife Nannie, 52; children Hobby Lee, 17, Havey Isa, 15, Nettie, 13, Willie K., 13, and Roxia A., 22; niece Lucille Shaw, 18; and lodger Jr. Barnes, 4.
Per their marriage license, Levell Exum and Roxanna Eva Kirby, both 25, were married 7 March 1943 in Johnston County, N.C. Primitive Baptist minister David Bynum lived near Lucama, in Wilson County, however, as did Mamie B. Williamson and David Bynum Jr.
- Pvt. Daniel Vick
Daniel Vick registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County in 1940. Per his registration card, he was born 3 January 1917 in Wilson; his contact was mother Bethaniel Allen; he lived at Mount 1, Lucama; and he worked for farmer Joe Moore, Lucama.
- Paul Morgan
- Bettie Bess
The community rallies for Marie Everett.
The Wilson Daily Times paid scant attention to Marie Everett‘s ordeal, but Black media was on it.
As a reminder, here’s the basic story:
On 6 October 1945, 15 year-old Everett took in a movie at downtown Wilson’s Carolina Theatre, which admitted Black patrons to its balcony only. As Everett stood beside a friend near the concession stand, a cashier yelled at her to get in line. Everett responded that she was not in line and, on the way back to her seat, stuck out her tongue. The cashier grabbed Everett, slapped her, and began to choke her. Everett fought back. Somebody called the police, and Everett was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. The next day in court, Everett’s charge was upgraded to simple assault. Though this misdemeanor carried a maximum thirty-day sentence and fifty-dollar fine, the judge who heard her case upped Everett’s time to three months in county jail. Wilson’s tiny NAACP chapter swung into action, securing a white lawyer from Tarboro to appeal. In the meantime, Everett sat in jail four months awaiting a hearing – long past the length of her 30-day original sentence. Wilson County assigned two prosecutors to the matter, and one opened the appeal hearing with a statement to the jury that the case would “show the n*ggers that the war is over.” Everett was convicted anew, and this judge, astonishingly, increased her sentence from three to six months to be served — even more astonishingly — at the women’s prison in Raleigh. Hard time. Everett was a minor, though, and the prison refused to admit her. Wilson’s NAACP jumped in again to send word to Thurgood Marshall, head of the organization’s Legal Defense Fund. Marshall engaged a Black lawyer in Durham, who alerted state officials to the travesty unfolding in Wilson. After intervention by the Commissioner of Paroles and the Governor, Everett walked out of jail on March 18. She had missed nearly five months of her freshman year of high school.
Even after Everett’s release, the Journal and Guide continued to report on the story. This article reveals that the police refused to seek an arrest warrant for Frances Finch, the white cashier who had assaulted Everett, and names those most active in fighting for justice for Everett — Julia Armstrong; Everett’s aunt, Sarah Artis, and her husband James Artis; and Marine Corps sergeant Henry Dodson.
Armstrong also released a list of contributors to Everett’s defense fund — Wilson Chapel Baptist Church; Wilson’s street cleaning department (most likely the all-Black laborers, not the City or white management); Safety Cab Company; Black employees of Atlantic Coast Line Rail Road; Hamilton Funeral Home; Artis Funeral Home; the parent-teacher associations of Darden High School and Vick Elementary; Crisp Chapel Church (near Macclesfield, Edgecombe County); Patterson Chapel Holiness Church; Hackney Body Company (presumably, its Black employees, not company management); and an unnamed local barbershop.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 27 April 1946.
Bess wins a newspaper contest.
The Afro-American (Baltimore, Md.), 5 March 1932.
James C. Bess was one of several winners of an Afro-American contest asking about readers’ preference between the racial terms “colored” and “Negro.”
The Afro-American (Baltimore, Md.), 2 April 1932.
Bess submitted multiple responses, including:
The Afro-American (Baltimore, Md.), 5 March 1932.
The Afro-American (Baltimore, Md.), 9 April 1932.
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White businessman guilty of pimping.
The Afro-American (Baltimore, Md.), 18 November 1939.
In November 1939, a jury convicted white businessman Tom Thompson of “immoral action,” which likely meant setting up sexual encounters between African-American women and white men.
This brief article states that Thompson was “accused” of the crime by Ambrose Floyd. What does this mean? Was Floyd the person who reported Thompson to authorities? Or was he just a witness?
Wishing the Artis Family a great reunion!
Today, another branch of my Artis family — descendants of James C. Artis — is gathering in Wilson for their annual reunion.
James Cleveland Artis was the son of Jonah and Fannie Newsome Artis and the grandson of Richard Artis, who was the youngest brother of my great-great-great-grandfather Adam T. Artis. Though primarily based in Greene County, N.C., Richard Artis’ descendants moved back and forth across the Greene-Wilson county line between Stantonsburg and Walstonburg.
I wish my cousins a fantastic reunion and applaud their commitment to keep family ties strong and to maintain traditions.
Many thanks to Sondra Artis for sharing this photo.
[Update: The Artis Family Reunion was a resounding success! Douglas Horne and Sondra Artis share these photos of the J.C. Artis (top) and Jonah Artis Jr. (bottom) branches of the family.
