Women

Studio shots, no. 271: Annie Bell Jacobs Gay.

Annie Bell Jacobs Gay (1896-1981), circa 1940s.

The back of the photo is stamped GGG Photo Studio, 272 Lenox Avenue, New York. (Gasp!) That was James Van Der Zee‘s studio!

Van Der Zee’s photograph of his studio in the 1940s, around the time Annie Bell Gay sat for her portrait.

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In the 1900 census of Dudley, Brogden township, Wayne County: farmer Jessey Jacobs, 42; wife Sarah D., 28; and children Aner S., 17, Redis J., 15, Carie, 13, Docter, 8, Hatie, 6, and Anie B., 3. [Sarah D. Henderson Jacobs was Jesse Jacobs’ second wife and stepmother to his children James Daniel, Anna, Reddick, Carrie, Doctor, and Annie Bell. Their mother, Sallie Bridges Jacobs died shortly after Annie Bell was born. Hattie was Sarah’s child by a previous relationship.]

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Jesse Jacob,  53, deliveryman for stable; wife Sarah, 35; daughter Annie Belle, 15; and boarders Jesse Henderson, 17, Herbert Jones, 23, both stable laborers, and Nina Fasin, 32, a housemaid.

On 20 February 1913, Albert S. Gay, 23, of Wilson, son of Samuel and Alice Gay, married Annie B. Jacobs, 18, of Wilson, daughter of Jesse and Sarah Jacobs, in Pasquotank County, North Carolina. Rev. N.D. King performed the ceremony at his residence at 38 Bunnell Avenue, Elizabeth City. Witnesses included Albert’s sister, Mrs. Mamie R. King.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Alice Gay, 45; daughter Beatrice, 26; grandson Jerome Wood, 11; granddaughter Gereddine, 10; son Albert, 30; daughter-in-law Anabell, 24; grandsons Albert Jr., 4, and Jesse, 2; son-in-law Fredrick Bolling, 35; daughter Lillie, 23; and grandchildren Delma, 4, and Fredrick, 2.

Wilson N.C., city directory, 1928.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 623 Green, Annie B. Gay, 30, a laundress; husband Albert, 40, a bellboy; mother-in-law Alic, 73; and children Albert Jr., 14, Jessie, 11, Hal, 8, Samual, 6, Mirrian, 4, and Ralph, 2. The house was valued at $8000.

Albert Gay Sr. died 4 October 1932 at Moore-Herring Hospital, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 29 August 1889 in Wilson to Samuel Gay and Louisa Bryant; was married to Annie Bell Gay; worked for 25 years as a hotel bellman at Cherry Hotel; and was buried in Wilson [probably, Vick Cemetery.] Beatrice Holden was informant.

In 1940, Albert Sylvester Gay registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 5 December 1915 in Wilson; lived at 623 East Green; his contact was Annie Bell Gay, same address; and he worked for J.W. Thomas, Thomas-Yelverton.

Wilson Daily Times, 27 March 1981.

Photo courtesy of Nina McCoy Hawkins. Thank you!

The affidavit of Sarah A. Coward.

Georgia Crockett Aiken died 17 August 1939 in Wilson. The following spring, Sarah A. Coward provided an affidavit attesting that Aiken’s sole heir was her niece Rachel Crockett Williams. Williams lived in New York City at the time of Aiken’s death, but by 1941 was living in the house she inherited at 120 North Pender Street.

Deed book 277, page 247, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

Libby McDonald McPhatter, as imagined.

I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.

I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated.

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Libby McDonald McPhatter (1905-1981), restaurateuse and hotel owner.

Daughters of Elks celebrate their 50th anniversary in 1973.

Ark of Covenant Temple No. 214, Daughters of Elks, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1973. Among the honorees at their anniversary banquet was Fannie Chester, the last surviving charter member.

Wilson Daily Times, 23 November 1973.

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In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Eliza Faison, 30, and children Willie, 12, Fannie, 7, and Joe, 3.

On 29 March 1911, Arthur Chestnut [sic], 20, married Fannie Faison, 19, in Wilson.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 206 Vick Street, house carpenter James Boykin, 49; wife Eliza, 47, tobacco factory worker; children Albert, 15, and Ruth, 9; son-in-law Arthur Chester, 28, transfer car driver; daughter Fannie, 28; and grandchildren Arthur Jr., 7, Joseph, 5, Irvin, 3, and Charlie, 1.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 204 Vick Street, Fannie Chester, 49, tobacco factory laborer.

In 1940, Ervin Chester registered for the World War II draft in New York, New York. Per his registration card, he was born 7 December 1917 in Wilson; lived at 237 – 135th Street, #3A, New York City; his contact was mother Fannie Chester, 204 Vick; and he worked for Small, 2446 – 7th Avenue.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Fannie Chester, 59, and son Ervin, 33.

Fannie Faison Chester died 9 April 1976 in Wilson.

Miss Summers entertains.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 5 February 1927.

Miss Phenon A. Summers? At “her home” at 600 East Green? Weren’t J.D. and Eleanor Reid there then?

The following month, Phenon Summers again welcomed a guest to 600 East Green Street.

Journal and Guide, 12 March 1927.

And in April she did a little visiting herself.

Journal and Guide, 30 April 1927.

Phenon Adel Summers French Brown Jones — who reverted to her maiden name in between and after her divorces — was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1895. I have found nothing to shed light on her brief time in Wilson, and by 1928 she had moved on to teach at the Henderson Institute in Henderson, North Carolina. My best guess is that she was a lodger with the Reids and a teacher at either Wilson Colored High School or the Sallie Barbour School (also known as the Colored Graded School). By the summer of 1929, Summers was back in Columbus and seems to have remained there until her death in 1976.

What was the Independent School …?, part 2.

In a recent post, I queried the origins of the building used for the Independent School and found a 1897 reference to Silas Lucas moving an old Baptist to “the Tate lot” below the railroad.

Here’s what else I found:

On 26 December 1896, for $250, Hardy and Mary Tate sold Silas Lucas a lot on “____ Street, in or near the corporate limits of the town of Wilson” bounded on the east by the late J.A. Tynes’ property and on the west by the Perry Taylor lot. The lot was the same that Hester A. Winstead had sold J.A. Tynes (recorded in Deed book 25, page 22) and contained one-half acre. Deed Book 42, page 561. Penelope Tynes had inherited the property from her husband J.A. Tynes and had sold it to Mary Tate for $250 on 3 January 1895. Deed book 38, page 230.

In a nutshell:

Mary Tate bought a half-acre lot from Penelope Tynes in January 1895. It was located beyond town limits, i.e. the railroad, on an unnamed street.

In December 1896, Mary Tate and her husband Hardy Tate (because, at that time, what was hers was his) flipped the property to Silas Lucas for no profit.

In early 1897, Lucas moved a disused church to the site and renovated it as a tenement, i.e. a multi-family rental building. The building is first seen on the 1913 Sanborn fire insurance map on Vance Street, just east of Pender Street.

In 1904, Samuel H. Vick bought the tenement from Lucas.

And, in 1918, Vick offered it up for use as a private alternative school for children whose parents were boycotting the Colored Graded School.

The obituary of Jennette Barnes (reveals a mystery).

Wilson Daily Times, 4 April 1947.

Jennette Barnes‘ obituary adds two interesting bits of information to the profile already posted: (1) she had a brother named Joseph Jones, and (2) she was a member of Evansdale Methodist Church.

Evansdale Methodist?

Evansdale United Methodist anchors the old Evansdale community south of today’s Beddingfield High School. As mainline churches go in Wilson County, it is relatively young, having been established in 1913. Did Evansdale United Methodist admit black people to full membership during Jennette Barnes’ lifetime?

On 7 February 1930, Evansdale Methodist appears in a list of “colored churches” holding services in Wilson County.

Wilson Daily Times, 7 February 1930.

However, in every similar listing that year — they ran weekly — Evansdale Methodist appears under “County Churches.” And a 1963 history of Evansdale United Methodist discloses that the pastor from 1929 to 1931 was Rev. J. Vincent Knight. The February 7 paper, it appears, contained a typesetting error, and one that probably caused significant consternation.

So, we’re back to square one. Was there another Methodist church — a black one — in the Evansdale community? As far as I know, there have been no standard Methodist churches in Wilson County founded for or by black people. All nineteenth and early twentieth century references to “colored Methodist” churches related to African Methodist Episcopal Zion or African Methodist Episcopal churches (of which there were once many more than there are now.) Barnes’ obituary notes that she was funeralized at Saint John A.M.E. Zion. Was Evansdale also A.M.E. Z.?  I’ll keep searching.

Widow Eva M. Bland educated five children.

Sanford (N.C.) Herald, 17 February 1971.

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In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Fred M. Davis, 33, paper hanger; wife Diannon, 31; children Eva M., 6, Bertha E., 5, and Fred M., 17 months; plus mother Judith Davis, 50, laundress.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Fred M. Davis, 42, Baptist church minister; wife Dianah, 42; children Eva M., 16, Bertha, 15, Fred, 11, Ruth, 13, Addie L., 8, and William B., 5; and mother Jud., 60.

On 26 July 1917,  D.L. Bland, 26, of Lee County, N.C., son of George and Eliza Bland, married Eva Davis, 23, of Wilson, daughter of Fred and Diana Davis, in Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister A.L.E. Weeks performed the ceremony in the presence of C.L. Darden, C.L. Jones [Charles T. Jones?], W.H. Phillips, and J.W. Bland.

In the 1920 census of Sanford, Lee County: pharmacist David Bland, 28; wife Eva, 22; and daughter Alice, 10 months.

In the 1930 census of Sanford, Lee County: drugstore pharmacist David L. Bland, 38; wife Eva M., 35; and children Addie A., 10, Miriam L., 8, Carmel, 6, David L Jr., 3, and Gladys T., 1.

In the 1940 census of Sanford, Lee County: druggist D.L. Bland, 47; wife Eva M., 42; and children Addie A., 20, Miriam, 18, Eva Carmel, 16, David L Jr., 12, and Gladys, 10.

David Leandius [Leonardus] Bland died 14 November 1940 in Sanford, Lee County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born in 1892 in Sanford to George Washington Bland and Eliza McGilbery; was married to Eva M. Bland; lived at 505 Wall Street; worked as a druggist; and was buried in Poplar Spring [A.M.E. Church] Cemetery.

In 1944, David Leonardus Bland Jr. registered for the World War II draft in Lee County. Per his registration card, he was born 7 July 1926 in Lee County; lived at 505 Wall Street; and his contact was his mother Eva Bland.

In the 1950 census of Sanford, Lee County: public school teacher Eva M. Bland, 54, and daughters Addie A. Bland, 28, drugstore manager, and Carmel B. Clouser, 24, drugstore clerk.

Sanford, N.C., city directory (1952).

The obituary of Mollie Braswell Talley.

Wilson Daily Times, 14 July 1944.

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In the 1880 census of Lower Town Creek township, Edgecombe County, N.C.: laborer George Braswell, 28; wife Adline, 25; children James R., 10, Geo. L., 7, and Mollie, 2; Sol Knight, 22, laborer; and Walter Whitfield, 32, laborer.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farmer George Braswell, 52; wife Adeline, 47; children Mollie, 22, Mattie, 18, Caroline, 16, Victoria, 13, Melvina, 12, Dora, 10, and Ernest, 9; and grandchildren James, 3, and Frederick, 3 months.

On 9 September 1900, Frank Bynum, 32, of Wilson County, Frank Bynum, 32, of Wilson County, son of Peter and Elizabeth Bynum, married Mollie Braswell, 22, daughter of George and Adaline Braswell, in Wilson township, Wilson County. John Artis applied for the license, and Primitive Baptist minister J.F. Farmer performed the ceremony in the presence of Anthony Vick, Charles Hagans, and London Woodard.

Walter Talley, 45, of Old Fields, married Mollie Barnes, 45, of Old Fields, on 15 July 1925.

In the 1928 Wilson, N.C., city directory: Talley Walter (c; Mollie) mill hd 806 S Lodge

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Walter Tally, 50, lumber mill laborer, and wife Molly, 60.

Walter Talley died 17 May 1941 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 13 January 1885 in Wayne County, N.C.; lived at 503 East Banks Street, Wilson; worked as a laborer; was married to Mollie Talley; and was buried in Rountree Cemetery [probably, Vick Cemetery.]

In 1942, James Braswell registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 23 February 1898 in Wilson County; lived at 503 Banks Street, Wilson; his contact was Molly Talley, 503 Banks; and he worked for Williams Lumber Company.

Mollie Talley died 13 July 1944 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 7 April 1880 in Edgecombe County, N.C., to George and Adeline Braswell; lived at 604 South Lodge; was the widow of Walter Talley; and was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery. James Braswell was informant.

Maggie Foster Barnes, as imagined.

I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.

I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated.

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Maggie Foster Barnes.