Women

The murder of Sudie Tune.

Wilson Daily Times, 16 March 1935.

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  • London Ruffin

In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer H. Gray Ruffin, 28; wife Maria, 35; and children Hubbard, 13, William, 12, Delphia, 11, Lizzie, 9, Mary, 8, Pattie, 7, Franklin, 6, London, 4, and Bessie, [illegible] months.

In the 1920 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: on Wilson Road, farmer Gray Ruffin, age unknown; wife Maria, 45; and children G. Herbert, 22, H. William, 21, Delpha, 20, Lizzie, 18, Mary, 16, Pattie, 15, B. Frank, 14, London, 13, Bessie, 11, Dora, 10, and W. George, 9. 

In the 1930 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: Gray Ruffin, 58, widower, and children Elizabeth, 29, Pattie, 26, London, 23, Bessie, 20, Dora, 19, and George, 18.

In 1940, London Ruffin registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 22 February 1910 in Wilson County; lived on Route 4, Wilson; his contact was father Gray Ruffin; and he worked for N.W. Webb.

  • Sudie Tune — Sudie Artis Tune.

In the 1920 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Sam Artis, 56; wife Mary, 45; and children Mary Sims, 23, and Bessie, 18, William, 17, Harriet and Lonnie, 15, Clara, 12, James, 10, Sudie, 8, and Minnie, 5.

In the 1930 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Sam Artis, 66; wife Mary, 55; children William, 25, James, 22, Sudie, 17, and Sammie, 9, 

On 31 January 1931, Willie James Tune, 21, of Wilson, son of John and Mary Tune, married Sudie Artis, 19, daughter of Sam and Mary Artis, in Wilson. Baptist minister F.F. Battle performed the ceremony in the presence of Laura McPhail, Mary L. Hines, and Winnie Mercer.

London Ruffin and Susie Artis’ son Wallace Artis was born 30 June 1932.

Sudie M. Tune died 8 December 1934 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 20 years; was born in Wilson County to Samuel and Mary Artis; was married to Flenawl Tune; was engaged in farming; and was buried in Wilson [probably in Vick Cemetery.]

Tragedy at Wright Barnes’ house.

Wilson Daily Times, 21 October 1913.

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 18 December 1913.

Jane Barnes was quickly released, but Luther Woodard’s trial was set for early February 1914. I have not found record of the verdict. Speculation about their relationship notwithstanding, he and Jane were married on February 23, which suggests he was acquitted.

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  • Will McCullom — William McCullers died 14 October 1913 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 14 October 1876 in Wilson Mills, North Carolina, to Rufus and Gracey McCullers; worked as a sawyer in a saw mill; and was married. Cause of death: “Shot by a party; dying instantly.” 
  • Jane Barnes — in the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Wright Barnes, 61; wife Jane, 58; children Mary A., 17, George, 15, and Jane Jr., 14; and granddaughter Fannie, 13. On 23 February 1914, Janie Barnes, 18, of Wilson, married Luther Woodard, 21, of Wilson, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister Wyatt Studeway performed the ceremony in the presence of Sattena Barnes, Mary Gaston, and Fannie Foster. 
  • Luther Woodard — in the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Ruffin Woodard, 45; wife Sarah, 43; and son Luther, 18.
  • Wright Barnes — in the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Wright Barnes, 61; wife Jane, 58; children Mary A., 17, George, 15, and Jane Jr., 14; and granddaughter Fannie, 13.
  • Henry Rose
  • Zack Cole — on 19 January 1910, Zack Cole, 24, son of Zack and Sallie Cole, married Celie Jenkins, 20, daughter of Jake and Net Jenkins, in Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister William Baker performed the ceremony in the presence of Georgia C. Aiken, F.A. Edwards, and J.H. Aiken. In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farm laborer Sack Cole, 25, and wife Sallie, 22.
  • “the Barnes hotel” — I have not identified this business.

Funeral Program Friday: Bessie Henderson Smith (1917-1996).

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 318 Pender Street, Jack Henderson, truck driver, 38; wife Pauline, 31, and children Bessie, 12, Alic, 10, Joice, 8, Mildred, 6, and Archy, 4, listed in the household of mother-in-law Alic Artis, 49, private cook, paying $18/month rent.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 309 Pender Street, Alice Artis, 56; daughter Pauline Henderson, 39, household servant; granddaughters Bessie L., 23, hotel elevator girl, Alice, 20, household servant, Joyce, 18, household servant, Mildred, 16, and Doris, 10; and grandson Robert [Bobby], 4.

Sisters Alice Henderson Mabin and Bessie Henderson Smith, Wilson, 1986.

Bessie Henderson Smith died 28 October 1996.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, 1986.

Teacher Carrow’s troubles (and a mysterious school in Black Creek.)

The Daily Journal (Wilmington, N.C.), 16 September 1876.

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Wait. What?

Who was Mary Carrow? Who was Charles Smith? And what (and where) was the Black Creek Male and Female Institute “for colored boys and girls”???

I have found only two Mary Carrows in Wilson County during the time period — a mother and daughter, both white, listed in the 1880 census of the Town of Wilson. The daughter, Mary Estelle Carrow, wasn’t born until in 1879. Her mother Mary Dew Carrow, born about 1853, was married to John B. Carrow, a grocer and barkeep.

However, in the 1880 census of Goldsboro, Wayne County, there is a Mary Carrow, 52, white, “teaching.” This Mary Carrow operated a private primary school in Goldsboro in the late 1870s and was a much-loved teacher at Goldsboro’s graded school from 1881 until her death in 1899.

Goldsboro Argus, 28 August 1879.

This Mary Carrow was not a “young colored lady,” and I have not yet found anyone who could be the one hired to teach in Black Creek.

Charles Smith, formerly principal of Wilson Academy, was born about 1855, and married Virginia Barnes (or Winstead), sister of Braswell R. Winstead. Smith gave his occupation as minister in the 1880 when his brother-in-law, who lived in his household, was a teacher.

Wilson Advance, 10 September 1880.

In the 1870 census of Town of Wilson, Wilson County: farm laborer William Smith, 27; wife Temperance, 31; son Charles, 20, farm laborer; and Nancy Brown, 51.

On 28 August 1874, Charles Smith, 22, married Jennie Barnes, 17, in Wilson County.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Pettigrew Street, minister Charles Smith, 26; wife Virginia, 22; and children Arminta, 7, John T., 3, and Charles H., 1; and brother-in-law Braswell Winstead, 20, teaching school.

Charles H. Smith went on to become a prominent A.M.E. Zion minister. B.R. Winstead remained in Wilson all his life as a close associate of Samuel H. Vick.

Most mysterious is Black Creek Male and Female Institute, about which I have found nothing at all.

Seeking Mary Sutton and family.

Pittsburgh Courier, 30 April 1949.

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The Curries, natives of Robeson County, North Carolina, were only briefly Wilson County residents. When Katie Currie, 24, daughter of Worth and Isabelle McKinnon Currie, married John Adams, 24, in Halifax County, Virginia, she reported Wilson as her birthplace. The couple lived in Durham, North Carolina.

The Mary Sutton sought appears to have been the mother of Javotte Sutton Green. The Suttons moved from Wilson to Durham between 1922 and 1930.

Mrs. Simms commits an outrage?

Harrisburg Daily Patriot, 22 November 1878.

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I have not identified John Simms or his unnamed wife. Note that she was charged with beating her husband and violating his constitutional rights, but the “couple of white men” who waylaid Simms on the way to the poll, plied him with liquor (apple jack was an apple brandy), and coerced him to vote Democrat went unscathed.

The murder of Mildred Powell.

Durham Sun, 1 March 1933.

Robert Jones was finally arrested in Raleigh in early October. Within days, he was on trial, but facing a reduced charge of manslaughter. Jones had recanted a confession that he had shot Wilson native Mildred Powell in “a Hayti rooming house” over a liquor dispute. His defense then claimed he and Virginia White had been tussling over a gun that accidentally discharged and fatally struck Powell. While Jones was on the lam, White died of tuberculosis and the investigating detective was murdered, severely cramping the state’s case against Jones. Nonetheless, he was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

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Mildred Powell died 28 February 1933 in Durham, Durham County, North Carolina. Per her death certificate, she was 26 years old; was born in Wilson County to John Powell and Sarah Hagan; lived at 518 Elm Street; worked in a factory; and died of “gun shot wound (pistol) of chest; homicide.” Virginia White was informant, and Powell’s body was returned to Wilson for burial.