Women

Luther Barbour is badly cut.

Wilson Daily Times, 3 September 1912.

Rosa Tyson danced with a man at a party at Odd Fellows Hall. Luther Barbour, her boyfriend, threatened her and knocked her down. Tyson got up with a knife and began stabbing Barbour. She was arrested, charged with an unspecified crime, and jailed after failing to give a one hundred dollar bond. Barbour, though bloodied, was “not seriously hurt” and apparently was not charged with anything.

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  • Rosa Tyson
  • Luther Barbour

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: mechanic Charley Barber, 41, described as married; sons Luther, 13, James and John, 7, and Hubert, 5; widowed sister Mary Tomlingson, 42, and her children Ella, 9, and Charley, 4; and boarders Turner Utley, 27, John Purkison, 31, and George Garrett, 25. [In a different household: John W. Rodgers, 30; wife Mary E., 22; sister Minnie, 17; and boarder Sallie Barber, 35, described as “widowed,” but in fact the wife of Charles Barbour.]

In the 1908 version of Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory, James M., Jno. W., and Luther Barber are listed at 129 Pender Street, and Sallie Barber next door at 131 Pender.

In the 1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Barber Luther (c) h 129 Pender

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: mechanic Charlie Barber, 47; wife Sallie, 40, teacher; sons Luther, 21, James and John, 17, and Hubert, 15; and roomers Willie Harris, 17, and Carrie Mayswood, 16.

In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Barbour Luther (c) barber Wm Hines h Nash nr Reid

In the 1916 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Barbour Luther (c) barber W M Hines h 809 E Nash

In 1917, Luther Barber registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 5 December 1887 in Wilson; lived at 809 East Nash; was a barber for Wm. Hines, Wilson; and supported his mother and wife. He signed his name “Luther Barbour.”

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 809 Nash Street, barber John Barber, 27; wife Ethel, 26; widowed mother Sallie, 59, a school teacher; and brother Luther Barber, 32, also a barber.

In the 1920 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Barbour Luther (c) barber h 809 E Nash

In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Barbour Luther (c) barber h 1100 E Nash

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Barber Luther (c) barber h 1100 E Nash

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Barbour Luther (c) barber h 1100 E Nash

On 13 November 1930, Luther Barbour, 40, son of Charlie and Sallie Barbour, married Dora Hawkins, 25, daughter of Rufus and Maggie Hawkins, in Wilson.

On 4 November 1944, Luther Barbour, 52, son of Charlie and Sallie Barbour, married Novella Holt, 49, daughter of Robert Holt, in Graham, Alamance County, North Carolina.

In the 1950 census of Graham township, Alamance County, North Carolina: Novella Barber, 56, maid, and husband Luther, 57, barber, with granddaughter Oneeda McAdams, 17.

Luther Barbour died 27 June 1953 in Burlington, Alamance County, North Carolina. Per his death certificate, he was born 28 April 1894 in Wilson to Charlie Barbour; was married; worked as a barber; and was buried in Wilson.

The obituaries of Mary Etta Woodard and Calvin Baker.

Wilson Daily Times, 18 March 1944.

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  • Mary Etta Woodard

In the 1930 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: Mintus Woodard, 28; wife Mary L., 26; children Nancy, 6, Johnie L., 5, Willie, 4, James, 3, and Mary E., 1; and brothers Lonnie, 17, and Jim Woodard, 12.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: tenant farmer Bud Woodard, 37; wife Mary, 34; and children Nancy, 16, John Lee, 15, Willie, 12, Mary Ella, 11, Harvey, 8, Sid, 6, and Jone, 4.

Mary Etta Woodard died 15 March 1944 in Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 3 January 1929 in Wilson County to Minter Woodard and Mary Lillie Ward; was a schoolgirl; and was buried in Rountree cemetery. [Lane Street Project has not found a grave marker for her.]

  • Calvin H. Baker

In the 1880 census of Harris township, Franklin County, North Carolina: Osborn Baker, 26; wife Georgeanna, 26; and sons William H., 3, and Calvin H., 2.

In the 1900 census of Dunn township, Franklin County: widow Georgianna Baker, 46; children Calvin H., 21, Anna R., 18, Metta S., 16, Gaivy, 14, Annie B., 12, and Alice, M., 9; and grandchildren Loreca E. Anderson, 3, and Osburn C. Anderson, 2.

On 27 December 1917, Calvin Baker, 36, of Franklin County, son of Osborn and Georgina Baker, married Minnie Williams, 30, daughter of Sal and Helen Williams, in Louisburg, Franklin County.

In the 1920 census of Dunn township, Franklin County: farmer Calvin Baker, 41; wife Minnie, 35; children Eula and Carrie, 8; and boarders Rob’t McCray, 28, and Richard Allen, 19.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on South Lodge Street, rented for $18/month, Calvin Baker, 50, laborer for town; wife Minnie, 40; and children Eula, 18, tobacco factory laborer, Connie, 16, tobacco factory laborer, and Eddie, 9.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 507 East Walnut, William H. Barnes, 29, private cook; wife Eula Belle, 27, school lunchroom cook; father-in-law Calvin H. Baker, 61, widower; lodger Mark Crawford, 30, steam laundry laborer; and James Simon, 35, odd jobs laborer.

In 1942, Cleveland Perry registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 13 February 1899 in Franklin County, Tennessee; lived at 505 East Walnut Street, Wilson; his contact was Calvin Baker, 509 East Walnut; and worked for W.G. Wilford, superintendent of the County Home.

Calvin Hilliard Baker died 13 March 1944 at his home at 511 East Walnut Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 51 years old was born in Franklin County, North Carolina, to Osborne Baker and Georgie Anna Jones; and he was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery. Eula Bell Barnes was informant.

The Gazette speaks of people you know.

Not surprisingly for an era in which newspapers were the primary source of information beyond one’s neighborhood, Samuel H. Vick subscribed to more one than one.

Augustus S. Clark was a county commissioner? How so? He finished his theology degree at Lincoln in 1897, when he was about 23 years old, and went to Georgia a few later. A bit of research reveals a contemporary county commissioner named Robert S. Clark, who is likely the person intended.

Miss Carrie Smith of Wilson appears several times in the Gazette’s society columns circa 1897. She is likely the Carrie Smith, 20, nurse, in the household of her uncle and aunt Ed, 49, and Sallie Smith, 44, in the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County. Channie Smith, 24, another niece, also lived in the household.

Rev. “Woodward” was likely W.T.H. Woodard, a Missionary Baptist minister. I have not identified Rev. Strickland.

The Gazette (Raleigh, N.C.), 8 May 1897.

Funeral Program Friday: Nannie Pearl Barnes (1899-1999).

Nannie Pearl Barnes passed away just a few months shy of her 100th birthday.

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In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson township: Rosa Bennett, 23, cook, and children Lizzie, 7, Howard, 5, and Nannie, 10 months.

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Bennett Nannie P (c) dom h 401 Grace

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Lizzie Haskins, 40; daughters Willie M., 20, Rossie, 11, Stella M., 8, Elizabeth, 5, and Catherine, 3; sons William H., 6, and Rudolph, newborn; and roomers [Lizzie Haskins’ sister] Nannie P. Barnes, 28, widow, and daughter Connie, 2.  

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Ninna Barnes, 40, widow, laundress, and children Connie, 11, and James, 8.

In 1942, Eddie Hazel Bennett registered for the World War II draft. Per his registration card, he was born 13 October 1901 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina; lived at 403 Stantonsburg Street, Wilson; his contact was Nannie Pearl Bennett, 507 Stantonsburg Street; and he worked for R.P. Watson Tobacco.

Selden Institute.

When Lucy A. Dawson died in 1917, her daughter Mattie Dawson was teaching at Selden Institute in Brunswick, Georgia.

Established in 1903, Selden merged in 1933 with Gillespie Institute, the Cordele, Georgia, school run by another Wilson native, Augustus S. Clark.

The site of the school’s campus is now a public park, and only the headmaster’s house remains of the original buildings.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, June 2024.

Edmonia Taborn secures a loan.

On 18 May 1897, widow Edmonia Barnes Taborn borrowed sixty dollars from John F. Bruton, mortgaging her home and lot on Tarboro Street to secure the loan. She repaid her debt timely, and the mortgage was cancelled. 

Deed book 45, page 1, Wilson County Register of Deeds, Wilson.

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On 18 July 1870, Lemon Tabourne, son of Hardy Taylor and Celey Tabourn, married Edmonia Barnes, daughter of Louisa Barnes, “in church” in Wilson. 

In the 1870 census, in the town of Wilson, Wilson County: barber Lemon Taber, 28; wife Edmina, 17; and daughter Stella (by an earlier relationship?), 5; plus domestic servant Tillman Blount, 13, and Terry Noble, 18, barber. Edmonia reported that she was born in Virginia.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Tarboro Street, barber Lemon Taborn, 45; wife Edmonia, 26; and children Stella, 16, Elma, 7, Carrie, 5, Lucy, 3, and Joshua, 1.  

On 19 July 1903, Frank Sears, 21, of Goldsboro, son of Hilary and Edney Sears, married Carrie Taborn, 18, of Wilson, daughter of Lemon and Edmonia Taborn, in Wilson. Presbyterian minister L.J. Melton performed the ceremony in the presence of David Pyatt, C.H. Bynum, and S.H. Vick.

On 1 June 1904, J.L. Tabron, 25, son of Lemon and Edmonia Tabron, married Pocahontas Scott, 20, daughter of Joseph and Anna B. Scott, in Goldsboro, Wayne County.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Raleigh Road, widow Edmonia Tabron, 56, widow; son Astor, 23; daughter-in-law Nettie, 23; lodger Joseph Jordan, 33, bricklayer; and son Pat D. Tabron, 12, bootblack at barbershop.

On 16 May 1911, Thomas Henry Tabron, 21, of Wilson, son of Lemon and Edmonia Tabron, married Mattie Belle Smith, 19, of Fayetteville, daughter of William and Sarah Smith, in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, N.C. 

In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Tabron Edmonia E (c) barber J A Tabron  h Daniel nr N S R R

In the 1916 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Tabron Edmonia (c) dom h 235 W Kenan

On 29 August 1917, Douglas Tabron, 21, of Wilson, son of Lem and Edmonia Tabron, married Bessie Ray, 18, of Fayetteville, daughter of Ned and Martha Ray, at Barney Brewington’s in Cross Creek township, Fayetteville, Cumberland County.

Astor Tabron died 1 October 1917 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 3 November 1883 in Wilson County to Lem Tabron of Wilson and Edmonia Barnes of Virginia; was married; and worked as a barber. Nettie Tabron was informant.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: barber Douglass Tabron, 27; wife Bessie, 28; daughter Dorris, 2; and mother Edmonia, 68, widow.

In the 1920 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Tabron Edmonia (c) dom h 113 Walnut

Edmonia Barnes Tabron died 13 July 1925 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 55 years old; was born in Richmond, Virginia, to Louisa Barnes; was the widow of Lemon Tabron; lived at 305 South Street; and was buried in Rountree Cemetery. Douglas Tabron was informant.

Thomas Henry Tabron died 19 April 1932 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 40 years old; was born in Wilson to Lemon Tabron of Nash County and Edmonia Tabron of Virginia; lived at 304 South Street; was married to Mattie Belle Tabron; worked as a barber; and was buried in Wilson [probably, Vick Cemetery.]

She taught him to play.

Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 11 May 1954.

When I first saw “Hinnant,” “jazz,” and “church organ,” I thought this was the obituary of one of the hundreds of African-American natives of Wilson County that migrated to Washington, D.C.

However — no. The clue: Carl Hinnant learned to play piano from “his old colored mammy and helped him sound out ‘Coonshine.'”

Carl Hinnant was born in Wilson in 1896. No “colored mammy” is listed in his family’s household in 1900 or 1910, and we may never know the name of the talented African-American woman who launched his musical career.

The obituary of Martha Sharpe Haskins, formerly of Wilson County and Washington, D.C.

Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 13 February 1963.

Martha Sharpe Haskins, the daughter of Damp Haskins and Hester Sharpe, was born 13 January 1882 in Edgecombe County, N.C., and reared in Wilson County.

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In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farm laborer Damp Haskins; wife Hester, 43; and children Dora, 24, Martha, 19, Lossie, 18, Robert, 16, William, 15, James, 13, Lesley, 10, John, 9, Norma, 7, Earnest, 4, and Damp, 1.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, WIlson County: on “N&S RR,” farmer Damp Haskins, 60; wife Stella, 52, servant; children Martha, 23, cook, James, 18, wagon factory laborer, Lessie, 16, lumber mill laborer, John, 15, lumber mill laborer, Annie, 8, Earnest, 7, and Damp, 3; plus grandsons Simeon, 15, retail grocery laborer, and Ambrose Hoskins, 7.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Warren Street, Hester Haskins, 56; and Estella, 18, Annie, 22, Martha, 36, Ernest, 21, Ambroga, 17, Damp, 12, and [grandson] Joseph Haskins, 8.

On 15 November 1922, George Pitt, 31, of Nash County, son of Wiley Pitt and Ida McNair, married Martha Haskins, 30, of Wilson, daughter of Damp and Hester Haskins. James Haskins applied for the license, and Missionary Baptist minister John A. Mebane performed the ceremony in the presence of Glenn S. McBrayer, Jeff Holloway and Eula Farmer.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1200 Wainwright Street, owned and valued at $1700, Damp Haskins, 24, laborer at Coca-Cola plant; wife Sudie B., 21; children Damp Jr., 2, and Hellen, 6 months; widowed mother Hester, 72; brother [nephew] Joseph, 18; Martha Pitt, 52; and nephew Jim R. Haskins, 10.

On 18 February 1931, Joseph F. Haskins, 19, son of James Haskins and Martha H. Pitt, married Beatrice Bryant, 17, daughter of Isham and Rossie Bryant, at Isham Bryant’s house. Rev. J.T. Douglas of Calvary Presbyterian performed the ceremony in the presence of Judge Mitchell, Isham Bryant, and Rossie Bryant.

In 1940, Joseph Franklin Haskins registered for the World War II draft in Washington, D.C. Per his registration card, he was born 18 January 1913 in Durham, N.C.; lived at 1231 W Street, N.W., Washington; his contact was mother Martha Whitehead Haskins; and he worked for Dr. R.M. Williams, 1914 – 11th Street, N.W.

In the 1940 census of Washington, D.C.: at 1231 W Street, N.W., barber John Jones, 37, wife Sarah, 37, and daughter Ruby, 13; and hotel waiter Joseph Haskins, 27, mother Martha, 58, and uncle James Haskins, 36, post office department laborer. Both Joseph and Martha reported being divorced, and both had lived in Wilson, North Carolina, five years previously.

In 1942, Ernest Haskins registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 12 May 1898 in Wilson; lived at Route 1, Wilson; his contact was Martha Haskins, Washington, D.C.; and he worked for Wilson Tobacco Company.

Martha S. Haskins died 10 February 1963 in Middleburg, Loudoun County, Virginia. Per her death certificate, she was born 23 January 1897 in North Carolina to Damp Sharp and Hester Lassiter; and was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery, Wilson. Rev. Joseph Haskins was informant.