Work Life

Artelia Barnes leads Rockingham School to music prize.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 9 May 1942.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: brickmason John M. Barnes, 44, wife Annie L., 32, Leonard E., 5, Lee J. [Leo Artelia], 4, Selma [Thelma] F., 2, and John W., 3 months.

On 22 June 1929, Leo Artelia Barnes, 22, of Wilson, married Emanuel D. Jones, 26, of Brooklyn, New York, in Wilson. Rev. J.E. Kennedy performed the ceremony in the presence of C.L. Darden, Annie L. Kennedy, and W.A. Mitchner.

In the 1930 census of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York: Emanuel W. Jones, 27, Pullman waiter, and wife Artelia L., 24.

Leo Artelia Davis died 16 December 1982 in Houston, Texas. Per her death certificate, she was born 6 May 1906 in North Carolina to John M. Barnes and Annie Darden; was a widow; was a music teacher; and her regular residence was in Stafford, Fort Bend County, Indiana.

Artis Funeral Parlor succeeds!

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 27 May 1933.

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Though he is little-remembered now, for several decades in the early-to-mid 1900s, Columbus E. Artis was the premier black undertaker in Wilson. Here’s what Samuel C. Lathan recently told me about him:

SCL: … One time, I remember C.E. Artis — I think it was a ‘48 hearse. They went to Detroit and bought that thing. And it had a record player in it. And then it had a hydraulic cable in it where, when you open up the side, that hydraulic would raise up and come out, and the casket would come out by itself.

LYH: Wow.

SCL: And the pallbearers would stand right there and take it right out. Oh, man, it was all kind of – them people would wear hickory-stripe pants, black wool and silk jacket with the vest. Aw, man …. Wont no patent leather. Everybody’s shoes was just shined.

…

LYH: And it’s funny because you talk about things that people don’t talk about. When I, you know, when I tell people that at one time C.E. Artis and Darden were rivals.

SCL: That’s right.

LYH: I mean, C.E. Artis was just as big as Darden was.

SCL: Yeah. Yeah.

…

SCL: And then Darden didn’t have the business that C.E. had.

LYH: Mm-hmm.

SCL: Darden was the old-fashioned thing. Even … I remember one time I was talking to Charles [Darden James], … [and] Charles was saying, “Well, you know, we’re the old standby.” I never will forget that, you know? But C.E. – see, until Hamilton came to Wilson, C.E. was the sporting one. C.E. was the town. C.E. was the thing, man. C.E. was the thing. Yessir buddy. Yeah.

Nurse Faison makes a recovery.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 24 June 1933.

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  • Charlotte Hall Faison

In the 1900 census of Cross Creek township, Cumberland County, N.C.: seamstress Alice Hall, 44, widow, seamstress; children Caroline, 22, seamstress, Mary A., 20, schoolteacher, George B., 19, day laborer, Theodosia, 14, Charlotte, 12, Rosa D., 7, Henry W., 4, and Isaac B., 24, farmer; daughter-in-law Mary E., 20; grandchildren Willie Ann, 2, and Alice P., 8 months; mother-in-law Jessie D., 74, widow; and cousin Annie, 27, day laborer.

On 24 April 1909, Austin McQueen, 22, born in South Carolina to Sidney and Annie McQueen, married Charlotte Hall, 20, born in North Carolina to Isaac and Alice Hall, in Manchester, Virginia.

In the 1910 census of Fayetteville, Cumberland County, N.C.: carpenter Louis Gill, 68; wife Alice H., 49, seamstress; stepchildren Carrie, 23, seamstress, Theodolia, 19, Rosa D., 15, and Henry W. Hall, 13; stepdaughter Mary A. Butler, 21; stepson-in-law Austin McQueen, 22, clothes cleaner at tailor shop,  and stepdaughter Charlotte, 19.

On 12 September 1916, Cape Fear News, reported that public health nurse Charlotte Hall McQueen had visited 258 patients.

On 4 December 1917, Grant J. Faison, 35, of Rocky Mount, N.C., son of Bill and Hannah Faison, married Charlotte M. Hall, 26, of Fayetteville, N.C., daughter of Isaac B. Hall and Alice H. Gill, in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, N.C.

In 1918, Grant Jackson Faison registered for the World War I draft in Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County, N.C. Per his registration form, he was born 3 March 1881; lived at 406 Carolina Avenue, Rocky Mount; was a tobacco worker for Imperial Tobacco; and his nearest relative was Charlotte Faison.

In the 1920 census of Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County, N.C.: Grant J. Faison, 37, tobacco factory fireman, and wife Charlotte, 37, trained nurse.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Faison Grant J (c; Charlotte M) gro 502 N Vick h 801 E Green

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 801 East Green Street, owned and valued at $3000, grocery store merchant Grant Faisson, 46, and wife Charlotte, 42, trained nurse at hospital.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 801 East Green Street, owned and valued at $2500, retail grocery store operator Grant T. Faison, 58, and wife Charlotte M., 52, saleswoman at retail grocery store.

In 1942, Victor Morie Hall registered for the World War II draft in Asbury Park, N.J. Per his registration card, he was born 3 May 1923 in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, N.C.; lived at 621 West 25th Street, Winston-Salem; had a temporary mailing address at Monterey Hotel, Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park, N.J.; his contact was Charlotte Faison, 801 East Green Street; and he worked for the Monterey Hotel, Asbury Park.

In the 1950 census of Kings County, New York: at 548 McDonough Street, Frank [sic] J. Faison, 68, restaurant porter, and wife Charlotte, 61, hospital nurse.

  • Mary Mahoney Nurses’ Club of Wilson

Nurse Colvert assumes supervisory position.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 2 October 1948.

Before she was visiting nurse for Metropolitan Life, Henrietta Colvert was a staff nurse at Wilson Hospital and Tubercular Home/Mercy Hospital and lived in Wilson for fifteen or more years. (She was also my mother‘s maternal great-aunt, and thus the first of the Colvert family to settle here.)

Lane Street Project: as we ease into summer.

A big thanks to Castonoble Hooks for engaging Curtis Jackson to mow and clear clippings at Odd Fellows Cemetery. Though we don’t schedule cleanups during summer months, we strive to keep our “front yard” clean. We use this maintenance to provide opportunities for paid labor, but can do so only with donations. We are grateful to those who’ve given!

Photos courtesy of Castonoble Hooks.

The obituary of Turner Gray Farmer.

Wilson Daily Times, 2 May 1939.

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In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: drayman Jefferson Farmer, 40; wife Blanch, 28; and children May, 12, Turner, 11, Jesse, 8, Charley, 4, and Gola, 2.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 615 Hines Street, Jeff Farmer, 50; wife Blanch, 37; and children Turner, 20, Jessie, 16, Charlie, 13, Goler, 10, Jeff Jr., 7, Henry, 3, Allice, 2, and Gola, 1.

In 1917, Turner Farmer registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 23 November 1891 in Wilson; lived on West Nash Street; was married; and worked as a butler for S.H. Anderson.

On 6 April 1929, Turner Gray Farmer, 38, of Wilson, son of Jeff and Blanche Farmer, married Emma Simms, 27, of Wilson, daughter of Will and Mary Simms, at the courthouse in Wilson.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 901 East Nash, in the household of warehouse proprietor Selba H. Anderson, servants Carrie Melton, 48, cook, Turner Farmer, 38, chauffeur, and his wife Emma, 36, maid.

Turner Gray Farmer died 2 May 1939 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 50 years old; was born in Wilson, N.C., to Jeff Farmer and Blanch Gay; lived at 901 West Nash Street; was married to Emma Farmer; worked as a chauffeur; and was buried in Wilson [probably, Vick Cemetery.]

Application for military headstone for Turner Farmer.