Henderson Family Reunion 2024.

I’m just back in Atlanta from the Henderson Family Reunion. We are from southern Wayne County, just below Wilson County, but my line arrived in Wilson about 1905 — a story I told here.

Our reunion brings together descendants of the children of James Henderson, a free man of color born about 1815. My line is that of his first son, my great-great-great-grandfather Lewis Henderson, who was alive when my grandmother Hattie Henderson Ricks was born. Lewis’ daughter Sarah Henderson Jacobs Silver was the first in the family to settle in Wilson. She reared her sister Loudie Henderson’s children Bessie Henderson and Jack Henderson and Bessie’s children (my grandmother and great-aunt Mamie Henderson Holt), and nearly 40 of their descendants were among the almost 150 Hendersons in Goldsboro this weekend.

I gave a family history presentation Saturday morning at First Congregational United Church of Christ, the church in Dudley that Lewis Henderson helped found in 1870. My cousins still attend the church; one was guest pastor yesterday. The church cemetery — where my great-great-great-grandparents, great-great-grandmother and her siblings, great-grandmother, and innumerable cousins are buried — is right down the road.

The headstone of Cora Q. Henderson, daughter of Lucian and Susan Henderson — my great-grandmother’s 23 year-old first cousin.

Lewis Henderson died in 1912, and his wife Margaret Balkcum Henderson in 1915. By then, only James Lucian Henderson, their elder son, remained in Dudley. Twice a week, Sarah walked from Elba Street down to Wilson’s A.C.L. depot and handed up to a porter a shoebox packed with cornbread and ham and sweet potatoes. At Dudley, he threw the box off the train to a cousin waiting on the ditch bank. And thus Uncle Lucian and Aunt Susie were fed.

The Dudley depot is gone, but these tracks still run to Wilson.

Nearly 120 years after my Hendersons left Wayne County, the links remain.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, July 2024.

Barnes School recital.

Wilson Daily Times, 24 April 1943.

 

  • Barnes School
  • Rosa M. Roundtree — in the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Winstead Mill Road, in a house owned and valued at $100, farmer James Roundtree, 59; wife Mary B., 56; daughters Mary, 19, and Eula, 17; granddaughter Rosa M., 8; and mother-in-law Mary A. Barnes, 95.
  • George F. Dew — in the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: Claud Dew, 49; wife Addie, 44; son Willie B., 21; and son George Frank, 10.
  • Louisa Darden — in the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: Leeroy Darden, 34; wife Ella, 30; and children Leeroy, 10, Louise, 8, Julian, 6, Rose Etta, 4, and Georgia Mae, 1.
  • Mavora Melton — on 3 February 1947, John Brown Jr., 22, of Middlesex, married Mavora Melton, 18, in Wilson County.
  • Deacon Barnes
  • Deacon Bass
  • Deacon Hart
  • Sister Hart
  • Rev. E.Z. Coley — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 306 Pender Street, laundress Pearly Mae Parker, 33; son Willie E., 10; daughter Dorothy M., 9; father Julius Parker, 54, widower, tobacco factory machine feeder; and lodgers Annie Coley, 23, tobacco stemmer, and Exum Z. Coley, 40, preacher; Nathan Austin, 50, farm laborer; Fletcher Austin, 47, farm laborer; Dock King, 41, farm laborer; Quessie King, 21, servant; Mable LeGrand, 21, servant; and Essie Pearl LeGrand, 4.
  • S.B.T. Baker
  • M.L. Morrison — Margaret L. Morrison.

Wilson’s remarkable hospital.

On 22 February 1914, the Wilmington Morning Star published this detailed account of the establishment of the Wilson Hospital and Tubercular Hospital, which eventually became Mercy Hospital. Originally envisioned with a farm, countryside cottages, and a nurses’ home, only the administrative building was built. Nonetheless, Dr. Frank S. Hargrave‘s vision was “remarkable” indeed, and the hospital served the community for 50 years. (I was born there, in fact, just before it closed.)

[Sidenote: Hospital co-founder J.D. Reid was principal of the Colored Graded School and advisory board member Charles L. Coon was school superintendent. That Samuel H. Vick broke with them just four years later to side with teachers and parents in the 1918 school boycott is all the more astonishing.]

Funeral Program Friday: Maggie Lena Cooper (1914-2014).

——

In the 1920 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Jerry Williams, 40; wife Mary, 28; and children Edward, 10, Martha, 8, Maggie, 5, and Jerry, 1.

In the 1930 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Jerry Williams, 48; wife Mary, 38; and children Eddie, 21, Martha, 18, Maggie, 14, Jerry Jr., 11, Lucille, 7, Charles, 5, and Nestus, 1.

On 4 February 1939, Tom Farmer, 24, of Gardners township, son of Guston and Matilda Farmer, married Maggie Williams, 23, of Gardners, daughter of Jerry and Mary Williams, in Wilson. Jerry Williams applied for the license.

In the 1940 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Thomas Farmer, 26; wife Maggie, 23; and son Harmon, 2.

In 1940, Thomas Farmer registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 13 March 1944 in Edgecombe County; lived at Route 4, Wilson; his contact was wife Maggie Farmer; and he was unemployed.

In the 1950 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Thomas Farmer, 36; wife Maggie, 32; and children Eugene, 14, Herman, 12, Caroline, 4, and Geraldine, 2.

Jim Thomas Farmer died 26 August 1970 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 21 March 1914 to Guster and Matilda Williams; was married to Maggie Williams; and lived at 713 Viola Street.

Maggie Leaner Williams Farmer married John Hardy Cooper on 9 May 1972 in Wayne County, North Carolina.

Salt tonic works?

Rocky Mount Telegraph, 19 May 1938.

——

  • Will Franklin

On 16 September 1916, Willie Franklin, 20, of Wilson, son of James and Hannah Franklin of Savannah, Georgia, married Mary Williams, 24, of Wilson, in Wilson. Free Will Baptist minister Washington Little performed the ceremony.

In 1917, Will Franklin registered for the World War I draft in Wilson. Per his registration card, he was born 5 June 1896 in Collington [Colleton] County, South Carolina; lived at 506 Gray Street; and worked as a laborer for Wilson Cotton Mills.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 425 Railroad Street, Will Franklin, 25, transfer drayman, born in Georgia; wife Mary, 27, laundress; and roomer Columbus Fergerson, 23, house mover.

Will Franklin died 20 November 1964 at State Hospital, Goldsboro, Wayne County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 23 December 1884 in Georgia; was a widower; resided in Wilson; and worked as a ditcher.

James Miller, migrant to Indiana, dies in Wilson.

Indianapolis News, 5 November 1922.

James “Wilson” was from Wilson, but his last name was Miller. Oddly, I have found no trace of Miller’s 40 years in Indianapolis — or of his Civil War service. He apparently left his wife Priscilla and daughters Sarah, Louisa, and Prudence in Wilson when he migrated just before 1880. He came back periodically, and he and Priscilla had a son John in 1885.

——

In the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farm laborer James M. Miller, 27, and wife Priscilla, 18.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Prissilla Miller, 28, servant, and children Sarah E., 8, Louisa, 4, and Prudence, 1.

On 23 June 1892, Amos Hines, 23, married Sarah Eliza Miller, 20, at “Pender Street Methodist Church,” Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister J.F. Jordan performed the ceremony in the presence of W.J. Moore, S.H. Vick, and A.F. Moore.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: house mover Frank Barnes, 25; wife Prudence, 21; mother Priscilla Miller, 45; and son John Miller, 14.

Priscilla Miller died in late 1908. W.A. Finch applied for letters of administration for Prissy Miller on 30 November 1908. Her heirs were John Miller and Sarah Eliza Hines, and her estate was valued at $750.

In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Amos Hines, 32; wife Sarah, 28; and sons Ashley, 7, Branch, 4, and George D., 1.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Suggs Street, Allen Hines, 60; wife Sarah, 39; children Ashley, 16, Branch, 14, George D., 11, Allie M., 9, Priscilla, 6, Amos Jr. , 3, and John O., 1; and brother Amos, 40, widower [sic].

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Suggs Street, gardener Amos Hines, 53; wife Sarah, 47, laundress; and children Ashley, 23, lumber company wagoner, George, 21, grocery delivery boy, Allie, 18, Pricilla, 15, Amos Jr., 12, John, 10, Etta, 7, and Margret, 5.

James Miller died 22 October 1927 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 4 March 1842 in Wake County, N.C., to Doretha Miller; was a widower; lived at 631 Suggs Street; and was buried in Wilson [most likely, Vick Cemetery.] Sarah Hines, 631 Suggs Street, was informant.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 631 East Suggs Street, owned and valued at $1200, widow Sarah Hines, 58, and children Harvey, 25, Pricilla, 22, Amos, 20, John O., 18, Etta, 17, and Marguerite, 15.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 631 Suggs, owned and valued at $500, widow Sarah Hines, 69, and son Amos, 38, tobacco factory laborer.

John Henry Miller died 16 June 1957 at his home at 616 Maury Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 17 July 1885 in Wilson County to James Miller and Priscilla [maiden name unknown]; was a laborer; and was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery. Mary Miller was informant.

Sarah Hines died 13 September 1961 at 1306 Marlowe Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 5 September 1873 in Wilson County to James Miller and Pricilla Bass and was a widower. Informant was Margaret Hines, 1306 Marlowe Street.

B.W.A. Historical Marker Series, no. 9: Barnes School.

In this series, which will post on occasional Wednesdays, I populate the landscape of Wilson County with imaginary “historic markers” commemorating people, places, and events significant to African-American history or culture.

We been here.

 

BARNES SCHOOL

Built 1921 by Wilson City School Board with Rosenwald funds using three-teacher building plan. Closed and auctioned off in 1951 after school consolidation. Building converted to housing; later demolished.

Barnes School was located on what is now Airport Boulevard near a senior living community.

[Note: this entry has been updated, and a new photo inserted, based on more accurate information about the location of Barnes School provided by former students.]