Harold H. Taylor, Johnson C. Smith ’51.

The Bull (1951), the yearbook of Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, N.C.

Harold Herbert Taylor was born after his family left Wilson for New Jersey, then Washington, D.C., but I include him on general principle. His father, Rev. Halley B. Taylor, was arguably the most influential early twentieth-century pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church.

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In the 1930 census of Washington, D.C.: at 1715 First Street, minister Halley B. Taylor, 50; wife Marie L., 45; and children Bettie S., 19, M. Louise, 17, Robert E., 14, Halley B., Jr., 12, and Harold H., 1.

Lane Street Project: promises not kept.

As I await the City’s response to my August 5 public records request, here’s a quick rundown of the high- and lowlights of the Vick Cemetery saga:

  • in December 2021, Wilson City Council voted to erect permanent interpretive signage at Vick Cemetery. We’re still waiting.
  • at my request, Mayor Carlton Stevens arranged an open forum on 11 May 2023 at Reid Street Community Center at which I presented the history of Vick Cemetery and discussed the devastating ground-penetrating radar report identifying at least 4,224 graves there. The mayor and council members Gillettia Morgan and Derrick Creech attended and heard members of the public call for transparency, accountability, and action at Vick. Mayor Stevens remarked: “I cannot undo what was done, but I can tell you this: I will work with Lisa to make it as right as possible.” Stevens proposed forming a commission in which he was the liaison to City Council and I was liaison to the community: “We will work jointly on what can be done in that cemetery to bring honor, respect and dignity to that cemetery.”
  • in late May, Council voted to run a fence around Vick and brought New South Associates (NSA) back to the cemetery in late June to mark graves that straddled its borders. Council also ordered a survey of the cemetery’s boundaries, but did not request an accompanying plat map — and refuse to do so.
  • in July, City Manager Grant Goings announced that he would make recommendations for Vick at the August council meeting and provided a preview of his suggestions.
  • on August 5, local clergy and Lane Street Project held a reconsecration ceremony at Vick Cemetery.
  • on August 11, I emailed the four council members who attended the reconsecration ceremony and asked them to move for: (1) formal engagement by the City with Lane Street Project and other representatives of the Vick Cemetery descendant community; (2) an independent investigation into the removal and disposal of Vick Cemetery’s headstones circa 1995; (3) preparation of a full survey map of Vick Cemetery, to include all built features; and (4) a ground-penetrating radar survey of the areas not surveyed in 2022, including, but not limited to, the public right-of-way between the power poles and the street. I also encouraged council members to hold off on making decisions about Vick’s future without additional information about the history and current condition of the site and without the input of stakeholders whose family members are buried there.
  • in August, NSA presented its final report on Vick Cemetery at council meeting. Goings did not present recommendations.
  • on August 17, WRAL-TV ran an investigative report on Vick Cemetery.
  • in late August/early September, evidence established that power poles were placed in Vick and Rountree in 1997 — after the cemetery was cleared.
  • at the September council meeting, Lane Street Project representatives presented to council a written statement of concerns and requests concerning Vick.
  • in late September, the North Carolina General Assembly approved $50,000 for Vick Cemetery (after a brief “miscommunication.”)
  • in late September, at Mayor Stevens’ invitation, I attended a meeting with him, Councilmember Morgan, and two members of the descendant community to discuss next steps for Vick. Despite my generally hopeful takeaway, I have heard nothing from the Mayor since then.
  • in October, Vick Cemetery became a pressing issue for candidates for city council races. In defending their records, Morgan, Michael Bell, and James Johnson provided insight into their essential positions. For Morgan, it was basically “Can’t we all just get along?”; for A.M.E. Zion presiding elder Bell — and I quote — it was “Let the dead rest”; and to paraphrase Johnson (who was on council when Vick’s headstones were pulled up), it was “Y’all just don’t understand 25 year-old me — and what do y’all want, anyway?” All were re-elected.
  • Vick Cemetery was not on the agendas for the October, November, or December 2023 council meetings. Nor has Vick Cemetery appeared on a 2024 council agenda in 2024.
  • in March 2024, WTVD ran its investigative report on Vick Cemetery.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, August 2024.

The obituary of Marie Ravennah Taylor.

The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 18 June 1942.

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Marie Louise Ravennah was born about 1885 in Hampton County, South Carolina, to Emile J. Ravennah and Georgianna Rivers Ravennah. She married Rev. Halley B. Taylor in 1909; they likely met while students in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Taylors lived in Wilson about a decade, where Rev. Halley led Calvary Presbyterian Church.

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In the 1920 census of Town of Wilson, Wilson County: at 700 Green Street, preacher Henry [sic; Halley] Taylor, 40; wife Louise, 28; and children Bettie, 8, Louise, 6, Robert, 5, and Halley, 4.

In the 1930 census of Washington, D.C.: at 1715 First Street, minister Halley B. Taylor, 50; wife Marie L., 45; and children Bettie S., 19, M. Louise, 17, Robert E., 14, Halley B., Jr., 12, and Harold H., 1.

In the 1940 census of Washington, D.C.: Halley B. Taylor, 60; wife Marie L., 54; and sons Halley Jr., 22, and Holard T., 11.

 

Sampson Barnes’ family shows appreciation.

Wilson Daily Times, 7 August 1937.

Young adult Samson Barnes died suddenly of young disease. This notice includes a detail presumably affixed by the copy writer: Barnes worked or sharecropped for Herman and Lilly Mattox, who rented land owned by a Woodard.

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In the 1920 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Preston Barnes, 27; wife Rosettar, 20; and children Samson, 5, Aulander, 3, and Sallie, 5 months.

In the 1930 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: widow Mollie Williams, 59, and grandchildren Lorenzo, 17, Nathaniel, 15, and Mary Williams, 12, and Samson, 16, Orlando, 14, and Sally Barnes, 12.

Samptson Barnes died 3 August 1937 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 22 years old; was born in Wilson County to Preston Barnes and Rosetta Williams; was 22 years old; worked as a farmer; and was single. Drew Barnes was informant.

Hagans vs. Hagans.

Wilson Times, 26 November 1897.

Probably: on 26 October 1889, Amos Hagans, 31, of Cross Roads township, son of John Hagans and Eliza Rich, married Jane Fields, 18, of Cross Roads township, daughter of Washington and Julia Fields, at Ben Binum’s in Cross Roads township, Wilson County.

If so, Amos Hagans remarried a couple of years after his divorce. On 21 February 1900, Amos Hagins, 39, son of John Hagins and Eliza Rich, married Lillie Richardson, 17, daughter of John and Mollie Richardson, at Mollie Richardson’s in Cross Roads township.

A prank gone terribly wrong.

News & Observer, 17 August 1948.

  • J.C. Austin — James C. Alston.

James Alston died 14 August 1948 in Oldfields township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 14 September 1928 in Wilson County to Herman Alston of Nash County and Mildred Jones of Wilson County; worked in farming; and died of homicide, specifically, “left thoracic pulmonary hemorrhage due to blast from shotgun shell to the left chest and arm.”

  • G.B. Deans — actually, C.B. Deans.

Deans claimed he shot into the dark without seeing his victim. He was convicted of manslaughter less than a month later and sentenced to four to six years in prison.