Funeral Program Friday: Minnie Barnes Armstrong (1899-1987).

On 16 January 1918, Henry Armstrong, 25, of Toisnot township, son of Nelson and Mary Armstrong, married Minnie Barnes, 21, of Toisnot township, daughter of Joe and Ella Barnes, in Wilson County. Joshua Armstrong applied for the license, and minister E.D. Telfor performed the ceremony in the presence of Frank Smith, W.M. Parker, and Frank Armstrong.

In the 1930 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Henry Armstrong, 42; wife Minnie, 33; and children Mary, 11, Fred, 8, Rosa, 6, Clarence, 4, and Nathan, 1; plus father Nelson Armstrong, 75.

In the 1940 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Henry Armstrong, 52; wife Minnie, 42; and children Mary, 19, Fred, 18, Rosa, 16, Clarence, 14, Nathan, 11, Daniel, 9, Louise, 8, David, 6, and Henry, 3.

In the 1950 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Henry Armstrong, 62; wife Minnie, 50; and children Nathan, 21, Louise H., 18, David T., 14, and Henry C., 13.

Pvt. William Killebrew of the 3rd North Carolina.

We have met Cpl. Willie Gay, whose simple marble headstone in Odd Fellows Cemetery commemorates his service in the Spanish-American War. We’ve also read about Turner H. Utley, James Ellis and Robert Thomas. Yesterday, Terry Mosley, a metal detectorist in Durham, N.C., reached out with this stunning find:

It’s a badge or “dog tag” for William Killebrew, another African-American Wilson County man who enlisted in Company I, 3rd North Carolina Infantry.

Killibrew enlisted in Wilson on 23 June 1898 and mustered into service July 14. He mustered out with the company on 8 February 1899 in Macon, Georgia. And he is frustratingly elusive in the record.

Was he the 18 year-old Willie Killebrew listed as nephew in the household of farmer Willie Hart, 57; wife Chany, 43; and children Susan, 24, James, 23, Willie, 15, Ben, 13, Epsy, 8, and Tildy, 6, in the 1880 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County? If so, he likely was among the older soldiers in the regiment.

Or was he the William Killebrew, born about 1869, son of George and Rebecca Thomas Killebrew, who is found in Edgecombe County census records in 1870 and 1880? This William Killebrew married Lena Bryant in Edgecombe County in 1893, and the couple is found in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the 1900 census. Their four year-old son James Killebrew died in Philadelphia in 1902. (James’ death certificate reports his birth year and place as 1898 in Philadelphia. How does this mesh with his conjectured father’s enlistment in Wilson in 1898?) In the 1910 census, a North Carolina-born William Killebrew was listed as a widower living in Baltimore, Maryland, but a William Killebrue is listed as a laborer living at 1935 Federal Street in the 1918 Philadelphia city directory. (And Lena Killebrew did not die until 1936, at which time her death certificate described her as a widow.)

And what is Killebrew’s link to Durham? Had he been a patient at the Veterans Administration hospital there?

I’ll continue to search.

Thank you, Terry Mosley, for sharing this amazing find.

B.W.A. Historical Marker Series, no. 1: Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church.

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.

SAINT MARK’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

By 1886, Rev. John W. Perry of Tarboro, N.C., built a chapel at South and Lodge Streets in Little Washington community for Grace Mission. Later renamed Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church. Chapel rebuilt after fire in 1897. Adjoining parochial school operated for several decades. Church relocated to present location at 106 Reid Street SE in 1935.

Saint Stephen’s A.M.E. Zion Church of Grabneck.

Deed book 68, page 10, Wilson County Register of Deeds, Wilson, N.C.

In December 1903, Orren and Hancy Best sold, for the nominal sum of five dollars, a lot on Nash Road to William J. Moore, Henry C. Phillips, John T. Tarboro, G. Albert Wood, and Byron D. McIver, trustees of Saint Stephen’s A.M.E. Zion Church. The 1200 square-foot lot bordered parcels owned by the Bests and Orren Best’s brother, Noah Best.

The deed of sale carried a restriction that the “premises shall be kept, used, maintained and disposed of as a place of worship for the use of the ministry and membership of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in America.” It’s not clear if a church were ever constructed on the site (or in fact, exactly where on West Nash Street the lot was, though we know it was in Grabneck and roughly in today’s 1000 or 1100 block.)

——

  • Henry C. Phillips
  • John T. Tarboro — in the 1910 census of Plant City, Hillsborough County, Florida: preacher John T. Tarbor, 50, and wife Elberta, 20, laundress. In the 1920 census of Lincolnton, Lincoln County, N.C.: clergyman John T. Tarboro, 64, and wife Alberta, 29.
  • Byron D. McIver — in the 1900 census of Hookerton township, Greene County, N.C.: clergyman Byron D. McIver, 44; wife Amanda, 29; and daughters Laura, 16, Minnie, 11, Katie, 6, Sarah, 3, and Bettie, 2. Byron David McIver died 25 September 1926 in Wilmington, N.C. and was buried in Snow Hill, Greene County.

R.S. Wilkins has a house built.

When Redden S. Wilkins contracted Claudius Aycock to build him a house in 1897, Wilkins borrowed $206.50 from J.R. Uzzell and put up his Lodge Street lot as surety. The house was a tiny one, measuring 36 feet long by 21 feet wide with an 18-foot porch and a six-foot-wide passageway. (That seems like a lot of hall for such a narrow house.)

Deed book 45, page 53, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson, N.C.

Sale of a fractional part of an acre.

Braswell R. Winstead once owned the lot at the southeast corner of Green and Pender Streets on which J.D. and Eleanor P. Reid later built their two-story house. In May 1897, Winstead sold a 15 by 64 1/2 strip of land at the rear of the property to George D. Green. A note at the bottom of the deed of sale states “The Piece of land deeded hereby is now enclosed in lot held by the Brinkley family.”

Deed book 45, page 62, Wilson County Register of Deeds, Wilson, N.C.

The Brinkley family was probably: in the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Dick Brinkley, 65; wife Charolott, 49, cook; son Hilliard, 29; and daughters Nancy, 27, school teacher, and Bettie, 23, nurse.

Lane Street Project: thank you, Little Rock O.F.W.B. Church!

Lane Street Project’s Senior Force scheduled a special workday yesterday to welcome middle and high schoolers from Lucama’s Little Rock Original Free Will Baptist Church. The kids were welcomed by Castonoble Hooks and Briggs Sherwood, and Cass introduced them to history of Vick and Odd Fellows Cemeteries. Lane Street Project is grateful for the opportunity to partner with community churches, to educate young people, and to receive help from every willing hand!

Cass Hooks explains the historical significance of the cemeteries, who is buried there, and why it’s important that we take care of this legacy.

Kids working near the Wiley Oates monument. As you can see, the wisteria is trying to stage a comeback.

Odd Fellows gets a much-needed mowing. Without timely intervention, the feathery dog fennel you see near the lawnmower will soon be as tall as our heads. (By the way, the ditches are in the public right-of-way and therefore are the City’s responsibility. They are in serious need of mowing.)

Kids using a tarp to drag vine cuttings and small limbs to the curb for disposal.

Thank you, Jenn Ferguson and Little Rock youth! We hope you’ll tell others what you learned here and bring them back with you on a future work day!

Photos courtesy of Jenn Ferguson.