The obituary of Zannie Daniel Moore.

Wilson Daily Times, 8 May 1947.

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In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Amos Daniel, 44; wife Olive, 25; and children Willy, 14, and Zana, 12.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Pettigrew Street, Edward [Edmond] Moore, 23; wife Zana, 22; and daughter Mary, 3.

In the 1900 census of Rocky Mount, Nash County, North Carolina: on Thomas Street, Edmon Moore, 43, farmer; wife Zanie, 45; and children Mary, 22, Susa, 19, Edgar, 18, Wiley, 15, Matilda, 13, and Fred, 5.

In the 1910 census of Rocky Mount, Nash County, North Carolina: Edmond Moore, 55, farmer, and wife Zany, 50.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moore Edward (c; Zanie) lab h 904 Atlanta [Atlantic]

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 904 Atlantic, Edward Moore, 70; wife Zannie, 60, laundress; and lodgers Blanch Guilford, 16, Julia Williams, 16, Ruth Donald, 17, private nurse, and Edner Donald, 15.

Zannie Moore died 6 May 1947 at Saint Agnes Hospital, Raleigh, North Carolina. Per her death certificate, she was 91 years old; was born in Wilson County to Amos Daniel and Ollie Jenkins; was the widow of Edmond Moore; worked as a farmer; and was buried in William Chapel church cemetery.

Note of thanks from the County Home.

Wilson Daily Times, 27 May 1947.

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Rev. Frank Moore and his wife, Ara Moore, regularly ministered to residents of the Wilson County home, which was located near the intersection of present-day Ward Boulevard and Goldsboro Street.

Frank Hilliard is listed in the 1940 census of Wilson as one of 46 lodgers at the home, 19 of whom were African-American.

Confederate monument “has to come down.”

Also this week, a rally in downtown Wilson to demand removal of the Confederate monument on the grounds of the county courthouse. For more about the structure, see here, here, here, here and here.

Wilson Daily Times, 3 May 2024.

[Update, 11 May 2024: days after this protest, the Confederate battle flag on the monument was defaced with dark spray paint. The police quickly identified and arrested a 58 year-old white man on misdemeanor property damage charges. Per the Wilson Times: “When asked if the county will clean the monument, Wilson County Manager Ron Hunt said no plans have been made as commissioners continue their research regarding the memorial.” (I’m here for this unbothered response.) Photo below courtesy of the Times‘ 7 May 2024 edition.

Marking Rest Haven Cemetery’s origins.

Earlier this week, a small group gathered at the back of Rest Haven Cemetery to dedicate a bronze marker. The men — Rev. H. Maurice Barnes, Dr. Michael Barnes, and James Pender — are descendants of Jesse R. and Sarah Barnes Barnes, who once owned the acres of land of which Rest Haven was established in 1933.

Wilson Daily Times, 3 May 2024.

I wrote about the Barneses and Rest Haven’s roots here and am honored to have contributed to the marker’s wording. “Thank you” to the Barneses for taking action to memorialize their family’s — and the community’s — story and to Heather Goff for working with the Barnes family to install the marker.

[P.S. Dr. Boisey O. Barnes was not the first Black doctor in Wilson, but certainly was the most prominent during the decades he practiced. He was preceded by, notably, Dr. Frank S. Hargrave and Dr. William A. Mitchner.]

Mother and accomplices believed to have kidnapped boy.

Wilson Daily Times, 19 May 1937.

When 16 year-old John Lane was snatched from one of U.H. Cozart’s fields in May 1937, authorities blamed his mother. Seven years earlier, she had allowed a family named Williams to adopt the boy, and she migrated to Washington, D.C. A radio bulletin went out seeking three men and a women traveling in older model Paige automobile with D.C. tags.

Julia Armstrong goes North for help.

The People’s Voice (New York, New York), 9 March 1946.

With Marie Everett battling imprisonment, Julia Armstrong went North for help. Direct from New York City’s Penn Station, she headed to the office of The People’s Voice, the Harlem newspaper founded in 1942 by Adam Clayton Powell Jr. She gave a literal blow-by-blow of the events at the Carolina Theatre and pled for funds to assist Everett. For her own part, Armstrong said she planned to sell her “tourist home” and move North after Everett was released. (Wilson, of course, is not “a few” miles from Tennessee.)

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In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 411 East Green, Hallie Armstrong, 48, pool room operator; wife Julia, 29; and lodgers Annie M. Brown, 39, of Mooresville, Iredell County, hospital nurse; Jeanett M. Lee, 24, of Mount Olive, Wayne County, hospital nurse; and Lawrence Peacock, 27, of High Point, sewer project laborer.

Hallie Armstrong died 18 June 1947 at his home in Farmville, Pitt County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was 55 years old; was born in Halifax County, N.C., to John Armstrong and Marina Lark; was married to Julia Armstrong; operated a shoe repair shop; and was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery, Wilson.

However, in 1950, she was still in Wilson: in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 411 East Green, widow Julia Armstrong, 39, born in Kentucky, and lodgers Mary Rose, 29; Anne Everette, 2; Herbert Rose Jr., born in July; Edward Harris, 20, construction company bricklayer; McDonald Hayes, 33, electric power company laborer; Josephine Hayes, 28, cotton picker on farm; and Willie Mack Hayes, 15, cotton picker on farm.

Julia Miller Armstrong died 9 March 1964 in Jacksonville, Onslow County, N.C. Per her death certificate, she was born 14 September 1904 in South Carolina to John F. Miller and Bessie Scruggs; she did domestic work as a cook; and she was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery, Wilson.

Ed Mitchell’s Barbeque keeps bringing flowers.

Ryan Mitchell got off a flight from Lagos to this news:

During a roadtrip to New Orleans in summer 2021, I stopped by to see my cousin Zella Palmer. The pandemic was still cutting up, so we sat on her porch and chatted, mostly about family, food, and history. At one point, Zella mentioned that she’d received an email feeling out her interest in co-writing a book about North Carolina barbecue. Specifically, about Ed Mitchell and his family. “Girl, call them,” I urged. “Mr. Mitchell is a legend — and my dad’s good buddy!”

The rest … well, is a James Beard nomination!!

(You don’t have a copy of Ed Mitchell’s Barbeque?? What you waiting for??)

Image courtesy of Ryan Mitchell.