Home cookin’.

Gizzards & Livers made the New York Times!

“Now living in Durham, N.C., [Kate] Medley, 42, has spent more than a decade collecting images for her book of photographs, ‘Thank You Please Come Again,’ which the digital magazine The Bitter Southerner published in December. The book began with a journalist’s curiosity, but ended up as a way for a daughter of the Deep South to make sense of the beautiful, brutal, complicated place she came from.”

To my dismay, the article didn’t identify the location of that iconic green building, so:

Anyway, even though Gizzards & Livers is not Black-owned (Palestinian-American, I’m told), I feature it here because:

(1) it sits at the corner of Hines and Lodge Streets, at the edge of a 125 year-old African-American neighborhood;

(2) it carries on the legacy of the little groceries and eating houses that fed working-class folk in Wilson’s tobacco warehouse district a hundred years ago; and

(3) that sign (which has since been freshened up) is classic Louis Thomas III! (Rest in peace.)

Up from Alabama.

Migrants from Georgia commonly settled in Wilson County. From Alabama, less so. Victor Thomas‘ family were an exception.

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In the 1920 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farm Leeman Thomas, 40; wife Louisa, 28; and children Bertha, 9, Lewa, 7, Joseph, 5, Zictor, 4, Alenda, 2, and Sarah, 4 months. All were born in Alabama except Sarah.

In the 1930 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: widower Lemon Thomas, 50, and  children Charlie W., 20, Joe, 18, Victor, 16, Orlanda, 14, Sarah, 12, and Beget, 7.

On 14 August 1937, Victor Thomas, 21, of Stantonsburg, son of Leamon and Louisa Thomas, married Ola Farmer, 24, of Stantonsburg, daughter of Gusta and Matilda Farmer, in Wilson. Marcellus Farmer applied for the license.

In the 1950 census of Stantonsburg, Wilson County: farmer Victor Thomas, 37; wife Ora, 38; and children Dorothy G., 15, Minnie L., 12, Bertha L., 11, Willie L., 7, Victor Jr., 5, Robert, 3, Romme, 2, and Erline, 1.

Victor Thomas died 30 May 1994 in Wilson.

Elks Club news.

Wilson Daily Times, 22 January 1944.

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  • Isham Bryant
  • Calvin Carr — Calvin Carr died 8 January 1956 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 5 September 1902 in Duplin County, N.C., to William Carr and Dora Brock; was married; lived at 309 Stantonsburg Street; and worked as a janitor. Lena Carr was informant.
  • S.C. Sherrod — Solomon C. Sherrod. Solomon Shearard died 6 February 1948 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 21 October 1878 in Wayne County, N.C., to Dempsey Shearard and Harriett Hill; was married to Josephine Shearard; lived at 802 East Viola Street; and worked as a laborer.

Lane Street Project: in memory of Robert Ashe Jr. (1949-1949).

I’ve spoken of the database I am developing of likely burials in Vick, Odd Fellows, and Rountree Cemeteries. My spreadsheet draws upon death certificates, obituaries, and other sources — most distressingly imprecise. The term “Rountree Cemetery” on these documents may refer to Vick, Odd Fellows, or Rountree. Some documents broadly refer only to burial in Wilson. However, in the absence of official burial records for any of the cemeteries, we make do.

This series honors the men, women, and children who never had grave markers, or whose stones have been lost or stolen or destroyed. Graves believed to be in Vick Cemetery, which the City of Wilson stripped of remaining markers in 1996, will be identified with a Vick Cemetery logo.

Robert Ashe, Jr., died 16 September 1949 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 20 May 1949 in Wilson to Robert Ashe Sr. and Josephine Avery and lived at 614 Darden’s Alley. He was buried in Rountree Cemetery, Wilson. [Baby Ashe may have been buried in Rountree Church Cemetery, but more likely was buried in what we now know as Vick Cemetery.]

Lane Street Project: distractions.

I heard that last week’s city council outburst about the courthouse’s Confederate monument also included a charge that Pender Street was named for a Confederate general and should be renamed. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. But while living, breathing Wilsonians are still weeping for the desecrated graves of their loved ones, I am uninterested in the performance of outrage about 150 year-old street names.

Still, if you want to be mad about institutions and entities named for men complicit in upholding the institution of slavery, start with the city and county of Wilson, who were named for politician and Mexican War general Louis Dicken Wilson.

Louis D. Wilson (1789-1847)

Louis D. Wilson died in 1847. His will was simple — a couple of individual bequeaths, proceeds from property to care for the poor of Edgecombe County, and all his slaves to his sister Ann Wilson Battle. The sister died before he did, and her heirs, James L. and Mary A.S. Battle, duly stepped up to take their share of their uncle’s wealth. A court-appointed committee allotted to Mary A.S. Battle 17 men, women, and children — “Ben Jackson Frank Gilbert Willie Turner John Steller & child Rose Amandy Albert July Lucy Mary Mariah & child Providence & Martin valued at Six thousand two hundred & five dollars.” James Battle received another 17 — Ellick Guy Clinton Ephraim Henry Boston Edmond Bill Winney Nancy Dinah Martha Anicka & child Sabry Tener Bob & Mary valued at Six Thousand one hundred & fifteen dollars.” The siblings were given equal shares in one man, who was called Bill Hall. (Note that Wilson claimed 78 enslaved people at the time of the 1840 census. I have no information about the apparent sell-down between then and the distribution of his estate.)

I don’t know if any of these 35 people or their descendants have ties to Wilson, but I say their names as our spiritual, if not literal, ancestors. Their enslaver, of course, has the whole town and county named in his honor. I tell you this not because I want names changed. I tell you so you understand how inextricably tied to slavery the history of this city is.

Back to the subject at hand — Vick Cemetery.

Deed book 24, page 523, Edgecombe County Register of Deeds, Tarboro, North Carolina; credit for portrait of Louis D. Wilson here.

Mount Pleasant Baptist Church’s Spiritual Lecture Series.

I’m thrilled to take part in Mount Pleasant Baptist Church’s Black History Month Spiritual Lecture Series this year. On Saturday, February 10, at 11:00 A.M., in keeping with the theme Preserve Your Roots, Ignite Your Future, I’ll be speaking on “Saving Sacred Spaces: How and Why We Must Preserve African American Church History.” I hope to see some of you in Raleigh.

Historic Black Business Series, no. 6: Willie Reid’s and William Hines’ barbershops.

The 500 block of East Nash Street is justly remembered as the 20th century epicenter of Wilson’s African-American-owned businesses. However, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Black entrepreneurs and tradespeople also operated across the tracks. As Wilson’s downtown experiences a resurgence, let’s rediscover and celebrate these pioneering men and women.

Check in each Sunday for the latest in the Historic Black Business Series!

I was tickled to find Willie C. Reid‘s Wilson Barber Shop and William Hines Barbershop included in this directory of former businesses at 130 South Goldsboro Street. Kudos to this building owner!

In 1933, Hines announced a barbershop merger with Reid at this location, as well as the opening of a beauty salon. Both Reid and Hines operated earlier barbershops in downtown Wilson catering to white customers. More about those locations later.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, December 2023.

The obituary of Clinton Watson.

Wilson Daily Times, 28 January 1949.

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In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farmer Willis Watson, 29; wife Mamie, 34; and children Perneicy, 7, Clinton, 5, McCartney, 4, and Rosa L., 2.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 913 Vance, W.P.A. laborer Willis Watson, 42; wife Mamie, 43; and children Bernice A., 16, Clinton, 15, McCarthy, 14, Rosa Lee, 12, Alfonso, 9, Naomi, 6, and Marion K., 2.

In 1942, Clinton Watson registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 12 May 1924 in Johnston County and lived at 913 East Vance Street, Wilson.

Clinton Watson died 26 January 1949 in Meriden, Connecticut.

The Journal (Meriden, Conn.), 27 January 1949.

Lane Street Project: season 4, workday 3.

The weather has not been kind early this season, but we’re getting it done. Scarborough House Resort always comes through, and both Senior and Junior Force put in work!

We have a clear path now to the pile of headstones midway back in the cemetery. This is where I found my great-grandmother Rachel Barnes Taylor‘s marker in January 2021. Every season we have to release it from the previous summer’s outlandish wisteria growth, but perhaps this will be the last time. If we can clear the ground around this pile, we can begin to probe for more markers buried under decades of leaf mulch.

The Junior Force is continuing its fence beautification project.

Odd Fellows Cemetery has not looked this good in half a century. Special thanks to the City of Wilson’s sanitation crews for removing our work day debris.

Our next work days are February 9 and 23. Celebrate Black History Month with us!

Photos and video courtesy of Jen Kehrer. Please consider Scarborough House Resort for all your event venue and bed-and-breakfast needs!