The obituary of Robert Wilkinson of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Wilson Daily Times, 31 March 1949.

——

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: brickmason Smith Bennett, 47; daughter Addie, 20; and lodgers Robert Wilkerson, 36, cooper, born in Virginia, Archie Williams, 34, carpenter, and Samuel Wooten, 18, farm laborer.

On 20 November 1900, Robert W. Wilkerson, 31, son of Henry and Eliza Wilkerson, married Addie Eatman, 19, daughter of Barbour Eatman, at Smith Bennett’s residence. Baptist minister J.T. Deans performed the ceremony in the presence of Willie Rountree, Sidney Bradley, and Jacob Tucker.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: box factory laborer Robert Wilkerson, 50; wife Addie, 30; and children Carrie, 8, Addie, 7, Robert Jr., 5, and Maggie, 2.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: fertilizer plant laborer Silas Edwards, 48; wife Addie, 44; and children Addie, 25, housework for private family, and Roland, 15, lumber plant laborer.

In 1942, Robert Wilkerson registered for the World War II draft in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his registration card, he was born 10 July 1904 in Wilson, N.C.; lived at 1639 Webster; his contact was Margaret Wilkerson, Brooklyn, N.Y.; and he was unemployed. He was described as having a “gray streak at part in hair.”

Robert Wilkerson died 23 March 1949 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his death certificate, he was born 10 July 1904 [crossed through and 1907 substituted] in Wilson, N.C., to Robert and Ruth [no surnames listed]; was married to Ruth Wilkerson; lived at 1938 Christian Street; worked as a laborer; and his body was removed to Wilson for burial.

Lane Street Project: March 28 recap!

Another heart-filling service day at Odd Fellows Cemetery!

Special thanks to our out-of-town guests Will from Fuquay-Varina and Emily and her son Seb all the way from Brooklyn, New York!

Mark your calendars now for our April 11 and 25 service dates!

Photo courtesy of Chris Facey.

Snaps, no. 121: the Sharpe sisters.

Sisters Annie Sharpe Batts (1911-1961), Sarah Sharpe Williams (1895-1985), Effie Sharpe Ruffin (1902-1980).

——

In the 1900 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer James Sharp, 28; wife Bettie, 25; and children Sarah, 7, Minnie, 4, Lonnie, 2, and Yetta, 7 months.

In the 1910 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: on the Plank Road, farmer Jim Sharp, 38; wife Bettie, 35; and children Sarah, 15, Sunny, 13, Etta, 12, Mary, 10, Mahala, 9, Jimmie, 7, Della, 5, Bettie, 3, and Annie, 2.

In the 1920 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: on the Tarboro Road, farmer James Sharp, 47; wife Bettie, 40; and children Sonnie, 21, Effie, 18, Mahaly, 17, Jimmie, 15, Dolena, 14, Annie, 13, Bettie, 12, and Willie, 7.

Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user GeraldNelson31.

A tribute to Ammie McRae Jenkins.

The March 2026 issue of Our State magazine introduced me to Ammie McRae Jenkins, a community historian after my own heart. Mrs. Jenkins founded Sandhills Family Heritage Association in 2001 when she was 60 years old, creating a multi-pronged legacy in preservation. She passed unexpectedly last fall, and I join those who lift her name and memory in praise.

Read the Our State magazine story here.

[N.B.: Many black Wilson County families have roots in the Sandhills, arriving from Cumberland, Robeson, and other counties in the 1920s and ’30s. (If you’re a Mc- or Mac- anything, this might be you.)]

Hardy Lassiter Jr. sells brother land.

In 1854, Hardy Lassiter Jr., then about 26, sold his brother Green Lassiter, about 30, 16 acres of land in what was then Edgecombe County, N.C. By time the deed was recorded, Wilson County had been established.

This indenture made and entered into this day between Hardy Laster Jr. and Green Laster both of the County of Edgecomb & State of North Carolina witnesseth that I hardy Laster have bargained and sold unto Green Laster for Sixty six dollars Sixteen acres of Land in the County & State aforesaid adjoining B. Simms Lemon Ruffin & others beginning in Ruffins line thence across the Piney woods thence in a direct line with the crop fence & then with said fence to the Mill Pond to a water oak then across the mill pond to Green Lasters line then with said line out in the piney woods to the beginning a Stake containing sixteen acres more or less together with all the appurtenances thereon and I Hardy Laster do forever warrant & defend the wright & title unto Green Laster forever free and clear from any and person or persons whomever claiming the Same in witness whereof I hereunto set my hand and seal this day 16th Sept. 1854. Hardy (X) Laster Witness J.W. Farmer, Josiah Farmer

Deed Book 1, page 56, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

Corporal Daniel Vick, serving somewhere in the Pacific area.

——

In the 1930 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Ashley Thompson, 65; wife Bethenia, 34; [step]son Daniel, 13; and daughter Omeda, 12.

Daniel Vick registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County in 1940:

On 16 October 1946, Daniel Vick, 28, farmer, of Wilson County, son of John Vick and Bethenia Williamson of Lucama, married Hester L. White, 21, of Wilson County, daughter of James White and Minnie Perry of Lucama, in Greensville County, Virginia.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 723 1/2 Elvie Street, Daniel Vick, 32, mechanics helper at state garage; wife Hester, 24; and son Dwight E., born in November. 

Dwight Edward Vick died 22 November 1959 in Lucama, Oldfield township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 11 November 1949 in Wilson County to Daniel Vick and Hester White and was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery.

Omeida Dew applied for a military headstone for her brother Daniel Vick.

Image courtesy of Veterans of World War II Wilson County, spiral-bound volume, Wilson County Public Library.

Lynch vs. Odenheimer.

In 1856, Noah Lynch, a free man of color, pressed charges for trespass on the case against German immigrant Falk Odenheimer, claiming one hundred dollars as damages. (“Trespass on the case” was a common law action brought to compensate negligent harm.) Virgil Stephens, Isaiah Rawls, and H.L. Williford were subpoenaed as witnesses, but I have not found the outcome of the suit.

Civil Action Papers (1856), Wilson County, North Carolina Court Records, http://www.familysearch.org

Aiken’s headstone toppled.

My favorite grave marker in Masonic Cemetery, John H. Aiken‘s rough-hewn chunk of stone, has been toppled. It’s hard to imagine how anyone managed to back into it hard enough to knock it off its base, but there it is. I will reach out to Mount Hebron Lodge to find out if there are plans to reseat it.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, March 2026.