The obituary of Robert Hill Sheridan.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 January 1981.

——

In the 1900 census of Alfordsville township, Robeson County, North Carolina: Richard Sheridan, 43; wife Susanah, 33; children Robert H., 17, Mary S., 15, William, 14, Tyler, 12, Katy L., 6, and Beady, 9 months; and David Philemon, 13.

On 20 December 1908, Fannie L. McCallum, 23, married R.H. Sheridan, 25, in Red Springs, Robeson County.

In the 1910 census of Alfordsville township, Robeson County, North Carolina: farmer Robert H. Sheridan, 26; wife Fannie L., 24; and daughter Lillian L., 5 months.

In 1918, Robert H. Sheridan registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 26 June 1883; lived at R.F.D. 6, Wilson; farmed for Sam H. Vick; and his nearest relative was wife Fannie Sheridan.

Rudy Sheridan died 15 May 1919 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 13 September 1918 in Wilson to R.H. Sheridan and Fannie McCullom; and was buried in Wilson County.

In the 1920 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Black Creek Road, farmer Robert Sheridan, 36; wife Fannie, 34; and children Lillian L., 10, Macea, 9, Robert F., 7, Susanna, 4, and George, 2.

In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Sheridan Robt (c) lab h 1225 Carolina

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Sheridan Robt (c; Fannie) carp h 1300 Carolina

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Sheridan Robt (c; Fannie) carp h 1212 Carolina

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Robert Sheridan, 66, and wife Elizabeth, 48, cook at local drug store and dining hall.

Robert Hill Sheridan died 14 January 1981 in Wilson.

Lane Street Project: monthly Vick Cemetery update, 9 November 2023.

Black Wide-Awake and Lane Street Project are inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Monthly Vick Cemetery update
Time: Nov 9, 2023 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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They were sold for their father’s debts.

Tarborough Southerner, 13 March 1852.

——

There are levels of terribleness to this report of the sale of nine enslaved people at a Wayne County, N.C., auction.

The nine people sold were the grown or nearly grown children of an enslaved woman and a free man of color, plus four grandchildren of that couple. They were purchased by enslavers in three different counties, including Dr. Lewis J. Dortch, who lived in Stantonsburg, in what is now Wilson County but was then Edgecombe. I have not been able to discover the names of the woman and children Dr. Dortch bought.

Adam Winn was born about 1805 into a large free family of color, most likely in Duplin County, North Carolina. He was a prosperous farmer who was also a slaveowner — with devastating consequences. Wynn, who never legally married, took two white women and an enslaved African-American woman as common-law wives. His children by the former were free, but his children by the latter were, like their mother, enslaved. He lived openly with his children and, in the 1850 census of North Division, Duplin County, Adam Winn, 45, is listed with William, 13, Marshal, 11, John, 9, Woodard, 7, and Woodley Winn, 5, as well as Moses Simmons, 18. The Winn boys were his sons and, despite their census appearance, were not free.

Adam Winn was land-rich, but cash-poor, and mortgaged his property heavily. In April 1849, for example, he borrowed money from a neighbor named Benjamin Oliver and put up enslaved people Bethana, Martha, and Oliver as security, along with 133 acres of land. In the early 1850s, his financial affairs crashed down around his head, and he lost not only the nine people whose sale was reported above, but several others. Winn had mortgaged six enslaved people to secure debt to Furnifold Jernigan (who purchased a 22 year-old man at the sale above) and, after Jernigan’s death, Winn’s fight to regain them reached the North Carolina Supreme Court in William K. Lane v. Jane Bennett et al., 56 N.C. 371 (1858).

By valid will, Furnifold Jernigan had made several provisions for the disposal of his slaves.  To his wife Jane Jernigan (who later married Thomas Bennett), he left 13 people, including Bill Winn, John Winn, Simpson, and Anne. To his daughter Mary Anne Kelly, he left eight people, including Olive. He also provided for the liberation of “negroes, Dave, Tom, Morris, Lila and Mary” and their transport to a free state and directed that ten additional enslaved people be sold. John A. Green and William K. Lane were named executors.

Before Jernigan’s legacies were distributed, Adam Winn filed suit to recover John Winn, Bill Winn, Simpson, Anne, Olive, and Dave, claiming that (1) he had mortgaged the slaves to Jernigan to secure payment of money Jernigan loaned him, and (2) he had a judgment attesting that he had repaid the money, and the slaves had been reconveyed to him.

The executors filed a “bill” with the court seeking guidance on the will’s provisions.  Jane Bennett and Mary Anne Kelly claimed the full value of the slaves bequeathed to them or, in the alternative, the amount paid by Winn to redeem them.  The court found that each was entitled to the amount of the redemption. (And Dave, having been redeemed by Winn and returned to slavery, lost the freedom Jernigan  intended for him.)

[Do not mistake Jernigan for a benevolent man. In 1834, Furnifold Jernigan and David Cole were charged in Wayne County Superior Court with taking Kilby O’Quinn, a free boy of color, from Wayne to Bladen County for “their own use.” In 1837, Jernigan was indicted for selling Betsy Dinkins, the free “colored” daughter of a white woman. In the three years between, Jernigan and at least four co-defendants appeared on the Wayne County docket ten times on charges of selling free negroes, but never vent to trial. Despite Jernigan’s notoriety (he had fourteen other unrelated court appearances in the same period,) the state’s solicitor in the Dinkins case was compelled to complain to the judge that “the defendant by the influence of several men of standing … has … so many of the Court yard, in his favor, that it would be a mere mockery to enter upon this trial in Wayne.” The case was ordered removed to Greene County, but never appeared on the docket there. In 1850, Jernigan, still living in Wayne County, owned $5000 in farmland and 43 slaves.]

——

In the 1850 census of Edgecombe County, N.C.: Dr. L.J. Dortch, 32, physician, and L.H. Moye, 32.

In the 1850 slave schedule of Edgecombe County, L.J. Dortch is listed with 8 enslaved people — women and girls aged 35, 32, 29, 11, and 1 month, and boys aged 11, 6, and 4.

Lewis Jackson Dortch died 28 October 1854 in Stantonsburg. More about him later.

Deed Book 21, page 215, Duplin County Register of Deeds; Minutes of the Superior Court of Wayne County, Spring Term, 1834, and Minutes of the Superior Court of Wayne County, Spring Term, 1837, Records of Wayne County, North Carolina State Archives; State Docket, Superior Court of Wayne County, vol. 1, 1834-1843, Records of Wayne County, NCSA;Petition from Edward Banly to Superior Court, April 6, 1837, Box 4, Records Concerning Slaves and Free Persons of Color, Records of Wayne County, NCSA.

A dinner party for the Community Playmakers choristers.

Wilson Daily Times, 27 October 1945.

This brief piece reveals a number of interesting tidbits:

  • There was a Community Playmakers Club.
  • It had a choral division and pianist — Jerry L. Cooke.
  • Sam Roberson was “one of Wilson’s most able caterers.” This is the first reference to an African-American caterer that I’ve come across. He is strangely elusive in census records, but is likely the 24 year-old cook living with his mother Sue Roberson, 42, and sister Nellie B. Roberson, 17, at  506 [South] Goldsboro Street in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County. If so, in the 1920 census of Wilson: at 510 [South] Goldsboro, widow Sue Robinson, 42; children John, 23, tobacco factory worker, Sam, 19, hotel bellboy, Sudie, 16, tobacco factory worker, and Nellie, 8; and grandson Kemmie, newborn.

 

Lane Street Project: the public library’s candidate forum.

I finally had the opportunity to listen to a recording of last week’s candidate forum at Wilson County Public Library, which featured Donta Chestnut, James Johnson, Michael Bell, and Davonta Ferguson. As Rev. Bell did not speak to the Vick Cemetery issue in his interview with the Wilson Times, but did so at the forum, I offer his comments here. (And, of course, mine.)

In partial response to a question in which the candidates were asked to identify some of the issues Wilson faces and actions he would take to address them, Rev. Bell stated:

“Some of the issues we have been dealing with for the past year or so regarding cemeteries — my position is, we own it, we take care of it. If we don’t own it, then whoever owned that cemetery needs to take care of it. If we can find some way to assist them, then we will assist them. But I think we have a lot of issues that we cannot in a very meaningful way pour resources at everything. So we have to be strategic, and we put in perspective 1, 2, 3, 4, and then when we finish it, we go on to the next thing. Sometimes we want to do everything, and trying to do everything diminishes our capacity and our ability to do something that is worthwhile.”

Me: To date, Council has not proposed 1, 2, 3, or 4, or engaged in any meaningful way with the descendant community about plans for Vick. (Also, as detailed here, four years ago, the City paid nearly $5000 for a ground-penetrating radar survey of a tiny private cemetery at the corner of Kenan and Pine Streets. It is the burial ground of descendants of Benjamin Farmer, one of the earliest white settlers of what is now Wilson County. I don’t know for certain, but I’m willing to wager that the City keeps that lot mowed.)

In response to a direct question to candidates about Vick Cemetery, Rev. Bell said:

“I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. Let the dead rest. Let them rest. We are creating a problem that is solvable. If it is our cemetery, the city must take care of it. But we cannot go back and put headstones. So we can do a mural. We can become as Afrocentric as we want. But we must create something that speaks to the history of what happened and the transformation and let it be historical, instead of trying to create animosity and strife about the cemetery. We must solve it, and the only way to solve it is to come together as one community. Put the mural up, and let it speak to our history. Thank you.”

Me:

  • “Let the dead rest”?? Rev. Bell has no ancestors in Vick Cemetery. Those of us who do are asking hard questions about the decidedly unrestful conditions in which our families lie. We are not creating problems, we’re identifying them.
  • “If it is our cemetery ….” It is — and has been since 1913.
  • “We cannot go back and put headstones” — no, but we can find out what happened to them and establish standards and practices that ensure no other graves are desecrated.
  • “We can do a mural. We can become as Afrocentric as we want.” Huh? Murals require walls. There are no walls at Vick Cemetery. Like others in city government, Rev. Bell myopically focuses on the aesthetics of this burial ground, rather than the damage wrought by the City’s continued failure to protect it from harm. Vick Cemetery doesn’t need an Afrocentric mural, it needs a plan for the dozens buried under the power poles and in the public right-of-way.
  • “… instead of trying to create animosity and strife about the cemetery.” This is another page from the City’s preferred deflection playbook — cast those who speak inconvenient truths as pot-stirrers and instigators. We fight for the Lane Street cemeteries, not against anyone. 

Stillshot from video by R. Hudson. (Thank you, A. Ricks!)

In memory of Maggie Barnes Crawford.

Wilson Daily Times, 20 March 1979.

——

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Short W. Barnes, 38; wife Frances, 40; daughters Armena, 13, and Maggie, 6; and cousin Ella, 19.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: carpenter Short Barnes, 50; wife Francis, 50; daughter Maggie, 16; and Mark Ellis, 25.

In 1917, Clarence Allen Crawford registered for the World War I draft in Wilson. Per his registration card, he was born 23 September 1891 in Durham, North Carolina; resided at 617 East Green Street; worked in brick laying for Wilkins Brothers; and supported a wife and child.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 617 Green, carpenter Short W. Barnes, 60; wife Francis, 62; son-in-law Clarence A. Crawford, 28, brickmason; daughter Maggie L., 26; and grandchildren Verest A., 2, and Clarence A., Jr., 9 months. Barnes owned his house free of mortgage.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: carpenter Short W. Barnes, 70, wife Francis, 71, daughter Maggie Crawford, 36, son-in-law Clarance Crawford, 39, and their children Verda, 13, Clarance, 10, and Annie, 8. The house was valued at $6000.

Frances Barnes died 30 May 1938 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 78 years old; was born in Wilson County, N.C., to Morrison Woodard and Martha Thorn; was married to Short W. Barnes; and lived at 616 East Green Street. Maggie Crawford was informant.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: carpenter Short W. Barnes, 80; daughter Maggie Crawford, 46, and grandchildren Vertist, 22, truck driver Clarance, 20, and Annie F., 18. The house was valued at $3000.

In 1940, Clarence Allen Crawford registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 1 June 1919 in Wilson; lived at 616 East Green Street;  his contact was mother Maggie Barnes Crawford; and he worked for C. Woodard Co., 417 & 419 East Barnes Street.

In 1940, Daniel Willard Crawford registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 3 January 1901 in Wilson; lived at 605 Spring Street;  his contact was Maggie Crawford, 616 East Green; and he worked for carpenter Louis Thomas, 715 East Green Street.

Short William Barnes died 30 November 1943 at his home at 616 East Green Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 14 February 1860 in Wilson County to Redman and Nellie Barnes; was a widower; was a carpenter; and was buried in the Masonic cemetery. Maggie Crawford, 616 East Green Street, was informant.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 616 East Green, Maggie Crawford, 56, widow, born in Georgia(?); son Clarence J. Crawford, 31; his wife Retha S., 29; and their children Ralph, 11, Barbara J., 9, and Felice M. and Florece M., 4.

Magelene “Maggie” Barnes Crawford died 20 March 1971 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 2 August 1893 in Wilson County to Short Barnes and Frances Woodard; was a widow; lived at 616 East Green Street; and was a retired music teacher. Vertist C. Edwards of Tacoma, Washington, was informant. She was buried in the Masonic Cemetery.

Recommended reading, no. 16: “Black Tip, White Iceberg.”

For an in-depth understanding of the context and significance of Samuel H. Vick‘s service as Wilson postmaster, please read Benjamin R. Justesen’s “Black Tip, White Iceberg: Black Postmasters and the Rise of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1897-1901,” published in The North Carolina Historical Review, Volume 82, Number 2 (April 2005), pp. 193-227. (If you don’t have a JSTOR subscription, you can sign up for 100 free article views.)

Ossie Royal whirls through her days.

Wilson Daily Times, 30 May 1983.

——

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farm laborer Tossy Jenkins, 30, widow, and children Jackson, 9, Ossie M., 6, Ovella C., 5, Lonnie, 7, and Arries D., 5.

On 10 August 1928, Dockery Royall, 28, of Wilson, married Ossie Mae Jenkins, 25, in Wilson. Walter M. Foster applied for the license, and Baptist minister B.F. Jordan performed the ceremony.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 321 Hackney, Doc Royall, 34, body plant laborer, and wife Ossie May, 26, cook.

Dock Royall died 31 March 1938 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 14 September 1898 in Sampson County, N.C., to Samuel and Rachel Royall; was married to Ossie Mae Royall; worked as a mechanic at Hackney Body Company; and was buried in Wilson [probably Vick, but possibly Rest Haven, Cemetery.]

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 203 Pender Street, widow Ossie M. Royall, 33, an elevator girl at the courthouse; her mother Tossie Jenkins, 53, stemmer at a tobacco factory; daughters LaForest, 16, and Evanline Royall, 14; and a roomer named Ed Hart, 45, a laborer employed by the town of Wilson. Ossie and LaForest were born in Wilson; Evangeline in Battleboro [Nash County]; and Tossie and Ed in Nash County.

Ossie Jenkins Royall died in Amherst, Massachusetts, on 16 March 2000.

Girl Scouts hoop.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 November 1950.

——

This little two-team league charms me endlessly, not least because I know so many of the players, who are now (or would be — rest in peace) in their late 80s.

The Red Raiders’ squad were co-captains Barbara Jones and Hattie Henderson, and Marjorie Taylor, Louise Holiday, Betty Mincey, Evangeline Reid, Helen Barnes, Myrtle Lynch, Ruth Hart, Jean Wynn, and Mary Morris.

Ruby Delaney and Fay Bryant were co-captains of the White Phantoms, with Bernice Artis, Shirley Best, Charlotte Cooper, Julia King, Annie Coley, and Jean Reid rounding out the team.

Stephen Woodard’s enslaved people, no. 4.

When Stephen Woodard Sr. executed his last will and testament in 1858, he determined the fates of 72 enslaved African-Americans.

In Item 15th, daughter Penelope Woodard received 20 enslaved people. Woodard died in 1864, and all were likely freed before his estate was distributed. Though they presumably were in Wilson County at Emancipation, I’m able to trace forward relatively few people.

——

  • Asa
  • James
  • Ben

Benjamin Woodard has been a popular subject of my blogposts.

  • George
  • William
  • Jacob

Perhaps: on 3 August 1867, Jacob Woodard, son of Gabriel Woodard and Rena Deans, married Anna Tyson, daughter of Jack Tyson and Diana Tyson, at A.G. Brooks’ in Wilson County.

  • Gray

Grey Woodard, son of Cooper and Chacy Woodard, married Jane Edmondson, daughter of Easter Edmondson, on 6 February 1869 in Wilson County.

In the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farm laborer Gray Woodard, 19; wife Jane, 19; Cherry Edmondson, 21, farm laborer, and child Willis, 4; Jno. Woodard, 6 months; and Epps Edmondson, 6.

In the 1880 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Grey Woodard, 27; wife Jane, 25; and children Daniel, 10, Grant, 5, Handy, 4, Frank, 3, Jonah, 2, and Martha, 1. [Gray Woodard and family were close neighbors to Austin Woodard and Cooper Woodard, who were Gray’s brother and father.]

  • Sam
  • Old Bob
  • Sarah and her children Delilah, Edwin, and Ellen

This does not appear to be Sarah Woodard who married first Warren Rountree, then her sister Harriet’s widower, Alfred Woodard.

  • Rebecca and her children Isidore, Isaac, and Mary
  • Rose
  • Cherry

Perhaps: in 1866, Jack Woodard and Cherry Woodard registered their three-year marriage with a Wilson County justice of the peace.

In the 1870 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Jack Woodard, 25; wife Cherry, 24; and daughter Martha, 2.

In the 1880 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farm laborer Jack Woodard, 36; wife Cherry, 36; and children Martha, 13, Mattie, 8, James, 6, Mary, 4, Fannie, 3, and Nicey, 5 months.

In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: widower Jack Woodard, 59; sons Jimmy, 26, and Baylum, 14; and grandchildren Moses Atkinson, 6, and Afonsa Atkinson, 5.

  • Barbery