Lane Street Project: July 20 city council meeting, public comment talking points.

Mayor Carlton Stevens recently indicated that Vick Cemetery would be on the agenda at the next city council meeting. Wilson doesn’t post agendas in advance (the most recent are for April 2023) and doesn’t post minutes at all (which is par for the general lack of transparency this government holds as a core value.)

Anyway, the next meeting is Thursday, July 20, at 7:00 P.M. on the third floor of City Hall, 112 Goldsboro Street East. (The entrance is at the side of the building.)

If you believe the City is mishandling Vick Cemetery, please let them know. As long as they can convince themselves it’s only me and Castonoble Hooks howling into the wind, they’ll keep their backs turned.

Here are the rules:

Please feel free to speak your heart and mind, but if you are interested, here are a few talking points that come to mind:

  • Transparency and accountability. To date, there have been none. Neither council, the Mayor, nor other city officials have sought to engage the descendant community and allies or have otherwise communicated the City’s intentions.
  • The fence. The fence is a non-starter right now. It is clear that graves lie across Vick’s modern property lines. Placing a fence inside the power poles (and on top of graves) is not an option. And, obviously, a fence outside the power poles is impossible, too. Also, there are better, less intrusive ways to protect Vick from dumping and car tricks.
  • The survey map. Why won’t the City order a survey map of Vick? Here’s why we need one. And once we get it, it should be filed with Wilson County Register of Deeds.
  • The graves. What are the plans for marking the graves? What is to be done about graves that lie in the current right-of-way (primarily between the power poles and the ditch)? Exhume them, DNA-test the remains, reinter in Rest Haven? Sponsor DNA testing for potential descendants interesting in trying to identify the deceased?
  • The GPR survey. (a) New South Associates should return to Vick to survey the unsurveyed areas at the edges of the cemetery. (b) Why did the City sit on the survey report until April 2023 when it was received in October 2022? Did city council avail itself of New South Associates’ offer to meet to explain the survey results? Why not? Only two council members attended the May 11 public forum about the report. Where were the other five?
  • The power poles. These poles are inside Vick Cemetery. And are standing in and among graves. How did this happen? What can be done about it? Should the power lines be re-routed? Will council initiate a cost inquiry and/or feasibility study?
  • The headstones. The City ordered Vick’s headstones removed in 1996. Where are they now? If the City doesn’t have them, what happened to them? We demand an independent investigation.
  • The law. State statue makes it unlawful to:
    (1) Open, disturb, destroy, remove, vandalize or desecrate any casket or other repository of any human remains, by any means including plowing under, tearing up, covering over or otherwise obliterating or removing any grave or any portion thereof.
    (2) Take away, disturb, vandalize, destroy, tamper with, or deface any tombstone, headstone, monument, grave marker, grave ornamentation, or grave artifacts erected or placed within any cemetery to designate the place where human remains are interred or to preserve and perpetuate the memory and the name of any person. This subdivision shall not apply to the ordinary maintenance and care of a cemetery.
    What is the City doing to insure it does not further violate this statute?
  • Funding. Is the City seeking grant funding for Vick?
  • Expertise. With whom is the City talking about how to move forward at Vick? [They certainly aren’t talking to me.] With whom is the City consulting? If no one, why not? Has the City sought the assistance of the State Archaeology Office? Is it reaching out to cities that have addressed similar situations, like Rocky Mount, Statesville, or Elizabeth City?

Lane Street Project: Vick Cemetery in the rain.

Wilson got more than an inch of rain this morning. Here’s what I found at Vick Cemetery as the rain was tapering off.

Saturated ground, standing water, run-off rushing through a cut in the ditch bank (that has been reinforced with riprap), New South’s orange stubs marking gravesites in the middle of this mess.

Lane Street Project: well, now, look at Rocky Mount.

Wilson keeps taking L’s when it comes to preservation of historic African-American cemeteries. I’d thought the City could seize this opportunity to be a leader in honest, enlightened approaches of addressing uncomfortable historical truths, but that title has been won. I know Wilson gets a little sensitive about Rocky Mount, its progressive neighbor to the north, but facts is facts.

In the 13 February 2022 Rocky Mount Telegram (a time in which Wilson City Council was griping and wringing its hands about spending $30,000 for a GPR survey), “City launches website about Unity Cemetery project”:

“People wanting to know more about Unity Cemetery and the efforts to restore and preserve the historically Black burial ground off East Grand Avenue in the eastern part of the city now have a go-to online link.

“That link, www.unitycemeterync.com, provides the story of Unity Cemetery, with a timeline and with a collection of present-day snapshots of the location. That link also provides contact information for what is being called the Unity Cemetery Restoration and Preservation Project.

“Unity Cemetery was incorporated in 1901 and is 18 acres in size.

“As family members either died or moved away from the Rocky Mount area, the location began looking more like a forest than a burial ground, although there have been cleanup efforts in the more recent past.

“The condition of Unity Cemetery increasingly became an issue in 2020 when resident Samuel Battle kept bringing up the subject during the public input phase of City Council regular meetings.

“Resident Tarrick Pittman began organizing a group that made a community cleanup effort of Unity Cemetery a reality on Feb. 6, 2021.

“Battle and residents Steve Cederberg, Steve Pridgen and Pridgen’s wife, Tracy, also had key roles in the cleanup effort. Other cleanup days followed.

“On March 8, 2021, the City Council spent about an hour of a work session discussing Unity Cemetery and went on to approve the adoption of recommendations by then-City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney and her team.

“Those recommendations included budgeting municipal funds to restore and preserve the burial ground.

“Overall, the long-range municipal capital improvement program, which extends from 2022-26, has $1.45 million in spending programmed for Unity Cemetery. [One. Point. Four. Five. Million.]

“Additionally during an Aug. 9, 2021, City Council work session, former Councilwoman Lois Watkins, as a consultant to the municipality regarding Unity Cemetery, told the council the municipality had successfully obtained extensive numbers of burial records from what was Stokes Mortuary.

“Watkins told the council she and others thought such records maybe were burned, destroyed or lost.

“The new website includes pictures of the Unity Cemetery Restoration and Preservation Project staff.

“That staff is comprised of Watkins, as project manager, Nadia Orton, who is a historian/genealogist, and Hap Turner, who is a heritage researcher.”

Please take a look at this website, folks. Explore it. It is a thing of beauty in both form and substance. Created and maintained by a municipality. Clap your hands for Rocky Mount.

Look at this!

Read the press release:

Can you imagine? I can. But I don’t believe. Not in Wilson, where city leaders won’t even spring for a survey map.

How do we change the narrative for Vick Cemetery?

The death of Emily Jones, age 105.

Wilson Daily Times, 10 April 1917.

Proclaimed centenarians were seldom actually as old as claimed. Census evidence suggests that Emily Jones really was perhaps 80-90 years old when she died.

Samuel Jones, who arrived in Wilson before 1889, was a long-time employee of tobacconist Ula H. Cozart Sr., co-founder of Centre Brick tobacco warehouse.

——

On 30 August 1866, Duke Jones and Emily Pinnell registered their marriage with a Warren County, North Carolina, justice of the peace. They had cohabited since 1 January 1857.

In the 1870 census of Township 7, Warren County: Daniel Jones, 44, farmer; wife Emily, 33; and children Samuel, 13, Jane, 12, Blake, 7, Joseph, 6, and Edward, 2.

In the 1880 census of Shocco township, Warren County: Duke Jones, 55, farmer; wife Emely, 55; and children Benjamin, 18, John, 16, and Ellick, 14.

On 24 December 1889, Sam Jones, 28, was issued a license to marry Julia Ann Boykin, 19, in Wilson County. They did not return the license.

In the 1900 census of Warrenton, Warren County: Duke Jones, 70, farmer, and wife Emily, 60.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: tobacco grader Samuel Jones, 45; wife Julia A., 29, tobacco grader; and children Nannie E., 7, William G., 3, Irena R., 5 months, and Maggie, 2. 

In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: odd jobs laborer Sam Jones, 45; wife Julia, 39; and children Nannie, 17, cook, Willie, 13, grocery store delivery boy, Irene, 10, Sam, 9, Isar, 5, Magilena, 3, and May A., 1.

Emily Jones died 20 February 1917 in Warrenton, Warren County, North Carolina. Per her death certificate, she was born about 1813 in Raleigh, N.C.; was widowed; and was buried in Snow Hill Cemetery, Warren County. Informant was J.J. Jones, 701-19th Street, Washington, D.C.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 645 Green Street, laborer Sam Jones, 65, widower; children Rosa L., 7, Isier, 16, laborer, Maggie, 13, and Mary A., 10; daughter Mamie Garner, 25, and her sons Albert, 7, and Dick, 5; daughter Irean Lee, 19, and son-in-law Milton Lee, 23, house carpenter. 

Sam Jones Sr. died 1 February 1926 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 72 years old; was born in Warren County, N.C., to Duke Jones and Emlie Jones; was a widower; lived at 407 Carroll Street; worked as a night watchman for Planters Warehouse; and was buried in Rountrees Cemetery [likely, Vick.] Samuel Jones Jr. was informant.

Lane Street Project: why we need a survey map, part 2.

Take a walk with me.

This obviously was done in one take, so a few clarifications:

  • Estimating the height of the pole does not involve “triangulation.” But it’s definitely math.
  • I meant the central monument, not “the marker.” But actually, per GIS info, the monument area is about 126′ above sea level, whereas an area that straddles the border with Wright Farm is 130′. The lowest points of Vick, both along the fence at Odd Fellows, are 116′. None of Vick lies in a flood plain, but after heavy rain, water often stands in the low areas. Aerials taken in winter months, such as that on the County’s GIS website, reveal the muddiness of this area.
  • The ground isn’t “more dense” at gravesite, but it’s been disturbed and may have a different composition than the surrounding soil. The grass is definitely more lush. (Which is actually pretty disturbing to contemplate.)
  • Siri thought I was talking to her at one point.
  • The fire ants. Wow. I sacrificed my right ankle for this clip.

Lane Street Project: why we need a survey map, part 1.

After the City commissioned a land survey of Vick Cemetery in May 2023, Assistant City Manager (and front man for cemetery matters) Rodger Lentz told a reporter that the City does not need a survey map because they now “definitely” know where the property lines are. Lentz is not only missing the point, he is dead wrong.

We need a survey map because:

  • We don’t want to fight this fight every change of administration. Once the temporary survey stakes are removed or fall down or otherwise disappear, there is no record of the boundary. We not only need a survey map, it needs to be filed with the Register of Deeds Office to create a permanent record of  Vick Cemetery’s boundaries. Taxpayer money paid for the survey — get the map that comes with it!
  • Four power poles, plus guy lines, are on or inside the cemetery property line. Coy as the City is trying to be about it, the poles are unquestionably city property. A survey map showing all utilities on the property (and showing the right-of-way) is critical for understanding the extent to which the cemetery has been damaged and determining how best to move forward with repair.
  • On the map below (taken from Wilson County GIS website), I’ve circled the driveway into the cemetery parking lot. It’s a little hard to see — I’ll enlarge it below — but if that blue property line were extended to the street, it would lop off a whole edge of the parking lot and part of the driveway apron. In other words, the City built a parking lot not only on top of Vick Cemetery graves, but on Odd Fellows Cemetery property as well. It also stuck a big granite post — misengraved “Rountree/Vick” — in Odd Fellows Cemetery. There’s no survey marker at that corner of the property, by the way. If there were, it’d be standing in the middle of the driveway.

  • Here’s a closer look, with a dotted yellow line extending the property line to the street. That’s a sizable chunk of parking lot on the Odd Fellows side. The pillars are standing on the property line; you can see their shadows stretching toward the street.

  • Transparency and accountability. What is the City trying to hide? You have to go out of your way to tell the surveyor “hold the map.”  Lentz’ laconic comment that the City just doesn’t need one is inadequate. There’s more at issue at Vick than the boundaries — though they’re questionable, too, given the historic extent of burials in the cemetery. City of Wilson, we demand a complete survey map showing all features — property lines, rights-of-way, fences, utilities, driveway, parking lot, ditches, wooded areas, whatever.

Photo of fence by Lisa Y. Henderson, July 2023.

The last will and testament of London Woodard.

Acclaimed Primitive Baptist preacher London Woodard made out his last will and testament on 14 November 1870.

After directing a “decent burial,” Woodard itemized the household goods and farm implements left to his “beloved wife,” Penelope Lassiter Woodard.

His three sons, William, Hardy, and Haywood Woodard, were to divide his land equally and receive one beehive and one axe each.

Daughter Treasy Woodard received the late nineteenth-century equivalent of a bedroom set.

The rest of his property was to be divided among his children Howell, Elvin, Rose, Pharibee, Sarah, Amos, Harriet, London, Treasy, and Penina Woodard.

 

Lane Street Project: even the simplest request goes unfulfilled.

Right after the May 11 public forum, the City of Wilson agreed, at my request, to deposit a copy of New South Associates’ GPR survey with Wilson County Public Library. Here’s Councilmember Gillettia Morgan‘s suggestion, sent via email attachment on May 31:

Has the City followed through with this simple request? 

No.

Today I left at the Local History Room a bound copy of my May 11 PowerPoint slide deck and notes. When the library inquired this morning, a city official said they’d drop off a copy of the GPR report “this week.” 

While we’re here: at the May 11 forum, the Mayor promised transparency and accountability from the City concerning Vick and indicated he wanted to “work together” to address its problems. None of that is happening. The last email I received from Councilmember Morgan is dated May 31. She has not responded to any I have sent since. However, she is ahead of councilmembers Johnson, Liles, Creech, Fyle, Bell, and Evans; the Mayor; the City Manager; the Assistant City Manager; and the Communications Director, who collectively have not responded to or even acknowledged receipt of a single email. (I have spoken with the Mayor by phone concerning the August 5 Vick Cemetery reconsecration. He did not initiate the call.)

I don’t vote in Wilson, and I have to abide by the Hatch Act, but I surely hope citizens will ask hard questions of candidates about their intentions for Vick Cemetery and remember both word and deed at election time.