Howard children perish in house fire.

Goldsboro News-Argus, 20 October 1931. 

Death certificates reveal that John Howard and Ardelia Whitley Howard‘s children Rosevelt Howard, born 8 March 1928, and Mary Ida Howard, born 8 February 1931, died in the fire. Ardelia Howard was pregnant when she rushed into the house to try to save her children. She gave birth the following February 8 to Martha Lee Howard. Tragically, that child died in September 1933 of colitis.

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In the 1930 census of Crossroads township, Wilson County: farm laborer John Howard, 25; wife Ardelia, 20; and sons Herman, 3, and Rosavelt, 1.

Hardy & Suggs.

This April 1909 execution of a $40 judgment in Superior Court reveals the existence of an early twentieth-century African-American business — Hardy & Sugg. John Hardy was a livery man, and it is reasonable to conjecture that George W. Suggs opened a stable with him.

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On 5 February 1902, John Hardy, 22, married Florence Williams, 20, in Wilson. Zion minister C.L. Alexander performed the ceremony in the presence of Mrs. Canna Alexander, L.C. Ligon, and A.L. Darden.

Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory (1908).

In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County, Wilson County: on Nash Street: barber Walter Maynor, 19, and wife Alice, 23; barber William Sutson [Sutzer], 65, barbershop proprietor; wife Mary J., 49, hotel proprietor; son Leondas Taylor, 23, pressing club laborer, and daughter-in-law Anna, 22; and boarders Lemuel Yancy, 36, drugstore clerk; Harry Carter, 35, music teacher; Ernest Allen, 30, hotel cook; and John Hardy, 30, livery stable owner; his wife Florence, 23, and daughters Lida, 7, and Estell, 5.

Wilson County, N.C., Court Dockets 1909-1910, Civil Issues Dockets, http://www.familysearch.org.

Vesta Mae Joyner Hagans, as imagined.

I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.

I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated. Let me know what you think about them.

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Vesta Mae Joyner Hagans (1866-1940), homemaker.

Diggs leases farmland in home county.

Edgar H. Diggs, a long-time barber in Wilson, was born into a family with deep roots in northern Wayne County, N.C., just across the county line from  Stantonsburg (in Wilson County). In September 1934, Diggs entered into a ten-year lease with his uncle, Willie Diggs, for the farm Willie Diggs had inherited from his mother Frances Diggs.

Deed book 226, page 297, Wayne County Register of Deeds Office, Goldsboro, N.C.

Under the terms of the lease, Edgar Diggs was permitted to use all the wood he needed to run the farm and to cut as much timber as needed for maintenance of buildings and fences. He was also permitted the sublet the property provided he gave his uncle notice and paid his $100 yearly rent in advance.

Cemeteries, no. 37: the Howard-Blackwell Cemetery.

I’ve long wanted to visit this cemetery, which now lies in woods behind a large property on Lamm Road. Shout-out to Gary Howard for guiding me to it recently. The children and grandchildren of Zealous and Rhoda Eatmon Howard and their related families established several cemeteries in western Wilson County in the wedge between modern-day U.S. Highway 64 and N.C. Highway 58 in Taylor township. This one may be the largest.

Kudos to the Blackmon/Blackwell family, who, over the past couple of years, have begun the arduous task of clearing the quarter-acre plot. Alisha Cordell and others were able to secure permission to access the cemetery from the current owner — access that had been denied for decades earlier.

Brother Mr. S. Ivey Blackmon 

Ivey Blackwell died 16 September 1939 in Spring Hope, Mannings township Nash County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 4 March 1918 in Nash County to John Blackwell and Bettie Evans, both of Wilson County; was single; was a farmer; and was buried in High cemetery. [Was High another name for this cemetery?]

This concrete headstone and the two that follow were crafted by the same person, and probably at the same time. All exhibit blocky capital lettering with tiny serifs (and backwards N’s) and incised lines under each row of letters. The Blackwells were a free family of color in the area of what is now Wilson County as early as the 1840s. This branch of the family, however, is now known as Blackmon.

Father Mr. John Blackmon

John Blackwell died 6 June 1940 in Spring Hope, Mannings township, Nash County. Per his death certificate, he was born in 1874 in Wilson County to Albert Blackwell and Classie Locus; was married to Bettie Blackwell; and was buried in Horne’s Church cemetery. [Horne’s Methodist Church is a historically white church in Nash County about two miles north of Howard Cemetery as the crow flies. It does not, to my knowledge, have its own cemetery. (However, it is very near another cemetery with ties to some of the people buried here.)

Mother Mrs. Bettie Blackmon

Deal Howard

Deal Howard died 6 December 1939 in Oldfields township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 4 November 1861 in Wilson County to Deal Howard and Rhodie Howard; was a widower; was a farmer; and was buried in Wilson County. Herman Howard was informant.

Anonymous.

Daughter Gladys Blackwell Born Feb. 9, 1931 Died Oct. 27 1961 At Rest

Gladys Blackwell died 27 October 1961 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 9 February 1931 in Nash County to Hattie Blackwell; lived in Bailey, Nash County; and was buried in Howard Cemetery.

This, of course, is a Clarence B. Best-carved headstone. (How odd that the 3 in 1931 is either backward or upside down.)

Mother Margaret Blackwell Born Sept. 11, 1879 Died Dec. 7, 1961 At rest

Margaret Blackwell died 7 December 1961 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 11 September 1889 in Wilson County to Ivy Evans and Mary Lyles; and was buried in Howard Cemetery. Mattie Blackwell was informant.

Also a Clarence Best.

Cora Lee Howard Dau. of Hilliard & Cora Ellis Born Nov. 15, 1900 Died Oct. 13, 1918 Gone but not forgotten

Cora Lee Howard died 13 October 1918 in Taylor township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was 18 years old; married; and was the daughter of Hilliard Ellis and Cora Williams. M.S. Gilliam was the attending physician.

Albert Howard North Carolina PVT 329 Service Bn QMC World War I May 16 1892 August 3 1956

Albert Howard died 3 August 1956 in Taylors township. Per his death certificate, he was born 2 February 1890 in Wilson County to Dill Howard and Nancy Black; was married to Ida Howard; was a farm laborer; was a World War I veteran; and was buried in Howard cemetery, Wilson County.

Sally Ann Blackwell Oct 17, 1889 June 10, 1920

Sallie Ann Blackwell died 10 June 1920 in Taylors township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born in 1882 in Wilson County to Dora Locus and was married. Cause of death: “gunshot wound, shot accidentally.”

Fieldstone marker.

Etta Wife of Robert Lucas Jan. 5, 1890 Aug. 31, 1960 Gone But Not Forgotten

Etta Lucas died 31 August 1960 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 1 January 1897 in Wilson County in Deal Howard and Nancy Blackmond; was married to Robert Lucas; and was buried in Howard Cemetery.

Another Clarence Best.

Hurlean Blackwell 6 1932 At Rest

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2025.

Funeral Program Friday: Ramon Jose Martinez.

At the tail end of Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate our early Afro-Latino community members.

I have found little about Ramon Jose Martinez‘ life before he arrived in Wilson, but Ancestry.com recently yielded an entry in the World War II Alien Registration 1940-1955 database for Ramon J. Martinez, born 7 September 1898 in Argentina, arrived in 1906 at Galveston, Texas.

Williamson seeks brother.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 16 October 1943.

Paul T. Williamson and John Williamson were the sons of Alex and Grace Shaw Williamson.

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John Clemon Williamson, son of Alex and Grace Williamson, practiced medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for 14 years before his death in 1927. This is curious. Could Paul T. Williamson not know that his brother was dead? I’ve found no evidence that Dr. Williamson lived in Texas.

However, in the 1900 census of Waxahachie, Ellis County, Texas: day laborer John Williamson, 24, born in N.C. to parents born in Georgia; wife Minnie, 28; and children Alexander, 6, Beatrice, 4, and Fleta, 3, all born in Texas. [Ellis County is a southeastern suburb of Dallas.]

In 1910 census of Dallas, Dallas County, Texas: laborer John Williamson, 39, born in N.C. to N.C.-born parents; wife Minnie, 32; and children Alexander, 19, Beatrice, 15, Pleta, 13, and Warren, 7.

Did Alex and Grace Williamson have two sons named John? Yes. The first John (whose name is attributed as Ellic in some family trees), their firstborn child, was born about 1866. The second was John Clemon, born about ten years later. Both appear in the 1880 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer Elic Williamson, 44; wife Gracy, 29; and children John, 14, Lugen, 11, Joseph, 9, Jennie, 7, Mary, 6, Clem, 4, Sarah J., 2, and Pall, 1.

John Williamson the elder, who migrated to Texas before 1900, does not appear in census records after 1910 and likely was dead long before his brother Paul advertised for his whereabouts in 1943.

The birth of Willie Alonza Wynn.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 16 October 1937.

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In the 1940 census of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: on Main Street, widow Lillie Jane Wynn, 26, cook, and children Genie U., 5, Pink, 4, and Willie A., 2.

Pink Wynne died 14 February 1940 in Durham, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 25 October 1909 in Wilson County to Willie Wynne and Jenny Hussey; was married to Lilly Jane Wynne; lived in Elm City, N.C.; and was buried in Elm City.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Ernest Dew, 39, house plasterer; wife Geneva, 38, owner/operator of store and beer parlor; daughter Vilma, 15; and nephew Willie A. Wynn, 12.

Baltimore Sun, 27 April 1999.

James E. Farmer Jr.’s seventh birthday.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 2 November 1940.

James E. Farmer Jr.‘s birthday party guests were Helen Barnes and John H. Barnes; Levolyre Farmer; William Woody Farmer and Irving Farmer; Geraldine Sutton; “Baby” Bullock; Francis Williams; Tommy Young and Alexander Young; Ray Miller Hines; Howard Hines and Grover Hines; Charles Sanders; Arnold Walker Jr.; Dorothy Bynum; Thelma Weaver; Rudolph Farmer; Joan Bynum; Randolph Hunter; Samuel Caswell Lathan; Faye Bryant and Gene Bryant; Gloria Hagans; William Hargrave Jr.; James Ellis; and Minnie Ellis.