Lane Street Project: April clean-up schedule.

Finally — a warm community clean-up day!

Please come out to Odd Fellows Cemetery on April 10 and 24 and join your neighbors in the clean-up of three historic African-American cemeteries. All are welcome!

This month, we really need your help:

  • Pruning shrubs and limbing up hollies around the Vick Cemetery monument
  • Cutting wisteria stumps in Odd Fellows Cemetery close to the ground for later defoliation treatment
  • Clearing underbrush and removing trash
  • Recording GPS coordinates for each grave marker (email me at lanestreetproject@gmail.com if you’re interested in this task)

Please protect yourself on-site — masks required, boots and gloves strongly encouraged. 

As always, THANK YOU!

Lane Street Project: Gus Hilliard.

This grave marker, which appears to be a foot stone, stands in Odd Fellows Cemetery. Research reveals only one Augustus “Gus” Hilliard in early 20th-century Wilson County.

But he died in 1971.

And is buried in Rest Haven Cemetery.

Why, then, is his marker in Odd Fellows?

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In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Black Creek Road, dredge boat laborer Dock Hilliard, 31; wife Mary Ella, 29; and children Agustus, 8, Isic, 7, Mattie F., 6, Eddie, 3, and Mary, 4 months.

In the 1920 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: on Moyton and Wilson Road, Dock Hillard, 46; wife Mary, 28; and children Gustus, 17, Mattie, 14, Eddie, 12, Mellar, 11, Isabella, 10, Channie, 8, Tommie, 4, and Willie, 3 months.

On 17 January 1925, Augustus Hilliard, 23, of Stantonsburg, son of Dock and Mary E. Hilliard, married Nancy McCoy, 21, of Stantonsburg, daughter of Will and Leesie McCoy.

In the 1930 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: Gustie Hillard, 29; wife Nancy, 23; and children Henry, 5, and Daissey L., 2.

In the 1940 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: on Old Wilson Road, farm laborer Gus Hilliard, 39; wife Nancy, 40; and children Henry, 14, Daisy Lee, 12, Eddie, 9, Isaac, 6, Nathaniel, 3, and Johnnie A., 9 months.

In 1942, Gus Hilliard registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 31 March 1901 in Wilson County; lived at “Box 87 – Rt. #3 – Wilson – Stantonsburg – Wilson”; his contact was Thurman Phillips; and he worked for Ashley Horton, Greensboro, N.C.

In 1943, Henry Hilliard registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 25 November 1925 in Wilson County; lived at Route 3, Box 87, Wilson; his contact was Gus Hilliard; and he worked at J.A. Wharton Farm, Wilson.

Augustus Hilliard died 22 February 1971 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 3March 1904 to Doc Hilliard and Mary Ella Ellis; was married to Nancy McCoy; was a farmer; and was buried in Rest Haven. Informant was Daisy Peoples, Wilson.

Odd Fellows photo taken by Lisa Y. Henderson, January 2021; Rest Haven Cemetery image courtesy of Findagrave.com.

Her chicken came home to roost.

Culpeper (Va.) Exponent, 30 March 1922.

Lila Thompson and Annie Graham were close neighbors on Ashe Street. Within 30 months of their dispute, both were dead of tuberculosis.

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  • Liler Thompson — In the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Thompson Lila (c) tobwkr h 124 Ashe. Lila Thompson died 14 October 1924 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 24 years old; was born in Sampson County to Henrietta Clark; was married to Walter Thompson; lived at 1005 Washington Street; and was buried in Rountree cemetery.
  • Annie Graham — In the 1920 census of Old Fields township, Wilson County: farmer Burley Graham, 16; mother Annie, 30, widow; sister Margrette, 14; and cousin Walter Bryant, 19; all born in South Carolina. Annie Graham died 27 July 1924 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was about 40 years old; was born in Lake City, South Carolina, to Daniel and Martha Martin; was the widow of James Graham; lived at 130 Ash Street; and worked as a maid for the Briggs Hotel. Burley Graham was informant. (Annie Graham’s daughter, also named Annie Graham, aged three months, died five days earlier. Per her death certificate, her parents were James Hall and Annie Graham. Mary Graham was informant.)

Lane Street Project: Clarence L. Carter and Omega Carter Spicer.

The grave markers of Clarence Lenwood Carter and his daughter Edith Omega Carter Spicer lie displaced, but together, in Odd Fellows Cemetery. Like many Hannibal Lodge Odd Fellows, Carter was also a Prince Hall Mason.

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Clarence Lenwood Carter registered for the World War I draft in 1918. Per his registration card, he was born 29 October 1882; resided at 423 Green Street; worked as a merchant for G.S. Walston, 507 East Nash; and his nearest relative was Mena Carter.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 423 Green Street, barber Clarence Carter, 36; wife Meena, 25; and children Omega, 9, Clarence H., 7, and Mina G., 3.

Clarence L. Carter died 13 February 1925 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was married to Mina Carter; lived at 418 East Green; was born 29 October 1877 in Bertie County to George Carter and Annie Outlaw; and worked as a day laborer.

On 7 October 1933, Elverde Taylor, 23, son of Jim and Matilda Taylor, married Omega Carter, 22, daughter of Clarence and Mina Carter. C.A. Artis applied for the license, and a justice of the peace performed the ceremony in the presence of L.M. Mercer of Elm City and L.F. Winborn and W.W. Clark of Wilson.

Edith Omega Spicer died 27 April 1945 at the Eastern North Carolina Sanatorium. Per her death certificate, she was born 7 December 1910 in Wilson County to Clarence Carter of Bertie County and Mena Rountree of Wilson County; worked as a waitress; resided at 538 East Nash Street; and was separated.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, February 2020.

50th Anniversary of the Negro women’s clubs.

In 1959, the North Carolina Federation of Negro Women’s Club convened its 50th anniversary gathering in Wilson. The host club was Wilson’s Mary McLeod Bethune Civic Club. Though the meeting postdates the period covered by this blog, the anniversary booklet offers several rare images of Wilson’s most prominent early 20th century Black women.

The local planning committee (left to right): Anna B. Johnson, chairwoman of publicity; Ethel L. Hines, chairwoman of housing; Bessie Satchell, courtesy; Marie Mitchner, financial secretary; Norma E. Duncan, chairwoman of the local planning committee; Lelia Yancey, secretary; Letitia Fisher; and Flossie C. Barnes, chairwoman of registration. Not pictured: Mabel Dixon, chairwoman of the hobby committee; Odelle Barnes, chairwoman of time and place; Louise Jenkins; and Johnnie Harris, hospitality.

Below, the full membership of Mary McLeod Bethune Civic Club standing on the steps of Jackson Chapel First Missionary Baptist Church.

The Civic Club’s officers: President Bessie Satchell, Vice Present Bedford Savage Lucas, Secretary Ada Harris Reid Sharpe, Assistant Secretary Willie Hendley Freeman, Financial Secretary Norma Duncan Darden, Treasurer Ethel Cornwell Hines, Parliamentarian Anne Burgess Johnson, and Chaplain Hattie Daniels.

“Fiftieth Anniversary Convention of the North Carolina Federation of Negro Women’s Clubs” (1959), Gazella Poole Lipscomb Collection, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina Memory, lib.digitalnc.org.

The obituary of Samuel Perry, Hackney Wagon employee.

Wilson Daily Times, 19 August 1945.

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In the 1900 census of Mosley Hall township, Lenoir County: farmer Rufus Perry, 50; wife Jennettia, 47; and children Thomas, 21, Daisy, 17, Kate, 15, Sam, 14, Lam, 12, James, 9, Walter, 8, Fannie, 6, and Theresa, 3.

On 21 January 1907, Samuel Perry, 21, of Wilson, son of Rufus and J. Perry, married Annie Whitley, 18, of Wilson, daughter of Amos and Caroline Whitley, at Amos Whitley’s in Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister Fred M. Davis performed the ceremony in the presence of James Farmer, Ethel Whitley and Nettie Barnes.

In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Tillmans Road, farmer Samuel Perry, 25; wife Annie, 23; and sons David, 2, and Rufus, 8 months.

Samuel Perry registered for the World War I draft in Wilson in 1918.

In the 1930 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Highway 91, in a house owned and valued at $1500, retail store porter Samuel Perry, 44; wife Annie, 38, cook; children Samuel, 19, wagon factory laborer, and Nettie, 17; and boarder George Jones, 18, wagon factory laborer. 

In the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: at 1317 Nash Street, owned and valued at $1300, Samuel Perry, 55, wheelwright at wagon factory; wife Annie, 50; children Nettie, 27, tobacco factory stemmer, James, 18, photo studio developer, and Louise, 15; granddaughter Mona, 2; and lodger Walter Joyner, 17, shoe black at shoe repair company. [For whom did James Perry develop film?]

Samuel Perry died 5 August 1945 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 5 August 1884 in Lagrange, N.C., to Ruffus Perry and Jennett Lettins; was married to Annie Perry; lived at 1317 East Nash Street; and worked as a laborer for Hackney Body. Thomas Perry of Lagrange was informant. 

Annie Perry died 1 January 1954 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 10 May 1889 in Wilson to Amos Whitley and Caroline Harris; was a widow; and lived at 1317 East Nash Street. Nettie Perry Lucas was informant.

The why of Black Wide-Awake, no. 2.

Carolyn Maye, a generous contributor of photographs to Black Wide-Awake, made it to Imagination Station on closing day to see Say Their Names. The exhibit included among its displayed documents a copy of the obituary of her formerly enslaved great-great-grandmother, Jane Rountree Mobley.

She brought with her Skylar, the youngest of Jane Mobley’s great-great-great-great-granddaughters.

Thank you, Carolyn, for affirming the purpose of Black Wide-Awake. Your determination to get to Wilson, despite a pandemic, and to introduce Skylar to Jane Mobley, both humbles and inspires me. She will never believe, as so many of us have, that the lives of her ancestors passed unknown and unknowable.

Exum dies after being struck with brick.

Wilson Daily Times, 6 July 1934.

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In the 1920 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County, N.C.: farmer Jesse Artis, 37; widowed mother Loucinda, 67; sister Ada, 35; brother Claud, 30; and nephew Leslie Exum, 13.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Exum Leslie (c) r 310 N Reid

On 11 December 1929, Leslie Exum, 23, of Wilson, son of Will and Ada Exum, married Beulah Artis, 20, of Nahunta township, daughter of W.M. and Etta Artis, in Nahunta township, Wayne County, N.C. A.M.E. Zion minister J.E. Kennedy performed the ceremony in the presence of C.E. Artis of Wilson, V.E. Manly of Mount Olive, and E.G. Boney of Mount Olive. [Leslie Exum and Beulah Artis were cousins. His maternal grandfather Jesse Artis was the brother of her father William M. Artis, making them first cousins once removed. Columbus E. Artis, their great-uncle and uncle, respectively, was a witness to the ceremony.]

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 307 North Reid, hospital orderly Henry A. Best, 38; wife Anney C., 40, laundress; children Thelma, 13, Dubsette, 8, and Reatha, 6; and lodgers Leslie, 23, taxi driver, and Bertha Exam, 20.

Leslie Exum died 4 July 1934 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 27 years old; was born in Wayne County to Willie Exum and Ada Artis; lived at 304 North Reid Street; was married to Beulah Exum; and worked as a taxi driver.