On the morning of the 4th, having just spent several days mowing and clearing off the front section, the Senior Force returned to Odd Fellows Cemetery to assist a family searching for the gravestone of their ancestor.

Terri Foster is a descendant of Mark Henry Cotton, whose marker I found even before Lane Street Project started clean-ups. She reached out to me with news that her family would be in town,  planned to visit Odd Fellows, and wished to engage assistance. I contacted Castonoble Hooks, who readily agreed to search in the area I roughly sketched, which is inside the wood line and, this time of year, is covered with wisteria sprouts. Once located, Hooks, Senior Force member Briggs Sherwood, and Curtis Jackson beat back the summer growth to expose the small marble lozenge incised “M.H. Cotton” and the Odd Fellows’ three links.

To paraphrase Cass Hooks:

The Lane Street Project connected a family to the burial place of Mark Henry Cotton; a daughter’s diligent search lands her in the Odd Fellows Cemetery! It was indeed a joy to witness the connection of spirit when first they saw his tombstone. Momentary silence followed by questions, first among themselves and to Cass, asking him to explain “Odd Fellows.”  For more than a hour, they discussed Wilson’s African American history, toured first Mark Henry Cotton’s home, then Dr. Frank S. Hargrove and Sam Vick’s homes and Mercy Hospital, then ended at Parker’s BBQ!

This is why we do what we do. Lane Street Project is not simply cleaning up cemeteries. It is reknitting loose threads left by the passage of time, the fading of memory, and the flow of families out of Wilson.

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On 27 February 1878, Mark Cotton, 23, married Jane Freeman, 22, in Wilson. Minister Joseph Green performed the ceremony in the presence of I.S. Westbrook, S.W. Westbrook, and Charles Smith.

On 26 June 1895, Mark Cotton, 45, son of Dempsey and Fereby Cotton, married Mahalia Black, 22, daughter of Turner and Effie Battle, at M. Battle’s. Henry C. Rountree applied for the license, and Missionary Baptist minister F.M. Davis performed the ceremony in the presence of Thomas J. Day, J.T. Deans, and J.T. Tomlinson.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Mark H. Cotton, 45; wife Mahaly, 27; daughter Mary E., 2; and adopted daughter Rosa L., 11.

On 29 December 1904, George H. DuBose, 30, of Goldsboro, N.C., son of W.J. and Annie C. DuBose, married Rosa L. Cotton, 18, of Wilson, daughter of Mark and Mahalia Cotton. Fred M. Davis performed the ceremony at M.H. Cotton’s in the presence of Richard S. Allen, E.C. Brown, and Hardy J. Tate Jr.

In the 1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Cotton Marcus H (c) janitor Public Graded School h w Gold cor Hill

In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Cotton Mark H (c) janitor h 201 W Gold

In the 1916 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Cotton Marcus H (c) janitor h 708 Viola

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widower Mark Cotton, 72, school janitor.

In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Cotton Mark H (c) lab h 708 Viola

In the 1928 and 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directories: Cotton Mark H (c; Minnie) h 708 Viola

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 708 Viola, owned and valued at $2000, Mark Cotton, 87; wife Minnie, 37, servant; and stepdaughters Ruline, 19, and Eunice Brooks, 17, farm laborer.

Photo courtesy of Castonoble Hooks.