S.H. Vick places an ad?

Boston Globe, 3 March 1918.

Is this Samuel H. Vick Jr., who was about 18 years old in 1918 and perhaps drawn to Boston by his uncle Ernest L. Vick?

No, it wasn’t. Though S.H. Vick’s name was also Samuel, he was neither Samuel H. Vick Sr. nor Jr. of Wilson.

In 1918, Samuel Howard Vick registered for the World War I draft in Boston, Massachusetts. Per his registration card, he was born 15 February 1875; lived at 35 Sterling Street, Boston; and worked for the United States Quartermasters Department.

The lesson here, for me and any researcher, is not to assume that a familiar name is a familiar person. Samuel Vick’s prominence in Wilson led a few admirers who shared his surname to name their sons after him. Thus, even in Wilson — much less Boston — documents have to be probed to ensure accurate attribution.

Affidavits of good behavior, no. 1.

NOTE: I found these documents before my trip to Aberdeen. They, in fact, spurred me to go.

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I’ve been hunting for digitized evidence of the trade of Wilson County slavers like Wyatt Moye, Robert S. Adams, Stephenton Page Jr., and Joshua Barnes in Aberdeen, Mississippi. I finally found some in a deed book dated 1847-1850. (Wilson County, of course, had not yet formed, but these and other traders lived or had lived in parts of Edgecombe, Nash, Wayne, or Johnston Counties that are now Wilson County.) These registered affidavits attest to the affiants’ personal acquaintance with an enslaved person who had been sent from North Carolina to Mississippi for further sale.

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Deed Record 13, page 643. Chancery Clerk’s Office, Monroe County, Mississippi.

Know all men by these presents that we Zadock Peacock and Washington M. Stanton, Citizens and free holders of the State of North Carolina & County of Edgecombe hereby certify we are acquainted a negro woman by the name of Beady that Wyatt Moye sent to Mississippi by Stephenton Page, Junior, that said Slave is about nineteen years of age, very tall black slave, furthermore certify said Slave has never been guilty of convicted of arson Burglary or felony in Said State within our knowledge or belief. Given under our hands & Seals Feby 28th 1849.    /s/ Zadoc Peacock, W.M. Stanton

Deed Record 13, page 644. Chancery Clerk’s Office, Monroe County, Mississippi.

Know all men by these presents that we Josh Barnes and L.D. Farmer, citizens and free holders of the County of Edgecombe & State of North Carolina do hereby certify we are acquainted with negro boy about Seventeen or Eighteen years of age, a very black Slave weighs about one hundred & twenty or thirty pounds said Slave Joshua was sold by Delpha Wiggins to Moye & Adams furthermore that said Slave has not been guilty or convicted of murder arson Burglary or other felony within our knowledge or belief in said State. Signed this 27th day of  Feby 1849.    /s/Joshua Barnes, L.D. Farmer

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  • Zadock Peacock — Zadock Peacock (1790-1852) lived in the Saratoga area. He was a slaveowner, but does not appear to have been a trader.
  • Washington M. Stanton — Washington May Stanton (1808-1854) lived in the Stantonsburg area. He was a committed slaveowner, but does not appear to have been a trader.
  • Wyatt Moye — Moye was a former sheriff of Greene County, N.C.; the North Carolina state legislator who introduced the bill to incorporate the Town of Wilson; and, notoriously, a slave trader and money lender. He seems to have settled in Monroe County, Mississippi, full time shortly around 1850, but spent his last decade between his Aberdeen home and his business concerns in Saint Mary Parish, Louisiana.
  • Stephenton Page Jr. — Page probably lived in the Saratoga area. He is listed in the 1850 census of Edgecombe County as a constable. Page worked as an agent or factor with Moye & Adams, but in 1850 went to court in a dispute with them over their share of proceeds from a slave sale he handled in Mississippi.
  • Joshua Barnes — “Father of Wilson County.” Farmer and state legislator, Barnes was a large-scale slaveowner and was involved in the numerous sales of enslaved people south via the United States’ internal slave trade.
  • L.D. Farmer — Larry Dew Farmer (1818-1887). Farmer appears in the 1850 census of Edgecombe County. By 1860, Farmer lived in the Town  of Wilson and reported to the censustaker that he owned $32,350 in personal property, most in the form of enslaved people.
  • Delpha Wiggins — Delphia Wiggins appears as a 22 year-old in the household of her kinsman Larry D. Farmer in the 1850 census of Edgecombe County. The timing of her sale of Joshua, shortly after her 21st birthday, suggests he represented her share of inheritance from her father Blake H. Wiggins, who died in 1828. She had no use for a teenaged farmhand, and the best prices were down south.
  • Moye & Adams — Wyatt Moye and Robert S. Adams were partners in this slave-selling firm, which was based in Aberdeen, Mississippi.

Documents reproduced at www.familysearch.org.

The obituary of Jarrett Staton.

Norfolk Ledger-Star, 4 March 1915.

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In the 1870 census of Deep Run township, Edgecombe County, North Carolina: farmer Jarrett Staton, 34; wife Penina, 32; and children Henry, 18, William, 15, Louisa, 12, Nancy, 10, Hoyt, 7, and Ida, 4.

In the 1880 census of Deep Run township, Edgecombe County, North Carolina: farmer Jarrett Staton, 42; wife Penina, 32; and children Nancy, 19, Hoyt, 16, Ietta, 14, Jarrett, 9, and Leander, 6.

On 4 January 1899, Jarrett Staton, 60, of Edgecombe County, son of Rena Staton, married Mary Jane Knight, 30, of Edgecombe County, in No. 2 township, Edgecombe County.

On 9 August  1907, Jarrett Staton, 68, of Edgecombe County, married Mary Ellen Alsbrook, 35, of Edgecombe County, in Edgecombe County.

In the 1900 census of Deep Creek township, Edgecombe County: Jarrett Staton, 64; wife Mary J., 38; and grandsons William, 17, and Jarrett Langley, 21.

In the 1910 census of Deep Creek township, Edgecombe County: farmer Jarrett Staton, 70; wife Mary, 37; and children Ida, 18, Pattie, 17, and Carrol, 1.

On 25 January 1915, Jarette Staton, about 80, died in Wilson. Per his death certificate,  he was born in North Carolina, but informant J.Z. Staton could provide little additional information.

On 28 February 1937, Jarrett Z. Staton died in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he resided at 905 Viola Street; was 66 years old; was born in Edgecombe County to Jarrett Staton and Penina Thomas; was divorced; and had worked as a laborer. Informant was [his sister] Nancy Staton Boykin, 812 East Viola Street.

Nancy S. Boykins died 12 December 1946. Per her death certificate, she was 88 years old; was born in Edgecombe County to Jarrett Staton and Pennina [last name unknown]; resided at 812 East Viola; was a retired midwife; and was buried in Rountree cemetery. Nina Pitts of East Vance Street was informant.

Ietta R.M. Reid died 14 February 1951 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 12 August 1867 in Edgecombe County to Jainett [sic] Staton; was a widow; and was a retired teacher. Odessa Reid was informant. [Ietta R.M. Staton married veterinarian Elijah Reid of Wilson.]

 

In memoriam: Dr. Thomas Levi Peacock.

Dr. Thomas Levi Peacock, age 96, of Sarasota, Florida, passed away on January 29, 2025, at 8:00 PM in Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Peacock was born in Wilson, N.C., to Eloise and Levi Peacock on December 6, 1928. He went to high school at Darden High in the City of Wilson and graduated in 1947 and entered into Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Peacock pledged Alpha Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., in 1948 and graduated from Howard in 1951. He entered the Air Force after graduation and in 1952 he graduated from USAF Officer Candidate School as a 2nd Lieutenant. After his service in the Air Force, he went on to Meharry Medical School, graduated in 1958 earning a Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree (DDS), and was licensed to practice dentistry in the state of North Carolina. Within a few years, Dr. Peacock opened his own practice in Jamaica, Queens, New York, where he rose to prominence in professional circles among his peers. In August 1964, he was named one of the most eligible bachelors in Ebony Magazine. After his professional success, Dr. Peacock retired to Wilson, N.C., for a short time then moved to Sarasota, FL in the year 2000 where he resided until his transition.

Dr. Peacock is survived by his sister, Winifred Gail Peacock of Sarasota, Florida; brother, Vincent Gerard Peacock of Sarasota, Florida; and sister-in-law, LaWanda Roche Peacock of Sarasota, Florida. He is also survived by nieces Brittany Vene Miles of Seattle, Washington, and Lauren White of New York, New York. Additionally, he is survived by nephews Eddie White of New York, New York, and Stuart Penn of New Jersey.

Adapted from obituary at Dignity Memorial, which was adapted from Black Wide-Awake. Rest well, Tom Peacock!

Nurse Colvert assumes supervisory position.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 2 October 1948.

Before she was visiting nurse for Metropolitan Life, Henrietta Colvert was a staff nurse at Wilson Hospital and Tubercular Home/Mercy Hospital and lived in Wilson for fifteen or more years. (She was also my mother‘s maternal great-aunt, and thus the first of the Colvert family to settle here.)