Artis

The obituary of Cora P. Artice of Portsmouth, Virginia.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 27 January 1934.

Portsmouth Star, 25 July 1936.

Portsmouth Star, 29 July 1936.

Portsmouth Star, 1 August 1936.

——

In the 1880 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County, N.C.: farmer Jesse Artis, 35; wife Lucinda, 30; and children Cora, 7, Hattie, 5, Allice, 4, and Appie, 1.

On 15 November 1893, Elroy Artis and Cora P. Artis were married in Wayne County.

In the 1900 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County, N.C.: farmer Elroy Artice, 27; wife Cora, 27; and Lee W., 3.

In the 1910 census of Western Branch township, Norfolk County, Virginia: odd jobs laborer  Elroy E. Artice, 36; wife Cora, 37; and children Atwood, 13, and Albrey, 9.

In the 1920 census of Portsmouth, Norfolk County, Virginia: on Mount Vernon Avenue, Navy Yard boilermaker helper Elroy Artice, 46; wife Cora, 45; sons Atwood, 22, railroad shop machinist’s helper, and Albre, 17; and brother-in-law Freddie Artice, 28, railroad freight handler.

In the 1930 census of Portsmouth, Norfolk County, Virginia: at 1400 Mount Vernon Avenue, shipfitter shop helper Leroy Artice, 56, and wife Cora P., 55.

Cora Pearl Artice died 23 July 1936 at her home at 1400 Mount Vernon Avenue, Portsmouth, Virginia. Per her death certificate, she was born 11 September 1877 in Wilson, N.C., to Jesse Artice and Lucinda Hobbs; was married to Elroy Artice; and was buried in Lincoln Cemetery.

Elroy Artice died 1 November 1940 in Elizabeth City, Pasquotank County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born in 1874 in Wayne County to Jessie Artice and Polly Smith; was the widower of Cora Artice; worked as a W.P.A. laborer; and was buried in Lincoln Cemetery, Portsmouth, Virginia. A.R. Artice was informant.

Portsmouth Star, 4 November 1940.

Community leaders.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 27 May 1933.

  • Rev. C.H. Richmond
  • C.E. Artis — “Years of experience in both the U.S. postal service and the state department”? This bears additional research. [Sidenote: C.E. Artis was nearly 50 years old when this article was published, and the photograph used was taken much earlier in his life. As photos of this remarkable businessman are rare, and as he is my kinsman, it’s nice to see what he looked like in early adulthood.]
  • Dr. G.K. Butterfield — Though the founding date of Wilson’s N.A.A.C.P. is often cited as the late 1940s, this article makes clear that it was in operation as early as 1933, then famed national secretary Walter F. White spoke in Wilson.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 27 May 1933.

 

Stantonsburg news, June 1934.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.,), 23 June 1934.

——

This piece offers a rare look at the social life of Stantonsburg’s African American community.

  • Marion Artis — It opens with an account of the funeral of Marion Artis. Though detailed, the decedent was misgendered. (This suggests that the correspondent did not know Artis personally and was making assumptions from second-hand information.) Marion Artis died 8 June 1934 in Stantonsburg, Wilson County. He was born in 1909 in Wilson County to Will Artis and Frances Ford; was married to Bessie Lee Artis; and worked as a farmer.
  • Bethel A.M.E. Zion Church
  • Rev. C.W. Jones
  • J.E. Edwards
  • C.E. Artis — Columbus E. Artis, a Wilson undertaker with roots across the county line near Eureka. Artis operated a small grocery in Stantonsburg circa 1910.
  • C.F Fuller — probably, Clyde Fuller. In the 1930 census of Stantonsburg, Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: on “Delaware Line (on street),” renting for $8/month, Clyde Fuller, 40, chauffeur; wife Mattie, 34, servant; and lodger Pete Whitley, 35, sawmill fireman.
  • Artelia Whitley and Irene Whitley were sisters. In the 1930 census of Stantonsburg, Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: on “Delaware Line (on street),” owned and valued at $600, John Whitley, 49, blacksmith; wife Mollie, 25; children Artillia, 18, Irene, 15, D.H., 13, John W., 10, Mary F., 8, Marjorie, 3, and Claron, 1 month; and father-in-law Wiley Locus, 70, widower, school janitor. Artelia and Irene worked as washerwomen.
  • Katie B. Coward — Katie Coward was the daughter of Rev. Bryant P. and Sarah Coward. In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Coward Katie B (c) student r 1013 Atlantic av
  • Marion B. Jordan

Lt. H.P. Exum, Tuskegee Airman.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 24 February 1945.

——

In the 1930 census of Eureka, Nahunta township, Wayne County: farmer John E. Artis, 41; wife Cora, 39; and children Virginia D., 17, Ed R., 13, Oscar O., 11, Mary L., 10, Hurvin P., 9, Devaughn, 7, Olga M., 4, and Erman D., 2.

In the 1940 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County: farmer John Ed Exum, 51, and children Hervin, 18, Devon, 17, Ossie Mae, 14, Erman D., 12, and John Collins Exum, 8.

In 1942, Herven Percy Exum registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 6 November 1921 in Eureka, N.C.; lived at 611 East Green Street, Wilson; his contact was C.E. Artis, 571 East Nash Street; and he worked for undertaker C.E. Artis, 571 East Nash Street, Wilson.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 28 October 1944.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 11 November 1944.

Lt. Exum’s obituary appeared in the Washington Post with a clear copy of his photo in flying goggles.

[Sidenotes: Exum’s ancestors had lived in or adjacent to northeastern Wayne County for generations. His mother Cora Artis Exum was the daughter of Noah Artis and Lucinda Artis (later Sherrod), who were first cousins, as was not uncommon at the time. His father John Ed Exum was the son of George B. Exum, who had been enslaved in Wayne County, and Pernicey Hobbs Artis, who was born free in Johnston County. The uncle for whom Exum worked was his father’s half-brother, Columbus E. Artis. I have not been able to determine who the Bahamian or the Cherokee were.]

Artis is the first to volunteer.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 5 February 1918.

——

We knew Columbus E. Artis migrated from Wilson to Washington, D.C., between 1915 and 1918 and remained just a few years. Now we know what drew him North.

Early in 1918, Artis jumped to respond to a call for volunteer shipbuilders and was lauded as the first to get his application in. Though it is not clear what skills Artis brought to the job — he had been a farm laborer, a grocer, a restaurateur, and an undertaker — he was recognized as “honor man” for his enthusiastic response.

Wishing the Artis Family a great reunion!

Today, another branch of my Artis family — descendants of James C. Artis — is gathering in Wilson for their annual reunion.

James Cleveland Artis was the son of Jonah and Fannie Newsome Artis and the grandson of Richard Artis, who was the youngest brother of my great-great-great-grandfather Adam T. Artis. Though primarily based in Greene County, N.C., Richard Artis’ descendants moved back and forth across the Greene-Wilson county line between Stantonsburg and Walstonburg.

I wish my cousins a fantastic reunion and applaud their commitment to keep family ties strong and to maintain traditions.

Many thanks to Sondra Artis for sharing this photo.

[Update: The Artis Family Reunion was a resounding success! Douglas Horne and Sondra Artis share these photos of the J.C. Artis (top) and Jonah Artis Jr. (bottom) branches of the family.

Artis Funeral Parlor succeeds!

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 27 May 1933.

——

Though he is little-remembered now, for several decades in the early-to-mid 1900s, Columbus E. Artis was the premier black undertaker in Wilson. Here’s what Samuel C. Lathan recently told me about him:

SCL: … One time, I remember C.E. Artis — I think it was a ‘48 hearse. They went to Detroit and bought that thing. And it had a record player in it. And then it had a hydraulic cable in it where, when you open up the side, that hydraulic would raise up and come out, and the casket would come out by itself.

LYH: Wow.

SCL: And the pallbearers would stand right there and take it right out. Oh, man, it was all kind of – them people would wear hickory-stripe pants, black wool and silk jacket with the vest. Aw, man …. Wont no patent leather. Everybody’s shoes was just shined.

…

LYH: And it’s funny because you talk about things that people don’t talk about. When I, you know, when I tell people that at one time C.E. Artis and Darden were rivals.

SCL: That’s right.

LYH: I mean, C.E. Artis was just as big as Darden was.

SCL: Yeah. Yeah.

…

SCL: And then Darden didn’t have the business that C.E. had.

LYH: Mm-hmm.

SCL: Darden was the old-fashioned thing. Even … I remember one time I was talking to Charles [Darden James], … [and] Charles was saying, “Well, you know, we’re the old standby.” I never will forget that, you know? But C.E. – see, until Hamilton came to Wilson, C.E. was the sporting one. C.E. was the town. C.E. was the thing, man. C.E. was the thing. Yessir buddy. Yeah.

The Artis-Bunch family reunion.

You know I love a good family reunion — and especially one to which I have ties. I’ve blogged about the descendants of Adam Toussaint Artis, a free man of color whose large farm lay just a few miles outside Stantonsburg toward Eureka. Though these Artises are technically a Wayne County family, their multiple Wilson County links more than qualify them for a spotlight here.

This past weekend, the Artis-Bunch family reunion gathered on ancestral land — still in the family — to celebrate each other. This set of Adam Artis’ descendants spring from his son Henry J.B. Artis, to whom I am related via both Artis and Aldridge ancestors. The Bunches have close ties to the Black Creek area of Wilson County, as we’ve seen here and here.

Many thanks to cousin Melissa Walker-Mack for sharing these photos!