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.
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.
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!
S.P. Artis advised and guided African-American families to home ownership for decades, eventually acting as a building contractor for many, including my parents.
With the help of C.E. Artis, nurse Mable Ellis threw her husband George Ellis a surprise birthday party in February 1928.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 17 March 1928.
Contrast the tone of this piece, published in a Black newspaper, with the snark of white newspapers of the era, which often sneered at even the most joyous occasion. The Ellises were newlyweds, having married the previous September. George Ellis was 52, and Mable Weaver Ellis, 26, when they wed. Told with humor and charming detail, here were Black people via a Black gaze.
Odell Artis was born and reared in the Eureka area of northeast Wayne County, North Carolina, as was his wife, Lizzie Olivia Diggs Artis. However, the couple married in Wilson, where both had numerous relatives. When Odell Artis died in Washington, D.C., in 1958, his body was returned to Wilson for his funeral and burial.
On 20 January 1921, Odell Artis of Wayne County, son of Napoleon and Sally Artis, married Olivia Diggs of Wilson County, daughter of Suler Diggs, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister B.P. Coward performed the ceremony in the presence of Edgar Diggs, Alma E. Brooks, and S.A. Coward.
During Wilson County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions’ January Term 1858, the clerk made this entry in court minutes:
“Ordered by the court that James Mitchell alias (James Artice) aged Five years Son of Susan Mitchell be bound apprentice to Bryant L. Barnes upon his entering into Bond with John Dew as surety (Bond filed)”
James Mitchell’s alias suggests he also used his father’s surname, at least in childhood, as was not uncommon among free children of color whose parents were not formally married. “Artice” is a variant spelling of Artis, the name of a large free family of color in the Wayne/Greene/Edgecombe/Wilson County area.
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In the 1860 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Susan Mitchell, 26, washing, and children James, 10, Annie, 7, and George Mitchell, 2.
In the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Stella Best, 12, Claudius Little, 14, Mary Parker, 15, Henrietta Knight, 19, and Charlotte Adams, 16, all domestic servants; James Mitchell, 19, store porter; and Harriet Dunstan, 18, domestic servant. [This household was listed next to Robert Taylor, a white farmer and miller who claimed $20,000 in real property and may have been their employer.]
In the 1910 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Lee Artis, 40; wife Lilie, 38; and children Frank, 13, Bertie, 8, Fletcher, 6, Nathaniel, 5, Rematha, 2, and Alvin, 11 months.
In the 1920 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: tenant farmer Frank Artis, 23, and wife Lissie, 18.
In the 1930 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Frank Artis, 32; wife Lizzie, 25; and children Frank Jr., 8, Florence, 7, Wiley, 6, and Sylva G., 3.
In the 1940 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farmer Frank Artis, 43; wife Lizzie, 35; children Frank Jr., 19, Wiley, 17, Selby J., 14; and mother-in-law Mary S. Barnes, 50.
Frank Artis died 9 May 1964 in Stantonsburg, Saratoga township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 26 December 1898 in Wilson County to Lee Artis and Sylvia Reid; was married; and worked in farming. Jack Artis was informant.
Ed Whitfield
In the 1900 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Isaac Braswell, 58; wife Margaret, 45; Alice, 23, Guilford, 18, John, 16, Haywood, 12, and Eddie Whitfield, 9; and Cathrine Braswell, 6.
In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Isic Hagans, 68; wife Margaret, 54; children George, 9, and Catherine Hagans, 16, Bennie Glas(?), 14, and Eddie Whitfield, 18.
On 17 December 1915, Ed Whitfield, 22, of Stantonsburg, son of Margarett Whitfield, married Blanche Barnes, 21, of Stantonsburg, daughter of Thomas and Mary Barnes, in Wilson County.
In 1917, Eddie Whitfield registered for the World War I draft in Stantonsburg precinct, Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born November 1894 in Wilson County; lived at Route 6, Wilson; was a farmer for Joe Davis; and was married.
In the 1920 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Margaret Hagins, 65, and sons George Hagins, 19, and Eddie Whitfield, 28.
In the 1930 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Ed Whitfield, 30, farm laborer; wife Caroline, 32; and lodgers Willie, 28, and Etta Clayborn, 20.
In the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Edward Whitfield, 45, receptionist at Imperial Tobacco factory; lodger Carry Haskins, 44, stemmer at Watson Tobacco factory; and her grandson Leroy Haskins, 7.
In 1942, Eddie Whitfield registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 25 October 1897 in Wilson; lived at 1120 East Nash Street; his contact was Fanny Guest, same address; and he worked for Southern Cotton & Oil Company.
On 20 July 1944, Essie Mae Whitfield, 24, of Portsmouth, Virginia, born in Wilson County, N.C., daughter of Edward Field [sic] and Blanche Barnes, married William Hooks, 26, stevedore, of Portsmouth, born in Greene County, N.C., son of Charlie Hooks and Alice Rogers.
Cellus Whitfield died 23 May 1961 at the Veterans Administration hospital in Durham, North Carolina. Per his registration card, he was born 15 January 1918 in Wilson County to Ed Whitfield and Blanch Barnes; worked as a baker; was a World War II vet; and was married to Catherine Whitfield.
In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer H. Gray Ruffin, 28; wife Maria, 35; and children Hubbard, 13, William, 12, Delphia, 11, Lizzie, 9, Mary, 8, Pattie, 7, Franklin, 6, London, 4, and Bessie, [illegible] months.
In the 1920 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: on Wilson Road, farmer Gray Ruffin, age unknown; wife Maria, 45; and children G. Herbert, 22, H. William, 21, Delpha, 20, Lizzie, 18, Mary, 16, Pattie, 15, B. Frank, 14, London, 13, Bessie, 11, Dora, 10, and W. George, 9.
In the 1930 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: Gray Ruffin, 58, widower, and children Elizabeth, 29, Pattie, 26, London, 23, Bessie, 20, Dora, 19, and George, 18.
In 1940, London Ruffin registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 22 February 1910 in Wilson County; lived on Route 4, Wilson; his contact was father Gray Ruffin; and he worked for N.W. Webb.
Sudie Tune — Sudie Artis Tune.
In the 1920 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Sam Artis, 56; wife Mary, 45; and children Mary Sims, 23, and Bessie, 18, William, 17, Harriet and Lonnie, 15, Clara, 12, James, 10, Sudie, 8, and Minnie, 5.
In the 1930 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Sam Artis, 66; wife Mary, 55; children William, 25, James, 22, Sudie, 17, and Sammie, 9,
On 31 January 1931, Willie James Tune, 21, of Wilson, son of John and Mary Tune, married Sudie Artis, 19, daughter of Sam and Mary Artis, in Wilson. Baptist minister F.F. Battle performed the ceremony in the presence of Laura McPhail, Mary L. Hines, and Winnie Mercer.
London Ruffin and Susie Artis’ son Wallace Artis was born 30 June 1932.
Sudie M. Tune died 8 December 1934 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 20 years; was born in Wilson County to Samuel and Mary Artis; was married to Flenawl Tune; was engaged in farming; and was buried in Wilson [probably in Vick Cemetery.]
