Artis

The golden anniversary of Colon and Christine Artis Currie.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 November 1982.

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In the 1920 census of Fountain township, Pitt County: Fred Artis, 33; wife Mattie, 23; and children Christine, 5, and Fred, 4.

In the 1920 census of Saint Pauls township, Robeson County: Worth Currie, 34; wife Bell, 33; and children David, 15, Katie, 14, Blanch, 13, Colon, 10, and Rossie B. Currie; daughter Snodie Mc[Ilwain?], 20, and her daughter Lee E., 1.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 101 Reid Street, school janitor Fred Artist, 56; children Christine, 16, and Mildred, 11; and lodger Suddie Brown, 22.

On 1 November 1932, Colon Currie, 23, of Wilson, son of Worth and Isabel Currie, married Christine Artis, 18, of Wilson, daughter of Fred and Mattie Artis, at the bride’s home. Missionary Baptist minister R.A. Murphy performed the ceremony.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Coleman Curry, 31, Williams Lumber Company laborer, and wife Christine, 25, cooking.

In 1940, Colon Franklin Currie registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 29 January 1919 in Robeson County, N.C.; lived at 1202 Wainwright Avenue, Wilson; his contact was wife Christian Currie; and he worked for Williams Lumber.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1208 East Nash, Colon Currie, 39, truck driver for local lumber company, and wife Christine, 35, practical nurse at local T.B. hospital.

Christine A. Currie died 9 October 1984. Colon F. Currie died 28 October 1993.

The estate of Dr. Lewis J. Dortch (1854).

Tarborough Southerner, 4 November 1854.

The death of a slaveholder generally portended devastating disruption for the enslaved. The 650-page estate of Dr. Lewis J. Dortch provides more chilling evidence.

Nash County-born, University of Pennsylvania-trained Dortch married Nancy Jane Adams in Tarboro, Edgecombe County, in 1844. The couple settled in Stantonsburg, and Jane Dortch gave birth to three children — Sarah, Isaac, and Mary — before dying of tuberculosis in 1849. The children went to live with their maternal uncle, merchant Jesse H. Adams and his family, who were listed between Dr. Dortch and slave trader Wyatt Moye in the 1850 Edgecombe County census.

Dortch married Martha Forbes in 1853, but died intestate in October 1854. Lawyer and politician William T. Dortch of Goldsboro, North Carolina, his close kinsman, was appointed administrator of his estate, which was heavily in debt. Shortly after, Robert S. Adams — also a slave trader and Dortch’s brother-in-law — was appointed the Dortch children’s guardian and moved them to Aberdeen, Monroe County, Mississippi. (When the children petitioned for their share of their father’s 2200 acres in Wilson County, the court asked for assurances that their guardian had sufficient assets to secure the estate. Testimony established that Adams was worth a modest $30,000, but was backed by Wyatt Moye, whose estimated net worth was no less than $250,000, and W.R. Cunningham, worth no less than $100,000.)

William Dortch’s first inventory report on 11 November 1854 revealed both the complexity of L.J. Dortch’s slaveholdings and the movement of his enslaved people into short-term hires in Stantonsburg and over the county line in Nahunta district, Wayne County.

  • Boy John was hired till 1 January 1855 to W.J. Exum [of northwest Wayne County] for $4.55
  • Rody and child Rosa were hired to Jno. Wilkinson [of Stantonsburg] for the same period for $2.25
  • Sarah was hired to W.J. Exum for the same period for $2.75
  • Frank and Allen to Jesse H. Adams “to keep” for $5.45
  • “in addition to the above slaves the deceased owned the following, viz.: Wash, Beedy, Warren, George, Ned, Tom, Anderson, Gray, Primus“
  • “and one half of nine slaves in the possession of Wm. T. Dortch, & owned jointly by them — whose names are Diza, Jinney, Louisa, Jim, Mary, Charles, Fanny, Nancy & Josephine.” [This appears to be the nine enslaved children and grandchildren of Wayne County free man of color Adam Winn, who were sold at auction in March 1852 to satisfy Winn’s creditors. A contemporary news account cites “Dr. Dortch” of Stantonsburg as the purchaser.]
  • “The deceased has an unsettled partnership between himself & John T. Barnes, in South Carolina, in the turpentine business — the firm own the following slaves, viz. Dance, Mintus, George and Anthony“

Further inventories reflected the first sales of enslaved people, as well as the instability created by movement each year pursuant to new hire agreements:

  • “Received for equality of division in wife’s negroes on the 29th day of January 1856, one hundred & fifty-six dollars 25/100 — the following negroes formerly belonging to intestate’s wife, & received in division viz., Pompey, Fox & Judah & two children, in Jany 1856″ [Martha Forbes Dortch had been a minor when her father Alfred Forbes died in Pitt County, N.C., and only 20 years old when she married Dr. Dortch.]
  • The hires from 1 January 1855 to 29 April 1855 of Sarah to Ollin C. Sasser for $8; Beedy and child Rosetta to Orpha Applewhite for $6; George to Jonathan Bullock for $7.50; Frank and Allen to Jesse H. Adams for $2.62; and Rody and Rosa to John Wilkinson for $6 [Sasser lived in or near Goldsboro, Wayne County; Applewhite and Wilkinson in Stantonsburg; and Bullock further north in Edgecombe County.]
  • An account of the 2 April 1855 sale of 14 enslaved people: John to Drue Daniel for $1000; Frank to Ollin Coor for $390; Warren to Robert Bynum for $705; Rody to John Wilkinson for $211; Rosa to Washington Barnes for $380; Beedy and child Rosetta to Orpha Applewhite for $535; Sarah to Drue Daniel for $841; Diza to John B. Griswold for $900; Jinney, Jim, Charles, and Mary to William B. Fields for $1507; George to Josiah Howell for $491 [I have not identified Drue Daniel. Wayne County sheriff Ollin Coor lived in Goldsboro, as did John B. Griswold, William B. Fields, and Josiah Howell. (As estate administrator, William T. Dortch likely steered hires toward his Goldsboro associates.) Washington Barnes lived in Saratoga district of what is now Wilson County, and Robert Bynum in what is now Gardners township.]
  • The hire of Wash to W.K. Lane from 1 January 1855 to 1 January 1856 for $202 [Lane lived in Nahunta district, Wayne County.]
  • The hires of Ned, Primus, Tom, Anderson and Gray to John T. Barnes for that period for $1050 [John T. Barnes was soon to be sheriff of Wilson County.]
  • The sale of Primus on 1 January 1856 to John T. Barnes for $1250.25
  • On 29 January 1856, the sales of Pompey to Stephen Page for $700; Fox to Joshua Barnes for $400; and Judah and two children to Redding Moore for $1200 [Probably Stephenton Page, who was a slave trader with Robert S. Adams and Wyatt Moye; Joshua Barnes of Wilson, who dabbled in the trade. Redding Moore’s identity is not clear.]
  • The hires from 1 January 1856 to 1 January 1857 of Wash, Ned, Tom, Anderson, and Gray to George W. Barefoot for $950 and Allen to William T. Dortch for $36.50 [George and A.J. Barefoot promised to provide each with two new suits of clothes, two pairs of shoes, a hat, and a blanket, feed them well, and return them to Goldsboro at the end of the term.]
  • The hires from 1 January 1857 to 1 January 1858 of Wash, Ned, Tom, Anderson, and Gray to B.F. Arrington for $950 and Allen to William T. Dortch for $30 [Arrington was a Goldsboro dentist.]
  • The hires from 1 January 1858 to 1 January 1859 of Wash, Ned, Tom, Anderson, and Gray to S.D. Barnhill & Company for $950 and Allen to William T. Dortch for $30 [Pitt County native Stanley D. Barnhill migrated to Horry County, South Carolina, about 1850 and established S.D. Barnhill & Company, a turpentine, rosin, and timber firm. Per E.S. Barnhill, The Beatys of Kingston (1923), the company heavily supplemented its own enslaved labor with hired slaves.]
  • The hires from 1 January 1859 to 1 January 1860 of Wash, Ned, Tom, and Anderson to B.F. Arrington for $800; Allen to William T. Dortch for $30; and Gray (“badly shot, & disabled”) to Dortch for $0 [Shot?? What happened to Gray down in South Carolina?]
  • The sale on 2 January 1860 of Wash to W.T. Dortch for $1750; Tom to S.D. Barnhill for $1725; Anderson to E.S. Valentine for $1000; Allen to J.H. Adams for $1166; Ned to S.D. Barnhill for $795; and Gray (disabled) to W.T. Dortch for $265 disposed of the last of Dr. Dortch’s 34 enslaved people — except the four in South Carolina in the Barnes turpentine partnership. [I have not identified Valentine.]

Receipt for advertisement of “Adrmr’s sale of Dr. Dortch’s Negroes, (twice)”

The file contains innumerable promissory notes from Dr. Dortch’s patients such as this consolidated bill for care for Vincent Artis and his daughter, who were members of small interrelated community of free people of color in what is now the Eureka area of Wayne County:

And this one for John Artis, Vincent Artis’ neighbor and kinsman:

And a bill to William Barnes for care of an enslaved man named Napoleon:

Probate dragged on for years as the minor heirs grew up. Not uncommonly for wealthy landowners, Dr. Dortch was entangled in a web of promissory notes, and William T. Dortch fought more than 30 lawsuits for and against the estate, even as parties charged that he was too busy with his other affairs to handle his brother’s affairs effectively.

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There were no African-American Dortches in Wilson County in 1870, but I have been able to trace forward a handful of the people Lewis J. Dortch held in bondage:

  • John (sold to Drue Daniel)
  • Rhoda and daughter Rosa (the mother sold to John Wilkinson, the daughter to Washington Barnes)
  • Sarah (sold to Drue Daniel)
  • Frank (sold to Ollin Coor)
  • Allen (sold to Jesse H. Adams)
  • Wash, born about 1830 (sold to William T. Dortch)

Probably: Washington Dortch married Winnifred Barron on 15 April 1866 in Edgecombe County.

In the 1870 census of Upper Town Creek township, Edgecombe County: cooper Washington Dortch, 39; wife Winifred, 23; children Marsilla, 5, Hetty, 2, and Charley, 5 months; and Briney Barnes, 28.

In the 1880 census of Upper Town Creek township, Edgecombe County: laborer Washington Dortch, 50; wife Winifred, 35; children Frances, 15, Hettie, 13, Charles, 10, and Bill, 7.

In the 1900 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Washington Dortch, 68; wife Winiford, 51; children Edward, 20, Luckey T., 17, Lucresy, 15, and Andrew G., 9; and granddaughter Emma, 16.

Tom Dortch died 7 November 1939 in Yale, Sussex County, Virginia. Per his death certificate, he was born 16 September 1882 in Wilson County, N.C., to Washington Dortch and Winifred [maiden name not known]; was married to Clara Dortch; and worked as a farmer. He was buried in Sharpsburg, N.C.

  • Beedy, born about 1830, and child Rosetta, born about 1852 (sold to Orpha Applewhite)

Orpha Pike Applewhite was the recent widow of Henry Applewhite. I have found no record of her ownership of Beedy or Rosetta. However, a Bedie is recorded in the estate of her brother-in-law Council Applewhite. This Bedie, who was born about 1807, was the mother of grown children who were also enslaved by Council Applewhite. She was alive as late as 1880, when she appears in her son’s household in Goldsboro, Wayne County, as Obedience Applewhite.

However, on 31 August 1866, Wilson Hagans and Obedience Applewhite (who was not the same woman as above) registered their 19-year marriage with a Wilson County register of deeds. Wilson Hagans, who was a free man of color, was also known as Wilson Artis, and Obedience took that surname.

On 21 September 1869, Henry Peacock, son of Haywood Edmundson and Ulrsa Peacock, married Rosetta Artice, daughter of Wilson Artice and Bidy Artice, in Wilson County.

In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Henry Peacock, 18; wife Rosetta, 18; and children Henry, 2, and John W., 2 months.

In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Obedience Artis, 40, and daughter Sarah J., 9.

In the 1880 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Bety Artis, 60; daughter Sarah, 20; and grandchildren Willie, 2, and Mamie Hall, 6.

On 29 December 1892, Henry Dortch, 52, of Wilson, son of Isaac Thorne and Bedie Artis, married Eliza Darden, 42, at Crawford Darden‘s in Wilson County. Free Will Baptist minister Daniel Blount performed, and Frank Woodard, Warren Darden, and Isom Sutton witnessed the ceremony.

In the 1900 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Sarah J. Artis, 39; children Mamie Hall, 20; Tommie, 16, Emma, 14, Henry, 12, Hallie, 11, Eddie, 9, Mary S., 5, and Nursie E. Artis, 4 months; and mother Bedie Artis, 77.

Sarah Jane Artis died 23 April 1930 in Stantonsburg township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 23 December 1872 in Wilson County to Wilson Artis and Beedie Artis, both of Wilson County; she was single; and she was buried in Stantonsburg township.

  • Warren, born about 1840 (sold to Robert Bynum)

Probably: on 11 March 1869, Warren Bynum, son of Dick Rogers and Mary Rogers, married Elizabeth Applewhite, daughter of Theophilus Applewhite and Rancy Applewhite, in California township, Pitt County.

In the 1870 census of California township, Pitt County: farmhand Warren Bynum, 30; wife Bettie, 29; daughter Fanie, 1; and [mother] Raney, 60.

In the 1880 census of Farmville township, Pitt County: Warren Bynum, 38, farmer; wife Betsy, 32; and daughters Mary, 10, Fancy, 8, Marenda, 7, and Nellie, 5.

In the 1900 census of Speights Bridge township, Greene County: farmer Warren Bynum, 55; wife Sarah, 35; and daughters Elsie, 12, and Lizzie, 8.

On 7 October 1908, Warren Bynum, 65, of Greene County, married Ellen Bynum, 55, of Saratoga township, Wilson County, in Saratoga township, Wilson County.

In the 1910 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farmer Warren Bynum, 66; wife Ellen, 55; and niece Appie, 38. (Warren reported having been married four times.)

Warren Bynum died 16 February 1918 in Saratoga township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born in 1854 to Dick Rodgers and Mary Ellis and worked as a farmer. George Bynum was informant.

Marenda Barrett died 18 July 1919 in Farmville, Pitt County. Per her death certificate, she was born 2 July 1873 in Pitt County to Warren Bynum and Betsy Ward and worked in farming. Garfield Shirley was informant.

Mary J. Shirley died 14 September 1931 in Farmville, Pitt County. Per her death certificate, she was born 25 May 1870 in Pitt County to Warren Bynum of Wilson County and Mynie Bynum of Wilson County and was married to Buck Shirley.

  • George (sold to Josiah Howell)
  • Ned, born about 1810 (sold to Stanley T. Barnhill)

Perhaps: in the 1870 census of Conway township, Horry County, S.C.: day laborer Edward Dorch, 60, and wife Mary, 58.

  • Tom (sold to Stanley T. Barnhill)
  • Anderson (sold to E.S. Valentine)
  • Gray (sold to William T. Dortch)
  • Primus (sold to John T. Barnes)
  • Diza (sold to John B. Griswold)
  • Jinney (sold to William B. Fields)
  • Louisa, born about 1850 (remained with William T. Dortch)

Perhaps: in the 1870 census of Goldsboro, Wayne County: Louiza Dortch, 20, “h. servant,” in the household of W.T. Dortch, 46 year-old lawyer.

On 18 July 1878, Louisa Dortch married Needham Smith in Wayne County.

In the 1880 census of Little Washington, Goldsboro, Wayne County: Needham Smith, 63; wife Louisa, 30; children Henry, 9, Hattie, 6, and Julia, 4; and stepchildren Lizzie, 11, and Adam Dortch, 9.

  • Jim (sold to William B. Fields)
  • Mary (sold to William B. Fields)
  • Charles (sold to William B. Fields)
  • Fanny (remained with William T. Dortch)

Perhaps: on 17 January 1867, Fannie Dortch married Grandison Dawson in Wayne County.

  • Nancy, born about 1852 (remained with William T. Dortch)

Perhaps: on 28 March 1874, Nancy Dortch married Joseph Adams in Wayne County.

In the 1880 census of Little Washington, Goldsboro, Wayne County: cook Nancy Adams, 28, and children Georgianna, 11, David, 8, Edward, 4, and Rowena, 2.

In the 1900 census of Goldsboro, Wayne County: widow Nancy Adams, 48, and children Roena, 22, Fannie, 19, Woodley, 16, drayman, and Elijah, 13, day laborer.

Nancy Adams died 27 November 1911 in Goldsboro, Wayne County. Per her death certificate, she was 57 years old [born circa 1854]; was born in N.C. to [no first name] Dortch and Lula Winn; was married; and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery. Elijah Adams was informant.

  • Josephine (remained with William T. Dortch)
  • Dance
  • Mintus
  • George
  • Anthony
  • Pompey (sold to Stephenton Page)
  • Fox (sold to Joshua Barnes)
  • Judah and two children (sold to Redding Moore)

L.J. Dortch Estate Record (1854), Wilson County, North Carolina Estate Files 1663-1979, http://www.familysearch.org

George W. Stanton house.

George W. Stanton house, near Stantonsburg, built circa 1873 and demolished circa 2000.

George W. Stanton’s house was built during Reconstruction, and no enslaved people labored there. I am certain, however, that it was staffed with formerly enslaved people and their descendants.

Stanton, though a committed slaveholder, was one of a handful of Union loyalists in Wilson County during the Civil War. We have met him here and here, and we know that he enslaved Larry and (very briefly, before transferring them to his mother Gatsey Truitt Stanton) Harry, Violet, Eliza and her child, Ben, Dan, and Edy. I have not been able to identify the names of any others he held.

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In the 1860 census of Saratoga district, Wilson County: G.T. Stanton, 46, farmer, and children G.W. Stanton, 25, farmer, who claimed $3400 in real property and $4538 in personal property [which would have been mostly enslaved people], D.M., 12, and Celestia N., 10.

In the 1860 slave schedule of Saratoga district, Wilson County: G.W. Stanton claimed seven enslaved people, who lived in one house — men aged 72 and 36; a boy aged 8; a woman aged 38; and girls aged 14, 10, and 3. (These ages suggest a single, multigenerational family, but we cannot determine this definitively.)

Per the 1870 federal mortality schedule, Violet Stanton died in September 1869 of scrofula. She was 59 years old and a widow.

Perhaps, in the 1880 census of Sparta township, Edgecombe County: farmer Ben Stanton, 32; wife Leer, 25; and sons Gray, 9, and William, 5.

Luvennia Artis died 11 May 1924 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 70 years old; was a widow; lived at 177 Narroway; was born in Wilson County to Haywood Moye and Eliza Stanton; and worked as a laundress. She was buried in Wilson [probably, Vick Cemetery.] Luvennia Artis perhaps was the child of Eliza noted above.

Photo courtesy of Wilson County Genealogical Society 2004 Calendar: The Families of the Stantonsburg & Saratoga Area.

Mahala Artis’ property.

Mahala Artis lived in a house on Goldsboro Street, owned by George H. and Elizabeth P. Griffin. After Griffin died in 1881, and the property went into default, trustee H.G. Connor advertised it and Griffin’s carriage and wagon factory for sale.

Wilson Advance, 21 December 1883.

Eleven years later, Artis’ own property was advertised for sale for non-payment of taxes.  Artis was on her way out of Wilson, however, and in 1899 sold her lot at the corner of Green and Pender Streets to Samuel H. Vick.

Wilson Advance, 22 March 1894.

The passing of John Clarence Artis, age 100.

John Clarence Artis, 16 October 1922-13 June 2023.

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John Clarence Artis was born 16 October 1922 in Wilson County to John Columbus Artis and Nancy Pearsall [Pender?]

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1113 Queen Street, widow Mary Pender, 45, laundress; daughter Nancy Artist, 23, laundress; grandsons John C., 7, and Willie, 5; son William H. Pender, 25, auto mechanic at garage; and lodger Maggie Edwards, 21, cook.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farmer Simon Pope, 37; wife Nancy, 33; stepson John Artis, 17; lodger David Ward, 16; nephew James Harris, 10; and mother-in-law Mary Jane Pender, 56, widow.

In 1942, John Clarence Artis registered for the World War II draft in Portsmouth, Virginia. Per his registration card, he was born 16 October 1922 in Wilson; he lived at 1029 London Street, Portsmouth; his contact was Mary Pender, 206 Manchester Street, Wilson; and he worked at the Naval Hospital, Portsmouth.

On 19 July 1957, John C. Artis Jr., 34, of 641 Cemetery Street, Wilson, son of John C. Artis and Nancy Pender Artis, married Margie Dunston, 26, of Lucama, daughter of Aaron and Lenatha Thompson, in Wilson.

Photo courtesy of http://www.carronsfuneralhome.com.

The obituary of Pauline Artis Henderson.

Wilson Daily Times, 20 June 1950.

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In the 1900 census of Ingrams, Johnston County: widower farmer Archie Artis, 78; daughters Bathanie, 32, and Alice E., 22; and granddaughters Victoria, 13, Effie, 10, and Pollie, 1.

On 3 Dec 1914, Solomon Ward applied for a marriage license for Jesse Henderson of Wilson, age 21, son of Jesse Jacobs and Sarah Jacobs, both dead, and Pauline Artis of Wilson, age 18, daughter of Alice Artis.  On the same day, Fred M. Davis, Baptist minister, performed the ceremony at his residence before Mary Barnes, Annie Hines, and Willie Cromartie, all of Wilson.  [Jesse and Sarah Henderson Jacobs, who were very much alive, reared Jesse, who was the son of Sarah’s sister.]

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 217 Pender Street, Jesse Henderson with wife Pauline, daughter Bessie, and mother-in-law Alice Artis.  Jesse worked as a truck driver for a woodyard. Alice was a cook for a private family.

In the 1928 Wilson city directory: Jack Henderson, a driver, and wife Pauline, were listed at 318 Pender Street.

Jessie Henderson Jr. died 15 April 1929 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 5 months old; was born in Wilson to Jessie Henderson Sr. of Dudley, N.C., and Pauline Artis of Johnson County, N.C.; and lived at 318 Pender Street. Pauline Henderson was informant.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 318 Pender Street, Jack Henderson, 38, wife Pauline, 31, and children Bessie, 12, Alic, 10, Joice, 7, Mildred, 6, and Archy, 4, mother-in-law Alic Artis, 49, paying $18/month rent. Alice worked as a cook for a private family, and Jack as a truck driver.

Archie Henderson died 11 May 1930 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 4 years old; was born in Wilson to Jessie Henderson of Wayne County, N.C., and Pauline Artis of Johnson [sic] County, N.C.; and lived at 318 Pender Street. Alice Artis was informant.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 309 Pender Street, Alice Artis, 56, widow [in fact, she was not married]; Pauline Henderson, 39, widow [in fact, she was separated]; and grandchildren Bessie, 23, Alice, 20, Joyce, 18, Mildred, 16, Doris, 10, and Robert [Bobby], 4.

Lewis Artis sells 100 acres in 1825.

This Indenture made the 7 day of August one Thousand Eight hundred and Twenty five Between Lewis Artice of the State of North Carolina and County of Edgecombe of the one part and William Woodard of the other part of County and State aforesaid Witnesseth that I the sd. Lewis Artice for an in consideration of the sum of Four Hundred and three Dollars to me in hand paid at or before the sealing or Delivery of these presents the receipt whereof I hereby acknowledge that I have Bargaind, Sold and Conveyed unto the sd. William Woodard and his Heirs a Certain tract or parcel of land situate in the County above Written and on the South side of Little Contentney Creek and Boundered as follows to Wit Beginning at a white oak in the Creek then a line of Mark’d trees to a corner pine then to red oak which is a Dividing Corner Between the sd. tract and Wilie Ellis land then a line of mark’d trees to a Corner Sweetgum in the Creek then up the various Courses of sd. Creek to this first Station Containing one hundred and 3/4 Acres be the sum more or less the sd. Lewis Artice do warranted forever defend the rite title and Claim unto the sd. Wm. Woodard and his Heirs forever in witness whereof I have hereinto set my hand and seal the day and date ante written Signed and Sealed in presents of us. Jas. B. Woodard   Lewis X Article

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Little Contentnea Creek arises just east of Saratoga in what is now Wilson County (but was Edgecombe County in Lewis Artis‘ day) and flows a short distance into Pitt County on the Greene-Pitt County line.

The relationship between Lewis Artis and John Artis Jr. is unknown.

Deed Book 18, page 433, Edgecombe County Register of Deeds Office, Tarboro, North Carolina.

The roots of many Wilson County Artises, no. 4: Adam T. Artis, part 2.

I have blogged many times about siblings Cain Artis, William M. Artis, Walter S. Artis, Alberta Artis Cooper, Columbus E. Artis, Josephine Artis Sherrod, and June S. Artis — but not specifically about their father Adam Toussaint Artis, a free-born farmer who bought and sold hundreds of acres of farm and woodland near present-day Eureka in Nahunta township, Wayne County, North Carolina. Artis had five wives over his long life, and more than 25 children. Many of his thousands of descendants, including me, have ties to Wilson.

In this second post, a look at Adam T. Artis’ life with his second wife.

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Per an unsigned narrative (“The Adam Artis Family History”) written, I think, by one of Adam Artis’ great-grandchildren:

Adam Artis had about five wives and 39 children. His first legal wife was Frances Hagens of Eureka. She was very fair and had beautiful long black silky hair. Adam was very tall and slender. He owned a large farm in Eureka and was a first class carpenter. They lived in a nice two story house. Frances’ brother, Napoleon Hagens, owned a very large plantation near Eureka. He had several tenants and/or slaves there. He was very mean to his wife and tenants. He would sit on the fence in the shade and watch the tenants plow. If they didn’t plow the way he wanted them to, he would crack them with a whip. One day a tenant grabbed the whip and beat Napoleon’s shirt off.

This is a nice starting point for this phase of Adam Artis’ life, if not entirely accurate. Frances Seaberry was Adam’s second legal wife, not his first. (If he had 39 children, not even his last surviving daughter, Josephine Artis Sherrod, could name them.) Frances, born free in 1845 in Wayne County to Aaron Seaberry and Levisa Hagans Seaberry, married Adam Artis 20 August 1861 in Wayne County. (Frances’ half-brother Napoleon Hagans never owned slaves, though he had many tenants, and he cast a shadow large enough that his sister’s descendants thought his last name was hers.)

Marriage license of Adam Artis and Frances Seaberry, Wayne County Register of Deeds Office, Goldsboro, North Carolina.

The “Family History” goes on to state: Frances and Adam Artis had 9 children (Hayward, William, Walter, Addie, Jesse, Doc, Georgianna, Luvicie and Ida.) Luvicie and Ida were twins. Frances died when the twins were only 13 years old.

In fact, Adam and Frances Seaberry Artis had 11 children:

Ida Artis was born about 1861. She married Isaac Reid (1853-??), son of Zion and Lucy Reid, about 1876. Their children were Frances Reid (1877-??) and Lorenzo Eli Reid (1879-1952). Ida Artis Reid died 1880-1900.

Napoleon Artis, known as “Doc,” was born 28 February 1863. He married Sallie Taylor; their sons were Humphrey, Leslie, and Odell Artis. Doc died 16 October 1942. His descendants still live on land along Route 222 between Stantonsburg and Eureka once owned by Adam Artis.

When Luvicie Artis was 13 years old, she married John Aldridge of Dudley. John was the son of Robert and Eliza Aldridge. … Luvicie had very high cheek bones. Luvicie was a mid-wife and nurse. She died at the age of 64. She only wanted to eat peas and sweet potatoes. She wouldn’t eat much meat or green vegetables, and would drink hardly any water.

Louvicey “Vicey” Artis was born in 1865 and married John Aldridge in 1879. Their children surviving to adulthood were Zebedee Aldridge, Lula Aldridge, Frances Aldridge Cooper, John J. Aldridge, James Thomas Aldridge, Amanda Aldridge Newsome, Beulah Aldridge Carter, Correna Aldridge Newsome, Catherine Aldridge Davis, and Christine Lenora Aldridge Henderson. Vicey Artis Aldridge, a midwife, died 13 February 1927.

Louvicey’s twin, Eliza Artis, married Haywood Everett. Before 1900, the couple migrated to Lonoke County, Arkansas. They had no children, and Eliza died 10 October 1936.

Georgeanna Artis was born 1867. She married Henry Reid (1859-1930), son of John and Mozana Hall Reid (and first cousin to Isaac Reid, above) on 29 November 1883. Their children were Alice Reid Williamson, Cora Reid Sampson, William H. Reid, Brodie Reid, Lenny Reid, Nita Reid, Henry N. Reid, Linda B. Reid, and Georgia Reid. She died 18 August 1923 in Goldsboro NC.

Adam Toussaint Artis Jr. was born in 1868. He married Rena G. Wynn in 1893 in Wayne County and had one son, Lafayette. Adam Jr. migrated to Washington DC, and married second wife Agnes West in 1904. Their son was Harry L. Artis.

Haywood Artis was born in 1870. He migrated to Norfolk, Virginia, in the 1890s, and married Harriet Hawthorne. Their children included Bertha Artis, Jesse Artis, Hattie Artis Johnson, Mae Willie Artis, Haywood Artis Jr., and Charles Artis.

Emma Artis, born 1872, married Robert H. Locust and died within months of the wedding.

Walter Scott Artis was born 2 October 1874. He married Hannah E. Forte. Their children: Napoleon Artis, Beatrice Artis, Estelle Artis, Adam Toussaint Artis III, and Elmer Hazel Artis. Walter Artis died 25 June 1951.

William Marshall Artis was born 28 August 1875 and married Etta Diggs.  Their children: Beulah M. Artis Exum, Margaret Artis Thompson, Irene Artis Carter, Frances Artis Edmundson, William M. Artis Jr., Adam H. Artis, Fletcher Artis, Doris V. Artis Carr, Haywood T. Artis, and Elmer W. Artis. William died 28 September 1945.

Jesse Artis was born in 1878. Frances Seaberry Artis died the same year, perhaps from complications from her last childbirth.

Interrogating evidence in census records.

Here is a vexing example of why you cannot accept census entries at face value, but must interrogate them to get closer to truth.

This snippet from the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County, appears to show Willis Barnes, his wife Farby, their children, and his mother Rose. The reality is quite different.

In fact, this is a blended family. Willis Barnes’ first wife, Cherry Battle (or Eatmon) Barnes, died in the mid-1890s. They had at least nine children together, none of whom are listed here; their younger children were taken in by older siblings when their mother died.

On 2 March 1897, Willis Barnes, 59, of Wilson township, married Fereby Artis, 47, of Toisnot township, in Wilson County. They had not, as the census taker noted in the column next to that in which he wrote an M for “married,” been married 25 years.

Fereby (or Phereby, or any number of spellings) Barnes was born about 1849 to Silas Barnes and Rosetta Farmer Barnes. On 20 December 1879, Fereby Barnes married Benjamin Artis Jr., who was born about 1849 to Benjamin Artis Sr. and Fereby Woodard Artis, a daughter of London and Venus Woodard. (So, yes, Ben Jr. and his wife had the same names as Ben Jr.’s parents.) Fereby and Benjamin Artis Jr.’s children included Harriet Artis Simms, Morrison Artis, Silas A. Artis, Louvenia Artis Hayes, and Wade Artis.

The four children listed in this census entry — despite the dash implying their surname was Barnes — were Fereby’s children (Willis’ stepchildren) and were Artises. And Rosa Barnes was not Willis’ mother at all. She was his mother-in-law —  Fereby Barnes Artis Barnes’ mother.