Blackwell

Cemeteries, no. 37: the Howard Cemetery.

I’ve long wanted to visit this cemetery, which now lies in woods behind a large property on Lamm Road. Shout-out to Gary Howard for guiding me to it recently. The children and grandchildren of Zealous and Rhoda Eatmon Howard and their related families established several cemeteries in western Wilson County in the wedge between modern-day U.S. Highway 64 and N.C. Highway 58 in Taylor township. This one may be the largest.

Kudos to the Blackmon/Blackwell family, who, over the past couple of years, have begun the arduous task of clearing the quarter-acre plot. Alisha Cordell and others were able to secure permission to access the cemetery from the current owner — access that had been denied for decades earlier.

Brother Mr. S. Ivey Blackmon 

Ivey Blackwell died 16 September 1939 in Spring Hope, Mannings township Nash County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 4 March 1918 in Nash County to John Blackwell and Bettie Evans, both of Wilson County; was single; was a farmer; and was buried in High cemetery. [Was High another name for this cemetery?]

This concrete headstone and the two that follow were crafted by the same person, and probably at the same time. All exhibit blocky capital lettering with tiny serifs (and backwards N’s) and incised lines under each row of letters. The Blackwells were a free family of color in the area of what is now Wilson County as early as the 1840s. This branch of the family, however, is now known as Blackmon.

Father Mr. John Blackmon

John Blackwell died 6 June 1940 in Spring Hope, Mannings township, Nash County. Per his death certificate, he was born in 1874 in Wilson County to Albert Blackwell and Classie Locus; was married to Bettie Blackwell; and was buried in Horne’s Church cemetery. [Horne’s Methodist Church is a historically white church in Nash County about two miles north of Howard Cemetery as the crow flies. It does not, to my knowledge, have its own cemetery. (However, it is very near another cemetery with ties to some of the people buried here.)

Mother Mrs. Bettie Blackmon

Deal Howard

Deal Howard died 6 December 1939 in Oldfields township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 4 November 1861 in Wilson County to Deal Howard and Rhodie Howard; was a widower; was a farmer; and was buried in Wilson County. Herman Howard was informant.

Anonymous.

Daughter Gladys Blackwell Born Feb. 9, 1931 Died Oct. 27 1961 At Rest

Gladys Blackwell died 27 October 1961 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 9 February 1931 in Nash County to Hattie Blackwell; lived in Bailey, Nash County; and was buried in Howard Cemetery.

This, of course, is a Clarence B. Best-carved headstone. (How odd that the 3 in 1931 is either backward or upside down.)

Mother Margaret Blackwell Born Sept. 11, 1879 Died Dec. 7, 1961 At rest

Margaret Blackwell died 7 December 1961 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 11 September 1889 in Wilson County to Ivy Evans and Mary Lyles; and was buried in Howard Cemetery. Mattie Blackwell was informant.

Also a Clarence Best.

Cora Lee Howard Dau. of Hilliard & Cora Ellis Born Nov. 15, 1900 Died Oct. 13, 1918 Gone but not forgotten

Cora Lee Howard died 13 October 1918 in Taylor township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was 18 years old; married; and was the daughter of Hilliard Ellis and Cora Williams. M.S. Gilliam was the attending physician.

Albert Howard North Carolina PVT 329 Service Bn QMC World War I May 16 1892 August 3 1956

Albert Howard died 3 August 1956 in Taylors township. Per his death certificate, he was born 2 February 1890 in Wilson County to Dill Howard and Nancy Black; was married to Ida Howard; was a farm laborer; was a World War I veteran; and was buried in Howard cemetery, Wilson County.

Sally Ann Blackwell Oct 17, 1889 June 10, 1920

Sallie Ann Blackwell died 10 June 1920 in Taylors township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born in 1882 in Wilson County to Dora Locus and was married. Cause of death: “gunshot wound, shot accidentally.”

Fieldstone marker.

Etta Wife of Robert Lucas Jan. 5, 1890 Aug. 31, 1960 Gone But Not Forgotten

Etta Lucas died 31 August 1960 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 1 January 1897 in Wilson County in Deal Howard and Nancy Blackmond; was married to Robert Lucas; and was buried in Howard Cemetery.

Another Clarence Best.

Hurlean Blackwell 6 1932 At Rest

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2025.

Who was artist Lou Blackwell Robbins?

We first met Lou Blackwell Robbins here, giving summer art lessons to children at the Colored Graded School in 1936. I still have not been able to find her in county records, but several Journal and Globe articles published over the next year or so provide some clues to her life.

In this 14 November 1936 piece, Robbins’ vocation is listed as “artist.” She had given a demonstration on making pottery to members of the Black Creek Home Demonstration Club, which met at the home of Mrs. L.D. Tomlinson. (Sallie Owens Tomlinson and Louise Rainwater, who demonstrated cake-making to the club, were white women. Robbins’ invitation into Tomlinson’s home to demonstrate pottery-making must have been a remarkable event.) Robbins had also founded the Professional Women’s Art Club in Wilson, whose officers drew from Black Wilson’s upper crust (such as it was.)

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 14 November 1936.

Three months later, Robbins was in Norfolk, Virginia, lecturing and exhibiting her work. A March 13 article “explained something of her life and her past experience in the field of art and her ambitions for the remainder of her life.”

There’s a lot to digest.

We learn that Robbins graduated from Wilson High School (later known as Darden High) in 1934. She had two adopted daughters. Her interest in art was encouraged by a high school teacher, leading her to give up “medicine and a career as a doctor.” (What?) She produced art across multiple genres, was a lecturer and a teacher, and was writing a history of Negroes in North Carolina. She sculpted in North Carolina clay and had carved busts of numerous prominent men.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 13 March 1937.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 8 May 1937.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 19 June 1937.

In late summer, Lou Blackwell Robbins returned to Norfolk to compete in a talent contest at the Booker-T Theatre. Once again, we get a complex picture of Robbins’ talents. She told the reporter that she had been inspired by Voo Doo Fire, a book given her by an Army veteran, to make percussion instruments by hand, assisted by children in Saint John A.M.E. Zion’s music program. [Richard A. Loederer’s Voodoo Fire in Haiti, published in 1935?] Captivated by the instruments, the children formed the Jungle Babies Band and booked performances at Saint John and Vick’s Casino, the nightclub operated by Samuel H. Vick Jr. in his father’s old Globe Theatre space in the Odd Fellows Building on East Nash Street. Inspired by the “delighted” audience response, Robbins went to Norfolk to try to book the Jungle Babies there. Encouraged to enter the contest, she secured Eloise Hunter as an accompanist on piano and took third place. However, the reporter’s description of the performance is just snarky enough to cast doubt on Robbins’ musical prowess.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 11 September 1937.

Lou Blackwell Robbins’ time in Norfolk was not entirely positive. A lengthy 13 August 1938 article about troubles at Queen Street Baptist Church mentioned that Robbins had filed unspecified charges against its pastor, Rev. P.P. Eaton, resulting in his reprimand.

I’ve found no other reference to Lou Blackwell Robbins. Was she a Wilson native? Who were her husband and children? If she left Wilson, where did she go? What became of her art and writings?

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  • Mrs. E.H. Diggs — Mary Grant Diggs. In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 205 Vick Street, barber Edgar H. Diggs, 49, at Hines Barber Shop; wife Mary, 39, teacher in Stantonsburg; and children Edgar, 13, Mary, 9, and Preston, 11.
  • Mrs. A.M. Bullock
  • Mrs. A.R. Peacock — perhaps, Eloise Reavis Peacock.
  • Mrs. A.M. Fisher
  • Mrs. Elizabeth Bordy — Elizabeth Brodie, who, in fact, was not yet married. On 17 April 1937, Elizabeth Brodie, 20, of Wilson, daughter of Arthur and Anna Brodie, married Luther E. McKeithan, 25, son of Henry and Sarah McKeithan of Cumberland County, in Wilson. A.M.E. minister John C. Coaxum performed the ceremony in the presence of Rhoda McMillan, Alex McMillan and Sallie Suggs.
  • “Biddie” Willets
  • Dick Sanders
  • Louis Thomas — Louis Sanford Thomas Jr. In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 715 East Green, Louis Thomas, 43, building carpenter; wife Lillie, 33; and children Louis Jr., 16, Charlie H., 14, and Van Jewel, 12.
  • Jerry Lee Cook — Jerry Lee Cooke Jr.
  • Edgar Gerald — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 910 East Green, Edgar Gerald, 48, tobacco warehouse laborer, born in Mullens, S.C.; wife Rebecca, 37, born in Norfolk[, Virginia]; children Bernice, 17, Edgar, 16, and Barbara, 4; and roomer John Sharpe, 22, hotel bellboy.
  • Bob Speights — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 624 Viola, Theodore Speight, 38, barber; wife Marie, 34; children Robert, 13, Evangeline, 10, Clyde, 8, and Randolph, 2; and lodger Charlotte Tate, 32, servant.
  • Samuel H. Vick Jr. — the enterprising Sam Vick Jr. was a chemist, a cosmetics salesman, a booking agent, and a nightclub owner.

Did Blackwell conceal his assets?

On 30 November 1856, Mabrey Hinnant petitioned a Wilson County justice of the peace for assistance in obtaining full satisfaction from Asberry Blackwell for a seventy-dollar court judgment.

“This day came Mabrey Hinnant before me John Nichols one of the Justices of the peas for said county and taketh oath that he believes that the defendant has not property sufichant to satisfy said Judgment which the ptr Mabrey Hinnant has latley obtained against the Defendant Asberry Blackwell for the sum of seventy Dollars and intrest and cost which can be reched by a fieri facias and has property money or Effects which can not be reched by a fieri facias or has fraudilently conseld his property money or efects  Sworn to and subscribed before me this 30th day of Novb 1856  Mabrey (X) Hinnant”

[A fieri facias, or fi fa, Latin for “cause it to be done,” is a court order that instructs a sheriff to seize and sell a debtor’s property to pay off a debt.]

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Asberry Blackwell married Nancy Taylor on 2 October 1845 in Nash County.

In the 1850 census of Nash County: Asberry Blackwell, 25 [listed alone.]

In the 1860 census of Kirby’s district, Wilson County: Asberry Blackwell, 45, turpentine laborer, wife Nancy, 30, farm laborer, and children Charity, 14, Drucilla, 9, Albert, 7, Appy, 7, Zilpha, 4, Obedience, 3, and Asberry, 2 months.

The obituary of Peter Blackwell of Indianapolis.

The Indianapolis Star, 7 June 1937.

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In the 1900 census of Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana: day laborer Nathan Blackwell, 59; wife Delpha, 53; daughter-in-law Harriett, 33, house cleaner; and [grand]children James, 16, foundry offbearer, Jonas, 13, Martha, 11, and Peter, 10; all born in North Carolina.

In the 1910 census of Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana: at 969 West 24th, Robert Evans, 22, jobber; sister Georgia Blackwell, 23, laundress; brother-in-law Pete Blackwell, 23, street laborer; boarder Jim Staton, 35, cement laborer; and mother-in-law Ruth Evans, 46, laundress, widow.

In the 1918 Indianapolis, Indiana, city directory: Blackwell Peter E lab h 979 w 26th

Pete Blackwell died 6 June 1937 in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. Per his death certificate, he was about 48 years old; was born in North Carolina to Edward Blackwell and Hattie Lassiter; lived at 2706 Ethel, Indianapolis; was a porter at Claypool Hotel; and was married.

Studio shots, no. 227: Bedie Powell Blackwell.

Bedie Powell Blackwell (1871-1957)

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In the 1880 census of Taylor township, Wilson County, N.C.: farmer Ichabud Powell, 32; wife Mary A., 32; and children Beedy A., 9, Pheny, 7, John, 5, James W., 4, Henry G., 3, and Mary A.E., 11 months.

On 9 April 1892, Asberry Blackwell, 35, of Wilson township, married Beedey Powell, 25, of Wilson township, in Taylor township, Wilson County.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Bedie Blackwell, 27, tobacco stemmer.

In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Powell Bedie (c) lndrs h 311 Mercer

Asberry Blackwell died 21 September 1919 in Oldfields township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 1857 in Wilson County; was a widower [actually, it appears he and Bedie were separated or divorced]; and worked as a farmhand for Grover Lamm.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Mercer Street, lodging house landlady Beady Powell, xx, widow, with lodgers James Daniel, xx, machinist, and Zeb Dew, 28, cafe cook.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Powell Bedie (c) lndrs 401 N Reid

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Powell Bedie (c) lndrs 400 (401) N Reid

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 400 North Reid, laundress Beddie Powell, 72; great-nephew Reubin Hammond, 11; and lodgers Lucius Faison, 67, cleaning yards, and A.G. Dunston, 69, dishwasher at state sanitorium.

Sunday Star, 27 October 1957.

Copy of photo courtesy of Levolyre Farmer Pitt.

The obituary of Jake Blackwell.

Wilson Daily Times, 24 May 1943.

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In the 1920 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer William Blackwell, 45; wife Sally Ann, 29; and children Bennie, 10, Curvis, 7, Jakie, 5, and Nancy, 1.

In October 1940, Jake Blackwell registered for the World War II draft in Atlantic County, New Jersey. Per his registration card, he was born 15 December 1914 in Wilson County, N.C.; lived at 923 Virginia Place, Atlantic City, New Jersey; his contact was Mabell Ingram, friend; and he was unemployed.

In the 1940 census of Prince George’s County, Maryland: at Glenn Dale Sanatorium, [a tuberculosis hospital], Jake Blackwell, born in North Carolina, resident of Washington, D.C.

Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.

Blackwell accidentally shot his wife to death.

Wilson Daily Times, 11 June 1920.

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On 20 August 1904, William Blackwell, 29, of Taylors township, son of Nancy Howard, married Sally Ann Taylor, 18, of Taylor township, daughter of Ellen and Dora Taylor, in Wilson County.

In the 1910 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: on Sharp Road, William Blackwell, 29; wife Sallie A., 20; and son Bennie, 11 months.

In the 1920 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: tenant farmer William Blackwell, 45; wife Sally Ann, 29; and children Bennie, 10, Amos, 7, Jakie, 5, and Nancy, 1.

Sallie Ann Blackwell died 10 June 1920 in Taylors township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born in 1882 in Wilson County to Dora Locus and was married. Cause of death: “gunshot wound, shot accidentally.”

William Blackwell died 28 January 1928 in Old Fields township, Wilson County, of smallpox. Per his death certificate, he was 50 years old; was born in Wilson County to Nancy Howard; was a farmer; and was married to Carrie Blackwell. Bennie Blackwell was informant.

A suit for seduction.

The Indianapolis Journal, 28 January 1896.

A suit alleging seduction claimed a tort action under the law. Here, Nathan Blackwell, acting in the place of deceased Edwin Blackwell, filed to recover damages for the seduction by Walter Kersey of his niece (or cousin?) Mary Ella Blackwell, a minor. (I do not know if their “relationship” was consensual or forced, but it likely resulted in a pregnancy.) Kersey, like the Blackwells, was a migrant to Indianapolis from Wilson County and was about twenty years Mary Ella’s senior.

A year later, Mary Ella married a man three times her age.  On 27 January 1897, Mary Ella Blackwell, 17, born in North Carolina to Edwin and H. Blackwell, married Thomas Parsons, 50, born in North Carolina to Jefferson Parsons and Zilphia Burns, in Indianapolis.

But the relationship did not last: in the 1910 census of Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana: Hattie Blackwell, 43, widowed laundress, and children Mary, 29, divorced laundress, and John, 23, coal yards worker, single. All were born in North Carolina. 

The estate of Nathan Blackwell.

We examined the will of free man of color Nathan Blackwell here, in which he left his estate to sons Nathan, Exum, and Josiah Blackwell and named Asberry Blackwell as his executor. Nathan directed Asberry, who was probably his brother, to “take Andrew and see to his labor for my children to the best advantage also take my children and take care of them.”

Andrew was an enslaved man.

Nathan Blackwell died sometime in 1846 in a section of eastern Nash County that is now Wilson County. His personal assets were sold on 16 August 1846, and buyers included his relatives Peter Blackwell and Drucilla Blackwell, as well as Stephen and Josiah Powell, who were likely relatives of his deceased wife Jincey Powell Blackwell. Willis Jones was listed among debtors to the estate.

Nathan Blackwell’s orphaned sons were minors. Ordinarily, they would have been placed with a white family via involuntary apprenticeship. However, their father’s estate had assets, and a couple of white men, Jarman Eatman and Mabry H. Hinnant, took turns as their guardian. Exum seems to have died not long after his father

As requested, “negro Andrew” was hired out and his lease fee applied to Blackwell’s estate for the benefit of his boys. Jesse Simpson, for example, hired him for about 54 dollars on credit in the year 1848.

Nathan Blackwell Estate Records (1846), Nash County, North Carolina Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 [database on-line], http://www.ancestry.com.

Notes due to the estate of Jesse Simpson.

About 1857, as Benjamin Simpson took stock of his son’s estate, he prepared a list of notes owed to Jesse Simpson. Several free people of color, all neighbors of the Simpsons, are listed among the debtors.

007673268_01430.jpg

  • “1 note against Silas Laseter for 7.17 on the mande from intrust from the date given the 1 of Febraury 1855″ — In the 1860 census of Wilson district, Wilson County: farmer Silas Lassiter, 38; wife Orpie, 34; children Sallie, 12, Mary, 11, James, 9, John, 7, Elizabeth, 5, Penina, 4, Hardy, 3, Silas, 1, and George, 2 months; and Delpha Simpson, 14.
  • “1 acount against Jo Jones for 6.00″ — in the 1860 census of Wilson district, Wilson County: Joseph Jones, 40, turpentine; wife Zillah, 34; and children Milly, 17, Jesse, 10, Nathan, 8, and Frances and Lenora, 6.
  • “1 acount against William Jones for 2.50″ — in the 1860 census of Oldfields district, Wilson County, either: William Jones, 35, making turpentine, and wife Mary, 37, domestic, in the household of farmer Jethro Harrison, 31, or, more likely, William Jones, 20, mulatto, farm laborer; Mahaly Jones, 17, domestic; John Locus, 10; Mary Jones, 35, domestic; John, 10, and Josiah Jones, 6; all mulatto; in the household of farmer Elizabeth Simpson, 30.

007673268_01431.jpg

The list of “book accounts” included:

  • Penne Powel — probably Penelope Taborn Powell, the wife of Calvin Powell, see below.
  • Wilis Jones — in the 1860 census of Oldfields district, Wilson County: Willis Jones, 62, black, farm laborer; wife Sarah, 51, mulatto; and children Henry, 20, Alexander, 17, Noel, 16, Willis, 12, Paton, 10, Burthany, 7, Sarah, 13, and James, 10.
  • Calvin Powel — In the 1860 census of Black Creek district, Wilson County: Calvin Powell, 35, teamster; wife Penelope, 30; and children Jefferson, 12, Cidney, 10,  and Calvin, 6. Next door: Dempsey Powell, 30, turpentine; wife Sallie, 28; and Susan, 9.
  • Dempsy Powel — see above.
  • Asbary Blackwell — in the 1860 census of Kirby’s district, Wilson County: Asberry Blackwell, 45, turpentine laborer, wife Nancy, 30, farm laborer, and children Charity, 14, Drucilla, 9, Albert, 7, Appy, 7, Zilpha, 4, Obedience, 3, and Asberry, 2 months.
  • Alin Powel — in the 1870 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: Calvin Powell, 49; William Powell, 4; and Allen Powell, 79, basket maker. [William and Allen Powell were described as white; Calvin, as mulatto.]
  • Stephen Powel — in the 1860 census of Winsteads township, Nash County: 50 year-old Stephen Powell; wife Cyntha, 45; and children Gray, 21, Dollerson, 17, Queenanah, 13, Crocket, 12, Matchum, 10, and Frances, 8.
  • Lige Powel Ju. — Elijah Powell Jr. Probably, in the 1860 census of Wilson district, Wilson County: John Valentine, 32, engineer, with Elijah Powell, 23, and Josiah Blackwell, 21, sawmill laborers.

North Carolina Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 [database on-line], ancestry.com.