Boykin

The history of Williamson High School.

A 14 May 2014 Wilson Daily Times article, “Education’s still a priority: Williamson-Springfield alumni holding gospel festival Saturday,” included this history of Williamson High School:

“In 1939, James Boykin spoke with Luther Wilder about the need for a high school for black children in the western part of the county.

“Students had to attend school in surrounding areas, including Johnson County or Darden High School in Wilson, both of which long distances for students to travel.

“A meeting was eventually held at Rocky Branch Church in Kenly, where then Wilson County Schools Superintendent K.R. Curtis attended. Parents were concerned about the future of their children’s education.

“In July 1940, the Wilson County Board of Education met and discussed the idea about purchasing property for the high school. A six-acre plot was purchased for $600 from Jennie Whitley, was the sister of Paul Williamson, who owned the land.

“A group of 40 young people, both black and white, helped with the construction of the building, which would become Williamson High School.  Construction was completed in March 1941. Until then, Rocky Branch Church held classes there until the school was completed. During the 1941 school year, classes were held on Saturdays at the church and school in order to get credit. Opened in 1942, the Williamson School was a six-room high school that offered grades 9-12. Williamson School merged with Springfield in the fall of 1951. While the first graduating class was in 1952, the first full class, who spent all 12 years at the school, was in 1964.”

Wilson Daily Times, 7 July 1994.

The estate of Phoebe Boykin (1863).

Phoebe Boykin of Oldfields township, Wilson County, died in late 1863 possessed of five enslaved people — Peter, Watey, and Watey’s three children.

The children apparently were quite young, as in the 1860 slave schedule of Oldfields township, Phebe Boykin reported only a 62 year-old man, a 17 year-old young woman, and a 1 year-old boy.

At the 28 November 1863 sale of Boykin’s perishable property, Peter was hired out to Hackney Eatmon [of neighboring Nash County] for $52.50, and Watey and her children went to Chrissey Bailey “for keepin.” [Bailey appears to have been Phoebe Boykin’s daughter.] Peter was to receive one pair of shoes, a coat, two pairs of pants, two shirts, and one pair of socks. Watey and her children were to have two suits each, with Watey to get a pair of socks and a pair of shoes as well.

On 28 November 1864, Crissy Bailey marked her X on a receipt for the $350 she was paid for caring for Watey and the children the previous year.

The same day, Peter was hired out to Haywood Eatmon for $101.50, and Watey and her children returned to Bailey for $101.

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  • Peter

In the 1880 census of Taylors township, Wilson County, there is Peter Eatmon, 28, hireling by the day; wife Lucinda, 30; and children Henry, 8, and Doctor, 4. This Peter, however, was much too young to have been the elderly man listed in the 1860 slave schedule.

  • Watey and three children

I have not found this family.

Estate File of Phebe Boykin (1863), Wilson County, North Carolina Estate Files 1663-1979, http://www.familysearch.org

A burial ground for the enslaved?

Per unsourced notes, a slave cemetery lies adjacent to the Boykin-Lamm-Wells cemetery in Oldfields township. On an overcast November morning, I went to see what I could see. I am aware of only one verified slave cemetery in Wilson County, though there must have been many dozens. I was skeptical of this one, but also hopeful.

The cemetery, set a hundred yards or so behind a house under construction, contains 44 graves. Twenty-nine are marked with readable headstones, the earliest of which dates to 1892. Thus, there is no visible evidence that the cemetery dates to the antebellum period.

Of the remaining, several are marked with dressed fieldstone markers, such as those seen below. These graves are intermingled with those of Boykin-Lamm-Wells family members, an unlikely arrangement for the graves of enslaved people.

Stephen D. Boykin (1832-1910) was patriarch of the intermarried families buried here. He does not appear to have been a slaveowner, but his father, also named Stephen Boykin (1797-1864), was. In the 1850 federal slave schedule, the elder Boykin reported owning five enslaved people, ranging from a one month-old boy to a 35 year-old woman, and in 1860 reported 11 enslaved people, ranging from an eight-month-old girl to a 55 year-old man. If Boykin the elder is buried here, his grave is either unmarked or is marked by one of the fieldstones. If enslaved people are buried here, their graves are likely in the woods that border the cemetery on two sides.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, November 2022.

The estate of Stephen Boykin.

In January 1865, a court-appointed committee of neighbors divided “negro slaves and stock among and between” the heirs of Stephen Boykin, who died in 1864. (Various sums of money changed hands among the heirs to even the value of their inheritances.)

Boykin’s widow Sallie Davis Boykin received “Anthony valued at $400.”

Sallie Mercer received Nancy and Rose, valued at $500.

Kizziah Pope received Henry, $800.

Willie Coleman and wife Smithy received Chaney, $700.

John Barnes and wife Nicey received Thom, $700.

Willis Hanes and wife Cally received Jason, $500.

Mules and cattle were distributed next.

Four months later, these men, women, and children were freed.

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In the 1870 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: farm laborer Henry Boykin, 24; Nancy, 55; Jason, 15; and Rosetta, 12. [This appears to be a nuclear family — a mother, or perhaps grandmother, with her offspring. If so, the distribution of Stephen Boykin’s estate had briefly divided them among three households.] Next door: Allen Powell, 32, dipping turpentine; wife Charity, 22 [Chaney Boykin]; and children Robert, 4, and Cena, 2.

Also in the 1870 census of Oldfields: Anthony Boykin, 60, blacksmith.

And: Thomas Boykin, 27, farm laborer; wife Thana, 34; and daughter William Harriet, 6 months.

Stephen Boykin Estate File (1865), Wilson County, North Carolina Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 [database on-line], http://www.ancestry.com.

900 Viola Street.

The one hundred-forty-first in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District, this building is: “ca. 1910; 1 story; Frank Barnes house; L-plan cottage especially intact, with turned porch posts and sleeping loft; Barnes was a blacksmith.”

This house has recently undergone extensive renovation.

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In the 1912 and 1916 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directories: Barnes Frank (c) blksmith C Culpeper h Viola nr Reed

In the 1928 and 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directories: Boykin Jas (c; Nancy S) carp h 900 Viola

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 900 Viola Street, owned and valued at $4000, private practical nurse Nancy S. Boykin, 59; husband Christian Church clergyman James, 44; daughter Lila R., 19; and roomers Ines Williams, 23, and Minnie Nelson, 20, both servants.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 900 Viola, farm laborer George Richardson, 40; wife Annie, 26, tobacco factory stemmer; and John B. Barnes, 27, tobacco factory packer.

In the 1941 and 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directories: Richardson Geo (c) Annie lab h 900 Viola

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, November 2021.

Nancy Staton weds Rev. James Boykin.

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Wilson Daily Times, 16 January 1928.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Vick Street, house carpenter James Boykin, 49; tobacco factory worker Eliza, 47; and children Albert, 15, and Ruth, 9; Arthur Chester, 28, transfer car driver; wife Fannie, 28; and children Arthur Jr., 7, Joseph, 5, Irvin, 3, and Charlie, 1.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 713 Viola Street, midwife Nancy Staten, 52, widow; house carpenter James Jenkins, 24, and wife Annie, 19.

On 22 December 1927, James Boykin, 50, married Nancy A. Staton, 55, in Wilson. Rev. B.J. Gregory of Christian Church Colored performed the ceremony at the bride’s home in the presence Glenn S. McBrayer, Lillian McBrayer and Bettie Whitley. [Note the article got the bride’s name wrong.]

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 900 Viola Street, owned and valued at $4000, private practical nurse Nancy S. Boykin, 59; husband Christian Church clergyman James, 44; daughter Lila R., 19; and roomers Ines Williams, 23, and Minnie Nelson, 20, both servants.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 812 Viola, owned and valued at $1500, James Boykin, 60, and wife Nancy, 79; and, renting at $12/month, Lucias Smith, 28, skilled sewer contractor laborer, wife Jacqueline, 18, daughter Louise, 2, and Sidney Ramsouear, 89; and, renting at $4/month, Ray Brockman, 33, skilled sewer contractor laborer, and wife Hattie, 22. The Smiths and Brockmans were from South Carolina.

Studio shots, no. 107: Polly Boykin Deans.

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Polly Boykin Deans (1883-1962).

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In the 1900 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer Kisseah Boykin, 41; children Polly, 19, James, 18, John, 16, and Charley, 9; and niece Nannie Potts, 10.

Ernest Deans, 25, of Taylors township, son of Alfred Rice and Amanda Deans, married Polly Boykin, 22, of Taylors township, daughter of Joe Boykin and Kissy Boykin. Hilliard Ellis Jr. applied for the license, and a justice of the peace performed the ceremony in Wilson.

In the 1910 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: on Wilson & Raleigh Road, farmer James E. Deans, 33; wife Pollie, 29; and children James T., 6, and John H., 3.

In the 1920 census of Crossroads township, Wilson County: farmer Earnest Deans, 43; wife Pollie, 39, and children Tommie, 15, Johnnie, 13, Clarence, 10, Naomi, 9, and Clenon, 5.

Clarence Deans died 10 March 1926 in Crossroads township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 27 August 1907 in Wilson County to Earnest Deans and Pollie Boykin; was single; and was a tenant farmer for E.B. Capps.

In the 1940 census of Baltimore, Baltimore County, Maryland: Sarah Powell, 50, widow; her daughters Ruth, 19, and Anna Powell, 16; and niece Polly Deans, 55, widow. All had lived in Wilson, North Carolina, in 1935, and Sarah and Polly worked as domestic servants.

Clinton Earnest Deanes registered for the World War II draft in 1940 in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 12 October 1914 in Wilson County; he resided in Baltimore, Maryland; his contact was Polly Deanes; and he was employed by U.S. Construction Company.

Polly Deans died 24 March 1962 in Crossroads township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 6 July 1883 in Wilson County to Joseph Barnes [sic] and Kizzie Barnes and was widowed. Informant was Johnnie Deans. She was buried in Rocky Branch cemetery.

Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user jmt1946808.

812 Viola Street.

The seventy-eighth in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District, this house is: “ca. 1922; 1 1/2 stories; gambrel-roofed house; double-pile; turned porch posts; locally rare.”

Robert C. Bainbridge and Kate Ohno’s Wilson, North Carolina: Historic Buildings Survey (1980) provides additional details about the house, including the photo above. “This house, probably built in the early twentieth century, has an extremely unusual gambrel roof. Two peaked louvers ornament the gable end and a shed roof porch with turned columns shelters the front facade.” This house has been demolished.

From the mid-1920s to the late 1940s, this house was owned by Nancy Staton Boykin and her husband James Boykin.

An aged negro pays her respects.

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Wilson Daily Times, 23 August 1929.

I have not been able to locate Lucy Worthington in records.

Virginia “Jennie” Wise Boykin’s husband William Monroe Boykin was the son of Hilliard and Willie Flowers Boykin. In the 1850 census of Nash County, Hilliard Boykin reported $200 worth of real estate and, in the slave schedule, ownership of three enslaved people — a 35 year-old mulatto man, a 21 year-old mulatto man, and an 11 year-old black girl. With the creation of Wilson County in 1855, the 1860 census found Hilliard Boykin in Old Fields district of Wilson County (with son Monro, 15, in his household), claiming $3000 in real property and $7655 in personal property, which included women aged 33 and 22; girls aged 3, 2, and one month; and boys aged 7, 5 and 4. Presumably, Lucy Worthington was one of this group of enslaved people.

W. Alfred Boykin house.

Per Kate Ohno, Wilson County’s Architectural Heritage (1981):

“This fine early nineteenth-century house [near Sims] was probably built between 1830 and 1840 for William Alfred Boykin, one of Wilson’s first commissioners. Boykin was born in 1814 in what was then Nash County. He was a son of Hardy Boykin Jr. and acted as the administrator of his father’s estate in 1837. Boykin married Elizabeth Barnes of Black Creek in 1832, and this house was probably erected shortly after their marriage. … The house, as it stands today, is a rare example of pre-Civil War architecture in Wilson County. As the home of an affluent farmer, the Boykin House reflects the life style of this influential and civic-minded man. On the exterior, the simple gable-roof house is enriched by two bands of dentils and scalloped wooden trim. The shed porch is enclosed at each end by sleeping rooms and the subtle peak of the porch ceiling above the two panelled front doors has a decorative effect.”

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In the 1860 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: Alfred Boykin, 45, farmer; wife Elizabeth, 48; and children Temperance, 27, Patience, 19, Hardy, 17, Mahala, 15, Alfred B., 14, Sarah and Lenora, 11, Martha, 6, Addison, 6, and Lerozah, 7 months. Boykin listed $4910 in real property and $4800 in personal property. His personal property, per the 1860 slave schedule of Wilson County, included 4 enslaved girls and women ranging from 6 to 26 years old and one enslaved boy, age 8.