centenarian

Haywood Sauls passes century mark?

Winston-Salem (N.C.) Sentinel, 15 October 1923.

Claims of ages of one hundred or more raise my eyebrow. They are unreliable enough to warrant cross-checking with other sources.

Tracing Haywood Sauls proved an unexpected challenge. Available records reveal more than one man named Haywood Sauls in the area.

Lee H. Sauls claimed Haywood was born 17 February 1821 according to family records. (Do those records still exist???) Lee Sauls’ grandfather Etheldred Sauls (1801-1859) lived in the Nahunta area of northeastern Wayne County, but had close ties just across the county line in Black Creek township. Etheldred Sauls executed a will and died in 1859. The will named 19 enslaved people, including Haywood, whose age was not listed. Haywood was allotted to Etheldred’s son Lawrence J. Sauls for the benefit of daughter Elizabeth Sauls Becton.

On 29 August 1866, formerly enslaved Haywood Sauls and Fannie Newsome registered their four-year cohabitation in Wayne County, North Carolina. Another Haywood Sauls registered a 40-year cohabitation with Lidia Sherrard in the same county on 2 September 1866.

In 1868, James P. Hooks, son of Solomon and Sarah Hooks, married Mariah Sauls, daughter of Hawood and Silvey Sauls, in Wayne County. James P. Hooks changed his name to Patrick Sherrod by the 1870 census. He, Mariah, and a child lived next door to “Howard,” 80, and Lindy Sauls, 65, in Goldsboro, Wayne County, that year. I believe Howard and Lindy are the Haywood and Lidia who married in September 1866. By 1880, Howard/Haywood apparently was deceased, but Sidney Sauls is listed with Patrick and Maria Sherrod. Celia Williams may have been another of this Haywood. She died 20 November 1913 in Township #13, Edgecombe County. Per her death certificate, she was born 20 November 1851 in Wayne County to Hawood Sauls and Sidney Sherod. This Haywood Sauls does not appear to be the man referred to in the article.

In 1874, Haywood Sauls and his wife Fannie were named among the heirs of his father-in-law Elijah Cox.

In the 1880 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: wagon driver Haywood Sauls, 46, and wife Fannie, 56.

Fannie apparently died 1880-1890 and, on 12 April 1890, Haywood Sauls and Lishia Yelverton were married in Wayne County.

Lishia died soon after and, on 23 May 1893, Haywood Sauls, 50, of Black Creek township, and Bettie Saunders, 45, were married at Haywood Sauls’ residence in Black Creek.

In the 1900 census of Fremont, Nahunta township, Wayne County: farmer Haywood Sauls, 66; wife Bettie, 53; and daughter Delber, 15.

In the 1910 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Haywood Sauls, 74, and wife Betsey, 60.

In May 1912, Betsey Sauls executed a will leaving her property to her husband Haywood Sauls and son Frank Sanders. [Betsey Sauls had received a significant settlement in a tort suit a few years prior. More about this later.]

Bettie/Betsey Sauls died within months, and her husband quickly remarried. On 5 September 1912, Haywood Sauls, 77, of Wayne County, married Frances Davis, 40, of Wayne County, in Fremont, Nahunta township, Wayne County.

In the 1920 census of Buck Swamp township, Wayne County, N.C.: farmer Marcellus Sauls, 53; wife Fannie, 46; and father Haywood, 83, widower. [Marcellus Sauls died 19 December 1937 in Cross Roads township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was 70 years old

Over the next few years, a few human-interest articles appeared in North Carolina newspapers noting Haywood Sauls’ great age and revealing his penchant for baseball and the Tobs. One mentions Sauls selling photographs of himself at the 1923 Wilson County fair. (Do any survive??)

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 11 October 1923.

Wilson Mirror, 21 October 1924.

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 27 April 1925. 

Greensboro (N.C.) Daily News, 29 April 1925.

Heywood Sauls died 8 January 1927 in the Wilson County Home, Wilson township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was 101 years old; was a widower; and was buried in Wilson County.

Sauls’ death certificate places his birth in 1825, a few years after the February 1821 claim. However, census and marriage records indicate a birth year between 1834 and 1843, averaging 1836. This would have made Haywood Sauls actually about 90 when he died in early 1927, still an extraordinary age for a man who’d grown to adulthood in slavery.

A belated birthday visit with Mrs. Bell.

I sent Inez Dickerson Bell a card for her 101st birthday last month, but decided to pop in to see her, too. She was enjoying a little quiet time in her room, but was happy to see me, and we spent a pleasant half-hour or so chatting about the old neighborhood. She marveled at her great age (“That’s a lot of birthdays! I must have done something right”); spoke fondly of my parents (“Beverly is so pretty. And so sweet. She looks good, and she acts like she feels good.” “Rederick! We miss him! He wouldn’t ask for nothing, and next thing you know that garbage can is in the back. Who did it? Rederick! He was doing something good all the time. I’m a witness to that!”); praised me and my sister for our good comportment; reminisced about the Belette Women’s Club; shared tips (“The Bible says ‘do unto others!'”); and philosophied (“I’ve had a good life if I go ‘way from here tomorrow.”) Finally, as I stood to leave, she motioned to her side table: “Take one of these. Enjoy it! ‘Cause I’m gon enjoy mine!” 

As always, thank you so much, Mrs. Bell! See you next time!

Sarah, age 100.

The 1860 federal slave schedules generally did not call for the names of enslaved individuals. Rather, they were listed as anonymous tallies under their enslaver’s name, identified only by age, sex, and complexion (B for black or M for mulatto). However, as an exception, census enumerators were instructed to explicitly record the first names of enslaved people who were 100 years old or older.

Thus, in the enumeration of Wilson township, Wilson County, Mary Barnes reported Sarah, who was believed to be 100.

[Was Sarah actually 100 years old? We have no way to know. In an era of sparse documentation of births and repeatedly broken chains of ownership, Mary Barnes may have been guessing. Well into the twentieth century, the ages of black people who reached their late 70s or 80s — well past life expectancy — were regularly inflated.]

Rest in peace, Willie Woodard Sr.

Willie Woodard Sr. celebrated his 100th birthday in September surrounded by generations of family and friends. This past Saturday, after a brief illness, he passed from labor to reward. As his son Eric Woodard shared, “He was active and vibrant for most of his 100 years of life. He cared deeply for family and friends, and he was full of good humor and had a surprisingly quick wit. He loved singing songs of praise and worship to the Lord, playing his guitar and harmonica, and most of all, praying for and sharing his faith with others.”

Rest in perfect peace, Mr. Woodard. My deepest condolences to all he loved.

Photographs courtesy of Eric M. Woodard.

The obituary of Lillie Mae Wallace McNair, 104.

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Lillie Mae Wallace McNair, 22 January 1913-14 May 2017.

“Ms. Lillie Mae Wallace McNair, age 104, resident of Avante’ Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of Wilson entered into her eternal rest on Saturday, May 14, 2017.

“Funeral services will be held 2 PM Saturday, May 20, 2017 at Piney Grove Free Will Baptist Church, 309 Vick Street, Wilson, NC. Interment will follow in Rest Haven Cemetery.  Bishop Robert J. Smith will officiate.  A viewing will be held on Friday, May 19, 2017 from 5 PM to 8:30 PM with the family receiving friends from 7 PM to 8 PM at Carrons Funeral Home.

“Lillie Mae leaves to cherish her loving memories to her daughter, Sandra Watson of Baltimore, MD; two granddaughters, Wanda MacDonald of Fayetteville, NC and Karen Smith of Randallston, MD; six great grandchildren; nieces; nephews; other relatives and friends.”

——

In the 1920 census of 364th Militia District, Dodge County, Georgia: farm manager Ben Wallace, 56; wife Hendie, 49; children Susie, 16, Kisom, 12, Lillie Mae, 6, and James, 3; stepdaughter Hattie Burch, 22, widow, and her children Corine, 4, and Lizzie, 8 months; and stepdaughter Alice Roberson, 30, widow.

In the 1930 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farm laborer Ben Wallace, 55; wife Endie, 50, laundress; and children Alice R., 39, laundress, Isham, 18, farm laborer, Lillie M., 15, servant, and James, 12.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 716 Viola, India Wallace, 69, widow; son-in-law Willie Thomas, 26, city utilities laborer; daughter Linnie B. Thomas, 27, tobacco factory hanger; daughter Lillie M. Wallace, 21, servant; and grandson Albert Applewhite, 20, tobacco factory laborer.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 627 Viola, James McNeil [sic], 44, farm implement company mechanic; wife Lillie Mae, 30, servant; mother India Wallace, 67; and niece Sandra Wallace, 9.

Endia Wallace died 6 October 1957 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 6 May 1882 in Georgia to Isham and Emily Dandy; was a widow; and lived at 627 Viola Street. Lillie Mae McNair was informant.

Happy 100th birthday, Willie Woodard!

Willie Woodard celebrating with family and friends!

Black Wide-Awake honors Willie Woodard on his 100th birthday and wishes him so many more!

Mr. Woodard has deep Wilson County roots, tracing his paternal lineage to an enslaved woman named Priscilla Woodard born about 1795. Priscilla Woodard’s son James Woodard married Caroline Farmer about 1861. The couple registered their cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace in 1866, and their six children included Mintus Woodard, born about 1867. Mintus Woodard married Sarah Hayes on Christmas Eve 1901, and Mintus Woodard Jr. was second among their 13 children. Mintus Woodard Jr. married Mary Lillie Ward in 1922, and Willie Woodard arrived 21 September 1925.

Photo courtesy of Eric Woodard.

Edwards family holds 9th annual reunion in Elm City.

Like clockwork, the Edwards family gathers on the Fourth of July. This past Friday’s reunion was extra-special as the family also celebrated the 100th birthday of Amanda Mitchell Cameron. Mrs. Cameron was present at the very first reunion in 1934 and every reunion since, including this one in 1943:

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 17 July 1943.

Happy 100th birthday, Inez Dickerson Bell!

Sending extra-special 100th birthday wishes to Inez Dickerson Bell! Mrs. Bell was my parents’ neighbor for more than 40 years. The last time I saw her, just before the pandemic, we were at K&W Restaurant, and she slipped me a ten-dollar bill for a little spending change.

Today, her family, friends, and sorors of Delta Sigma Theta will celebrate her long and accomplished life at a gathering at Saint John A.M.E. Zion, the church she has attended all her life. Best wishes, Mrs. Bell!

Wilson Daily Times, 22 September 1986.

 

UPDATE:

Mrs. Bell at her birthday party!

 

Happy 100th birthday, Amanda Mitchell Cameron!

Sending extra-special 100th birthday wishes to the beautiful, warm, charming Amanda Gray Mitchell Cameron!

Mrs. Cameron lives independently on the land she grew up on and is always so generous with her time and memories of the Elm City area, Frederick Douglass High School, and her family’s fight for educational and economic opportunity. She is a treasure!