chauffeur

Snaps, no. 73: Jake Mitchell.

Jane Cooke Hawthorne shared these beautiful images of Jake Mitchell shot by her father, dentist (and photographer) Charles Cooke, in 1973. Mitchell was houseman and later chauffeur to generations of tobacconist Howell G. Whitehead III’s family.

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In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: George Mitchel, 23, day laborer; wife Rosa, 23; and children William, 2, and George, 1.

In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer George Mitchell, 29; wife Rosa, 30; and children George, 11, Bunyan, 9, Frank L., 5, Albert and Alton, 3, and Rosa, 1.

On 8 November 1922, Jake Mitchell, 21, son of George and Rosa Mitchell, married Mandy Lucus, 19, daughter of Wyatt and Elizabeth Lucus, in Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister Jeremiah Scarboro performed the ceremony “on Daniel Hill” in the presence of Della Smith, George Thorne and James Blake.

In the 1930 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Jake Mitchell, 27, farmer; wife Manda, 28; and children Jake T., 3, and Jewell D. [Geraldine], 1.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 410 Warren Street, W.P.A. cement finisher Jake Mitchel, 38; wife Mamie, 39, cook; and children Jake, 13, Jeraldine, 11, and Edna Gray, 9.

In 1942, Jake Mitchell registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 12 October 1903 in Wilson; lived at 410 Warren Street, Wilson; his contact was George Mitchell, Finch Street; and he worked for tobacco dealer H.G. Whitehead at 505 West Nash Street.

Both Jake and Amanda Locus Mitchell worked in the Whitehead household. In 1953, Nolia G. and Howell G. Whitehead transferred to the Mitchells a house and lot at 810 West Walnut Street, in Daniel Hill.

Wilson Daily Times, 1 October 1953.

Three years later, realtor George T. Stronach Jr. and his wife Nancy C. sold the Mitchells a lot on Queen Street, in East Wilson.

Wilson Daily Times, 12 December 1956.

The following spring, Jake Mitchell secured a building permit to erect a five-room brick house on the Queen Street lot.

Wilson Daily Times, 11 March 1957.

Rosa Mitchell died 6 April 1959 at 335 Finch Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 16 May 1883  in Wilson County to Stephen Lipkins [Lipscomb] and Mariah (last name unknown) and was a widow. Jake Mitchell was informant.

in 1960, under the terms of Nola Gardner Whitehead’s will, Jake and Mandy Mitchell received bequests of $500 each as well as a 1950 Buick.

Wilson Daily Times, 2 March 1960.

Jake Mitchell died 8 June 1975 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 12 October 1900 to George Mitchell and Rosa Libson [Lipscomb]; was married to Amanda Locus; lived at 1305 Queen Street; and was a chauffeur.

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Jake Mitchell reminisced about running dogs for P.L. Woodard, merchant and president of Contentnea Guano Company.

Many thanks to Jane Cooke Hawthorne!

Jesse Pender, veteran and chef.

In 2011, a Palm Springs, California, news reporter interviewed Wilson native Jesse D. Pender Sr., then 96, about his World War II service, his early work for a brothel keeper, and his years cooking for a president.

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The Desert Sun, 4 December 2011.

In the 1920 census of Goldsboro township, Wayne County: farmer Joseph Pender, 49; wife Ella L., 42; amd children Edward D., 14, Maggie, 9, Ernest, 12, Alonzo, 7, Jesse, 4, Georgiana, 3, and Josephine, 1.

On 29 December 1937, Jesse Pender, 23, of Wilson County, son of Joe and Ella Pender of Wilson County married Erma Dean Hines, 18, daughter of Louis and Martha Hines of Wilson County, in Nashville, Nash County.

In 1940, Jesse David Powell registered for the World War II draft in Wilson. Note his employer.

Betty Powell and Mallie Paul, Depression-era Wilson’s most notorious white madams, ran neighboring brothels on Jones and South Streets. In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County, Georgia native Bettie Powell, 46, is listed without occupation, and her three lodgers, all white women in their early 20s, were occupied as “companion-private home.”

Betty Powell made out her will in March 1945. After disposing of bonds, bank accounts, real property and jewelry, she bequeathed “all the residue of my estate to Jesse Pender and all of the girls including my maids, that may be residing with me at my death, to share and share alike.” She died just over a year later.

Wilson Daily Times, 7 May 1946.

Pender’s workplace before Betty Powell hired him to drive. Advertisement, Facts About Wilson North Carolina, Wilson Chamber of Commerce (1934).

Pender at age 102. Photo courtesy of “A Flowery Tribute in Palm Springs as Warplanes Fly in Formation in Memorial Day Salute,” The Desert Sun, 29 May 2017.

Thanks to my frequent collaborator S.M. Stevens (and her grandmother Willia Jones Turner) for forwarding this clipping. North Carolina Wills and Estates, 1665-1998 [database on-line], http://www.ancestry.com.

 

Snaps, no. 9: Mr. DeShon’s driver.

This photograph depicts James P. “Jake” DeShon and his driver, whose name is unknown, at a construction site believed to be in Wilson County.  The automobile’s license tag reads: “Wilson N.C. 2315.” DeShon lived in Raleigh, and it is likely that the driver was provided for his convenience during his business visit. The car appears to a Model A Ford from the late 1920s or early 1930s. DeShon died in 1933. Does anyone recognize the driver?

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Photograph courtesy of Cathy Torbert Dent.