church cemetery

The obituary of Pet Barnes, buried in Barnes Cemetery.

Wilson Daily Times, 7 April 1945.

Pet Barnes died 7 April 1945 in Wilson township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was 67 years old; was born in Wilson County to Benjamin Anderson and Catherine [no maiden name]; was married to James Barnes; worked in farming; and was buried in Barnes cemetery.

Her obituary reveals that her funeral was held at Barnes Church, which we visited here. Where was Barnes Church cemetery though?

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In the 1900 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Jim Barnes, 36; wife Pet, 25; and children Effie, 7, Robert, 5, Carrie, 2, and Willie, 4 months.

In the 1910 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: James Barnes, 40; wife Pet, 38; children Ellie, 17, Robert L., 15, Cora, 11, Floyd, 9, William, 6, and Eugene, 2; mother-in-law Katie Anderson, 70, and sister-in-law Maggie Anderson, 42.

In the 1920 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: tenant farmer James Barnes, 52; wife Pet, 47; children Floyd, 18, Billie, 16, Genia L., 13, and Katherine, 6; and granddaughter Eadie Bell Pope, 5 months.

In the 1930 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer James Barnes, 61; wife Pet, 59; children William, 24, P.B., 22, Katherine, 16, and Edith, 9; sister-in-law Maggie Anderson, 65; and father Harry Barnes, 95.

In the 1940 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Eugene Barnes, 29, farm laborer; wife Gertrude, 26; mother-in-law Pet, 64; father [sic] James, 64; and nephew Howard Pope, 6.

James Barnes died 8 March 1946 in Stantonsburg township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 12 March 1876 in Wilson County to Harry Barnes and Sylvia Barnes; was the widower of Pet Barnes; worked in farming; and was buried in Barnes Cemetery.

A road trip to an Edgecombe County historical marker (and a familiar “face.”)

Yesterday, I drove up to north Edgecombe County to see the new Equal Rights League historical marker for myself. It stands on Highway 33, between Whitakers and Leggett,  adjacent to Red Hill Missionary Baptist Church, which was founded in the 1870s. The  church’s cemetery is across the road, and as I looped through it, I spotted the familiar long-tailed 9’s of Clarence B. Best‘s work. 

Oscar Lyons’ headstone is classic Clarence Best — the deeply incised font, the off-center epitaph, the recycled tablet itself, with its top surface showing a chiseled-out panel.

And nearby — not Wilson County-related, but just because I love a good local artisan — was the concrete Williams marker, which may be related to the delicately engraved headstones I’ve seen at Saint Delight in Greene County. 

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, December 2023.