Coley

Mack D. Coley, as imagined.

I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.

I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated. Let me know what you think about them.

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Mack D. Coley (1864-1950), teacher and principal.

Ethel Coley retires after 40+ years of teaching.

Wilson Daily Times, 6 May 1971.

Long-time teacher Ethel Moye Coley‘s early education came at Wilson Training School, also known as the Independent School or Industrial School — the school the Black community founded after leaving Wilson Colored Graded School in protest in 1918.

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In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 459 Goldsboro Street, widowed laundress Della Moye, 31, with her children Albert, 17, twins Hattie and Mattie, 9, and Ethel, 2.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moye Ethel (c) student h 420 E Green

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: laundress Delia A. Moye, 50; grandson William A., 12; Zophey Sills, 25, cook; and Ethel M. Moye, 19.

On 29 December 1933, John A. Cain Jr., 24, of Durham, son of John A. Cain Sr. and Georgeanna Cain, married Ethel Moye, 24, of Wilson, daughter of Boston Moye and Delia Moye, in Raleigh, Wake County, N.C.

On 18 August 1944, Ethel Mae Moye, 35, daughter of O.L.W. Smith and Della Smith [sic], married David H. Coley, 49, son of W.H. and Luanna Coley, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister W.A. Hilliard performed the ceremony in the presence of C.L. Darden, Norma Darden and Mrs. Ambrose Floyd.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1207 Washington Street, David H. Coley, 56, barber, and wife Ethel Cain Coley, 40, primary teacher/principal at rural school.

Wilson Daily Times, 27 February 1987.

Stanback gives McBrayer power of attorney.

Five days after entering State Prison on a bank fraud conviction, Henry S. Stanback gave lawyer Glenn S. McBrayer power of attorney to handle a deed of trust executed by Thomas and Victoria Coley.

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In the 1930 census of Crossroads township, Wilson County: farmer Thomas Coley, 55; wife Victoria, 44; daughters Mary, 15, Pennie, 13, and Sallie, 9; nephew Richard, 27, and niece Pauline, 21, both laborers; and lodger Tobie Durden, 75, laborer.

Wilson [County, North Carolina] Power of Attorney Records 1859-1961, http://www.familysearch.org.

The dissolution of Coley & Taylor Barbershop.

We saw here that David H. Coley and my grandfather Roderick Taylor Sr. briefly operated a barbershop on South Goldsboro Street. The document below pinpoints the date of the dissolution of their business partnership. Unable to agree on terms, on 20 April 1926, Coley and Taylor turned over “all fixtures, equipment, barber supplies” and other property in the shop at 105 South Goldsboro to trustee Calvin F. Young. Young was to sell the property, pay off any liens, pay wages due any “workmen, barbers and servants,” pay off debts, and pay out the remainder to the parties.

Wilson County, North Carolina, Miscellaneous Records, http://www.familysearch.org.

Historic Black Business Series, no. 20: Coley & Taylor’s barbershop.

The 500 block of East Nash Street is justly remembered as the 20th century epicenter of Wilson’s African-American-owned businesses. However, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Black entrepreneurs and tradespeople also operated across the tracks. As Wilson’s downtown experiences a resurgence, let’s rediscover and celebrate these pioneering men and women.

Check in each Sunday for the latest in the Historic Black Business Series!

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Though they spent most of the careers working for Walter S. Hines, David H. Coley and Roderick Taylor Sr. briefly joined forces to open their own barbershop in the mid-1920s. They set up at 105 South Goldsboro Street, as shown in the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory. By 1928, however, the partnership had dissolved.

1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory.

Mack D. Coley, Colored Graded School principal.

When Henry C. Lassiter and Turner G. Williamson graduated Lincoln University in June 1895, their classmates included Mack Daniel Coley. Coley was born in 1864 in northern Wayne County. He graduated from Hampton Institute’s preparatory division in 1890.

Excerpt from Twenty-Two Years’ Work, see below.

After receiving a bachelor’s degree at Lincoln, he returned to North Carolina.

New York Times, 5 June 1895.

M.D. Coley’s remarkable career as educator (which included a stint as principal of Wilson Colored Graded School circa 1919-21) and lawyer is chronicled in Arthur Bunyan Caldwell’s History of the American Negro and His Institutions (1921):

Coley did not helm the Graded School for long. He and his family are listed in the 1920 census of the Town of Mount Olive, Wayne County, and he may have boarded alone in Wilson during his short tenure. He died in Mount Olive in 1950.

Twenty-Two Years’ Work of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute at Hampton, Virginia (Records of Negro and Indian Graduates and Ex-Students with historical and personal sketches and testimony on important race questions from within and without, to which are added, by courtesy Messrs Putnam’s Sons, N.Y., some of the Songs of the Races gathered in the School (Hampton Normal School Press, 1893).

The obituary of Lydia Meeks Grissom Coley.

This clipping of an obituary for Lydia Meeks Grissom Coley is found in a scrapbook kept by Savannah Powell Farmer (1908-1996). I have not been able to source the newspaper or its date of publication, but it does not appear to have come from the Wilson Daily Times.

Many thanks to Levolyre Farmer Pitt for sharing her mother’s scrapbook!

UPDATE, 4 September 2025: the clipping was from 30 March 1946 Norfolk Journal and Guide!

 

Studio shots, no. 224: Peter Coley.

Peter Coley (1842-bef. 1900).

Several Peter Coleys lived in northern Wayne County, North Carolina, in the late 1880s. The portrait above has been labeled as Peter Coley, husband of Rachel Exum Coley, by numerous Ancestry.com users. However, considerable misinformation about this Peter is floating around that site, including an erroneous death date of 1924. In fact, Coley died before 1900. His widow and children moved back and forth across the county line between Fremont in Wayne County and Black Creek in Wilson County.

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In the 1870 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County: blacksmith Peter Coley, 28; wife Rachel, 21; and children Lula, 4, James E., 3, and Mary E., 7 months.

In the 1880 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County: farmer Peter Coley, 39; wife Rachel, 33; and children Zola, 13, James, 12, Frany, 10, Willie, 8, Pennelopode, 6, Thomas, 5, John, 4, and Rachel, 1 month.

In the 1900 census of Fremont, Wayne County: John Coley, 23; his sisters Rachel, 21, Pennie, 20, Calie, 19, Rebeker, 17, and Pealie, 12; and [brother] Jack.

On 7 October 1903, Jonah Bunch, 22, of Wayne County, son of Mack and Caroline Bunch, married Pennie Coley, 23, of Black Creek, daughter of P. and Rachel Coley, in Black Creek township, Wilson County. Father P. Coley was dead; mother Rachel Coley lived in Black Creek.

On 25 November 1903, Edward Crummedy, 25, of Black Creek, son of Calvin and Della Crummedy, married Rachel Coley, 25, of Black Creek, daughter of Peter and Rachel Coley, married in Wilson, N.C. Father Peter Coley was dead; mother Rachel Coley lived in Wilson.

In the 1910 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County: Jonah Bunch, 24; wife Penny, 26; sons William, 6, and Elijah, 2; nephew Zachariah Coley, 15; and mother Rachel Coley, 65, widow.

On 5 August 1914, John Coley, 37, of Wilson County, son of Peter and Rachel Coley, married Jennettie Rodgers, 34, of Wayne County, daughter of Ed and Lucy Rodgers, in Fremont, Nahunta township, Wayne County.

John Coley died 20 August 1919 in Nahunta township, Wayne County. Per his death certificate, he was 43 years old; was born in Wayne County to Peter Coley and Rachel Coley; was married; worked as a farmer; and was buried in the Fort graveyard, Fremont. Tom Coley, Lucama, was informant.

On 26 December 1922, Jeff Holloway, 55, of Nahunta township, son of Lewis and Caroline Holloway, married Sallie Coley Whitley, 41, of Nahunta township, daughter of Peter and Rachel Coley, in Nahunta.

Rachel Cromedy died 15 November 1924 in Nahunta township, Wayne County. Per her death certificate, she was 45 years old; was born in Wilson to Peter Coley and Rachel [no maiden name]; was married to Ed Cromedy; and was buried in Best graveyard.

Rachel Coley died 26 July 1928 in Black Creek township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was of unknown age; was born in Wayne County to John Exum and Saphonia Exum; was single [but married to Peter Coley, i.e. a widow]; and was buried in Coley graveyard.

James C. Coley died 21 July 1935 in Goldsboro, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was 67 years old; was born in Wayne County to Peter Coley and Rachel Exum; worked as a farmer; and lived at 426 Canal Street, Goldsboro.

Winnie Newsome died 4 August 1936 in Black Creek township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was 63 years old; was born in Wayne County to Peter Coley and Rachel Exum; was married to Stephen Newsome; and was buried in Wayne County.

On 24 October 1939, Richard Davis, 63, of Nahunta township, son of Phil and Emily Davis, married Rebecca Newsome, 52, of Nahunta township, daughter of Pete and Rachel Coley, in Nahunta township, Wilson County. Alex Adams of Wilson County was a witness.

Thomas Coley died 28 September 1942 in Mercy Hospital, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 11 April 1874 in Wayne County to Peter Coley and Rachel Elexon; worked as a farmer; was married to Victoria Coley; and was married to Coley Cemetery, Wilson.

Pennie Bunch died 7 August 1944 in Black Creek township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 17 January 1881 in Wayne County to Pete Coley and Rachel Exum; was married to Jonah Bunch; and was buried in Bunch Cemetery, Fremont, N.C.

Maggie Davis died 19 August 1946 in Old Fields township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 9 February 1884 in Wayne County to Peter Coley and Rachel Exium;  was married to Westley Davis; and was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery, Wilson.

Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user foothillsgirl.

In memoriam: Vivian Speight Coley, nonagenarian.

Vivian M. Speight Coley (1924-2023).

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In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 405 East Green, dentist William H. Phillips, 56; wife Rena C., 52; sister-in-law Isabelle Thornton, 62; and lodgers Ruth Williams, 26, Vivian Speight, 23, both public school teachers, Harold Schmoke, 30, movie theatre manager, Angus Williams, 21, projection operator, and James Williams, 20, chauffeur.

On 16 October 1950, Jasper Coley, 23, of Wilson County, son of Jasper Coley and Lydia Coley, married Vivian Speight, 23, of Greene County, daughter of Sylvester Speight and Minnie Speight, in Nashville, Nash County. Witnesses were Ruth G. Ward, Vivian G. Garner, and Luther Wingate, all of Wilson.

Retired teacher Vivian Speight Coley died 13 May 2023 in Wilson.