Coley

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 1920-21) 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!

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.

Studio shots, no. 183: Lydia Meeks Grissom Coley.

Lydia Lee Meeks Grissom Coley (1892-1946).

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In the 1900 census of Princeville, Township No. 1, Edgecombe County: day laborer Philip Meeks, 59; wife Nancy, 49, janitress; and daughters Cristiana, 15, and Dila L. [Lydia], 9. [Lydia was actually a granddaughter.]

On 24 July 1913, Herman Grissom, 22, of Wilson, son of Willis and Hattie Grissom, married Lydia Meeks, 20, of Edgecombe, daughter of Philip and Nancy Meeks, at Saint Paul’s A.M.E. Zion in Tarboro, Edgecombe County.

Herman Nadies Grissom died 23 March 1921 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 12 January 1891 in Wilson to Willis Grissom of Franklin County, N.C., and Hattie Thorne of Wilson; was married to Lydia Grissom; lived at 201 Vick Street; and worked as a barber.

In the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Grissom Lydia (c) hair dresser 201 N Vick

On 9 October 1924, Jasper Coley, 40, of Wilson, married Lydia Grissom, 30, of Wilson, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister J.E. Kennedy performed the ceremony in the presence of D.H. Coley, Sallie Coley, and Annie L. Kennedy.

In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Grissom Lydia (c) hair dresser 201 N Vick

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Coley Jasper (c; Lydia) barber Bonnie [sic, Barney] Reid h 401 [sic] N Vick

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 201 Vick Street, owned and valued at $1200, barber Jasper Coley, 50; wife Lila, 47, teacher at county school; daughters Dorothy, 25, teacher at county school, and Ruth Grissom, 19; and son Jasper Coley, 13.

In 1945, Jasper Allison Coley Jr. registered for the World War II draft in Wilson. Per his registration card, he was born 6 January 1927 in Wilson; lived at 201 North Vick; worked at Barshay’s Ladies Shop, Nash Street, Wilson; and his contact was mother Lydia Coley. He had a scar from a burn on his right hand.

Lydia Lee Coley died 7 March 1946 at Lincoln Hospital in Durham, N.C. Per her death certificate, she was born 9 October 1892 in Tarboro, N.C., to Rebecca Meeks; was married to Jasper Coley; lived at 201 North Vick Street, Wilson; and was a teacher. Informant was Dorothy Parker, 624 East Green Street.

Photo courtsey of Ancestry.com user Debra Winfrey.

A public library for black citizens.

Wilson County Public Library’s Local History Room holds a copy of “A History of Public Library Service to Blacks in Wilson, N.C.,” the master’s thesis Doretta Davis Anderson submitted to the University of North Carolina’s School of Library Science in 1976. Here are early excerpts :

“The honor of first suggesting a public library for the black citizens of Wilson, North Carolina belonged to a Mrs. Argie Evans Allen. Mrs. Allen suggested the idea of establishing a library for the black community as a project for her club, the Mary McLeod Bethune Civic Club. Accepting the idea, the club then authorized Mrs. Allen to carry our the project as she saw fit.

“The first actual recorded interest in the establishment of the library appeared in a letter, written by Mrs. Allen to Mrs. Mollie Huston Lee on June 7, 1943. Mrs. Lee, at that time was supervisor of North Carolina’s Negro Public Libraries.  …

“Subsequently, Dr. D.C. Yancey donated a room over his drugstore to the club for the establishment of a library. …

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“… Volunteers were solicited to man the library. The first official ‘librarian’ was Evangeline Royal, a local high school student employed to operate the library after school.”

“The following persons were appointed to become members of the library’s first board of trustees: Mrs. W.M. Freeman (Chairman); E. Hilliard (Secretary); James Whitfield (Treasurer); E.F. Battle; William Hines; Dr. D.C. Yancey; and C.W. Foster.

“Considering its relative obscurity, the library was to circulate 108 volumes during its first year of operations and collect $539.40 in donations for operating expenses.

“The following year showed a marked improvement. Aside from acquiring a new librarian, the board of trustees was able to solicit appropriations from the local city and county officials for the financing of the library. … Under the direction of Miss Pauleze Coley (Bryant), the college graduate employed by the library, circulation for the year ending June 30, 1945 totaled 3,172 volumes. …”

Proposed floor plan of Wilson County Negro Library’s location on Pender Street.

  • Argie Evans Allen
  • D.C. Yancey — D’arcey C. Yancey.
  • Evangeline Royal — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 203 Pender Street, widow Ossie M. Royall, 33, an elevator girl at the courthouse; her mother Tossie Jenkins, 53, stemmer at a tobacco factory; daughters LaForest, 16, and Evauline Royall, 14; and a roomer named Ed Hart, 45, a laborer employed by the town of Wilson. Ossie and LaForest were born in Wilson; Evangeline in Battleboro [Nash County]; and Tossie and Ed in Nash County.
  • W.M. Freeman — Willie Mae Hendley Freeman.
  • E. Hilliard
  • James Whitfield
  • E.F. Battle
  • William Hines
  • C.W. Foster — Carter W. Foster.
  • Pauleze Coley (Bryant) — Elizabeth Pauleze Coley Bryant.

115 Pender Street East today. The library was housed in the storefront at left until the early 1970s, when it moved to a location on Pender south of Nash Street. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.