Dantley

70 years of wedded bliss.

This charming piece celebrates the life and seven-decade love of Aaron and Mamie Ricks Dantley, whom we first met here. Dantley was born in Georgia, but moved to Elm City as a boy. There he met his future wife on the playground of their four-room school. He migrated to Washington, D.C., first. She followed, and they married in a funeral home on 30 June 1930.

The New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.), 27 February 2000.

The Dantleys celebrated one more anniversary together. Mamie Ricks Dantley died 13 May 2001, and Aaron Dantley, 18 June 2003.

Maggie Ricks Barnes’ marriage announced.

The New York Age, 5 July 1930.

Maggie Marie Ricks married John Barnes, not Banner.

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  • Nannie Ricks

In the 1880 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farm laborer William Gaston, 24; wife Maria, 21; children Willie, 7, Lola E., 5, Clara, 4, and Nannie, 2; and George Harrison, 35, schoolteacher.

In the 1900 census of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: widow Mirah Gaston, 33; children Lola, 22, Nancy, 19, Lula, 16, Eddie, 15, Cora, 13, Fredrick, 8, and Elma, 6; and orphans, Eva, 11, and Mary Barnes, 20.

On 4 July 1900, Ed Ricks, 33, of Wilson County, son of Ben and Abby Ricks, married Nannie Gaston, 21, of Wilson County, daughter of William and Mariah Gaston, at the bride’s residence in Elm City, Wilson County.

In the 1910 census of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: on Church Street, Ed Ricks, 33, odd jobs laborer; wife Nanie, 30, laundress; and children Sidney, 11, C[illegible], 7, Maggie, 3, and Minnie C., 1 month.

In the 1920 census of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: on Railroad Street, Ed Ricks, 41, digs wells; wife Nanie, 38; children Siddie, 20, Annie, 17, Maggie, 11, Nannie, 10, Raph, 8, and Ruth, 5; and niece Albie Walker, 17.

In the 1930 census of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: laborer Ed Ricks, 52; wife Nannie, 50; children Mamie, 21, and Ruth, 16; and grandson Eugene, 10 months.

In the 1940 census of Washington, D.C.: Aaron Dantley, 32; wife Mamie, 31; children Eugene, 10, Dorothy, 8, Annie, 6, Ralph, 4, Aaron, 3, and Ruth, 3 months; brother-in-law John Barnes, 33, and sister-in-law Maggie, 33; brother-in-law Alonzo Pender, 27, and sister-in-law Ruth, 26; mother-in-law Nannie Ricks, 60; Velmont Ricks, 24, nephew; and lodgers Robert Blackwell, 28, and wife Minnie, 26.

In 1940, Ralph Ricks registered for the World War II draft in Washington, D.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 16 September 1911 in Elm City, N.C.; lived at 1530 Swann Street, N.W.; his contact was mother Nannie Ricks, 1742-6th Street, N.W.; and he worked for Joseph Westline.

Nannie Gaston Ricks died 8 February 1949 in Washington, D.C.

Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 9 February 1949.

  • Maggie Marie Ricks Barnes

In the 1910 census of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: on Church Street, Ed Ricks, 33, odd jobs laborer; wife Nanie, 30, laundress; and children Sidney, 11, C[illegible], 7, Maggie, 3, and Minnie C., 1 month.

In the 1920 census of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: on Railroad Street, Ed Ricks, 41, digs wells; wife Nanie, 38; children Siddie, 20, Annie, 17, Maggie, 11, Nannie, 10, Raph, 8, and Ruth, 5; and niece Albie Walker, 17.

On 31 [sic] June 1930, John Barnes, 22, of Toisnot township, son of John and Hattie Barnes, married Maggie Ricks, 23, of Toisnot township, daughter of Ed and Nannie Ricks, in Wilson, Wilson County.

In the 1940 census of Washington, D.C.: at 1742 Sixth Street, Aaron Dantley, 32; wife Mamie, 31; children Eugene, 10, Dorothy, 8, Annie, 6, Ralph, 4, Aaron, 3, and Ruth, 3 months; brother-in-law John Barnes, 33, and sister-in-law Maggie, 33; brother-in-law Alonzo Pender, 27, and sister-in-law Ruth, 26; mother-in-law Nannie Ricks, 60; Velmont Ricks, 24, nephew; and lodgers Robert Blackwell, 28, and wife Minnie, 26.

In the 1950 census of Washington, D.C.: at 1742 Sixth Street, Aaron Dantley, 42, machine operator, born in Georgia; wife Mamie, 39, rooming house maid service, 39; born in N.C.; children Eugene, 21, Dorothy, 18, Annie, 16, Ralph, 15, Avon, 14, Elaine, 10, and Mamie, 9; brother-in-law Elonza Pender, 34; sister-in-law Ruth Pender, 32; sister-in-law Marie Barnes, 42, and brother-in-law John Barnes, 42.

The extended Ricks-Dantley family (of which former NBA star Adrian Dantley is a member) shared the three-story building at 1742 Sixth Street, N.W., in D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood for decades. The three condominiums in the building are now valued from $500,000 to $700,000. Image courtesy of Google Maps.

Elm City news.

NY_Age_7_12_1930_Elm_City_news

New York Age, 12 July 1930.

  • Bedford Severage – Bedford Savage Lucas was born about 1907 to Frank Savage and Serena Woodard. She married Elias Lucas on 6 July 1930 in Wilson and died 25 July 1965 in Wilson.
  • Elias Lucas – Elias Joseph Lucas was born in Elm City in 1908 to Haywood and Cora Williams Lucas.
  • Alice Hunter — in the 1930 census of Elm City town, Toisnot township, Wilson County: Eliza Pinkney, 34, and sister Alice Hunter, 40. Alice Hunter died 20 April 1960 in Elm City. Her death certificate lists her parents as Hilliard Hunter and Mary Jane Pitt, and Eliza Pinkney was the informant. Hilliard Hunter and Mary Jane Pitt married 11 April 1878 in Toisnot township. Per estate records, Hunter died about 1893.
  • Eliza Pinkney – Eliza Pinkney, wife of Jim Pinkney and daughter of Hilliard Hunter and Mary Jones, died 10 July 1969 in Wilson.
  • Mary Hunter – Mary Whitehead Hunter, born 1886 in Nash County to Benjamin and Frances Whitehead, was the wife of Alice and Eliza’s brother Willie Hunter. She died 1 July 1930 in Wilson.
  • Katie Wynn – in the 1930 census of Elm City town, Toisnot township, Wilson County: railroad shifter Jessie Winn, 38; wife Katie, 37; and children Ralph, 16; George, 14; Charlie, 9; Jennie M., 7; Marie, 6; Herbert, 4; Katie, 2; and Edward Winn, 1. Katie Davis Wynn was born 30 May 1901 in Edgecombe County to John and Mary Williams Davis. She did 13 June 1963 in Elm City. Jessie Wynn died in 1946.
  • Genevieve Ward — Genevieve Ward was born in 1912 to Peter James Ward and Vallie Hockaday Ward. In the 1920 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: railroad laborer Peter Ward, 35; wife Vallie, 28; and children V. Jennie V., 7; James, 6; and Eliza Ward, 3 months. Peter Ward, son of Jim and Phyliss Winstead Ward , died 17 October 1938 in Elm City.
  • Mamie Clyde Ricks Dantly –Mamie Clyde Ricks was born in 1909. At the time of the 1930 census, she had not yet joined her husband Aaron Dantley, who is shown living in a rooming house in Washington DC and working as a hotel waiter. Instead, she is listed as a 20 year-old in Elm City town, Toisnot township, with Ed Ricks, 52; Nannie, 50; Ruth, 16; and Eugene, 10 months.

MC Dantley

  • Mary Gaston — in the 1930 census of Elm City town, Toisnot township: Dewey Gaston, 30, barber; wife Mary, 20; and children Doris L., 5, and Victor H., 3. Next door in one direction: barbershop proprietor George Gaston, 72, and daughter Ada, a teacher, 43. In the other: John Gaston, 48, brickmason; wife Nannie, 41; daughters Pricilla, 21, and Minnie, 18; plus mother-in-law Mary Barnes, 62. Dewey Gaston, 23, son of George and Priscilla Gaston, married Mary B. Howard, 24, daughter of Mary E. Darden, on 8 March 1923 in Tarboro, Edgecombe County. Witnesses were Mancie Gaston and Fannie F. Ricks of Elm City. Dewey Milton Gaston, born 11 November 1899 in Elm City, died 16 February 1948. His father George died 30 May 1934.
  • Charles and Clarence Nicholson — Charles B. Nicholson and Clarence Everard Nicholson were born 24 December 1914 in Elm City to Thomas Harrison Nicholson (originally of Halifax County) and Clara Williams Nicholson. [Which golf course could African Americans play on in Wilson in 1930?]