Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 28 February 1942.
Dr. John W. Darden, friend of Booker T. Washington, arrived in Opelika, Alabama, in 1902. His younger brother James B. Darden briefly served as pharmacist in his drugstore before settling in Petersburg, Virginia.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 27 July 1946.
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Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 22 April 1939.
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A.A. Morisey‘s column Carolina Chronicles reported the surprising news that Camillus L. Darden had been called to jury duty in Wilson County Superior Court.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 24 February 1940.
Wilson Daily Times, 20 May 1930.
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What a gem!
This undated Christmas card from Camillus L. and Norma Duncan Darden features their home at 108 North Pender Street.
Image courtesy of an anonymous reader. Thank you!
We read here of the terrible Christmas Eve accident in which four young people were killed when a train struck their car at a foggy rail crossing. Funeral directors were commonly appointed administrators of the estates of people who died without wills, and Camillus L. Darden handled dozens, including Zollie Brockington‘s.
Brockington’s mother, Mary Sketters Brockington, filed claims for her son’s wrongful death claim and the destruction of her vehicle. In his final account to the court, Darden noted that he “was advised by Attorneys to accept settlement of $500.00 as the evidence in the case was very weak and there was probability that recovery was not very good.” After Darden’s funeral home was paid $310 for their services, and court costs and legal fees were paid, Mary Brockington received $116.25.
Wilson, North Carolina, Property Settlement Records 1942-1960, http://www.familysearch.org.
Wilson Daily Times, 1 November 1929.
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This suit is most interesting, in my view, because Camillus L. Darden, in his capacity as administrator of the estate of Evan Powell, was going up against R.G. Lassiter and Company, the roadwork behemoth.
Powell was born in far southeast North Carolina, 125 miles from Wilson. He had left Columbus County before he was 20, finding work as a furnace man at a Baltimore copper smelting company. He registered for the World War I draft in Maryland, listing his mother in North Carolina as his nearest relative. By 1920, he had returned home to Whiteville. When he arrived in Wilson is unknown, but he settled into a house on Hadley Street and took a job as a day laborer with R.G. Lassiter. On 28 December 1928, he was digging a ditch at a Mercer Street construction site when the trench collapsed, crushing him under the dirt. He was pulled free, paralyzed, but died two days later.
Darden’s lawyers pursued the case to the North Carolina Supreme Court, where Powell’s estate ultimately was awarded $5234.03, with costs and interest. The final account Darden filed shows payments for attorneys and other litigation expenses, a a nice commission for Darden, and the remaining 40% divided between Powell’s four siblings.
Wilson County, North Carolina, Property Settlement Records 1923-1931, http://www.familysearch.org.
Pittsburgh Courier, 19 October 1946.
Mrs. L.C. Darden was, in fact, Mrs. Camillus L. Darden — Norma Duncan Darden.
