Deed book 290, page 585, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.
Herman Ernest Dannenberg of Baltimore, Maryland, died suddenly during a 1928 visit to Wilson, where he and his family had briefly lived. On 20 March 1941, the trustees of his estate sold to Camillus L. and Norma Duncan Darden a lot on Pender Street for the nominal sum of ten dollars.
At October Term 1857, Wilson County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions ordered the division of a group of eight enslaved people belonging to the estate of Theophilus Bass — Charles, Mary, Easter, Warren, Eliza, Martin, Sarah, and Howell.
As we saw here, Bass had inherited Charles, Mary and Easter (Esther) from his uncle James A. Barnes after the death of Barnes’ widow Sarah Daniel Barnes. Warren, Eliza, Martin, and possibly Sarah were Easter’s children. Their father Howell was also owned by James A. Barnes, but passed to McKinley Darden, and the Howell listed above may have been Howell and Easter’s child.
A ninth enslaved person, Mason, was ordered sold at public auction in Wilson County.
Sarah, valued at $250, was allotted to Winnefred Bass.
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We traced Charles, Mary, and Easter forward here.
In the 1870 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Howard Darden, 47, farm laborer; wife Esther, 38; and children Warren, 20, Eliza, 18, Martin, 17, Toby, 12, and Crawford, 1.
Warren Darden, 24, married Louisa Dew, 18, on 1 May 1873 in Wilson, before witnesses Amos Dew and Raiford Dew.
In the 1880 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Warren Darden, 30, wife Louisa, 25, children Warren, 3, and an unnamed infant, and farmhand Wilie Lee, 14.
In the 1900 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Warren Darden, 50; wife Lou, 45; and children Warren Jr., 23, Mary L., 18, Lizzie, 12, Sallie, 6, and Minnie, 2.
Minnie Darden died 7 May 1925 in Black Creek township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 27 August 1898 in Wilson County to Warren Darden and Louisa Darden. Grant Farmer was informant.
Sallie Farmer Eddie died 9 December 1945 in Black Creek township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 2 March 1891 in Wilson County to Warren Darden and Louisa Dew; was married to John Eddie; and was buried in Newsom Cemetery near Lucama, N.C. George W. Dew was informant.
On 29 December 1892, Henry Dortch, 52, of Wilson, son of Isaac Thorne and Bedie Artis, married Eliza Darden, 42, at Crawford Darden‘s in Wilson County. Free Will Baptist minister Daniel Blount performed, and Frank Woodard, Warren Darden, and Isom Sutton witnessed the ceremony.
On 22 December 1871, Martin Darden, son of Howell Darden and Esther Jordan, married Jane Dew, daughter of Haywood and Jane Dew, at H. Dew’s in Wilson County.
In the 1880 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Martin Darden, 27; wife 25; and daughters Esther, 5, Ellen, 5, and Nellie, 3.
On 25 December 1888, Lawrence Mitchell, 21, of Crossroads township, Wilson County, son of Primus Mitchell, married Ester Darden, 18, of Crossroads township, daughter of Martin and Jane Darden, at Primus Mitchell’s.
In the 1900 census of Great Swamp township, Wayne County: farmer Martin Darden, 48; Jane, 50; and children Tinsey, 17, Howard, 14, Jineva, 11, and Silvey, 9.
In the 1910 census of Glissons township, Duplin County, N.C.: farmer Martin Darden, 58; wife Jane, 59; and daughter Silva, 18.
On 27 January 1915, Clint Smith, 28, of Duplin County, son of Dudly and Priscilla Smith, married Silva Darden, 23, of Duplin County, daughter of Martin and Jane Darden, at Martin Darden’s in Glissons township.
Easter Mitchell died 16 November 1918 in Crossroads township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, she was 40 years old; was born in Wilson County to Martin Darden and an unknown mother; and was buried in Ricks graveyard.
In the 1920 census of Glissons township, Duplin County, N.C.: farm laborer Martin Darden, 68, and Jane, 69.
Martin Darden died 22 December 1926 in Kenansville township, Duplin County. Per his death certificate, he was 74 years old; was married to Jane Darden; was born in Wilson County to Howard and Easter Darden; and worked as a farmer and blacksmith. Howard Darden of Fremont was informant.
Janie Darden died 21 February 1936 in Kenansville, Duplin County. Per her death certificate, she was 72 years old; was born in Wilson County; was the widow of Martin Darden; and did farm and housework. Clint Smith was informant.
On 12 May 1866, Mason Bass and Kate Edmundson registered their four-year marriage with a Wilson County justice of the peace.
In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Mason Bass, 32; wife Katy, 33; children Spicy, 7, Bettie, 6, Riley, 1, and Nathaniel, 2 months; Mary, 53, Eliza, 28, and Sarah Bass, 16; and Ruffin Barnes, 18.
In the 1880 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Mason Bass, 43; wife Kate, 45; and children Isicy, 17, Bettie, 16, Amanuel, 2, and Mattie, 10 months.
In the 1900 census of Coahoma County, Mississippi: North Carolina-born Mason Bass, 63; wife Katie, 65; children Emanuel, 22, and Amelia, 18; and granddaughter Conelus, 1. Next door: Olie Henry, 45; wife Spicie, 37; and their children Amie, 14, William, 5, and Nathan, 3.
Estate File of Theophilus Bass (1857), Edgecombe County, North Carolina Estate Files 1663-1979, http://www.familysearch.org
Caught rifling through a money drawer, James Hinton lost a shoot-out with a storeowner northwest of Wilson. Though his family gave information for his death certificate, they refused to arrange with Darden Funeral Home for his burial. Following their suggestion, Darden sold the man’s body to the medical school at Wake Forest College.
News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 23 September 1933.
Wilson Daily Times, 26 September 1933.
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James Hinton [not John or Hinnant] died 21 September 1933 at Moore-Herring Hospital, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 45 years old; was born in Wendell, North Carolina; worked as a laborer; and lived at the Biltmore Hotel. Cause of death: “was dead from bullet wound when I saw him shot thru abdomen.” Allie P. Hinton, Wendell, was informant. Written in the margin: “was shot robbing a store.”
Wilson Daily Times, 11 June 1949.
The grand opening of the Tudor-style Darden Funeral Home building many remember near the intersection of Nash and Pender Streets.
The new Darden Memorial Funeral Home, circa 1950.
Photo provided by Lu-Ann Monson, original in Wilson City Archives.
In December 1909, a Mr. Johnson paid C.H. Darden & Son $3.50 for, most likely, a bicycle repair.
Wilson Daily Times, 10 May 1948.
World War I veteran Arthur N. Darden was instrumental in the establishment and early work of the Henry Ellis Post of the American Legion.
Wilson Daily Times, 14 April 1932.
This lovely little tripartite funeral fan, with a bucolic thatched cottage scene printed across its cardboard panels, was a handout of Charles H. Darden & Sons Funeral Directors and Embalmers. Based on the company’s name, address, and telephone numbers, the fan likely dates to about 1940.
Courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.
Four months after the United States entered World War I, Wilson-born attorney Charles S. Darden (then living in Los Angeles, California) wrote Secretary of War Lindley Garrison on behalf of African-American men who had tried to enlist in the military’s “Aviation Department.” “I was informed, some time ago,” he wrote, “through the News Papers, that applications from young colored men would be acceptable to the government …, and I am now unable to understand where the local Recruiting Officers of of [sic] that Department get their instructions to the contrary.”
Signal Corps Captain Thomas H. McConnell responded quickly and succinctly: “At the present time no colored aero squadrons are being formed and applications from colored men for this branch of the service cannot be considered for that reason.”
United States War Department. Letter from Secretary of War to Charles S. Darden, August 11, 1917. W.E.B. Du Bois Papers (MS 312). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
Thanks to Patricia Freeman to bringing this letter to my attention!
The Liberator: A Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Cause of Good Government and the Advancement of the American Negro, Los Angeles, California, 29 November 1912, page 5.