Philadelphia Tribune, 19 August 1916.
In 1916, Samuel H. Vick drove his “big touring car” on a visit to Whitesboro, New Jersey, with his young son George White Vick, Clarence Dillard, and Alfred Robinson. On the way back, they stopped in Washington, D.C.
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The Afro-American (Baltimore, Md.), 25 September 1926.
Samuel H. Vick, his daughter Doris Vick, and Vick’s cousin (whom he informally adopted) Bessie Parker Hargrave drove from North Carolina “North” (probably to New Jersey) with Presbyterian minister and educator Clarence Dillard and Eliza Bass, whom I have not identified further.
Wilson Daily Times, 12 May 1931.
I can only speculate about what happened at Wilson Chapel to prompt publication of this notice … but speculating I am.
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On 14 May 1917, Henry Dilliard, 21, of Wilson, married Susanna Parker, 18, of Wilson, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister B.P. Coward performed the ceremony.
In 1917, Henry Dillard registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 2 October 1896 in Red Springs, N.C.; lived at 121 Manchester Street, Wilson; worked as a laborer at Farmers Oil Mill; and was married.
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 207 Reid Street, oil mill laborer Henry Dillard, 24, and wife Sudie, 20.
On 29 May 1933, Henry Dillard, 36, of Ayden, son of Jake and Mary Dillard, married Bessie Brown, 28, of Ayden, daughter of Martha Cobb, in Greenville, Pitt County, N.C.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 719 Viola Street, tobacco factory cooper Henry Dillard, 42; wife Bessie, 36; and children Magdeline, 6, Maybelle, 5, Bessie M., 2, and Henry Jr., 1 month.
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 719 Viola, Henry Y. Dillard Sr., 53, meal cook and foreman at fertilizer plant; wife Bessie, 46; and children Maggie Line, 16, Mabel, 14, Bessie Mae, 12, Henry Jr., 10, and Robert Henry, 6.
Henry Younger Dillard died 23 February 1970 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 21 October 1896 to Jake Dillard; was married to Mildred Barnes Dillard; lived at 1501 Washington Street; and worked as a carpenter and minister.
The one hundred ninety-sixth in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District: “ca. 1930; 1 story; two-room house with bungalow traits; late example of the type in the district; built as a rental property by black merchant Rufus Hilliard.”
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In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Dillard Henry (c; Mary L) lab h 104 (100) N East
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 101 East Street, rented for $10/month, Velma McCormick, 27, tobacco factory hanger.
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: McCormick Velma (c) maid h 104 N East
Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, September 2024.
Though he is best known for his religious and educational work in Wayne County — Goldsboro’s African-American high school was named in his honor — Rev. Clarence Dillard pastored black Presbyterian congregations in Elm City and Wilson in Wilson County.
A.B. Caldwell, ed., History of the American Negro and His Institutions, North Carolina Edition (1921).