East Vance Street

Abe and Edna Darden buy a house.

Deed Book 290, page 596, Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

Abe and Edna Darden bought 701 East Vance Street from Home Development Company on 18 October 1944.

Home Development Company was a real estate subsidiary created by Durham, N.C.-based North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, once the oldest and largest black-owned life insurance company in the world. North Carolina Mutual used H.D.C. to acquire, build, and develop residential properties for African American buyers, who were largely marginalized or completely shut out of the traditional mortgage market at the time.

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In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 701 [East Vance], ditcher Abe Darden, 53; wife Edna, 48; grandson Delma Earl Darden, 7; granddaughter Eva Gray Kerney, 18; and nephew John T. Johnson, 29.

Edna Darden died 13 February 1966 in Goldsboro, Wayne County, N.C. Per her death certificate, she was born 6 May 1902 to Henry and Ida Tyson; was married to Abe Darden; lived at 701 East Vance Street, Wilson; and worked as a tobacco factory laborer.

What was the Independent School building before it was the Independent School?

I was asked a question that stumped me during one of my talks last week. “What was the building that housed the Independent School before it was a school?”

I recalled vaguely that Samuel H. Vick had purchased the building from famed brick maker Silas Lucas Jr., but not much more. Maybe something about the Methodist Church?

I found a deed quickly. On 24 October 1904, S.H. Vick paid Silas and Charity Lucas $1650 for a lot on Vance Street adjacent to property Vick already owned, “it being the same lot on which is situate a nineteen room house.” 

Deed book 68, page 227, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson, N.C.

In the 1913 Sanborn fire insurance maps of Wilson, the building is labeled “Tenements”:

I can’t find the reference that I seem to recall about the building’s original use and will need to do some additional deed digging to find Lucas’ purchase. (By the way: Lucas was renowned as a brick maker. Not only are his reclaimed original bricks still sought after for renovation projects, the name “Silas Lucas” is now generically used to describe any soft, pinkish brick.)

B.W.A. Historical Marker Series, no. 3: Piney Grove Free Will Baptist Church.

In this series, which will post on occasional Wednesdays, I populate the landscape of Wilson County with imaginary “historic markers” commemorating people, places, and events significant to African-American history or culture.

We been here.

PINEY GROVE FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH

Church org. in 1882. Trustees purchased this lot at Vance and Elba Sts. in 1900 from Samuel and Annie Vick. Wooden building with 2-story tower constructed. Moved to present Vick St. location in 1930s; building later renovated.

Photograph by Lisa Y. Henderson, May 2024.

808 East Vance Street.

The one hundred ninety-third 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.

In the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District, 808 and 810 East Vance Street are described as vacant lots.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 808 East Vance Street, teacher Rosa Foster, 42; children Carter, 16, Daily Times newsboy, and Naomi, 14; and two roomers Alice Jones, 36, and Mamie Key, 20, both teachers.

On 9 April 1932, Foster purchased the house from D.S. Boykin, a trustee.

When the federal census taker visited in 1940, Rosa P. Foster was operating her house at 808 East Vance Street as a teacherage. Her household included teachers Alice H. Jones, 46 (and her son James R., 23); Floreta J. Walson, 31; W. Arlene Gilmore, 30; Mary G. Harris, 33; and Mamie E. Whitehead, 33.

In 1940, Carter Washington Foster registered for the World War II draft in Wilson. Per his registration card, he was born 15 January 1914 in Wilson; resided at 808 East Vance; worked as county farm agent at 559 1/2 East Nash Street; and was married to Estelle Duncan Foster.

Wilson Daily Times, 11 April 1947.

Rosa Foster died 7 October 1954 at her home at 808 East Vance Street. Per her death certificate, she was born 24 March 1888 in Nash County, N.C., to Allison Parker and Mary [maiden name not stated]; was a retired school teacher; and was widowed. Carter Foster was informant.

Wilson Daily Times, 23 September 1958.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, March 2024.

624 East Vance Street.

The one hundred ninetieth 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.

Photo by Drew C. Wilson, “Suspicious hire damages vacant house,” Wilson Times, 28 December 2023.

As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District: “ca. 1922; 1 story; shotgun; altered and aluminum-sided.”

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In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Boston Liston (c; Emma) hlpr h 624 E Vance

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 624 East Vance, rented at $8/month, Liston Boston, 29, sawmill laborer, born in South Carolina; wife Erma Jane, 28, born in South Carolina; children Lucile, 5; Eliza, 3; Cora E., 1; and Luther, 5 months; brother-in-law Simon Burger, 20, sawmill laborer, and mother-in-law Eliza Burger, 50, widow.

In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Boston Liston (c; Emma; 6) carp h 624 E Vance

In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Sharp Tearr (c; Mamie) emp City h 624 E Vance

In the 1950 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: at 624 East Vance, Ernest Sharp, 43, road scraper, city road department, and wife Mammie, 42.

622 East Vance Street.

The one hundred eighty-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.

622 East Vance burned the night of 18 October 2023 and was demolished the next morning.

As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District: “ca. 1908; 1-story; Triple-A cottage.”

Detail from the 1922 Sanborn fire insurance maps of Wilson, N.C. The house was originally numbered 631.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 622 East Vance, widow Janie Cameron, 52; sons Lonzo, 21, Eugene, 15, and James, 11; and roomers Phillipp Gaskin, 38, and Amos Singletarry, 22.

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Cameron Eug (c) delmn John T Worrell h 622 E Vance; Cameron Jane (c) h 622 E Vance; Cameron Lonnie (c) lab h 622 E Vance

Wilson Daily Times, 25 November 1932.

In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Morgan Jas (c; Laura; 2) h 622 E Vance

In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Petway Allen (c; Annie) lab h 622 E Vance

Wilson Daily Times, 7 June 1960.

The house per Google Street View, March 2022.

Flats.

By time illustrations were made for the 1930 Sanborn fire insurance maps of Wilson, the two-story Normal and Industrial Institute had reverted to use as an apartment building, marked as “flats” at 604 East Vance Street. The tall staircase my grandmother Hattie Henderson Ricks recalled is clearly marked on its front facade. She was 8 years old when the school opened in late 1918: “First of the year I went to school, and [then] I didn’t go back no more to the Graded School. They opened the Wilson Training School on Vance Street, with that old long stairway up that old building down there — well, I went over there.”

 

812 East Vance Street.

The one hundred-seventy-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, this building is: “ca. 1913; 1 story; L-plan cottage with hip-roofed porch.”

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In 1922, William Pritchitt of 812 East Vance Street advertised finding a set of keys.

Wilson Daily Times, 22 February 1922.

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Jenkins Jesse (c; Hattie B) car washer h 812 E Vance

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 812 East Vance, minister Roosevelt Wheeler, 26; wife Minnie, 24; and lodger Jessie Edwards, 17.

In 1940, Roosevelt Wheeler registered for the World War II in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 4 March 1910 in Darlington, South Carolina; lived at 812 East Vance Street, Wilson; his contact was wife Minnie Beatrice Wheeler; and worked for Armour & Co., Railroad Street, Wilson.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, May 2022.

703 East Vance Street.

The one hundred sixty-third 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, this building is: “ca. 1913; 1 story; saddlebag house aluminum-sided and heavily remodeled.”

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For several weeks in 1920, an unidentified African-American nurse living at 703 East Vance advertised her skills in the Wilson Daily Times.

Wilson Daily Times, 21 January 1920.

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Bennett Fredk D (c; Lillie) h 703 E Vance

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 703 Vance, rented for $11/month, Fred D. Bennett, 46, minister, Holiness Church; wife Lily, 43, laundress; and children Herbert, 15, Willie, 12, Ruth, 6, Naomi, 10, and Charles E., 4. The Bennetts and their two oldest children were born in Georgia; the remaining children in South Carolina. [In 1940, the Bennett family was enumerated in New Haven, Connecticut.]

In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Rogers Wm (c) h 703 Viola

In the 28 October 1944 edition of the Wilson Daily Times, a “Land Transfers” column detailed this transaction: 

In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Darden Moses (c; Cora) h 703 E Vance

The Dardens did not keep the house long:

Wilson Daily Times, 1 December 1950.

The Colored Free Will Baptist Church buys a lot on Vance Street.

This deed made this 29th day of May 1900 by S.H. Vick and wife to Louis Bess, Daniel Blount and Windsor Darden Trustees of the Colored Free Will Baptist Church of Wilson and their Successors in office all of the County of Wilson and State of North Carolina,

WITNESSETH: — THAT FOR and in consideration of the sum of thirty five dollars to them in paid, the receipt whereof of is hereby acknowledged the said S.H. Vick and wife have bargained and sold and do by these presents bargain sell and convey to the said Louis Bess Daniel Blount Windsor Darden and their successors in office one lot or parcel of land lying and being situate in Wilson Township County of Wilson, and State of North Carolina, and bounded and described as follows:

BEGINNING at a stake in the corner of Elba and Vance Streets and running with Vance Street North West 30 feet, thence South West forty five feet, thence south east thirty feet, thence North East forty five feet to the beginning, containing thirteen hundred and forty square feet.

TO HAVE OR TO HOLD the above described lot or parcel of land to the said Louis Bess, Daniel Blount, Windsor Daniel and their successors in office in fee simple and the said S.H. Vick binds himself and heirs to warrant and defend the premises hereby conveyed against the lawful claims of all persons whomsoever.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF WITNESS our hands and seals the date above written. /s/ S.H. Vick, Annie M. Vick

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In 1900, the trustees of Piney Grove Free Will Baptist Church bought a small lot at the corner of Vance and Elba Streets from Samuel H. and Annie M. Vick. The church they built is shown in this detail from the 1913 Wilson, N.C., Sanborn map, below. The one-story wooden building was heated with stoves and lit with oil and featured a two-story tower on its front elevation. Though this building is long gone, Piney Grove remains an active congregation. Per the current church’s cornerstone, the church was founded in 1882 by Reverends A. and D. Blunt.

  • Louis Bess — in the 1900 census of Wilson, WIlson County: Louis Best, 70, wood sawer; wife Harrit, 60, washing; and son William, 31, driver.
  • Daniel Blount — in the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farm laborer Daniel Blunt, 35; wife Susan, 26; and children Ellen, 5, Eva, 3, Demsey, 1, Daniel, 12, and Charley, 10. Daniel Blunt died 28 July 1924 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 87 years old; was born in Pitt County, N.C., to Dempsey Blunt and Julia Carr; was married to Susanna Blunt; and worked as a laborer. [Dempsey Blunt was the son of Amos Blunt. Were they the A. and D. Blunt who founded Piney Grove?]
  • Windsor Darden — in the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farm laborer Winsor Darden, 37; wife Mattie, 29; and children George, 11, Jesse, 8, Willie, 5, William, 3, and Mathis, 1; plus mother Mary Darden, 55. Windsor Darden died 8 February 1940 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 85 years old; was the widower of Mattie Darden; lived at 1017 Mercer Street; had been a common laborer; and was born in Wilson County to Benjamin Darden and Diliah [maiden name unknown]. Sarah Darden Harris was informant.

Deed book 65, page 297, Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.