January 10, 1901

The Board met according to the previous adjournment.

…

It was then moved and carried that the question of the immediate and total destruction of the Elm Trees in the Town be submitted to the vote of the white voters in the Town at a mass meeting to be held on Thursday night, January 24, 1901 at 7:30 p.m.

…

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Dutch elm disease was not found in the United States until 1928, so I am not certain why the Town was considering destroying every elm in Wilson. Even more puzzling — why was the decision restricted to white voters only?

Minutes of City Council, Wilson, North Carolina, transcribed in bound volumes shelved at Wilson County Public Library, Wilson.