estate record

The estate of Harriett Barnes Parks.

We read Harriett Parks‘ will here. After her death in late 1896, John A. Gaston was duly appointed executor of her estate.

From December 1896 through 25 September 1897, Gaston reported income from rent payments made by tenants Ennis Thompson and Christiana Taylor. Gaston paid out ten dollars for Parks’ coffin and forty-five cents for a ticket for Parks’ daughter Allie Kate Barnes.

In addition, Gaston paid an unnamed person one dollar for digging Parks’ grave [which was mostly likely in Oakdale Cemetery]; a dollar for use of a horse and buggy for her funeral; and $1.25 for the whitewashing of her house.

From 27 September 1897 through 22 March 1900, Gaston received rent payments from Christina (or Christiana) Taylor, Allen Morgan, and Annie Williams. He paid forty cents for a lock; $1.30 for lights; another $1.25 for whitewashing; one dollar for cleaning out a well; and a dollar for a well bucket. Gaston paid Parks’ daughter Allie Kate $5.00 and her son Harvey G. Barnes $6.25.

Wilson, N.C., Probate Estate Files 1854-1959, http://www.familysearch.org.

An account of the estate of Daniel Vick.

Samuel H. Vick was administrator of his father Daniel Vick‘s estate and guardian of his deceased sister Nettie Vick Jones‘ children Samuel, Annie, and Nettie Jones. Vick filed this detailed account of receipts and expenditures from March 1908 through November 1909.

The estate’s $562 income consisted of monthly rent from tenant housing, a yearly rental payment for a farm, and a one-time death benefit payment of $100 by the Odd Fellows.

Vick paid out $82.50 for expenses related to his father’s final illness ($8 to Drs. Moore and Dickinson) and death ($45 for a coffin, $5 for a hearse, $12 for carriages), as well as a loan repayment to Wilson Building & Loan Association.

In December 1908, Vick also began to buy material, including lumber, windows, doors, moldings, porch posts, shingles, brick, etc., “for another house adjoining homestead.” Where? For whom? The precise location of Daniel Vick’s house has not been identified, but he owned acreage in the area of what is now Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway.

Another surprise: “Repairs Brick Store.” Vick had awnings installed, shelving built, a new room partitioned and plastered, and a new tin roof put on a store building at Nash Street and Stantonsburg Road. See below the detail from the 1908 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson showing that intersection. Was Daniel Vick’s store at (A) or (B), adjacent to Charles H. Darden‘s undertaking and blacksmith shops? What did he sell?

Sam Vick also made repairs and improvements to rental houses at “#11,” 504, and 509 Stantonsburg Road and at 520-526 Church Street.

Per the 1908 Sanborn fire insurance maps of Wilson, 520-522 and 524-526 Church Street were one-story wooden duplex dwellings with a front porch spanning the width of the building.

The largest expenditures were paid out for Daniel Vick’s heirs. Son William H. Vick, at this point a practicing pharmacist in New Jersey, received regular payments in 1908-1909 totaling $420, apparently his share of the estate. Youngest son James Oscar Vick received a one-time $25 disbursement.

Daniel Vick’s granddaughters Annie and Nettie Jones were boarding students at Mary Potter Academy in Oxford, North Carolina. Their expenses included carfare to and from Oxford; dress goods at Oettinger’s store in Wilson; payments to Elsie Knight for dressmaking; tuition and board; shoes, hosiery, hats, gloves, and handkerchiefs; and cash.

Account Records 1905-1910, Wilson County, N.C., Records, http://www.familysearch.org.

Clues from the estate of Ned Barnes.

I have written of my great-great-grandfather Willis Barnes and his daughter Rachel Barnes Taylor, my great-grandmother. Rachel’s mother appears variously in records as Cherry Battle or Cherry Eatmon. She shows up in the 1870 and 1880 censuses; in the death certificates of five of her children; and on the marriage licenses of three.

Today, I discovered a document that I believe identifies Cherry Battle/Eatmon’s father. Two Black men named Ned Barnes died in Wilson County in 1885. Their estate records, unfortunately, are commingled in a single file. One Ned Barnes, born about 1847, was married to a woman named Margaret Edmondson. The other, born about 1820, married Della Barnes after another relationship that produced several children.

Here’s what caught my eye:

“R.W. King, Administrator of Ned Barnes deceased vs. Della Barnes, N.B. Herring, Braswell Eatman, Cherry Barnes, Waity Eatman, Turner Eatman, David Hagans, Willis Barnes, James Moore, heirs at law and parties in interest.”

Della Barnes was Ned Barnes’ widow. Needham B. Herring was a party in interest by virtue of a claim to Della Barnes’ property. (N.B. Herring was a well-known white physician in Wilson.) Braswell Eatman, Cherry Barnes, Waity Eatman, Turner Eatman, and David Hagans were heirs at law — Ned’s children and/or grandchildren. Willis Barnes, as Cherry Barnes’ husband, was a party in interest. I’m not sure who James Moore was but, presumably, he was a party in interest.

Ned Barnes’ liquid assets were insufficient to cover his obligations, and his chief asset — a 36-acre parcel — was sold.

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Ned Barnes

In the 1870 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: Ned Barnes, 48, farm laborer.

On 19 October 1874, Ned Barnes married Della Barnes in Wilson.

In the 1880 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Ned Barnes, 66; wife Della, 37; and [step]son Allen, 18.

Della Barnes

In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer John J. Barnes, 49; Della, 26; and Allen, 8.

In the 1880 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Ned Barnes, 66; wife Della, 37; and [step]son Allen, 18.

Braswell Eatmon

On 4 April 1872, Braswell Eatmon married Louisa Boykin at Joshua Barnes’ in Wilson County.

Probably: in the 1880 census of Raleigh township, Wake County, N.C.: Braswell Eatman, 39, servant.

Cherry Barnes

In August 1866, Willis Barnes and Cherry Battle registered their six-year marriage with a Wilson County justice of the peace.

In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farm laborer Willis Barnes, 30; wife Cherry, 25; and children Rachel, 7, West, 5, Jesse, 2, and Ned, 5 months.

In the 1880 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Willis Barnes, 42; wife Cherey, 20 [sic]; stepdaughter[?] Rachel Battle, 17; children Wesley, 15, Jesse, 13, Ned, 11, Eddie, 7, and Mary Barnes, 4; niece Ellen Battle, 2; and son Willey Barnes, 1.

[Note: Cherry Barnes’ children included a son Ned and a daughter Cintha. (See below.)]

Waity Eatman

In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Cinthia Eatmon, 40, with Luke, 23, Turner, 20, Wady, 18, and David Eatmon, 6. [They did not marry, but was Cinthia Eatmon the mother of Ned Barnes’ children? (And thus my great-great-grandmother?)]

Turner Eatman

In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Cinthia Eatmon, 40, with Luke, 23, Turner, 20, Wady, 18, and David Eatmon, 6. [Next door: Morrison and Martha Woodard, whose daughter Cherry married Turner Eatmon.]

On 9 April 1873, Turner Eatmon, 22, married Cherry Woodard, 18, in Wilson.

In the 1880 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer Turner Eatmon, 30; wife Cherry, 23; and brother David, 15.

The Farmer and Mechanic (Raleigh, N.C.), 10 March 1881.

David Hagans, alias David Eatmon

In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Cinthia Eatmon, 40, with Luke, 23, Turner, 20, Wady, 18, and David Eatmon, 6.

In the 1880 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer Turner Eatmon, 30; wife Cherry, 23; and brother David, 15.

Wilson [County, North Carolina] Special Proceedings, http://www.familysearch.org.

The estate of Joseph Dawson.

Records from Joseph Dawson‘s estate file offer a detailed look at the possessions of a prosperous African-American Wilson County farmer at the very beginning of the twentieth century.

Dawson died in early 1902, Samuel H. Vick and Henry C. Rountree were appointed to assess Dawson’s personal estate for the calculation of Emma Artis Dawson‘s support for herself and her two young children.

Elijah L. Reid was later appointed administrator of the estate. He filed with the court an exquisitely detailed inventory and account of the sale of Dawson’s personal property and, in January 1904, a final account of receipts and disbursements. Among those who picked over Dawson’s farm tools, animals, produce, and furnishings were family members and African-American men like Raiford Dew, Huel Newsome, Elijah L. Reid, Edmond Williams, James Grice, and Henry S. Reid.

Dawson’s heirs divided $431.04, each receiving one-tenth. Dr. Reid noted that son Dempsey Dawson had left North Carolina “some years ago, and when last heard from was in the city of New York. This was in 1900.” His share was paid to the clerk’s office for safekeeping.

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In the 1870 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farm laborer Joseph Dawson, 23; wife Waity, 24; children son Alfred, 5, and Rosey, 7 months; Rachel Sanderson, 18, and Betha Sanderson, 10.

In the 1880 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Joseph Dawson, 34; wife Waity, 38; children Alfred, 15, Roscoe, 11, Dempsey, 8, Polly Ann, 6, Mathew, 4, Alison, 2, and infant, 2 months; and Tobithy Sanders, 20, farmworker.

On 28 January 1897, Joseph Dawson, 46, married Emma Artis, 18, in Nahunta, Wayne County, N.C.

In the 1900 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Joseph Dawson, 45, farmer; wife Emma, 22; sons William H., 2 months, Frank, 19, and Fred, 17; nieces Martha, 23, Laura A., 20, and Charity Saunders, 10; and boarder James Allen, 21.

Albert Dawson died 2 April 1918 in Durham, North Carolina. Per his death certificate, he was about 32 years old; was born in Wilson County to Joseph Dawson; was married to Bettie Dawson; worked as a foreman at Liggett & Myers; and lived at 1008 Lynchburg Street. He was buried in Violet Park cemetery.

Joseph Dawson [Jr.] died 12 September 1958 in Black Creek township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 12 March 1902 in Wilson County to Joseph Dawson and Emma Artis; resided in Fremont, Wayne County; was married to Corintha Dawson; and was buried in Turner Swamp cemetery.

The final report of the estate of Charlie Brantley.

Mollie Brantley Howard served as administratrix of her brother Charlie Brantley‘s estate. In her final report, she noted that she had received $2500 from promissory notes and disbursed that amount for funeral expenses; for estate-related fees; for her own 5% commission; and the remainder to herself as sole heir.

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In the 1880 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: Henderson Howard, 40; wife Mollie, 25; and children Charley, 8, Richard, 6, Bettie, 5, and Hellan, 1. [Henderson Brantley and family often used the surname Howard.]

In the 1900 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: widow Henderson Howard, 59, farmer; children Charley, 26, and Bettie, 21; and servant Linda Boon, 44.

In the 1910 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: Charlie Brantley, 35, sawmill laborer; son Fenner Locust, 17, farm laborer “working out”; and daughter Mena Locust, 13, farm laborer “working out.”

In the 1920 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Charlie Brantley, 48; Fenner Brantley, 26, servant; and lodger Wily Howard, 21, “cropper.”

Phener Brantley died 6 January 1924 in Taylor township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was 31 years old; was born in Wilson County to Charlie Brantley and Margaret Lucas; was single; worked as a laborer; and was buried in the family cemetery. She was described as white.

In the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: Charlie Brankley, 63; his sister Mollie Howard, 53; and lodger Earnest Howard, 30, a farm laborer.

Charlie Brantley died 8 January 1948 in Taylor township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was single; was born 1 August 1874 in Nash County to Hence Brantley and Mollie Boone; was a farmer; and was buried in Brantley cemetery. Mollie Brantley was informant.

Wilson County, North Carolina, Settlement Records 1942-1955, http://www.familysearch.org.

Settlement of the estate of Ben Mincey.

Under the terms of his 1948 will, Mattie Barnes Mincey served as executor of her husband Ben Mincey‘s estate. She submitted a final account of receipts and disbursements of cash on 11 July 1951.

The disbursements included:

$900 to Darden [not Bardin] Memorial Funeral Home. (Interesting, given Mincey had no conventional headstone. What could have cost $900 in 1950?)
payments to three physicians — J.G. Tillery, William C. Hines, and Boisey O. Barnes.
a payment to Barrett’s Printing House, which has been in business in downtown Wilson since 1896.
specific gifts to sister Emma Barnes, sister-in-law Olivia Mincey, and daughters Emma Sharpe and Mae Lille Sharpe.

The final account of the estate of Della Hines Barnes.

Dr. Boisey O. Barnes was administrator of his mother Della Hines Barnes‘ estate.

Like her sons William Hines and Walter S. Hines, Della Hines Barnes owned multiple tenant houses in Wilson, and monthly rents from and sales of those properties made up the estate’s receipts from January 1936 to June 1937.

A few hundred dollars in disbursements went to repairs and upkeep of Barnes’ properties — water bills, paint, plumbing, electrical, insurance, lumbers, carpenters. The estate paid $100 to Cobb Marble Works for the lovely marker that still stands at Odd Fellows Cemetery’s highest point (and inspired Lane Street Project’s logo) and $100 for “balance on funeral expenses,” which probably went to C.H. Darden & Son. Finally, Della Hines Barnes’ five heirs — sons William and Walter Hines and Boisey and Dave Barnes and granddaughter Charmaine T. White — equally shared a little over $4000 cash. Equivalent to about $90,000 in 2024 money, Barnes’ estate represented a remarkable accumulation of wealth by a woman born into slavery.

Della Hines Barnes’ headstone in Odd Fellows Cemetery.

Wilson County, North Carolina, Property Settlement Records 1932-1937, http://www.familysearch.org; photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, May 2023.

The settlement of the estate of Elder Jonah Williams.

Clarissa Williams was appointed administrator of her father Jonah Williams‘ estate. She filed an inventory of his property, noting one $2000 life insurance policy (of which $900 had been borrowed against); a black horse; a lame mare; a horse wagon; a buggy cart; five plows; a cotton planter; a guano sower; five weeding hoes; a grubbing hoe; two shovels; two rake forks; a glass blade; a saw; seven barrels of “arn”; a half stock of fodder; and a house and lot on the south side of Green Street valued at about $1000.

In May 1917, Williams submitted to Wilson County Superior Court an account of the settlement of the estate. Across the two years after his death, Williams carefully tended her father’s affairs, paying tax bills and other debts, taking in farm income, and selling personal property. Several African-American men and women appear in the list, including Martha Dew Alston and Louvinia Hargrove for nursing services, Charles [S.] Thomas for barber services, Henry Tart for hack hire, Georgia A. Aiken for carriage hire, Dr. Frank S. Hargrave for medical services, and Rachel Falkland, Rose Barnes, Caroline Mercer, Cora Derring, Henry Joyner, Bisco Hagans, Wade Barnes, and Richard Pender for unspecified debts.

Probate Records 1905-1919, Property Settlement Records 1905-1923, Wilson County, North Carolina, http://www.familysearch.org.

The will and estate of Barnes Simms (1805).

Barnes Simms (1764-1805), the son of Robert and Mary Barnes Simms, lived in the area between Black Creek and Contentnea Creek in what is now Wilson County. He executed a will on 6 September 1805 providing for the distribution of land, livestock, personal property, and people. Simms’ wife Martha was to receive, among other property, a “negroeman” named Laze and two women, Peggy and Agathy.

Further down, another provision encapsulates slaveholders’ purely transactional view of Black lives. Barnes directed that Toby, Hannah, Rose, and Violet remain with his family after his death — “and the benefits of the labour to be applyed to the use of raiseing and schooling of my Children until my son James attains to the age of nineteen years.” And then they were to be sold.

Also, Barnes directed “my negroes Harry, Sue, and Phillis be sold and their value to be applied toward the raising the legacies” elsewhere directed.

Simms died soon after, and his estate entered probate. On 12 December 1805, Etheldred Deberry bought Harry at an estate sale for just over $195 and Sue for $100. Thomas Barrow bought Phillis for $127.

After Simms’ youngest children reached maturity, another sale was set. There, his widow Martha Simms purchased Toby, Rose, and Hannah and three of her children for $1430.

Barnes Simms Will (1805), Estate of Barnes Simms (1808), North Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998, http://www.ancestry.com.

The estate of Haddie D. Swinson.

Grocery merchant Haddie Davis Swinson was waylaid and murdered in January 1921, presumably in a robbery gone worse. The year’s support his widow Ianthia Swinson received for herself and their two minor children consisted largely of goods and store fixtures from his grocery, including 17 cans of black-eyed peas, 29 cans of sardines, 11 jars of vinegar, 20 bottles of soft drinks, and so on.

Most of the goods were generic, but note the national brands Swinson carried — Campbell’s soup, Red Devil lye, Pet milk, Octagon soap, Gold Dust soap, Louiseann [Luzianne] tea, and P. Lorillard snuff.