family cemetery

Cemeteries, no. 37: the Howard Cemetery.

I’ve long wanted to visit this cemetery, which now lies in woods behind a large property on Lamm Road. Shout-out to Gary Howard for guiding me to it recently. The children and grandchildren of Zealous and Rhoda Eatmon Howard and their related families established several cemeteries in western Wilson County in the wedge between modern-day U.S. Highway 64 and N.C. Highway 58 in Taylor township. This one may be the largest.

Kudos to the Blackmon/Blackwell family, who, over the past couple of years, have begun the arduous task of clearing the quarter-acre plot. Alisha Cordell and others were able to secure permission to access the cemetery from the current owner — access that had been denied for decades earlier.

Brother Mr. S. Ivey Blackmon 

Ivey Blackwell died 16 September 1939 in Spring Hope, Mannings township Nash County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 4 March 1918 in Nash County to John Blackwell and Bettie Evans, both of Wilson County; was single; was a farmer; and was buried in High cemetery. [Was High another name for this cemetery?]

This concrete headstone and the two that follow were crafted by the same person, and probably at the same time. All exhibit blocky capital lettering with tiny serifs (and backwards N’s) and incised lines under each row of letters. The Blackwells were a free family of color in the area of what is now Wilson County as early as the 1840s. This branch of the family, however, is now known as Blackmon.

Father Mr. John Blackmon

John Blackwell died 6 June 1940 in Spring Hope, Mannings township, Nash County. Per his death certificate, he was born in 1874 in Wilson County to Albert Blackwell and Classie Locus; was married to Bettie Blackwell; and was buried in Horne’s Church cemetery. [Horne’s Methodist Church is a historically white church in Nash County about two miles north of Howard Cemetery as the crow flies. It does not, to my knowledge, have its own cemetery. (However, it is very near another cemetery with ties to some of the people buried here.)

Mother Mrs. Bettie Blackmon

Deal Howard

Deal Howard died 6 December 1939 in Oldfields township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 4 November 1861 in Wilson County to Deal Howard and Rhodie Howard; was a widower; was a farmer; and was buried in Wilson County. Herman Howard was informant.

Anonymous.

Daughter Gladys Blackwell Born Feb. 9, 1931 Died Oct. 27 1961 At Rest

Gladys Blackwell died 27 October 1961 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 9 February 1931 in Nash County to Hattie Blackwell; lived in Bailey, Nash County; and was buried in Howard Cemetery.

This, of course, is a Clarence B. Best-carved headstone. (How odd that the 3 in 1931 is either backward or upside down.)

Mother Margaret Blackwell Born Sept. 11, 1879 Died Dec. 7, 1961 At rest

Margaret Blackwell died 7 December 1961 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 11 September 1889 in Wilson County to Ivy Evans and Mary Lyles; and was buried in Howard Cemetery. Mattie Blackwell was informant.

Also a Clarence Best.

Cora Lee Howard Dau. of Hilliard & Cora Ellis Born Nov. 15, 1900 Died Oct. 13, 1918 Gone but not forgotten

Cora Lee Howard died 13 October 1918 in Taylor township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was 18 years old; married; and was the daughter of Hilliard Ellis and Cora Williams. M.S. Gilliam was the attending physician.

Albert Howard North Carolina PVT 329 Service Bn QMC World War I May 16 1892 August 3 1956

Albert Howard died 3 August 1956 in Taylors township. Per his death certificate, he was born 2 February 1890 in Wilson County to Dill Howard and Nancy Black; was married to Ida Howard; was a farm laborer; was a World War I veteran; and was buried in Howard cemetery, Wilson County.

Sally Ann Blackwell Oct 17, 1889 June 10, 1920

Sallie Ann Blackwell died 10 June 1920 in Taylors township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born in 1882 in Wilson County to Dora Locus and was married. Cause of death: “gunshot wound, shot accidentally.”

Fieldstone marker.

Etta Wife of Robert Lucas Jan. 5, 1890 Aug. 31, 1960 Gone But Not Forgotten

Etta Lucas died 31 August 1960 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 1 January 1897 in Wilson County in Deal Howard and Nancy Blackmond; was married to Robert Lucas; and was buried in Howard Cemetery.

Another Clarence Best.

Hurlean Blackwell 6 1932 At Rest

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2025.

Cemeteries, no. 26: the Alex and Gracy Shaw Williamson cemetery, revisited.

I met up with Britt Edwards last week to explore the Alex and Gracy Williamson cemetery more closely. Someone is taking good care of this graveyard, and I thank them for it.

Looking west toward the tobacco barn, which is still in pretty good shape. 

This enormous white oak surely is a witness tree, offering shade to the earliest enslaved people buried in this cemetery.

Britt standing outside the old fence line. The posts are eastern red cedar and are many decades old.

The tobacco barn.

Hanging poles inside the barn.

The old flue.

Isaac Renfrow’s grave marker.

Hand-hewn fieldstone head and foot markers.

A small child’s grave marker.

With a little help from Britt’s phone flashlight, we were able to decipher that this hand-cut and -engraved marker is for a child who was born in 1912 and died in 1913. The child’s surname was Williamson, and my best decipherment of his(?) first name is THOMAS. The child died just a year before death certificates were required in Wilson County, and I have not been able to identify him with certainty.

Carved wooden grave marker.

I don’t know how I missed this tiny cedar grave marker on earlier visits. It is weathered and encrusted with lichen, but quite solid. There are no visible engravings. How old is this marker?

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2025.

Cemeteries, no. 36: the Coleman cemetery.

Descendants of Squire and Nancy Rountree Coleman once owned dozens of acres on the west side of Airport Boulevard south of Nash Street. Their family cemetery is tucked behind a cluster of commercial buildings at the corner of Airport Drive.

Gray Coleman Died [Illegible]

Fannie C. Harrison Born May 20 1877 Died Dec 17 1961

Maddie Coleman Aug. 14, 1911 Nov. 6, 1988 Memories of You Will Always Dwell In Our Hearts. Sleep On Aunt Mate. We Love You. The Family

S.J. Coleman Dec. 4, 1881 Aug. 27, 1956 God Touched Him And He Slept

Several pines and an old walnut tree shade the grounds.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2025.

Cemeteries, no. 35: the Ned and Lydia Kent family.

I arrived just as the last few cowboys and cowgirls were packing up from the 36th annual Bounty Hunters Saddle Club trail ride. Sullivan Road, which dead ends in a peninsula jutting into Buckhorn Reservoir, is about as far west as you can get in Wilson County. I had not expected wander the Kent Family Cemetery to neighs and nickers, but it was a pleasant surprise.

This active cemetery is beautifully maintained, with about 50 marked graves. A large red cedar and several old boxwoods shield the oldest burials. 

We’ve met Ned Kent — most recently here. Kent owned 159 acres near the Johnston County line north of present-day N.C. Highway 42. Per the terms of his will, two acres were set aside for a family cemetery:

The rest of his land largely remains in the hands of his descendants. 

Ned Kent Died July 22, 1940 Age 84

The headstone of son and daughter-in-law Charlie and Victoria Kent is a nice Clarence B. Best piece. 

Kent Charlie Nov. 10, 1888 Sept. 21, 1957 Victoria Sept. 5, 1892 A Devoted Father & Mother

Julia Kent Born 1877 Died Sept 8th 1951 Our Mother Little Budde Love

Mary Jane Boykin Mar. 4, 1879 Feb. 2, 1965 J.H. Boykin May 23, 1878 May 14, 1926

Lydia Kent Died Nov. 5, 1949 Age 92

Sidenote: this house is one of three that appear on the 1952 plat map of the division of Ned Kent’s property. Was it the Kents’ “home house”?

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2025.

Update: The removal of graves from Jones-Hill-Coleman cemetery.

I’ve written about the removal of graves from “Jones-Hill-Coleman” Cemetery in 1995. I was puzzled by the name of the cemetery, its unclear location, and the location of the “Eva Coleman Cemetery” to which some of the burials were reinterred.

Jones-Hill-Coleman Cemetery is clearly the cemetery more commonly called Jones Hill. The removal of graves certificate filed in October 1995 identified 11 graves to be removed to “the new Coleman” cemetery and ten to be moved to Rest Haven Cemetery because of “road construction.” An attached map, labeled “Jones-Hill-Coleman Cemetery,” shows an orderly six-row graveyard adjacent to Old Raleigh Road. I was thrown initially because this sketch bears little resemblance to Jones Hill in its current state. Also, while 44 graves in Jones Hill have been identified, the graves on this map mostly were labeled “adult,” “baby,” or “no one found.” I assumed, in error I now see, that this meant the graves were unidentified, which puzzled me because Jones Hill contains dozens of headstones. Last, though the map is marked not to scale, the graves seemed awfully close to the road compared to the front edge of Jones Hill now.

I’m still a little confused, but with further study, I have a somewhat better understanding. A road construction project required the removal of graves from the right-of-way buffering Old Raleigh Road.

Wilson Daily Times, 25 July 1995.

The burials in the public right-of-way primarily were descendants of Henry and Mary Jane Thompson Coleman, who had owned a 68-acre tract of land just north of the cemetery.

In 1990, that tract was divided among Henry Coleman’s heirs. Daughter Eva Coleman, now deceased, received tracts 2 and 3, containing 13.7 acres, at bottom right. See Wilson County deed book 1410, page 341.

Plat book 21, page 150, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

Google Maps aerial view of the area with a dotted line marking the lower boundary of the Coleman tracts and (A) at Jones Hill Cemetery.

Detail of 2013 plat map showing Jones Hill Cemetery, bottom left above “Old,” and the bottom edge of the Coleman tracts. Plat book 39, page 184.

Per the map attached to the removal of graves certificate, ten identified remains — mostly Joneses and Edmundsons — were moved to Rest Haven Cemetery in Wilson.

John Thomas Edmundson’s relocated grave in Rest Haven, courtesy of findagrave.com.

The other eleven graves — all but two unidentified — were moved to a new cemetery created on Eva Coleman’s land at a location described on a map of the cemetery attached to the certificate as:

The graves are not recorded at Findagrave.com. A zoomed-in perusal of the Eva Coleman tract on Google Maps reveals an area with housing and outbuildings surrounded by plowed fields. At the bottom corner of the tract, however, this clear area appears:

Though its location does not square easily with the description above, this would seem to be the Eva Coleman Cemetery. Can any family members confirm?

Cemeteries, no. 30: Brantley cemetery, part 3.

A lot has changed since I visited Brantley cemetery in June 2020, and the credit goes to industrious Gary Holmes of the Howard-Brantley family. A sign clearly marks the small cemetery, which lies between two fields and is accessible by a dirt path.

Decades of overgrowth have been cleared from the headstones, which are now clearly visible. Charlie Brantley‘s grave marker is one of the largest in the cemetery.

His father Henderson Brantley‘s marker stands nearby.

Kudos to the Howard-Brantley family for reclaiming their ancestral burial ground.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, February 2025.

Marking Rest Haven Cemetery’s origins.

Earlier this week, a small group gathered at the back of Rest Haven Cemetery to dedicate a bronze marker. The men — Rev. H. Maurice Barnes, Dr. Michael Barnes, and James Pender — are descendants of Jesse R. and Sarah Barnes Barnes, who once owned the acres of land of which Rest Haven was established in 1933.

Wilson Daily Times, 3 May 2024.

I wrote about the Barneses and Rest Haven’s roots here and am honored to have contributed to the marker’s wording. “Thank you” to the Barneses for taking action to memorialize their family’s — and the community’s — story and to Heather Goff for working with the Barnes family to install the marker.

[P.S. Dr. Boisey O. Barnes was not the first Black doctor in Wilson, but certainly was the most prominent during the decades he practiced. He was preceded by, notably, Dr. Frank S. Hargrave and Dr. William A. Mitchner.]

Wyatt Lynch’s land today.

We saw the division of Wyatt Lynch‘s land in a post in which I estimated the farm’s location on Old Stantonsburg Road. I was right about the general location, but have recently found its exact site between the road and Hominy Swamp and across from Wedgewood Golf Club. Amazingly, it remains in the hands of Lynch’s descendants!

The parcels that make up the property are marked with white asterisks below. The southernmost, a small sliver of land fronting on Old Stantonsburg is the site of Dixon Chapel Free Will Baptist Church, named for the family of Harriet Lynch Dixon, which likely donated the land to the church.

Numerous death certificates attest to a family cemetery on this land, but this aerial does not immediately identify its location. Does anyone know where the Lynch/Dixon/Anderson/Rhoades cemetery is?

Aerial photo courtesy of Wilson County GIS website.

Lane Street Project: the City’s mystery cemetery project.

The Wilson Times‘ on-line edition reported today on the 611-page draft of the North Carolina state budget, which earmarks $66.3 million for Wilson County. Among the education, infrastructure, and recreation projects, there was this curious item:

What is this?

First, what is “Herring-Ellis cemetery”?

Here’s how I described it in a 11 September 2017 blogpost: “This small family cemetery is completely hidden in a copse of trees just outside the gates of Wiggins Mill Water Treatment Plant on Forest Hills Road in Wilson. Until relatively recently, this area — nearly four miles south of downtown — was outside city limits. Few gravestones are visible in the tangle of catbrier, pines and oak saplings, but several oblong indentations — some feet deep — mark burial sites just as clearly. This cemetery holds the remains of several generations of the family of Littleton and Judy Barnes Ellis, a couple born in slavery. The couple and at least four of their children — Bryant, Lucy, Maggie, Lizzie Sarah — are buried here on land that once belonged to Littleton Ellis.”

In November 2018, the Times reported about a group of Gentlemen’s Agreement students who spent time clearing Ellis cemetery in a service project with Wilson County Genealogical Society. North Carolina Representative Ken Fontenot, who was the students’ program mentor at the time, said they hoped “to find out more about those who are laid to rest in the area and the history behind them.” (When I read that, I reached out to reporter Olivia Neeley to let her know that information about the family buried in this cemetery was readily available at Black Wide-Awake. Since then, I’ve also posted information about Littleton Ellis’ enslavement.)

Where is the cemetery?

The cemetery lies inside a stand of trees just west of the intersection of Forest Hills Road and Forest Hills Loop, just before the driveway into the Wiggins Mills Water Treatment facility. It measures only .28 acres — 100 feet by 130 feet by 101 feet by 89 feet, or roughly two basketball courts.

Aerial view of cemetery site courtesy of Wilson County NC GIS Website.

“$50,000 in capital improvements or equipment”?

A capital improvement is a permanent structural alteration or repair to a property that improves it substantially, increasing its overall value. What kind of improvements would cost $50,000 on a piece of land a quarter of an acre in size? What equipment?

And what in the world does the City of Wilson have to do with this?

This is most perplexing of all.

The City of Wilson does not own this cemetery. Tax records for the parcel list no owner. It is described simply as “Cemetery Forest Hills Rd.”

Why is the City willing to accept $50,000 from the State of North Carolina for capital improvements and equipment for land it does not own? What is the public interest in increasing the value of a private cemetery? (For obvious reasons, I’m especially interested in the City’s answer to this question.) The City has made clear that it is not in the business of maintaining private cemeteries, having turned a deaf ear to pleas for assistance with Odd Fellows Cemetery. (In fact, the summer after Lane Street Project began clean-ups at Odd Fellows, a contractor paid by the City for 25+ years discontinued mowing the front section of that cemetery. The City calls it a coincidence.) A year ago, the City deeded over Vick Cemetery to Wilson Cemetery Commission in an attempt to wash its hands of direct responsibility for that publicly owned site. (See Rodger Lentz’ email — and Grant Goings’ reply — here.)

Under what authority would the City make these improvements? Under what authority could they enter private property to do so? Who would administer the funds? And why do they need to buy equipment? If the plan is to clear Ellis of overgrowth, don’t the Cemetery Commission or Public Works Department already own sufficient equipment to handle this small job? If not, wouldn’t they contract out the work? (Begging the question, again, of why the City would reverse its position on its role in the restoration of private cemeteries and do anything at all at Ellis.)

Whose idea was this? The City of Wilson is hemming and hawing and poor-mouthing about restoration of a cemetery holding 4200+ graves, that it has owned for 110 years and has neglected and abused — but is lobbying for $50,000 to fix up a private cemetery with perhaps a dozen graves? And, apropos of poor-mouthing, why isn’t the City instead lobbying for state funds to do right by Vick Cemetery? And, if the City didn’t ask for this gift, why did whoever sponsored this bit of pork barrel choose to bestow his largesse on a quarter-acre private cemetery versus an eight-acre public cemetery?

Finally, in this year of 2023, is the City of Wilson getting ready to mess around in somebody else’s family’s graves? Have no lessons been learned about making decisions and taking actions in African-American cemeteries without permission and in contravention of state law???

Please make this make sense.

[By the way — Vick Cemetery is not on the published agenda for the September 21 council meeting, folks. Nonetheless, keep your foot on the City’s neck.]

Cemeteries, no. 33: Williams-Lucas-Eatmon family cemetery.

Seven-tenths of a mile down a curving dirt path off the intersection of Hornes Church Road and Old Bailey Highway lies a small family cemetery, black with ash from an unfortunate controlled burn. (I get it. The cemetery is choked with wisteria, but fire damages fragile headstones and other grave markers.) I don’t know the cemetery’s name, and it’s a mile into Nash County, but many of its dead had close ties to Wilson County.

  • Austin and Cornelia Locus Williams

Austin Williams Dec. 10, 1838 Oct. 27, 1907

Nelia Williams Sept. 24, 1842 Oct. 23, 1906 She now sweetly rests.

Austin Williams, son of Ben and Merica Williams, married Cornelia Taylor, daughter of Isaac Taylor and Lena Locus, on 10 May 1868 in Wilson County.

In the 1870 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: Austen Williams, 34, farm laborer; wife Cornelius, 24; and daughter Cora Lee, 1.

In the 1880 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: Austin Williams, 41, farmer; wife Nobly, 30; and children Cora L., 11, Charley A., 8, Benjamin and Isaac, 4, and Minnie, 8 months.

Per Tinner Howard Ellis, “Hillard [Ellis] married Cora Williams. Cora’s parents were Nellie Locust and Austin Williams. Austin was a slave on the McWilliams farm and Nellie was issue-free.”

  • Ichabod Powell

Ecabud Powell Died Feb. 27 19[11?] Age 61 Years.

In the 1880 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Ichabud Powell, 32; wife Mary A., 32; and children Beedy A., 9, Pheny, 7, John, 5, James W., 4, Henry G., 3, and Mary A.E., 11 months.

In the 1900 census of Jackson township, Nash County: Ichabod Powell, 50, farmer; wife Mary A., 50; children Mary A., 20, Martha, 18, Joseph, 16, Margarett, 14, Geneva, 12, Billie P., 11, Dempsey H., 9, and Paul J., 6; and nephew Henry Lassiter, 28.

Henry Powell, left, and father Ichabod Powell, perhaps circa 1910.

Mary Ann Powell died 5 April 1921 in Jackson township, Nash County. Per her death certificate, she was 74 years old; was born in Wilson County to Silas Lassiter and Orpie Lassiter of Wilson County; was the widow of Ickibuck Powell; and was buried in Powell graveyard, Nash County.

Henry Powell died 29 September 1928 in Jackson township, Nash County. Per his death certificate, he was born November 1877 in Wilson County to Ichabod Powell of Nash County and Mary Lassiter of Wilson County; lived on Route 1, Wilson; was married to Sarah Powell; and worked in farming.

William “Bill” Pharaoh Powell died 23 July 1963 at his home at 404 North Reid Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 15 February 1891 in Wilson County to Echabud Powell and Mary Ann Lassiter; was married to Margaret H[agans] Powell; and worked as a laborer.

  • Neverson Locus

Neverson Lucas Mar. 2, 1853 May 9, 1927.

In the 1860 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: Martin Locas, 45, farmer; wife Eliza, 30; and children Isham, 16, Edith, 10, Ervin, 8, Neverson, 6, Cedney, 5, and Susan Locus, 2, all mulatto. Martin claimed $250 in personal property.

In the 1870 census of Chesterfield township, Nash County, N.C.: farmer Martin Lucus, 52; wife Eliza, 42; and children Irvin, 19, Neverson, 16, Sidney, 13, Eliza, 7, Westray, 6, Anne, 4, and Mary, 2.

On 8 February 1877, Neverson Locust, 23, of Wilson County, married Margaret Taylor, 30, of Wilson County, in Wilson County.

In the 1880 census of Jackson township, Nash County: farmer Neverson Locus, 25; wife Margaret, 35; and son Boston, 1.

On 16 December 1885, Neverson Locust, 32, of Wilson County, married Sarah Locust, 37, of Wilson County, at A.M. Thompson’s in Wilson County.

In the 1910 census of Jackson township, Nash County: farm laborer Mary Jane Ellis, 44, and children Henry, 16, Louise, 13, and Charles, 6; and brother Neverson Lucas, 56.

In the 1920 census of Jackson township, Nash County: widower Neverson Locus, 65, farmer, and Liddie Joyner, 57, servant.

The last will and testament of Neverson Locus, alias Lucas.

Newson Lucas died 12 May 1927 in Jackson township, Nash County. Per his death certificate, he was born 29 April 1853 in Wilson County to Martin Lucas and Liza Martin; was a farmer; was a widower; and was buried in a family cemetery. Ed. Williams was informant.

  • Robert and Edith Eatman

Robert Eatman Died Nov. 24, 1916 Age 52 Years

Edith Eatman Died Mar. 15, 1911 Age 63 Years

In the 1860 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: Martin Locas, 45, farmer; wife Eliza, 30; and children Isham, 16, Edith, 10, Ervin, 8, Neverson, 6, Cedney, 5, and Susan Locus, 2, all mulatto. Martin claimed $250 in personal property.

On 28 April 1883, Robert Eatman, 25, of Wilson County, married Edith Howard, 30, of Wilson County, ate Wilson County Courthouse.

In the 1900 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: farmer Robert Eatmon, 43; wife Edith, 50; and servant Mary Eatmon, 9.

In the 1910 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: Willis Ellis, 22; wife Mary, 20; and aunt Edie Eatman, 52. Nearby, living alone: Robert Eatman, 52, farmer.

On 9 March 1911, Edith Eatmon made out a will in which she bequeathed $200 to Mary Jane Ellis; $100 each to Neverson Locus and James Ross; $50 to Eliza Howard, wife of George Howard; and the remainder to be divided among them all. She also paid for headstones for herself and her late husband.

The first provision of Edith Eatmon’s last will and testament.

  • Mariah Perry

Mariah Wife of Jesse Perry Born Dec. 27, 1893 Died Sep. 14, 1920 She was ready to every good work.

On 26 December 1915, Jesse Perry, 21, son of Charlie and Assie Perry, married Maria Eatmon, 18, daughter of Dallas and Flora Eatmon, in Jackson township, Nash County.

In the 1920 census of Jackson township, Nash County: Jessie Perry, 22; wife Mariah, 19; and daughter Doretha, 1.

  • Lucy Jane  Morgan

Lucy Jane wife of Johnny Morgan 

On 10 March 1922, John Morgan, 21, of Nash County, son of Jim and Senora Morgan, married Lucy Eatmon, 19, of Nash County, daughter of Dollis and Flora Eatmon, in Wilson.

Lucy Morgan died 23 October 1925 in Jackson township, Nash County. Per her death certificate, she was born 16 December 1903 in Nash County to D. Eatmon and Flora Lucas; was married to John Morgan; and was buried in [Bunn?] cemetery.

  • Henry Lucas

Henry Lucas Born A.D. 1845 Died Dec. 30, 1915 Gone but not forgotten.

In the 1850 census of Nash County: Delany Locust, 28, and Lucy, 25, Nathan, 12, Henry, 8, Goodson, 6, Nelly, 4, and Mary J., 5.

On 29 March 1868, Henry Locust, son of Isaac and Laney Taylor, married Nancy Williams, daughter of Ben and America Williams at John Thompson’s in Wilson County.

In the 1870 census of Chesterfield township, Nash County: Henry Lucas, 35, farmer; wife Nancy, 32; and children Margaret, 11, Turner, 7, Susan, 2, and Horace, 5 months.

In the 1880 census of Jackson township, Nash County: Henry Locus, 38; wife Nancy, 37; and children Margaret, 23, Turner, 16, Harriet, 11, Franklin, 10, Adlonia, 8, Henry K., 5, Emma L., 4, Mollie, 2, and Palmer, 10 months.

In the 1900 census of Jackson township, Nash County: Henry Locus, 60; wife Nancy, 55; children Eliza H., 27, Adlone, 25, Henry C., 23, Mollie M., 20, Halma, 19, Ben, 15; and grandson Willie J., 11.

In the 1910 census of Jackson township, Nash County: Henry Lucas, 69; wife Nancy, 68; and sons Palmer, 28, and H. Katie, 30.

  • Mary Pearson

Mary Pearson 1838-1925 Her life was hid with God’s.

In the 1880 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: Mary Pearson, 40, and children Jerry, 17, “hired out,” Mourning, 13, “hired about,” Dora, 8, and Flora, 6.

On 16 January 1895, Jerry Battle, 26, of Nash County, son of Armstead and Patsey Battle, married Mourning Pearson, 24, of Nash County, daughter of Nathan Locus and Mary Pearson, in Taylor township, Wilson County. John Locus applied for the license, and he, Joseph Eatmon, and Branch Flowers were witnesses.

In the 1900 census of Jackson township, Nash County: Dallas Eatmon, 32; wife Flora, 26; children Simean, 4, Mary C., 3, and Mariah, 1; and stepmother Mary Pearson, 63.

In the 1910 census of Jackson township, Nash County: farmer Dallas Eatmon, 49; wife Flora, 35; children Duncan, 14, Dolly, 12, Mariah, 11, Mira, 9, Lucy Jane, 7, Nola, 5, Myrtle, 3, Lessie, 2, and Cleora, 2 months; and mother-in-law Mary Pearson, 70.

Mary Pearson died 28 October 1925 in Jackson township, Nash County. Per her death certificate, she was 88 years old; was born in Nash County to James Flowers and Charity Flowers; was a widow; and worked in farming for Haywood Brantley. Flora Eatmon was informant.

Mourning Battle died 16 March 1934 in Taylors township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was 63 years old; was born in Wilson County to Nathaniel Lucas and Mary Flowers; was the widow of Jerry Battle; and was buried in Sandy Fork cemetery. Flora Eatmon was informant.

Flora Eatman died 6 December 1949 in Bailey, Jackson township, Nash County. Per her death certificate, she was born 23 January 1876 in Wilson County to Nathan Lucas and Mary Pierson; was widowed; and was buried in Sandy Fork cemetery. Carse Eatmon was informant.

  • Lottie High

Lottie High Jan. 6, 1868 May 9, 1918 She hath done what she could

On 7 July 1887, Arch High, 22, of Nash County, son of Peter and Mary High, married Lottie Dew, 19, of Wilson County, daughter of Vol Dew, at George Barnes’ in Wilson County.

In the 1900 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Archy High, 40; wife Lotter, 24; and children Peggie, 19, Nora, 11, Ardiclear, 11, Henry, 6, and Izell, 1.

On 25 July 1908, Manning Wiggins, 36, of Nash County, son of J. and E. Wiggins, married Lottie High, 36, of Nash County, daughter of Silvia Barnes, in Taylor township, Wilson County. Missionary Baptist minister William Rodgers performed the ceremony at his home.

In the 1910 census of Jackson township, Nash County: odd jobs laborer Lottie High, 38; son Henry, 16; and grandson Isaiah, 12.

Lottie Wiggins died 10 May 1918 in Jackson township, Nash County. Per her death certificate, she was born 6 January 1868 to Vara Dew; was divorced; and worked in farming.

Henry High died 29 December 1951 in Bailey, Jackson township, Nash County. Per his death certificate, he was born 15 February 1894 in Nash County to Arch High and Lottie Dew; was a World War I veteran; worked as a tenant farmer; and was buried in West [Rest] Haven cemetery, Wilson.

——

Others buried in this cemetery include Tom Lucas (1872-1920), Cornelia Williams (1900-1918), Isadora Lucas (18[illegible]-1917), Anis Lucas (1860-1927), and Nannie Williams Lucas (1879-1908).

Photo of the Powells courtesy of Ancestry.com user bpatterson80; cemetery photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, March 2023.