fishing

Gone fishing.

Wilson Daily Times, 15 June 1948.

Two couples and a set of sisters learned the hard way that Wiggins Mill pond was not open to free fishing.

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  • Rosetta Tune and Willie James Tune — in the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer Willie Tune, 29; wife Rosetta, 29; and son Willie Lee, 10.
  • Bessie Dew — Bessie Dupree Dew. In the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: William Dupree, 26; wife Nettar, 17; son Sylvester, 5 months; brother Ernest, 20; and Ernest’s wife Ora Lee, 19; sister Sudie, 16; brother Frank Jr., 19; sister Bessie, 15, Charity, 12, and Ada, 9; and nephew James Petway, 6. On 17 September 1941, Moses Dew, 23, of Wilson, son of Moses and Eliza Dew, married Bessie Dupree, 19, of Wilson, son of Preston and Ada Dupree, in Wilson.   
  • Moses Dew — in the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County [next door to the Tunes]: widow Eliza Dew, 69; daughter-in-law Naomi, 28, widow; son Moses, 21, farmer; niece Elizabeth, 13; and grandchildren Catherine, 7, and Eva, 5 months.
  • Lizzie Vick and Mary Vick — probably, in the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: John Vick, 55, divorced, boiler tender at auto body company; sister Mary Vick Hooks, 44, widow, farming hired hand; sister Lizzie Vick, 38, widow, farming hired hand; nephew Charlie Hooks, 19, farm laborer; niece Betty May Hooks, 15; and daughter Lumizer Vick, 26, divorced, private family cook.

Parker drowns while fishing.

Wilson Daily Times, 27 June 1930.

Matthew Parker’s death certificate told a less nuanced story of his death with a slightly judgey undertone: “Drowned Supposed accidental getting in water over his head and could not swim.”

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In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Roxy Parker, 24, and children Joseph, 14, Minnie, 13, Elenn, 12, Armena, 11, Mathew, 10, and Defatie, 2.

Matthew Parker registered for the World War I draft in 1918 in Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 15 March 1899; lived on Harper Street, Wilson; worked as a laborer for W.T. Clark; and his nearest relative was Roxy Parker.

On 9 October 1918, Matthew Parker, 18, married Emma Knight, 17, in Wilson.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Lipscomb Road, William H. Knight, 32, truck driver; wife Minnie, 24; brothers-in-law Cephus, 29, Menus, 22, and Matthew Parker, 18, all farm laborers; and lodgers Mary, 25, cook, Lebis, 10, and Lovie Saunders, 8. Next door: widow Roxie Parker, 50, and daughter Ellen, 21.

Roxie Parker died 2 October 1925 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 6 May 1919 in Wilson to Matthew Parker and Emma Knight. She died of diphtheria

[Matthew Parker’s older brother Cephus Parker came to his own tragic end in 1944.]