Rosa Edwards Yelverton (1890-1992).
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In the 1940 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: widow Annie Edwards, 69; daughter Rosa, 49, cook; son Josh, 35, lumber laborer; and daughter Hildrene, 14.
In 1950 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Josh Edwards, 43, hauls logs; sister Rosa, 57; and nephew Hubert, 7.
Wilson Daily Times, 30 July 1992.
Photo courtesy of Saint Luke Free Will Baptist Church, Stantonsburg. Thank you!
Emma Ford Winstead (1891-1950).
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On 21 July 1917, Emma Ford, 22, of Stantonsburg, daughter of Smith and Mary Ford, married Walter Winstead, 20, of Stantonsburg, son of James and Eliza Winstead, in Wilson.
In the 1920 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm tenant Walter Winstead, 23; wife Emma, 24; and daughter Anlizer, 2.
In the 1930 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Walter Winstead, 39; wife Emma, 30, washwoman; and children Anna Liza, 12, Nancy B., 10, Clara, 8. Walter L., 6, Milton, 5, Clarence, 3, and Willie, 1.
In 1942, Walter Lee Winstead registered for the World War II in Wilson County, North Carolina. Per his registration card, he was born 12 October 1924 in Wilson County, N.C.; lived in Stantonsburg; his contact was his mother Emma Winstead; he worked “helping father on farm,” and had a scar on his right cheek.
In the 1950 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Walter Winstead, 45; wife Emma, 50; and children Nancy, 28, Walter, 23, Clarence, 20, Willie, 19, Lois, 18, Jessie, 10, and William, 6.
Photo courtesy of Saint Luke Free Will Baptist Church, Stantonsburg. Thank you!
Lizzie Jones Beamon Fleming (1892-??)
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In the 1900 census of Saulston township, Wayne County, N.C.: Isaiah Jones, 29, farmer; wife Sidney, 25; and children Lizzie, 7, Leuberter, 6, Octava, 4, and Febry, 8 months.
On 4 October 1908, Willie Beamon and Lizzie Jones, both of Greene County, N.C., were married in Speights Bridge township, Greene County.
On 4 December 1919, Josh Fleming, 38, of Wilson County, son of Jim and Jane Fleming, married Lizzie Beamon, 26, of Greene County, N.C., daughter of Isiah Jones, in Greene County. A.M.E. minister J.W. Saunders performed the ceremony in the presence of J.G. Brooks, J.H. Williams, and Isaiah Jones, all of Stantonsburg.
In the 1920 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: tenant farmer Josh Flemmin, 38; wife Lizzie, 26; children Wade, 10, Clifton, 7, Dydie, 5, and Antabelle, 3; [Josh’s] stepchildren Viola, 10, Susie, and Simm S. Beamon, 2; and nephew Connie Fort, 19.
In the 1930 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Josh Flemming, 47; wife Lizzie, 37; and children Viola, 19, public school teacher, Clifton, 17, Dida, 15, Sudie, 14, Archie B., 13, Esie, 12, Josh Jr., 9, Lizzie, 7, Mary, 5, Douglas, 2, and Jernas, 7 months.
In the 1940 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Josh Flemming, 47; wife Lizzie, 37; and children Josh Jr., 20, Lizzie, 17, Mary, 15, Douglas, 13, and Jernis, 10; Ivy Robinson, 10; Nathaniel Fleming, 7; mother-in-law Sidney Jones, 66, widow; and lodger Ida Holmes, 48, widow, cook.
In the 1950 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: on Whitley Street, widow Lizzie J. Fleming, 37; children Journice E., 20, Nathaniel, 18, and Alma D., 11; daughter Lizzie F. Charles, 27, house service, and her children Vivian E., 8, Joyce A., 7, and Mary V., 1.
Photo courtesy of Saint Luke Free Will Baptist Church, Stantonsburg. Thank you!
Even tucked away as it is behind two houses, I don’t know how I’ve missed this church the thousands of times I have driven up and down (the former) Lane Street.
The sign out on Bishop L.N. Forbes Street identifies New Christian Original Free Will Baptist Church. What I took for a driveway leading to the building is actually the short unpaved, uncurbed, unguttered length of Graham Street. It didn’t take much sleuthing to figure out that, until recently, this was Lofton Chapel Original Free Will Baptist Church.
The earliest reference I have found for Lofton Chapel is 1955. This building has been heavily renovated, but is decades older than that — the vinyl siding doesn’t entirely conceal its early 20th century origins. (Those lancet windows!) Strangely, the building does not appear in a 1940 aerial photograph of the site, suggesting that it was moved to this location from another at some time after. Whether it was built as Lofton Chapel, I do not know.
Aerial view of the church per Google Maps.
Top photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, November 2022.
I was peering at the cornerstone of Stantonsburg’s 105 year-old Saint Luke Free Will Baptist Church when a small pickup truck pulled up behind me. Mother Annie Dupree stepped out and asked me to identify myself. After I established my bona fides — we are not related, but share kin — I was invited into the sanctuary and given both a tour and a history of the church. Before I left an hour later, I’d purchased a commemorative brick — HONORING HISTORY/ LISA Y HENDERSON/ BLACK WIDE AWAKE — and gotten permission to take pictures of pictures of a half-dozen early church leaders and write about them here. Stay tuned.
ST. LUKE FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH ESTABLISHED 1917 WILLIE JORDAN SECT. REV. J.E. BROWN PASTOR
Wilson Daily Times, 6 August 1948.
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In 1918, Isaac Butler registered for the World War I draft in Brunswick, Glynn County, Georgia. Per his registration card, he was born 7 September 1899; lived at 1723 Lee Street, Brunswick; his nearest relative was George Butler, Owens Ferry, Camden, Georgia; and he worked as a laborer for “Targan Rosin & T. Co.,” Brunswick.
In the 1920 census of Brunswick, Glynn County, Georgia: longshoreman Isaac Butler, 24, was a lodger in the household of Will Mitchell, 1417 Albany Street.
On 13 January 1923, Isaac Butler, 24, of Wilson, son of George and Patsy Butler, married Estelle Joyner, 25, of Wilson, daughter of Kinchen and Jane Joyner, at E.S. Hargrave‘s in Wilson. Free Will Baptist minister Hargrave performed the ceremony in the presence of John Boykin, Annie Hargrave, and Jane Taylor.
In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Butler Isaac (c; Estelle) hlpr h 317 Hackney
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 413 East Green, rented at $15/month, Georgia-born household servant Isaac Butler, 44; wife Estelle, a household servant; and lodger Eleanor Deans, 38, also a household servant.
In 1942, Isaac Brandon Butler registered for the World War II draft in Newport News, Virginia. Per his registration card, he was born 7 September 1894 in Camden County, Georgia; lived at 629 – 26th Street, Newport News; his contact was Estelle Butler, 704 East Green Street, Wilson; and he worked for Newport News Shipping & Dry Dock Company. He signed his card “Rev. Isaac Brandon Butler.”
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 506 East Vance, Isaac Butler, 55, and wife Estelle, 50, servant.
Isaac Branton Butler died 25 February 1966 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 7 September 1899 in Georgia to George and Pattie Butler; lived at 708 Edwards Street, Wilson; was married to Estelle Butler; and worked as a minister.
Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.
Wilson Daily Times, 28 May 1945.
Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.
Deed book 81, page 259, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office.
On 18 May 1908, for $125.00, Dianah Rountree sold E.S. Koonce, Washington Cox, and Wash Little, the trustees of the “ole original Freewill Baptist church of Wilson” (also known as Strickland Chapel) a parcel of land on the southwest side of Manchester Street at Suggs Street extension adjacent to Rountree and Daniel Vick‘s property.
Strickland Chapel? A church at the corner of Manchester and Suggs? I have never heard of the church, and the location is now occupied by a concrete-block duplex built in the 1950s.
The intersection is beyond the bounds of the 1908 and 1913 Sanborn fire insurance map, but on the 1922 map the building appears and is marked as an A.M.E. Zion church.
I found a reference in 1929 to a Presbyterian church known as Strickland Chapel, but it was a white congregation and does not appear to be related to the church above.
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Wilson Chapel Free Will Baptist Church‘s building burned to the ground in an early morning fire in November 1922.
In 1915, the church had bought a wooden structure first used by Jackson Chapel Missionary Baptist and vacated after its merger with First Missionary Baptist and the erection of the large brick building still standing at the corner of Pender and East Nash. This wooden building is apparently the one destroyed by fire in 1922. The church rebuilt, and the new building is shown here. In 1958, Wilson Chapel built the brick building in use today.
Wilson Daily Times, 6 November 1922.
Wilson Daily Times, 7 November 1922.
The 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map shows the close proximity of Wilson Chapel and the cotton seed house of Wilson County Gin Company.
Clippings courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.
Ellis Chapel United American Free Will Baptist Church celebrated its 110th anniversary in 1992. Established on land donated by Hilliard and Fereby Ellis, the church’s first pastor was Crockett Best.
Wilson Daily Times, 8 June 1992.