Graham

The last will and testament of Lula Speight.

In a will dated 5 August 1943, Lula Speight left all her personal property and real estate to her son, James T. Speight. Witnesses to the document were Jesse T. McPhail and Dave Graham.

  • Lula Speight

On 13 February 1914, Albert Speight, 35, of Greene County, son of Gray and Julia Speight, married Lula Ruff, 25, of Greene County, daughter of Louis Edwards, in Carrs township, Greene County.

In the 1920 census of Carrs township, Greene County, N.C.: on Snow Hill and Stantonsburg Road, farmer Albert Speight, 40; wife Lula, 29; and son James T., 9.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Speight Albert (c; Lula) prop Brown’s Filling Sta 1216 E Nash

Albert Speight died 7 July 1929 at Saint Agnes Hospital, Raleigh, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was 50 years old; was born in Greene County to Gray Speight and Julia Williams; worked for himself as a merchant; and was married to Lula Speight. He was buried in Wilson.

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Speight Lula (c) gro 209 Finch h do [ditto]

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 209 Finch Street, owned and valued at $1000, widow Lula Speight, 34, drink stand proprietor, and son James T. Speight, 19, bank porter. Renting from Speight for $8/month, William Hodge, 25; wife Sarah, 23; and children Eva R., 6, and William Jr., 1.

On 15 October 1934, Louis Jones, 35, of Wilson, son of Louis Jones and Beatie [last name unknown], married Lula Speight, 36, of Wilson, daughter of Louis Edwards and Emma Edwards. A.F.W.B. minister R.A. Horton performed the ceremony at his home in Wilson in the presence of Mary J. Horton, Flossie Johnson, and Ethel Parker.

Lula Speight died 22 September 1948 at her home at 209 Finch Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 12 August 1894 in Wayne County, N.C., to Louis Edwards and Lou Thompson; worked as a domestic; and was widow. She was buried in Washington Branch cemetery, Greene County, N.C. James Artis of Greensboro, N.C., was informant.

  • Jesse T. McPhail
  • Dave Graham — David Graham died 31 July 1966 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 16 September 1890 in South Carolina to Jim Graham and Nora Bradley; worked as a male nurse; was a widower; and lived at 622 New Street, Wilson.

Her chicken came home to roost.

Culpeper (Va.) Exponent, 30 March 1922.

Lila Thompson and Annie Graham were close neighbors on Ashe Street. Within 30 months of their dispute, both were dead of tuberculosis.

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  • Liler Thompson — In the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Thompson Lila (c) tobwkr h 124 Ashe. Lila Thompson died 14 October 1924 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 24 years old; was born in Sampson County to Henrietta Clark; was married to Walter Thompson; lived at 1005 Washington Street; and was buried in Rountree cemetery.
  • Annie Graham — In the 1920 census of Old Fields township, Wilson County: farmer Burley Graham, 16; mother Annie, 30, widow; sister Margrette, 14; and cousin Walter Bryant, 19; all born in South Carolina. Annie Graham died 27 July 1924 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was about 40 years old; was born in Lake City, South Carolina, to Daniel and Martha Martin; was the widow of James Graham; lived at 130 Ash Street; and worked as a maid for the Briggs Hotel. Burley Graham was informant. (Annie Graham’s daughter, also named Annie Graham, aged three months, died five days earlier. Per her death certificate, her parents were James Hall and Annie Graham. Mary Graham was informant.)

1008 Carolina Street.

The eighty-second in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

As described in the nomination form for East Wilson Historic District: “circa 1930; 1 story; bungalow with gable roof and double-pile plan.”

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In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1008 Carolina Street, paying $20/month rent, widow Ella Barnes, 72; her daughter Lucy Watson, 48, laundress; son-in-law James Watson, 46, farm laborer; grandchildren Sylvester, 23, taxi chauffeur, Margrette, 20, James, 19, dairy laborer, and Pauline Watson, 14; and lodger James H. Barnes, 19, drugstore clerk.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1008 Carolina Street, paying $14/month rent, widow Hattie Winstead, 60, laundress, born in Fayetteville; her son Edward, 19, tobacco factory laborer, born in Nash County; and her daughter Edna Lewis, 18, cook, born in Saratoga. Also, paying $7/month rent, tobacco factory driver Frank J. Ward, 23; wife Louise, 19, tobacco factory stemmer, and daughter Martha, 4.

In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Graham Henry (c; Alice) cook County Tuberculosis Sanatorium h 1008 Carolina

In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Graham Henry (c; Alice) h 1008 Carolina

Photograph by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2018.