Grand United Order of Odd Fellows

Moyton Lodge #5101 buys a lot.

In 1909, Moyton Lodge #5101 — the Stantonsburg-area Odd Fellows — bought a lot at the corner of Broad Avenue and South Yelverton Street. Did they ever build a lodge hall there?

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STANTONSBURG LAND & IMP. CO.

TO

MOYTON LODGE #5101 OF THE O. F. OF WILSON CO.

(DEED)

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, WILSON COUNTY }

THIS DEED, Made this the 28 day of December, 1909, by the Stantonsburg Land and Improvement Company, a Corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of North Carolina, party of the first part, and S.H. Burney, G.W. Applewhite, A.J.S. Edwards, C.B. Best, J.H. Edwards, Joseph Jones, Sr., and W.H. Hall, Trustees of Moyton Lodge  No. 5101 of the G.U.O. of O.F. of Wilson County, State of N. C., parties of the second part,

WITNESSETH: THAT the said party of the first part, for and in consideration of the sum of One Hundred and Twenty-Five Dollars to it paid, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, has bargained and sold, and by these presents does bargain, sell and convey to the said parties of the second part and their successors in Office, a certain tract or parcel of land in Stantonsburg Township, Wilson County, State of North Carolina; being known as lot No. 12 in block 23 of a town site laid out and plotted for said party of the first part, said plot being recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Wilson County in Book …., page ….. and more particularly described as follows, to-wit:

Beginning at the corner of Broad Ave. and ….. St., and runs North 150 feet, corners, thence East 50 ft. to corner of lot No. 11, thence South 150 ft. to Broad Ave., thence West with Broad Ave 50 ft. to the beginning.

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the aforesaid tract or lot of land and all privileges and appurtenances thereto belonging to the said party of the second part, Trustees as aforesaid, and their successors in Office, to their only use and behoof forever.

And the said party of the first part covenant that it is seized of said premises in fee and has a good right to convey the same in fee simple; that the same is free and clear from all incumbrances, and that it will warrant and defend the title to the same against the lawful claims of all persons whomsoever.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF the said Stantonsburg Land and Improvement Company has caused its name to be hereunto signed by its president, attested by its Secretary, and its corporate seal hereto affixed, all by order of its Board of Directors, this the day and year first above written.

Stantonsburg Land & Improvement Co.

BY: S. H. Crocker, President.

Attest: H. E. Thompson, Secretary

Broad and Yelverton today. Bethel A.M.E. Zion is visible at the other end of the block.

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  • S.H. Burney — probably, in the 1910 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: on Ruffin Bridge Road, farmer Henry Burney, 60; wife Hannah, 40; daughter Lillie Applewhite, 23; and grandsons John H., 8, and Marlvin Applewhite, 7.
  • G.W. Applewhite
  • A.J.S. Edwards — probably, in the 1900 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Alcinda J. Edwards, 46; wife Virginia A., 53; son John H., 25; and daughter-in-law, Nelie A., 17.
  • C.B. Best — is this Clarence B. Best?
  • J.H. Edwards — probably, in the 1910 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: on Ruffin Bridge Road, farmer John Edwards, 35; wife Maddie, 23; children Martha A., 9, Mary, 7, Julia, 6, John H., 5, and Joseph, 2; sister-in-law Ida Artis, 24, and nieces Amelia, 5, Salena, 2, and Rennie Artis, 2 months.
  • Joseph Jones, Sr. — in the 1910 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: on Morton [Moyton] Road, farmer Joseph Jones, 53; wife Violet, 36; and children Agnes, 11, Roscoe, 10, Frances, 6, William H., 4, and Benjamin, 2.
  • W.H. Hall — William H. Hall Sr. or William H. Hall Jr.

Deed book 91, page 381, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson; photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2025.

Another Odd Fellows cemetery!

We saw here that a half-dozen or more African-American Odd Fellows lodges were scattered around Wilson County in the early 1900s. Two were in the town of Wilson — Mount Hebron, whose lodge was in the 500 block of East Nash, and Zion Hall, which was in the Grabneck community. Others were in unclear locations in or near Stantonsburg, Black Creek, and Lucama, and three were at locations completely unknown.

I stumbled on a clue today.

While running down a loose end related to Saint Delight Original Free Will Baptist church, at (2), my cursor paused on the square outlined in blue, at (1). I glanced at the owner of this lot. Odd Fellows Society?!? And with the same generic Bishop L.N. Forbes Street address as the Lane Street Project’s Odd Fellows Cemetery. Per the tax record for this parcel, this is a cemetery. [The parcels marked (4) are also cemeteries — Saint Delight’s original cemetery and an expansion lot acquired in 1993. I believe (3) is the lot on which Kirby’s Crossing School once stood.]

Which Odd Fellows lodge was this? And large enough to establish its own cemetery? Wow!

A plat map showing a division of property for the Lucian Kirby heirs, filed in 1992, answers the question. Here’s a detail:

Plat Book 22, page 220, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

The key identifies the owner of (3) as Lucama Odd Fellows Grand United Order No. 3501. (This may be a typo, as other documents record the lodge number as 3561.)

I don’t have access to Deed Book 51 online, but I’ll run to the courthouse for it next time I’m in Wilson. (The Bishop L.N. Forbes mailing address for recent tax records for this property is clearly a recent clerical add-in. It’s erroneous, and serves no purpose other than to cloud the picture. The address is insufficient for mail delivery; there is no mailbox; and, in any event, both cemeteries are tax-exempt.) I’ll also need to take another look at the cemetery, which I assumed belonged to the church when I photographed it in September 2017.

Here’s a clue I missed:

James A. Kirby‘s fallen headstone shows the Odd Fellows’ linked chain symbol, marked F-L-T. Lucama Lodge was chartered in 1892, and Kirby may have been among the original members.

Black Creek Odd Fellows Lodge.

As we first saw here, there were multiple G.U.O.O.F. lodges in Wilson County. Per Charles H. Brooks’ The Official History and Manual of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows in America (1902), the Black Creek Lodge #3446 was established in 1891. This embosser, however, which belonged to Samuel H. Vick, is engraved: BLACK CREEK LODGE No. 3446, Instituted Feb. 12, 1892, G U O OF O F BLACK CREEK NC

Many thanks to V. Cowan for sharing!

Odd Fellows parade the streets.

Wilson Times, 22 October 1897.

A good time was had by all, but, 127 years later, so many questions….

  • who were the Odd Fellows lodge members in 1897? the officers?
  • who made up the lodge’s band?
  • what were the “entertainments of various kinds”?
  • which “Woodard’s warehouse”? The 1897 Sanborn maps of Wilson show Woodard Brothers Prize Houses on (or just off) South Street below Goldsboro — one located at the approximate spot of today’s Whirligig Park pavilion, and the other in the parking lot behind Casita Brewing. Woodard, Bobbitt & Company also owned a warehouse and a prize house in what is now the whirligig block.

Noble Grand Vick celebrates with Boston Lodge.

Like his father Daniel Vick and brother Samuel H. Vick, Ernest L. Vick was an active Odd Fellow, serving as Noble Grand when Boston Lodge celebrated its 26th anniversary in 1909.

Boston Globe, 19 February 1909.

Annual meeting of the Odd Fellows and Households of Ruth.

In 1976, Wilson’s lodges hosted the 94th annual district Odd Fellows and Household of Ruth meeting. Hannibal Lodge #1552, founded in 1873, was older than the district. The county’s first Household of Ruth lodge was established in 1887. Excited as I was to part its covers, the souvenir booklet contains no lodge history or historic photographs and, within a decade after this conference, the lodge was essentially defunct.

Thank you, M.B. Ward.

The Odd Fellows convene.

Two brief blurbs in August 1892 announce an Odd Fellows convention in Wilson. Samuel H. Vick delivered a welcome address, and the keynote address was held at Wilson’s Opera House. Delegates arrived in town on special excursion trains run for the event.

Wilson Mirror, 3 August 1892.

Home Supply Company.

Circa 1908, William McCowan and Samuel H. Vick operated a grocery store at 540 East Nash Street, on the first floor of the Odd Fellows building.

Detail, 1908 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson, N.C.

Per the 1908 city directory, the company employed at least one clerk, Elmore Stokes.

Home Supply Company was a short-lived venture between two unlikely partners. Neither McCowan, a brickmason, nor Vick, who had broad entrepreneurial interests, had known experience in the grocery business.

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  • William McCowan

In the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: washerwoman Anna McGown, 35, and children William, 16, Emma, 15, Bettie, 10, Margaret, 8, Charles, 6, and Samuel, 2.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: brickmason William McCowan, 27; wife Louiza, 25; and daughter Annice, 6.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: bricklayer William McCowan, 47; wife Louise, 39; and boarder Calvin Murray, 14.

In the 1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: McCowan Wm pres Home Supply Co (Inc) h Church nr Pender

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Bill McCowan, 56; wife Louisiana, 45; and lodger Annie Williams, 38.

In the 1922 and 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: McCowan William (c) brklyer h 513 Church

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: McCowan William (c, Louisa) brklyer h 513 Church

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: McCowan J William (c; Louisa) brklyer h 513 Church

William McCowan died 21 February 1940 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 86 years old; was born in Wilson County; lived at 513 Church Street; was the widower of Lou McCowan; worked as a bricklayer; and was buried in Wilson, N.C. [If he, like Vick, were an Odd Fellow, he is likely buried in that cemetery. Otherwise, Vick Cemetery or the newly opened Rest Haven.]

  • Elmore Stokes