grave marker

Cemeteries, no. 31: Saint Delight community cemetery.

Saint Delight Community Cemetery lies perhaps four miles inside Greene County from Wilson County’s Stantonsburg, but it is the final resting place of many Wilson County residents with roots in the Speights Bridge and Bullhead area of Greene.

Saint Delight contains more than one thousand graves within its well-kept borders. The stones marking these sites include dozens carved by Wilson marble cutter Clarence B. Best; at least two by an unknown artist whose style I have dubbed “angle-and-serif;” and two beauties of a style I have not seen before, characterized by white lettering, angular number shapes, and designs that could almost be described as dainty.

The astonishing headstone of Greene County native Adam Fields, who was both a Mason and an Elk.

Addie Edwards’ headstone. The illustration under its ornately shaped top is faded, but lovely.

The headstones of Dicie Williams, Thelma W. Joyner, and Cloudie Williams feature the angle-and-serif style of an unknown artist. I’ve seen only two other examples, both in William Chapel Cemetery.

And this fascinating work with inset glass:

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, February 2023.

Lane Street Project: and another one — Jack Rountree!

Yesterday, while working at Odd Fellows, Billy Foster of Foster Stone and Cemetery Care unearthed two more grave markers. One was blank, but the other was that of Jack Rountree, whose daughter Delzela Rountree is also buried at Odd Fellows. It is likely that his wife Lucille Rountree is there as well.

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In the 1870 census of Bushy Fork township, Person County, North Carolina: farm laborer Henry Rountree, 30; wife Margaret, 20; and son Jack, 6.

On 21 October 1891, Jack Rountree, 30, parents unnamed, and Lucy Bergeron, 20, of Falkland, of Elias and [illegible] Bergeron, were married in Pitt County, North Carolina.

In the 1900 census of Falkland township, Pitt County: farmer Jack Rountree, 49; wife Lucy, 27; and children Julius, 5, Daisy E., 2, and Cora, 2 months; sisters Marcela, 23, Cora, 24, and Ella Bargeron, 26; and boarder Jacob Worthan, 18.

In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Saratoga Road, farmer Jack Rountree, 53; wife Lucy, 35; and children Junius, 15, Delzel, 12, Cora Lee, 10, John H., 7, James, 6, Mable, 4, and Gollie May, 1.

Daisy L. [sic] Roundtree died 5 August 1914 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born in 1898 to Jack Roundtree and Lucy Body; was single; lived on Stantonsburg Street; and was buried in Wilson [Odd Fellows Cemetery].

In the 1916 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Rountree Jack (c) farmer h Stantonsburg rd extd

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Old Stantonsburg Road, farmer Jack Rountree, 57; wife Lucile, 47; son Julius, 24, daughter-in-law Lida, 23, sons John Henry, 17, and Jesse, 16, daughters Mabel, 14, and Ola May, 10, and married daughter Cora Farmer, 19. [Her husband Paul was working in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.]

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Mason Street, Loucile Roundtree, 52; husband John H., 67, yard gardener; and children Jessie D., 26, plasterer in public buildings; Mable, 22, dressmaking; John H., 27, cotton mill mechanic; Goldie J., 19; and Bertha, 14, “adopted daughter.”

Lucile Elizabeth Rountree died 14 May 1930 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 10 May 1875 in Pitt County to Elias Barden and Lettice Davis; was married to Jack Rountree; lived on Hadley Street; and was buried in Wilson [probably Odd Fellows Cemetery].

On 16 September 1931, Jack Rountree, 60, of Wilson, son of Henry Rountree and Margaret [maiden name not given], married Catherine Waddell, 50, of Rocky Mount, daughter of Charles and Mary Small, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister B.P. Coward performed the ceremony in the presence of J.L. Cooke, Clara R. Cooke, and S.A. Coward.

In the 1940 census of Rocky Mount, Nash County, North Carolina: at 1812 South Church Street, yardman Jack Rountree, 78, and wife Katherine, 62.

In the 1950 census of Rocky Mount, Nash County: at 1812 South Church Street, John H. Rountree, 88, and wife Catherine, 77.

John Henry Rountree died 21 June 1953 at his home at 1812 South Church Street, Rocky Mount, Nash County. Per his death certificate, he was born 4 March 1887 in Person County, N.C., to Henry Rountree and Margaret [maiden name not stated]; worked as a retired janitor; and was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery, Wilson. [There is no marker in Rest Haven for John or Jack Rountree.]

Catherine Waddell Rountree died 1 September 1958 at her home at 1812 South Church Street, Rocky Mount. Per her death certificate, she was born 10 July 1888 in Greene County, N.C., to Charles Small and Mary Patrick; was the widow of Jack Rountree; and was buried in Unity Cemetery, Rocky Mount.

Lane Street Project: sponsor a marker.

Want to help Lane Street Project, but you’re nowhere near Wilson? Adopt a headstone!

For the discounted rate of $50, Foster Stone and Cemetery Care will clean, stabilize, and reset a headstone in Odd Fellows or Rountree Cemeteries. Billy Foster has more than “20 years of experience honoring the memory of loved ones” and in just a few weeks has already transformed the appearance of Odd Fellows. 

Newly cleaned and reset grave markers gleaming in the evening light. Photo courtesy of Billy Foster, Foster Stone and Cemetery Care.

These markers are among those available for sponsorship:

  • Hood S. Phillips

Hood S. Phillips was a barber. His wife Phillis Phillips was probably buried nearby, but we have not yet found her marker. Phillips’ marker will be cleaned and set upright, and the small collapsed area at the grave filled in.

  • Walter M. Foster 

Walter M. Foster‘s beautiful white marble headstone has a splintered corner that needs repair. Foster worked as a fireman (one who tended the fire to run a boiler, heat a building, or power a steam engine) for Hackney Wagon Company. 

  • Lula Dew Wooten

Lula Dew Wooten‘s headstone is perhaps my favorite in all of Odd Fellows. A simple rectangle with softly rounded shoulders and delicate engraving, the marker needs only cleaning and straightening. Wooten was a dressmaker, and her husband Simeon Wooten is likely buried nearby.

  • Nettie Foster

Nettie Foster‘s headstone badly needs cleaning.

  • H.B. Taylor

H.B. Taylor has not been identified. (He was not Rev. Halley B. Taylor, minister of Calvary Presbyterian Church for several years.) Taylor’s marker, which bears symbols of both the Masons and Odd Fellows, needs cleaning and straightening.

If you’re interested in sponsoring these or another marker, you can CashApp fifty dollars to $blackwideawake, Venmo to @lanestreetproject, or email me at lanestreetproject@gmail.com to arrange payment otherwise. Contributions less than $50 will be pooled — so no amount is too small!

The final resting place of Eliza Best.

Per her death certificate, Eliza Best was buried in “Rountree Cemetery.” However, her simple little white marble headstone is now found in Rest Haven Cemetery next to her son Clarence B. Best and other family members. Best was probably originally buried in Vick Cemetery (which, with Odd Fellows Cemetery, was often lumped with Rountree), then disinterred and moved to a new family plot in Rest Haven after the older cemeteries closed circa 1960.

[Note: despite her son’s booming business carving headstones, Eliza Best’s marker does not display any of Clarence Best’s characteristic style features.]

Photograph by Lisa Y. Henderson, February 2023.

Lane Street Project: George Washington White.

Billy Foster of Foster Stone and Cemetery Care discovered a new headstone while repairing and resetting Lucinda White‘s broken marker yesterday. Buried in the soil about seven feet in front of her stone was her husband George Washington White‘s marker.

George White, 34, of Craven County, son of Louisa Dew, married Lucinda Parker, 20, of Craven County, on 27 December 1898 at Jackson Dew‘s residence in Wilson township, Wilson County. Alfred Dew applied for the license, and Baptist minister J.T. Deans performed the ceremony in the presence of James T. Alston, L.A. Allen, and Jackson Dew.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: George White, 25, day laborer fireman, and wife Lucinda, 23.

In the 1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: White George (c) fireman h 605 Wiggins

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Suggs Street, George White, 35, box factory laborer, and wife Lucindia, 30.

In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: White Geo (c) fireman h 411 Wiggins

Lucinda White died 13 November 1915 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born in 1883 in North Carolina to Henretta Richardson; was married; and was buried in Wilson. George White was informant.

In the 1916 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: White George (c) fireman h 409 Wiggins

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 409 Stantonsburg Street, cotton mill  fireman George White, 54, and wife Maggie, 29. [The Whites were next door to Ben Mincey and family, and the Whites’ burial plot is close to the Minceys’.]

In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: White Geo (c) fireman h 648 Wiggins

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: White Geo W (c; Maggie) firemn Wilson Cotton Mills  h 106 N Reid

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: White Geo W (c; Maggie) firemn Wilson Cotton Mills  h 106 N Reid

George Washington White died 7 December 1939 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 62 years old; was born in Wilson County; was married to Maggie White; lived at 916 Robeson Street; and worked as a stationary boiler fireman at Wilson Cotton Mills.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, February 2023.

Lane Street Project: Season 3, January 28.
I live far from Wilson, and my schedule does not align with LSP workdays as often as I would like. I am grateful to be able to rely on the eyes, hands, and hearts of so many to make each day a success. Wilson native Jane Cooke Hawthorne, who first came out to work at Odd Fellows in Season 1, beautifully described her experience yesterday:
“Do you love a daffodil like I do? Spring’s first flowers often push through before the last frosts, their brilliant yellow trumpets announcing that a new season is on its way! They are a symbol of re-birth and resurrection — a sight for weary, winter jaded eyes. Daffodils were often planted in cemeteries and are sometimes called the ‘Cemetery Ladies’ — a nod towards their faithful and upright appearance among the headstones.
“Today I had the honor and privilege of working at the beautiful Odd Fellows Cemetery in my hometown of Wilson, and I was hoping that the daffodils would be blooming. Odd Fellows is an African-American Cemetery in East Wilson that is being resurrected by faithful people under the umbrella of the Lane Street Project. Mostly through volunteer work over the last two years, the project has reclaimed gravestones and other markers hidden by debris, vines and overgrowth, in some places as deep as two feet, after years of neglect. Our instructions were to be mindful of and to not disturb the daffodils that grow in the underbrush. Especially in African-American cemeteries, we were told, daffodils and other shrubs such as palmetto were used to mark the grave instead of a headstone when the family could not afford such a luxury. I wasn’t sure there’d be any daffodils, but when I found them blooming today, my heart was full.
“Here were the daffodils springing forth to say, ‘Here I am, friend! Here I am, family! Here I am!! I lived and worked and played and loved and welcomed each spring in Wilson! And I am so glad that you have found me! I am not forgotten! I am loved and remembered and cherished!’ My clippers moved quickly to free the vines around those daffodils, and my heart filled even more.
“Taking a break, I spoke in the most honest way, as only one can, with Castonoble Hooks, Lane Street Project’s cheerleader, poet laureate, and head of the project’s Senior Force. (I’m now a card-carrying member). I asked him, ‘Who owns this place after the efforts of the Senior Force, after the hard and dedicated work of Lisa, after the hard work of all the folks who have put in an hour or two or sixty? Who will own this place?’ ‘All of us,’ he said.
“All. Of Us.
“I think the daffodils are having their say. Come and help the Lane Street Project and let your heart be filled like mine was today.”
Thanks so much, Jane, for all you do to support Lane Street Project in word and deed!

Lane Street Project: an unexpected gift.

Last year, when someone accidentally toppled Henry Tart‘s magnificent obelisk, I despaired that resetting it would cost more than Lane Street Project’s meager coffers could ever disburse.

Today, then, when I read Billy Foster’s PM, I could hardly believe my eyes.

Here’s what Tart’s gray and white marble grave marker looked like yesterday.

And here it is after Foster Stone & Cemetery Care put it to rights.

Here’s the military marker for the grave of Corporal Willie Gay, the only known African-American Spanish-American war veteran buried in Wilson.

And here, released from a foot of soil:

I am deeply grateful to Billy Foster and Foster Stone & Cemetery Care for this generous gift to Odd Fellows Cemetery and Lane Street Project. We are working with him to identify our most pressing needs for repair and restoration and will raise funds to pay for his expert service.

Photos courtesy of Billy Foster.

F-L-T.

We have seen here that Wilson’s Hannibal Lodge #1552 was not the only Odd Fellows lodge in Wilson County.

The three links engraved on the headstones of Gray Williams and Henderson Parker in William Chapel cemetery suggest an Odd Fellows lodge in Taylor township in far northwest Wilson County.

On 27 February 1900, the trustees of the Colored Odd Fellows paid Caswell F. and Eliza J. Finch $12.50 for a one-acre lot in Taylors township on the east side of the Wilson and Nash Road adjacent to the colored school lot. The deed was recorded on 10 March 1900 in Wilson County Register of Deeds in Deed Book 54, page 314. The Wilson and Nash Road was today’s N.C. Highway 58, and “the colored school lot” is probably a reference to Farmers Colored School, which was located just north of modern-day Silver Lake.

Gray Williams Oct 3 1882 Jul 12 1925 Lula Williams Born 1878 Jan 21 1923 Gone But Not Forgotten

Henderson Parker July 5, 1878 Sept 6, 1919

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, April 2022. 

Angle-and-serif Style.

I have repeatedly gushed my admiration for the artistry of gravestone cutter Clarence B. Best. In William Chapel church cemetery, I noticed two headstones bearing the distinctive work of another artist, this one unknown. He worked in concrete, incising narrow, upright letters with oversized serifs into the face of each marker. These markers, created during the decade after World War II, also feature highly stylized floral designs.

William Wells July 30_1886 Oct. 25_1946 Gone But Not Forgotten

Walter Farr April 2_1888 Aug. 13_1955

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, April 2022.

The final resting place of the Brodie family.

Originally from Franklin County, North Carolina, the Brodies spent time in Nash County before settling in Taylor township, Wilson County, in the first decade of the 20th century. Several members of the family are buried in the cemetery of William Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, a few miles west of Elm City.

Julia Brodie Oct. 17, 1867 Apr. 10, 1928. Peyton Brodie Mar. 1, 1862 July 19, 1930. Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep.

Prosper Brodie Apr. 17, 1897 Oct. 1, 1918

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In the 1870 census of Cypress Creek township, Franklin County, N.C.: farmer Sam Brodie, 50; wife Mariah, 30; and children Sam, 18, Berry, 16, Joice, 15, Theney, 13, Phil, 12, Peyton, 7, Susan, 5, Wash, 4, and Andrew, 7 months.

In the 1880 census of Harris township, Franklin County: farmer Samuel Brodie, 53; wife Maria, 39; children Peyton, 16, Susan, 14, James W., 13, Andrew, 11, Polus, 8, Emmer N., 6, Urnon T., 2, Robt. K.S., 1; and brother-in-law Mu N. Harris, 50. 

On 14 July 1888, Payton Brodie, 24, married Julia Perry, 22, in Castalia, Nash County. 

In the 1900 census of Castalia township, Nash County, N.C.: Paten Broddie, 36; wife Julia, 34; and children Thomas, 15; Chessin, 10; Annie B., 7, Sam, 6, Prosper, 4, and Delia, 2.

In the 1910 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: on Farmers Mill Road or Nashville Road, farmer Payton Broadie, 47; wife Julia, 44; and children Thomas, 25, Samuel, 16, Prosper, 14, Adelia, 12, Odel, 10, William A., 5, and Annie M., 2.

In the 1920 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Paton Brodie, 56; wife Julia, 53; and children Sammie, 24, Delia, 20, Odell, 17, William, 15, Annie, 12, and Naimie, 8.

In the 1930 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Payton Browdy, 65; son William, 25; wife Maylinda, 20; daughters Pearlie, 22, and Maomie, 18; and granddaughter Dortha L., 1.

Prosper Brodie registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County in 1917. Per his registration card, he was born 17 April 1897 in Nash County; resided at Route 2, Elm City; his father was born in Franklin County; he was employed by Walter Bridger, Elm City; and his nearest relative was father Peyton Brodie, Elm City. 

Payton Brodie died 17 July 1930 in Taylors township. Per his death certificate, he was 58 years old; was born in Franklin County to Sam Brodie and Maria Brodie; was the widower of Julia Brodie; and had been engaged in farming. William Brodie was informant. 

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, April 2022.