Greene County NC

On the hunt for alleged murderer Pool.

Durham Sun, 25 July 1911.

Not long after he completed a stint on Wilson County roads for a murder, Andrew Pool allegedly stabbed Caesar Wooten to death during a church service. (This Caesar Wooten was not the same Caesar Wooten who eluded authorities for years after murdering Mittie Strickland at the Green Street railroad tracks — but he had been among the dozens of men rounded up for the crime.)

Wilson Daily Times, 25 July 1911.

Pool was spotted near Faro, in northern Wayne County and was believed to be trying to get to his mother’s house near Black Creek.

Wilson Daily Times, 25 July 1911.

On July 29, a man who had witnessed the stabbing burst into Wilson’s police headquarters — Pool was Anderson Dew‘s house at Lodge and Spruce! A posse marched to the house, but Pool gave them the slip. (By the way, Anderson Dew had an eventful 1911.)

The Farmer and Mechanic (Raleigh, N.C.), 1 August 1911.

The Greene County sheriff offered a $50 reward for Pool’s arrest. The notice contained a rather menacing description of the suspect, except for his size 9, patent leather leather low-quarter shoes. (These may have been opera pumps, but perhaps were more likely a cap-toed oxford worn “dandy” style like Dock Jacobs.)

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 4 August 1911.

Andrew Pool and Caesar Wooten abruptly disappeared from newspaper coverage after just a couple of weeks. I have not been able to determine if Pool was ever caught, tried, or convicted.

——

  • Andrew Pool

On 19 January 1910, Andrew Pool, 28, of Greene County, married Eva Farmer, 19, of Stantonsburg, daughter of Marshall and Grace Farmer, in Stantonsburg, Wilson County.

In the 1910 census of Bullhead township, Greene County: farm laborer Andrew Pool, 22, and wife Eaver, 19.

  • Anderson Dew

On 15 August 1908, Anderson Dew, 35, son of Amos and Ruth Dew, married Dora Finch, 32, daughter of Bennett and Annie Finch, in Wilson.

In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Raleigh Road, planing mill laborer Anderson Dew, 34; wife Dora, 24; and daughter Ardella, 10 months.

Anderson Dew died 16 October 1917 in Goldsboro, Fork township, Wayne County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was 41 years old; was married; worked as a laborer; and his usual residence was Wilson. He was buried at the State Hospital, Goldsboro.

Signal Boost: Lives of the Greene County United States Colored Troops.

Far fewer men escaped Wilson County to join the U.S. Colored Troops, but the close ties between southeastern Wilson County and western Greene County will make this talk by my friend Trisha Blount especially interesting to Wilson County researchers.

Register here From Enslavement to Reconstruction: Lives of the Greene County USCT before June 30.

Swift bound to a labor agreement.

According to the 1880 census of Bull Doze township, Greene County, Dennis Swift was born in Maryland. He did not remain in Wilson County long, as he appears in no other county records. Swift married in Greene County in 1877 and gave his age as 24, which would have made him about 14 when he entered into this labor agreement with John H. Winstead of Joyners township, Wilson County.

Wishing the Artis Family a great reunion!

Today, another branch of my Artis family — descendants of James C. Artis — is gathering in Wilson for their annual reunion.

James Cleveland Artis was the son of Jonah and Fannie Newsome Artis and the grandson of Richard Artis, who was the youngest brother of my great-great-great-grandfather Adam T. Artis. Though primarily based in Greene County, N.C., Richard Artis’ descendants moved back and forth across the Greene-Wilson county line between Stantonsburg and Walstonburg.

I wish my cousins a fantastic reunion and applaud their commitment to keep family ties strong and to maintain traditions.

Many thanks to Sondra Artis for sharing this photo.

[Update: The Artis Family Reunion was a resounding success! Douglas Horne and Sondra Artis share these photos of the J.C. Artis (top) and Jonah Artis Jr. (bottom) branches of the family.

Greene County cemetery honors those buried in unmarked graves.

Kudos to the Taylor-Swinson Historic Memorial Association for their exemplary stewardship of their family cemetery.

Taylor-Swinson likely contains graves of people who had lived in Wilson County and certainly holds the work of Clarence B. Best, Wilson’s extraordinary headstone cutter.

Watch the video here.

Rev. Phillips?

We’ve met Rev. Henry C. Phillips, who arrived in Wilson from Edgecombe County in the late 1880s. This 1868 letter was written to a Freedmen’s Bureau official by a Henry C. Phillips, “a teacher of the Colored Children in the Hookerton village” in Greene County.

Was this the same man? His signature in the letter is very different than it appears on numerous marriage licenses 20 to 30 years later, when it is bold and assured and even a bit flamboyant. In 1868, however, Phillips would have been just a few years out of slavery, with relatively few chances to practice his penmanship. As an ordained A.M.E. Zion minister, Phillips, however, had daily opportunities to strengthen and polish his handwriting.

 

$50 reward for Levi, last seen in Black Creek.

The North-Carolina Standard (Raleigh, N.C.), 16 October 1850.

The resourceful Levi stole two sets of free papers when he left James G. Edwards’ plantation in Greene County, North Carolina. Luke Hall and Ned Hall were members of an extended free family of color living just over the county line in northeast Wayne County. Levi’s first mistake was trying to board a train too close to home. One set of his papers was seized, but he apparently was able to avoid being taken into custody. His second mistake was to ask directions to Raleigh. Hoping he made it to freedom nonetheless.

Military headstone applications for the Masonic Cemetery.
  • Columbus Stewart

Columbus Stewart registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County in 1917. Per his registration card, he was born 25 December 1895 in Fuquay Springs, N.C.; lived in Wilson; was a convict in Wilson County; and was married.

Stewart was inducted on 30 March 1918 and sent to Camp Grant, Illinois, for training.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: blacksmith Lewis Striver [sic], 73; wife Ellen, 43; children Columbia, 23, Albert, 21, Mary L., 16, Lizzie, 15, Burnice M., 12, Lewis Jr., 9, and Boss, 8; and grandchildren James, 7, and Paulian Harper, 6.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 604 Spruce Street, rented for $10/month, retail grocery salesman Columbus Stewart, 47; wife Pearl, 29; daughter Eva, 5; nieces Mary E., 14, and Rita G. Wright, 12; and nephew Jessie Matthews, 27.

In 1940, Jesse Lee Matthews registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 16 September 1922 in Harnett County, N.C.; lived at 602 West Spruce Street, Wilson; his contact was father Columbus Stewart; and he worked for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, South Tarboro Street, Wilson.

In 1942, Samuel Hyman registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 25 December 1901 in Edgecombe County, N.C.; lived at 610 East Green Street, Wilson; his contact was Columbus Stewart, 600 block of Spruce Street; and he worked for Fred Flowers, 310 Sunset Drive, Wilson.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 211 Stantonsburg Street, manager/owner of grocery store Columbus Stewart, 54; wife Pearl, 39, grocery saleslady; daughter Eva E., 14; and niece Barbara Simmons, 8.

Columbus Stewart died 6 June 1961 in Durham, N.C., at the Veterans Administration hospital. Per his death certificate, he was born 15 September 1891 in Wake County, N.C., to Lewis Stewart and Ellen McCoy; was married to Pearl Stewart; was a retired grocer/merchant; and was buried in Rest Haven [sic] cemetery.

  • Clifton Hardy

In the 1900 census of Bull Head township, Greene County, N.C.: farmer William Hardie, 36; wife Carolin, 40; and children Devrow, 15, Bill, 11, Louisa, 9, Ardelia S., 7, Lee C., 6, Fenel F., 4, and James C., 3.

In the 1910 census of Speights Bridge township, Greene County, N.C.: farmer William Hardy, 51; wife Caroline, 49; Arrobella, 18, Cliff, 16, Finner, 14, James, 12, Carrie, 9, and Daniel, 8.

In 1917, Clifton Hardy registered for the World War I draft in Greene County. Per his registration card, he was born February 1893 in Greene County; lived in Walstonburg, Greene County; and worked as a tenant farmer for William Hardy.

In the 1920 census of Speights Bridge township, Greene County: W.M. Hardy, 59; wife Carolina, 59; and children Arbear, 26, Clifton, 26, Finnel, 24, James, 22, Daniel, 18, Hurman, 13, and Fannie May, 11.

On 14 March 1928, Clifton Hardy, 33, of New Bern, N.C., married Della Griswold, 32, of Wilson, in Wilson. Presbyterian minister A.H. George performed the ceremony in the presence of Jas. T. Parker, Mrs. Ashley Hines, and M.B. George.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: owned and valued at $2000, barber Clifton Hardy, 36; wife Della, 33, private cook; and Caroline Hardy, 65, widow.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: barber Clifton Hardy, 54; wife Della, 54, house cleaner; and Lucille Joyner, 24, teacher, grammar department, rural schools.

Clifton Hardy died 1 January 1968 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Durham, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 22 February 1893 in Greene County, N.C., to Bill Hardy and Carolina Hardy; worked as a barber; and was buried in the Masonic cemetery.

U.S. Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1970, http://www.ancestry.com.

Minceys testify in support of a pension application.

In 1892, Greene County, N.C., native Caleb Williams’ children filed an application to receive pension benefits. Williams, who had been enslaved by Isaac Williams, had enlisted in Company H, 14th Regiment, United Colored Heavy Artillery, in 1865.

Two men with Wilson County ties testified in support of the claim. On 3 June 1892, 56 year-old Prince Minshew of Snow Hill, Greene County, swore that he knew Williams was in the United States Army and that he was present at Williams’ death.

On 30 August 1892, Prince Minshew gave a second statement alongside Judie Ham of Shine, Greene County. They attested that they had been witnesses to the marriage of Caleb Williams and Patsey Minshew in 1865, but the couple had lived as man and wife long prior.  They also identified three of the couple’s children — Alice Williams, Absalom Williams, and Annie Williams Fields.

Within a few years, Prince Minshew and his family moved to Wilson, shifting their surname slightly along the way. In the 1900 census of Wilson town, Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer Prince Mensey, 60; wife Susan, 52; children Ben, 19, Emma, 19, and Oscar, 12; and niece Rosetta Mensey, 7. Prince Mincey’s son Ben, of course, was famed Chief Mincey of the Red Hot Hose Company. Prince, Ben, and Oscar Mincey — and likely other family family members — are buried in a family plot in Odd Fellows Cemetery.

On 25 October 1904, Lewis Mincey, 60, of Wilson also provided an affidavit. He had been born enslaved on the William Edmundson plantation, which was near the Isaac Williams plantation on which Caleb Williams was held. He recalled Caleb Williams’ marriage to a woman named Jane, who died on Haywood Edmundson’s plantation. Williams then married Lewis Mincey’s sister Patsey Mincey. Caleb Williams died of “lung troubles” in 1874; Patsey Mincey Williams died in 1887.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Barnes Street, farm worker Louis Minshew, 47, and wife Anna, 30.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Moore Street, odd jobs laborer Louis Minsey, 75, and wife Annie, 60. [Mincey reported that both parents were born in Virginia.]

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Moore Street, gardener Lewis Mency, 70, and wife Annie, 72.

Lewis Mincey died 6 March 1923 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 63 [sic] years old; was born in Greene County, N.C., to Jack Mincey and an unnamed mother; was a widower; and had worked as a day laborer. He was buried in Wilson, N.C., and Benjamin Mincey was informant.

I suspect Prince, Lewis, and Patsey Mincey were siblings. Prince Mincey named a son “Jack,” apparently after their father. Prince’s son Benjamin was the informant for his uncle Lewis’ death certificate.

File #545736, Application of Minor Children of Caleb Williams for Pension, National Archives and Records Administration. Thank you, Trisha Blount-Hewitt, for bringing my attention to this file. For more details, see Trisha’s blogpost.