Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 10 January 1931.
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Greenville NC
The obituary of Litha Best.
Wilson Daily Times, 16 December 1950.
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Litha Best died 13 December 1950 in Greenville, Pitt County, N.C. Per her death certificate, she was 57 years old; was born in Lenoir County, N.C., to John Best and Nana Jones; was a widow; worked as a maid in a private home; and was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery. Oscar Best was informant.
Greenville links.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 17 October 1925.
Notes of Greenville’s social doings reveal numerous links with folks in Wilson:
- Katherine Bynum — Catherine Whitehead Bynum.
In the 1920 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Saratoga Road, Henry Whitehead, 48; wife Victoria, 32; and children Willie, 27, Della Mae, 13, Catherine, 9, Odell, 7, James, 5, Grace, 2, and Rosalie, 1.
In the 1930 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Highway 91, owned and valued at $2500, oil mill contractor Henry Whitehead, 53; wife Victoria, 43, seamstress; and children Katherine, 19, Odell, 17, James, 15, Grace, 13, Rosalyn, 11, Herbert, 9, Gertrude, 6, Mable, 4, and Victoria, 2.
On 8 September 1933, Graham Bynum, 25, of Wilson, son of Peter and Dora Bynum, married Catherine Whitehead, 23, of Wilson, daughter of Henry and Victoria Whitehead. C.E. Artis applied for the license, and Missionary Baptist minister Charles T. Jones performed the ceremony in the presence of Ash Hines, George Green, and Francis Rosser.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 817 East Green, Graham Bynum, 31, building carpenter, and wife Katherine, 29, hospital nurse.
In 1940, Graham Gregory Bynum registered for the World War II draft. Per his registration card, he was born 28 July 1908 in Wilson; lived at 909 East Green Street, Wilson; his contact was wife Catherine Lethia Bynum; and was self-employed.
In the 1950 census of Raleigh, Wake County, N.C.: at Shaw University, Catherine W. Bynum, 39, dean of women.
- Dotsie Barnhill‘s father — Mark W. Blount.
In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: the widower Mark Blount, 38, a cook, and his children Coneva, 10, Dotsey, 9, and Theodore W., 6, were lodgers in the household of George Faggin.
In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: cook at cafe Mark Blount, 60, wife Mary, 29, children Allen, 2, Frances E., 1, Dotsey, 19, a nurse, and Walter, 17, a tobacco factory laborer.
On 21 June 1916, A.B. Barnhill, 27, of Greenville, N.C., son of Fred and Atha Barnhill, married Dotsie Blount, 24, of Wilson, daughter of Mark and Annie Blount, at Calvary Presbyterian Church. John Perrington applied for the license, and Presbyterian minister H.B. Taylor performed the ceremony under the presence of G.W. Joyner, M. Ada Perry, and C.C. McCoy.
In the 1920 census of Greenville, Pitt County: Alfred Barnhill, 31, milk wagon driver; wife Dotsie, 28; and children Dorothy L., 2, and Alfred D., 8 months.
In the 1930 census of Greenville, Pitt County: Alfred Barnhill, 41, cook at college; wife Dotsie, 38; and children Dortha L., 12, Alfred, 11, Ethel G., 6, and James N., 6.
In the 1940 census of Greenville, Pitt County: widow Dotsie Barnhill, 48, laundress; daughters Dorothy, 22, assistant nurse, and Ethel, 16; and son James, 15.
In 1942, James Norward Barnhill registered for the World War II draft in Pitt County. Per his registration card, he was born 6 November 1924 in Pitt County; lived at 310 Tyson Street, Greenville; his contact was mother Dotsie Barnhill; and he worked for Bell’s Cafe, 310 Albemarle Avenue.
In the 1950 census of Greenville, Pitt County: widow Dotsie Barnhill, 58; son Alfred Jr., 30, funeral home embalmer; daughter Ethel, 26, house service; son James, 25, delivers ice; and daughter-in-law Margaret, 22, beauty parlor operator.
- Edgar Barnes
On 4 October 1909, Edgar Barnes, 21, of Wilson, son of Willis Barnes and Cherry Barnes, married Mary Hill, 19, daughter of Joe Hill and Anna Hill, at Saint John A.M.E. Zion in Wilson.
In 1917, Edgar Barnes registered for the World War I draft in Pitt County, N.C. Per his registration card, he was born 15 January 1892 in Wilson; lived on Second Street, Greenville; worked as a laborer for W.S. Skinner; and was single.
On 24 September 1921, Edgar Barnes, 27, of Greenville, son of Willis Barnes and Cherry Barnes, married Delia Hawkins, 22, daughter of Will Hawkins and Ella Hawkins, in Greenville, Pitt County.
In the 1930 census of Greenville, Pitt County, N.C.: at 1311 North 4th Street, owned and valued at $3000, Edgar Barnes, 36, plasterer, and wife Delia, 25, presser.
In the 1940 census of Greenville, Pitt County, N.C.: at 1311 North 4th Street, Edger Barnes, 47, plasterer, and wife Delia, 33.
Edgar Barnes died 6 April 1940 at the Veterans Hospital in Kecoughtan, Elizabeth City County, Virginia. Per his death certificate, he was born 8 March 1893 in Wilson to Willis Barnes and Cherry Eatman, both of Wilson County; was married to Delhia Barnes; worked as a plasterer; and was buried in Greenville.
The death of Dr. James A. Battle.
Snaps, no. 79: Dr. James A. Battle.
We met Dr. James A. Battle, born in Wilson in 1885 to Parker and Ella Battle, here. His granddaughter, Mae Castenell, recently shared several family photographs.
Dr. Battle and wife Della Plummer Battle. Della Battle’s sister was E. Courtney Plummer Fitts, who lived in Wilson.
The Battle house on West 4th Street in Greenville, North Carolina. The Battles and their young daughter Ella are seated in the lawn.
Dr. Battle, seated at left, with an unknown group of young African-American men.
Many thanks to Mae Castenell.
Dr. James A. Battle.
For a town whose population did not hit 10,000 until 1920 (and of which only half were black), Wilson produced an astounding number of African-American physicians in the first few decades of the twentieth century. To the ranks of Drs. Joseph H. Ward, Charles H. Bynum, William H. Bryant, John W. Darden, James T. Suggs and Walter T. Darden, add James Alexander Battle.
Born in 1885 to Parker and Ella Daniel Battle, Battle graduated Leonard Medical School at Shaw University in Raleigh and soon established a practice in Greenville, North Carolina. In 1914, he married Della Mae Plummer of Warren County. They had one child, daughter Ella Elizabeth. Dr. Battle is credited as the first African-American physician to gain practicing privileges at Pitt County Memorial Hospital.
Greenville News, 23 February 1918.
Death certificate of Ella Lea Battle, Dr. Battle’s mother. Dr. Battle served as informant for the document, and Dr. Michael E. DuBissette, of Afro-Caribbean descent, certified it.
Pittsburgh Courier, 27 June 1953.
Journal of the Old North State Medical Society, volume 3, number 1 (October 1953).
Dr. J.A. Battle’s home at 1208 West 4th Street, Greenville. Photo courtesy of B. Forbes and published here.