This clipping of an obituary for Lydia Meeks Grissom Coley is found in a scrapbook kept by Savannah Powell Farmer (1908-1996). I have not been able to source the newspaper or its date of publication, but it does not appear to have come from the Wilson Daily Times.
Many thanks to Levolyre Farmer Pitt for sharing her mother’s scrapbook!
I, Herman Grissom, of the town of Wilson, State of North Carolina, declare this to be my last Will and testament.
1 — I give and devise to my wife Lydia Grissom, the dwelling house and lot on which it stands, and after her death to my three children Dorthea, Vivian and Lydia Grisom.
2 — I will and devise to my mother Hattie Grisom, the vacant lot on the north side of the above named house & lot, on which my said mother is to build a house as soon as possible after my death, and after her death, said house and lot, to go to my children.
I name as my executor, Walter Hines.
In testimony whereof, I have set my hand and seal this the 23rd day of Mar., A.D. 1921. Herman X Grisom
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In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Hattie Grissom, 25; son Herman, 8; sister Anie, 23, and brother Warren, 15, day laborer.
In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: factory laborer Etta [sic] Grissom, 35, divorced, and son Herman, 16, barbershop bootblack.
On 24 July 1913, Herman Grissom, 22, of Wilson, son of Willis and Hattie Grissom, married Lydia Meeks, 20, of Edgecombe, daughter of Philip and Nancy Meeks, at Saint Paul’s A.M.E. Zion in Tarboro, Edgecombe County.
In the 1916 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Grissom Herman N (c) barber Tate & Hines h N Vick cor Atlantic
In 1917, Herman Natius Grissom registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 12 January 1890 in Wilson; lived on Atlantic Street, Wilson; was a barber with Tate & Hines; and had a wife and two children. He signed his card “Herman Nadis Grissom.”
Herman Nadies Grissom died 23 March 1921 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 12 January 1891 in Wilson to Willis Grissom of Franklin County, N.C., and Hattie Thorne of Wilson; was married to Lydia Grissom; lived at 201 Vick Street; and worked as a barber.
Apparently, Walter Hines, the barber for whom Grissom had worked, carried out the terms of Grissom’s will immediately. As early as the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directories, his mother, nurse Hattie Grissom, is listed at 203 North Vick Street, the house built on the north side of the house in which he had lived at 201.
Lydia Lee Meeks Grissom Coley (1892-1946).
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In the 1900 census of Princeville, Township No. 1, Edgecombe County: day laborer Philip Meeks, 59; wife Nancy, 49, janitress; and daughters Cristiana, 15, and Dila L. [Lydia], 9. [Lydia was actually a granddaughter.]
On 24 July 1913, Herman Grissom, 22, of Wilson, son of Willis and Hattie Grissom, married Lydia Meeks, 20, of Edgecombe, daughter of Philip and Nancy Meeks, at Saint Paul’s A.M.E. Zion in Tarboro, Edgecombe County.
Herman Nadies Grissom died 23 March 1921 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 12 January 1891 in Wilson to Willis Grissom of Franklin County, N.C., and Hattie Thorne of Wilson; was married to Lydia Grissom; lived at 201 Vick Street; and worked as a barber.
In the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Grissom Lydia (c) hair dresser 201 N Vick
On 9 October 1924, Jasper Coley, 40, of Wilson, married Lydia Grissom, 30, of Wilson, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister J.E. Kennedy performed the ceremony in the presence of D.H. Coley, Sallie Coley, and Annie L. Kennedy.
In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Grissom Lydia (c) hair dresser 201 N Vick
In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Coley Jasper (c; Lydia) barber Bonnie [sic, Barney] Reid h 401 [sic] N Vick
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 201 Vick Street, owned and valued at $1200, barber Jasper Coley, 50; wife Lila, 47, teacher at county school; daughters Dorothy, 25, teacher at county school, and Ruth Grissom, 19; and son Jasper Coley, 13.
In 1945, Jasper Allison Coley Jr. registered for the World War II draft in Wilson. Per his registration card, he was born 6 January 1927 in Wilson; lived at 201 North Vick; worked at Barshay’s Ladies Shop, Nash Street, Wilson; and his contact was mother Lydia Coley. He had a scar from a burn on his right hand.
Lydia Lee Coley died 7 March 1946 at Lincoln Hospital in Durham, N.C. Per her death certificate, she was born 9 October 1892 in Tarboro, N.C., to Rebecca Meeks; was married to Jasper Coley; lived at 201 North Vick Street, Wilson; and was a teacher. Informant was Dorothy Parker, 624 East Green Street.
Photo courtsey of Ancestry.com user Debra Winfrey.
The ninety-fifth 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 the East Wilson Historic District, this house is: “ca. 1930; 1 story; bungalow with gable roof and prominent gabled porch; aluminum-sided; builder said to be John Reid.”
In the 1925, 1928 and 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directories, nurse Hattie Grissom is listed at 203 North Vick.
Hattie Grissom Henry died 21 November 1930 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born in Wilson County to Preston Thorne of Edgecombe County and Eddia Adams of Greene County; resided at 203 North Vick; was a widow; and had worked in nursing. Lydia Coley was informant.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 203 North Vick, tobacco factory stemmer Emma Artist, 60, widow, born in Robeson County, and daughter Virginia, 24, Wilson County teacher.
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Artis Emma (c) tob wkr h 203 N Vick; Artis Virginia (c) tchr h 203 N Vick
Photograph by Lisa Y. Henderson, December 2018.