Hammond

The obituary of Louisiana Eatmon Hammond.

Wilson Daily Times, 22 December 1948.

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In the 1920 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: William Eatmon, 35, farmer; wife Geneva, 33; and daughter Louisiana, 11.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Eatmon Louisiana (c) dom h 317 Finch

In the 1930 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: William Eatmon, 50, city laborer; wife Geneva, 41; and daughter Louisiana, 20.

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Eatmon Louisiana (c) h 317 Finch

On 23 February 1938, William Hammond, 24, of Wilson, married Lousanna Eatman, 28, of Wilson, in Wilson, in the presence of Luther Hammond Sr., Luther Hammond Jr., and Lula Hammond.

In 1940, William Elwood Hammond registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 16 November 1914 in Lumberton, N.C.; lived at 317 Finch; worked for Mrs. C.C. Benton; and his contact was wife Louisiana Hammond.

Louisiana Eatmon Hammond drafted a will on 15 February 1947. Under its terms, all her property, except one tenant house, was to go to her surviving children. The tenant house, which was “on the Nash Street Road East … beside of the Colored Brick Church, East of the town of Wilson,” was to go to her late father’s children, i.e. her siblings. [What was the “Colored Brick Church”?]

Will Book 9, page 8-9. 

Louisiana Hammond died 16 December 1948 at her home at 317 Finch Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 5 October 1917 in Nash County, North Carolina, to Willie Eatmon and Geneva Powell; was divorced; and worked as a day laborer. Mary Goram was informant.

 

816 Mercer Street.

This house is not within the bounds of East Wilson Historic District. However, the blocks of Mercer Street southwest of the Norfolk & Southern Railroad lines have been an African-American residential area since the early twentieth century.

As shown in the 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson, coming from downtown, 816 Mercer Street was the first house on the right after Hominy Swamp. (It is now at the corner of Mercer and Park Drive, but is still the first house.) The house has been updated with vinyl siding, but retains its original tin standing-seam roof.

A close-up of the sketch reveals that the odd bay window is original.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory, at 816 Mercer, Anna Wiggins, a domestic, and at 816 Mercer (rear), laborer Archie McAlister and wife Maggie McAlister. In the 1930 directory, the house was vacant.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 816 Mercer, Ruth Lofton, 26, daywork stemmer at redrying plant; husband Benjamin, 29, storage room worker at redrying plant; niece Mary Jones, 12; children Marjorie, 7, Benjamin Jr., 6, and Herbert Lee Lofton, 4; roomer Martha Norfleet, 67, widow; mother-in-law Tincy Lofton, 56, widow, cook in-service in private home; and brother-in-law Major Lofton, 18, stemmer at redrying plant.

Benjamin Lofton registered for the World War II draft in 1940. Per his registration card, he was born 17 August 1909 in Wayne County, N.C.; lived at 816 Mercer Street; worked for Southern Tobacco Company, Wilson; and his contact was wife Ruth Britton Lofton, 816 Mercer.

The 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory lists Benjamin F. and Ruby B. Lofton at 816 Mercer with four others.

Major Lofton registered for the World War II draft in 1942. Per his registration card, he was born 12 December 1921 in Black Creek, N.C.; lived at 816 Mercer Street; worked for Thomas Barnes at Service Laundry, Five Points, Wilson; and his contact was mother Tincy Lofton, 816 Mercer.

The 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory lists Samuel Hammond, a cement finisher, and wife Frances at 816 Mercer.