heart attack

Edgar Moore dies at the funeral home.

Wilson Daily Times, 15 April 1948.

In the 1900 census of Rocky Mount township, Nash County, North Carolina: farmer Edmon Moore, 43; wife Zannie, 45; children Mary, 22, Susa, 19, Edgar, 18, Wily, 15, and Matilda, 13; and grandson Fred, 5.

On 31 December 1902, Eddie Moore, 21, and Addie Winstead, 18, both of Nash County, were married by W.D. Carter, Justice of the Peace, at Charles Winstead’s.

In the 1910 census of Rocky Mount township, Nash County, North Carolina: farmer Edgar Moore, 28; wife Addie, 24; ad children Viola, 6, Pauline, 4, Grover S., 2, and Olivia, 1.

In 1918, Edgar Moore registered for the World War I draft in Wilson. Per his draft card, he was born 15 March 1882; lived on Route 2, Rocky Mount; was a farmer for W.D. Carter; and his nearest relative was Addie Moore.

In the 1920 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Edgar Moore, 37, widower, and children Viola, 16, Pauline, 13, Grover, 12, Omeda, 10, Edgar, 9, Zanie, 7, Effner and Hattie, 5, George, 4, John, 2, and Fenner, 10 months.

In the 1930 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farm laborer Edger Moore, 48, widow, and children Pauline, 24, Ometia, 21, Edger, 19, Jannie, 17, Efner, 16, Hattie, 15, Hermond, 14, John M., 14, and Fenner, 11.

In the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Edgar Moore, 58, widower; daughter Pauline, 32; and lodgers James Joyner, 23, and Herman, 23, Clara, 20, Edwin, 2, and Dorothy Moore, 10 months.

Edgar Moore died 14 April 1948 at 608 East Nash Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 66 years old; was born in Nash County, N.C., to Edmon Moore and Zannie Daniel; worked as a farmer; was separated; and was buried at Williams Chapel. Herman Moore, Elm City, was informant.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 April 1948.

Lane Street Project: Charles S. Thomas.

Charles S. Thomas‘ pale gray, fine-grained grave marker is unique in Odd Fellows cemetery. It faces southwest, and in late afternoon, catching the rays of the setting sun, glows golden. Thomas was a barber and insurance salesman and long-time chorist at Saint John A.M.E. Zion Church. Before mid-century, granite headstones were relatively rare in Wilson’s African-American cemeteries. (Marble was the favored high-end material; concrete, the ordinary.) The machine-cut decorative features — including the harp as a nod to Thomas’ musical legacy — suggest that this was a replacement stone, perhaps an upgrade, set well after Thomas’ death.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, December 2020.