hotel

Where we worked: resort hotels.

Many young men traveled north for seasonal work at resort hotels in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the Pennsylvania Poconos.

  • Walter Blount, waiter; Saint Charles Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1917
  • Ernest E. Boyd, waiter; Strand Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1917

Hotel Strand, Atlantic City, N.J. Image courtesy of westjersyhistory.org.

  • Arlando R. Dawson, waiter; Girard Hotel, New York, New York, 1918
  • Charlie Gay, dishwasher; Pennsylvania Assembly Hotel, Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania, 1918

Assembly Lodge, Pocono Pines, Pa. Image courtesy of mrlocalhistory.org.

  • Alexander B. Joyner, chair pusher; Shill Company, Atlantic City New Jersey, 1917
  • Joseph Speight, bellhop; Lorraine Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1918
  • Frank Taylor, porter; Hotel Yarmouth, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1918
  • James T. Taylor, bellhop; Yarmouth Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1917
  • (maybe) William Kelley Cane Thigpen, waiter in kitchen; Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 1917

R.A. and Matilda Daniels Givens of Muskogee, Oklahoma.

We’ve met L. Henry Daniels and Elizabeth Lassiter Daniels, who joined the migration from Wilson County to Arkansas with their eldest children around 1890.

In the 1900 census of Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas: day laborer Henry Daniels, 55; wife Elizabeth, 46; and children William H., 17, Matilda A., 15, Mary J., 15, and Rice B., 7. All were born in North Carolina except the youngest child.

On 26 May 1904, Matilda Daniels, 19, married R.A. Givens, 30, in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas. Within months, the Givenses relocated to Muskogee, Indian Territory [now Oklahoma], where Rufus A. Givens opened a jewelry and watchmaking business and blitzed the local Black press with advertising.

Muskogee Cimeter, 28 July 1904. 

Muskogee Cimeter, 22 September 1904. 

Muskogee Cimeter, 23 February 1905. 

Muskogee Cimeter, 4 May 1905.

The Muskogee Unionist, 23 June 1905.

Muskogee Cimeter, 17 August 1905.

Muskogee Cimeter, 9 November 1905.

Muskogee Phoenix, 11 January 1906.

Muskogee Cimeter, 28 February 1908.  

In the 1910 census of Muskogee, Porter township, Muskogee County, Oklahoma: at 124 South 2nd Street, Rufus A. Givens, 36, jeweler in own shop; wife Matilda, 35; and children Thelma, 5, Mable E., 4, Neomia Y., 3, and son Rufus P., 1. [Curiously, Matilda’s age is off (she was about 25), and her birthplace is listed as Kentucky, though her parents’ was North Carolina.]

Creek Baptist Herald, 4 January 1912.

In the 1912 Muskogee, Oklahoma, city directory: Givens Rufus A (Matilda A) c[olored] silver smith res Lincoln Add

By 1916, the Givenses had opened an eponymous hotel near the Midland Valley Railroad Depot in downtown Muskogee.

The Muskogee Tattler, 29 July 1916.

The Muskogee Tattler, 5 August 1916.

In 1918, Rufus Adolphus Givens registered for the World War I draft in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Per his registration card, he was born 24 February 1874; lived at 703 Dunbar Avenue, Muskogee; was a self-employed watchmaker at 226 Elgin, Muskogee; and his contact was Matilda Givens.

The Tulsa Star, 2 February 1918.

In the 1930 census of Muskogee, Muskogee County, Oklahoma: at 1103 South 2nd Street, rented for $17/month, Rufus A. Givens, 54, jewelry shop proprietor; wife Matilda, 43; daughter Mable Robins, 23, and granddaughter Juanita Robins, 3; and children Neoma, 20, Rufus Jr., 18, shoe repair apprentice, Lillian, 15, Earl, 11, and Arthuree, 7.

Rufus Adolphus Givens died about 1933.

Arthuree Matilda Daniels Givens died 23 December 1963 in Muskogee.

Many thanks to Thelma Simmons for the tip about her ancestors Matilda and Rufus Givens!

Where we worked: other hotels.

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 8 April 1902.

The Briggs was not the only downtown hotel. Many of us remember the Cherry, but the Seabrook, Astor, Carolina, and Imperial Hotels also sheltered white guests. East of the tracks, hotels were more akin to boarding houses, but the Orange, Whitley, Union, and Lynnhaven operated at various times in the mid-500 block of East Nash Street.

  • Diviaticus Arnold, cook, Cherry Hotel, 1928
  • Beatrice Barnes, maid, Cherry Hotel, 1928
  • Sarah Barnes, cook, Carolina Hotel, 1922
  • Mary Barnes, maid, Cherry Hotel, 1928
  • Walter Barnes, fireman, Cherry Hotel, 1928
  • Ezabell Battle, hotel servant, 1910
  • Lila Battle, maid, Astor Hotel, 1928
  • Dan Black, hotel waiter, Imperial Hotel, 1917
  • Joseph Blue, bellman, Cherry Hotel, 1928
  • Sidney Boatwright, hotel porter, 1917
  • Seth Brooks, barber, Cherry Hotel, 1928
  • Marcellus Bryant, hotel servant, 1910
  • William Bryant, clerk, Whitley Hotel
  • Ernest Bullock, valet, Cherry Hotel, 1928
  • Eliza Caldwell, maid, Cherry Hotel, 1928
  • Fannie Campbell, cook, Imperial Hotel, 1920
  • Henry N. Cherry, bellhop, Cherry Hotel, 1928
  • Helen Church, maid, Cherry Hotel, 1928
  • Clementine Cook, cook, Cherry Hotel, 1928
  • James Daniels, porter, Cherry Hotel, 1928
  • Daniel W. Darring, dishwasher, Astor Hotel, 1928
  • Paul Farmer, hotel servant, 1910
  • Alfred Gay, bellboy, 1920
  • Thomas Haywood, waiter, Imperial Hotel,
  • Nora Hines, maid, Imperial Hotel, 1912
  • Peter Johnson, hotel waiter, 1910
  • William Pitt, waiter, Seabrook Hotel, 1918

  • James Ware, porter, Imperial Hotel, 1912
  • Willie Whitehead, hotel waiter, 1910
  • Bud Wiley, bootblack, Taylor’s Hotel, 1912
  • Henry Wilson, cook, Imperial Hotel, 1912
  • Charles Woodard, proprietor, Hotel Union, 1920

Where we worked: New Briggs Hotel.

The New Briggs Hotel replaced the old Briggs Hotel in the 200 block of East Nash Street in 1873. This O.V. Foust photograph, taken circa 1906, reveals the multiple storefronts on the hotel’s ground floor, which included a succession of barbershops owned in whole or part by Walter S. Hines. The hotel was demolished in 1955 to make way for P.H. Rose’s Department Store. Wilson Arts Center now occupies the site.

Wilson Daily Times, 16 August 1918.

Over its 80+ years of operation, the Briggs undoubtedly employed hundreds of African-Americans as bellmen, porters, cooks, and cleaners. This running list captures only a few.

  • Pearce Allen, bellman, 1928
  • John Arrington, porter in poolroom, 1916
  • John Artis, porter, 1917
  • Ed S. Atkinson, cook, 1912
  • Allison Atwalter, bellboy, 1918
  • Charles Barnes, 1916
  • Dave Barnes, porter, 1893
  • Pattie Battle, maid, 1912
  • George Batts, bellboy, 1917
  • Charles Blount, floor boy, 1912
  • Charles Bolden, bellboy, 1916
  • Charles Branch, bellman, 1912
  • Edna Brown, domestic, 1916
  • Henry Bryant, laborer, 1917
  • Albert R.L. Bullock, cook, 1917
  • Ernest Bullock, porter, 1917
  • Lizzie Bullock, domestic, 1916
  • Overly Bullock, dishwasher, 1916
  • Petrola Bullock, domestic, 1916
  • John Burke, bellman, 1928
  • Rose Carnes, domestic, 1916
  • Robert Carroll, cook, 1916
  • Jasper A. Coley, bellboy, 1916
  • E.D. Evans, 1918
  • James Fagan, bellman, 1928
  • Albert Gay, bellboy, 1916; chief bellman, 1920
  • Annie Graham, maid, 1924
  • Frank Griffin, porter, 1916
  • Lonnie Hall, bellboy, 1917
  • William S. Hines, bell boy, mid-1890s-1898
  • Charles C. Johnson, cook, 1916
  • Lavinia Pierce Johnson, maid, 1930
  • John H. Joyner, porter, 1917
  • David McPhail, porter, 1916
  • Ethel Mack, domestic, 1916
  • Benjamin Mincey Jr., cook, 1930
  • Amos Moore, bellman, 1928
  • Henry Reaves, bellhop, 1917
  • Furness Speight, bellboy, 1916
  • Joe Tutle, yardboy, 1917
  • Offie Tart, bellboy, 1916
  • Paul White, 1928
  • Henry C. Wilson, cook, 1917

Foust, O.V., New Briggs Hotel, Wilson, N.C., 1900-1920, Frank M. Wooten Jr. Papers, 0126-b36-fe-i78, East Carolina University Digital Collections.

Hotel proprietors busted running whiskey and numbers.

Wilson Daily Times, 16 March 1936.

Wilson’s Green Book-listed Biltmore Hotel offered more than a place to stay.

——

  • Walcott Darden — Charles Walcott Darden, a native of Nash County, North Carolina. In the 1940 census of Washington, District of Columbia: at 2130 – 11th Street N.W., whiskey wholesale truck driver Walcott Darden, 30, and wife Annabelle, 33. Both had been living in Wilson, North Carolina, in 1935.
  • Floyd Fisher — Floyd Fisher also moved on after this misadventure. The son of Edwin W. and Nanny D. Fisher, Floyd Fisher had been born in New Haven, Connecticut, and arrived in Wilson in the 1920s. In the 1940 census of New York, New York: at 582 Saint Nicholas Avenue, paying $65/month rent for an apartment, Ann Snipes, 35, born in Connecticut; her daughter Robnette Snipes, 18, born in Virginia; her brother Floyd Fisher, hotel bellhop, born in Connecticut; and lodger Louise Evans, 28, artists’ studio maid, born in North Carolina. Five years prior, Fisher had been living in Wilson, and Evans was in Wilberforce, Ohio (presumably as a student.) The Snipes women each reported two years of college; Fisher and Evans, four.

“He tink he’s sum punkins.”

Josephus Daniels’ News & Observer loved a good laugh at the expense of Black folk, even the ones back home in Wilson. Here, a “special” report of the antics of Wesley Rogers at the Mason Hotel one Saturday night. Rogers, a swell and a dandy, had taken offense at remarks made by another patron and had thrown the man out the door. Rogers’ alleged performance in Mayor’s court was deemed worthy of several column inches of print.

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 11 November 1908.

  • Wesley Rogers — I had assumed this to be John Wesley Rogers, but the facts do not fit. Rogers owned several businesses over the course of his life, but not a clothes cleaning establishment, and he was in 1908 a married man with children who was not likely to have been lodging at a hotel.
  • “the Mason Hotel, a joint on the east side of the railroad where the negroes do congregate” — I do not know of a Mason Hotel on Nash Street. The description sounds rather like the Orange Hotel (whose owner, Samuel H. Vick, was a well-known Mason), a boarding house that was cited often for gambling and prostitution.

Josie Blount’s disorderly house.

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News & Observer, 28 August 1908.

In 1908, a Harnett County runaway (known variously as Eliza Smith, Lydia Smith and Alice Williams) testified against Josephine Blount, who operated a house of prostitution out of the Orange Hotel on East Nash Street.

The 1908 city directory lists Josie Blount as proprietor of the Orange Hotel (though it was actually owned by Samuel H. Vick at the time.) Blount lived next door at 517 East Nash Street and may have been Vick’s relative.

Wilson’s Green Book hotel.

The three-story Hotel Union first appears in Sanborn fire insurance maps of Wilson in 1908. The wooden building had two storefronts on the ground floor and accommodations above.

The hotel also appears in the 1913 Sanborn map. By 1922, however, the Hotel Union was a boarding house. Its ground floor had been expanded to add another commercial space, and the one-story extension on the back of the building comprised a separate dwelling. In the 1922 Wilson city directory, Gertrude Adams is listed as the proprietor of the Lynnhaven Hotel, and the 1925 directory shows the Whitley Hotel at 535-537 East Nash. Maggie A. Whitley was proprietor. In the 1928 directory, the address of the Whitley is 541 East Nash. The hotel is visible in a postcard of East Nash Street circulated in the 1920s.

In January 1928, a fire broke out in a second-floor bedroom of the Whitley. Quick action by the fire department prevented extensive damage.

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Wilson Daily Times, 5 January 1928.

The 1941 edition of The Negro Motorist Green Book lists the Wilson Biltmore at 541 East Nash Street, which appears to be a later iteration of Hotel Union/Whitley Hotel. (This observation matches Samuel C. Lathan‘s recollection.) The building burned to the ground in the late 1940s.

Mattie B. Coleman of the Orange Hotel.

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Wilson Daily Times, 22 July 1985.

Per the Nomination Form for recognition as a National Historic District for “Wilson Central Business District – Tobacco Warehouse Historic District,” “According to the Sanborn maps, by 1913 the Orange Hotel was known as the Lynn Haven Hotel and by 1922 it was a dwelling. Vick lost the building during the Depression and the Mechanics and Farmers Bank held title until 1944. The present owner, Mrs. Mattie B. Coleman, purchased the property in 1950 and continues to live here and rent furnished rooms.”

Orange Hotel, July 2020.

——

On 5 September 1920, Henry Coleman, 32, of Wilson, married Mattie B. Williams, 18, of Wilson, at her home in Wilson. Disciples of Christ minister Walter Williams performed the ceremony in the presence of Jim Barkidale, Fillies Barkdale and A.L. Spates, all of Sampson County, North Carolina.

In the 1928 and 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directories: Coleman Mattie B (c) h 526 E Nash

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 526 East Nash Street, paying $12/month in rent, widow Carrie Shaw, 48; and children Robert, 21, dry cleaning plant laborer, Cornie, 20, laundress, Louise, 18, private nurse, Jovester, 17, Aline, 15, and Nettie R., 12. Also paying $12/month, Dave Harris, 32, guano plant laborer; wife Bessie S., 27, laundress; and children Timothy, 12, Roy, 10, Ardria M., 8, Roland, 5, Odessa, 3, and Herman, 1. Also paying $12/month, boarding house keeper Mattie B. Coleman, 25; tobacco factory stemmer Enemicha Kent, 20; tobacco factory stemmer Carrie M. Shine, 22, and Callonia Shine, 15; wholesale grocery delivery boy Mitchel Hamon, 24, and wife Ella, 17; restaurant dishwasher James Nelson, 21; laundry ironer Irene Rountree, 27; and cook Maggie Downing, 26.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 526 East Nash Street, rented for $20/month, Mattie B. Williams, 36, rents room-lodging house; Herbert Wiggins, 25, filling station helper; Ernest Davis, 28, veneer factory fireman, and wife Dolly, 29, both of South Carolina; George Rountree, 33; and Sadie Collins, 31, of New York, cafe proprietor.

Mattie Bea Coleman died 10 November 1986 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 3 March 1904 in Wilson County to Thomas Williams and Sylvester [maiden name unknown]; resided at 526 East Nash; was a widow; and was a hotel owner. Informant was widow Hattie Margaret Williams of Baltimore, Maryland.

Anatomy of a photograph: East Nash Street.

This rare postcard depicts an equally rare image of East Wilson’s early business district in the 500 block of East Nash Street. Close examination of the photograph reveals fascinating details, many of which help date the image. The photographer set up his camera near the curb (a surprising feature!) on the south side of the street. First Missionary Baptist Church, built in 1913, would have been across from and slightly behind him. On the far horizon looms the brick bulk of the Hotel Cherry, built in 1917.

At least ten people — all of whom appear to be male — were captured in the image, including these seven standing or walking along the right side of the street:

These commercial buildings supply clues to the location of the photo. The three-story building, constructed in 1894, is Odd Fellows Hall, home to Hannibal Lodge #1552. Its ground floor contained an ever-changing array of store fronts, and a sign for Maynard’s Market/Fish & Oysters is visible here. As early as 1914, Samuel Vick‘s Globe vaudeville and moving picture theatre was housed on the second floor. The sign hanging from the corner of the building pointed the way to the theatre’s side entrance.

The three-story frame building beside the Odd Fellows Hall was the Hotel Union, managed by Mary Jane Sutzer Taylor Henderson. Here lies a clue to the photograph’s date. In the 1908 and 1913 Sanborn fire insurance maps, there is an empty lot between the Union and the hall.

1908.

1913.

However, by 1922, a one-story wooden structure, housing a barber shop and sharing a wall with the hotel/boarding house, appears in the gap. See below. (Note also that the theatre’s exterior staircase is gone, traded for enclosed access.) This building, with its shallow gable-end roof, is visible in the postcard image.

1922.

The Model T Fords (and a single mule and wagon) also help date the photo to the early 1920s.

There is an artificial quality about the neatly trimmed hedges and suspiciously uniform trees ranged along the left side of the street. Though this portion of the image may have been hand-drawn, that side of the 500 block was in fact lined with private homes.

Families living in this block included the Mitchells, (#540), the Sutzers (#536), and the Yanceys (#538).

This stretch of East Nash Street today, courtesy of Google Maps. The commercial buildings on the right side of the street, including the historic Odd Fellows Hall, were demolished in the 1990s.

Postcard image courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III, Historic Wilson in Vintage Postcards (2003).