in memoriam

Lane Street Project: in memory of infant Chapman-Adams (1929-1929).

I’ve spoken of the database I am developing of likely burials in Vick, Odd Fellows, and Rountree Cemeteries. My spreadsheet draws upon death certificates, obituaries, and other sources — most distressingly imprecise. The term “Rountree Cemetery” on these documents may refer to Vick, Odd Fellows, or Rountree. Some documents broadly refer only to burial in Wilson. However, in the absence of official burial records for any of the cemeteries, we make do.

This series honors the men, women, and children who never had grave markers, or whose stones have been lost or stolen or destroyed. Graves believed to be in Vick Cemetery, which the City of Wilson stripped of remaining markers in 1996, will be identified with a Vick Cemetery logo.

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A stillborn female was born 23 September 1929 in Wilson, Wilson County, to Charlie Chapman of Wilson County and Adlaide Adams of Greene County, North Carolina. Per her death certificate, she resided at 910 Roberson Street and was buried in Rountree Cemetery. Eliza Woodard was midwife at her birth, and Estella Adams was informant for the death certificate.

In honor and memory of Della Mae Hooks.

Della Mae Gary Hooks (1961-2023). Rest in power.

Today we honor the memory of Della Hooks, beloved wife and helpmeet of our stalwart warrior, Castonoble Hooks. Della was the force behind Lane Street Project’s Senior Force, and her sudden loss leaves us bereft. Her kindness, her quiet strength, her boundless generosity were gifts she shared with all she encountered. When my own family was hurting, she spoke to us in her love language by sending dish after dish of barbecued ribs, chicken salad, cabbage, and macaroni and cheese, and we were grateful.

Cass, we honor the beautiful life and spirit of your wife Della. We lift you up in this dark hour. Your bond with Della was profoundly blessed, and your poetic tributes to her on even ordinary days showed us love in action. May your grief come gently. We love you.

Photo courtesy of Chris Facey.

Lane Street Project: in memory of Fannie Preston Allen (1885-1943).

I’ve spoken of the database I am developing of likely burials in Vick, Odd Fellows, and Rountree Cemeteries. My spreadsheet draws upon death certificates, obituaries, and other sources — most distressingly imprecise. The term “Rountree Cemetery” on these documents may refer to Vick, Odd Fellows, or Rountree. Some documents broadly refer only to burial in Wilson. However, in the absence of official burial records for any of the cemeteries, we make do.

This series honors the men, women, and children who never had grave markers, or whose stones have been lost or stolen or destroyed. Graves believed to be in Vick Cemetery, which the City of Wilson stripped of remaining markers in 1996, will be identified with a Vick Cemetery logo.

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Fannie Preston Allen died 26 November 1943 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 8 May 1885 in Robeson County, N.C., to Sandy Ashley; was married to Samuel Allen; lived at 706 Roberson Street; and was buried in Rountree [likely Vick] Cemetery. Creavorn Allen of Berkley, Virginia, was informant.

Lane Street Project: in memory of Mary Dunston Allen (1878-1942).

I’ve spoken of the database I am developing of likely burials in Vick, Odd Fellows, and Rountree Cemeteries. My spreadsheet draws upon death certificates, obituaries, and other sources — most distressingly imprecise. The term “Rountree Cemetery” on these documents may refer to Vick, Odd Fellows, or Rountree. Some documents broadly refer only to burial in Wilson. However, in the absence of official burial records for any of the cemeteries, we make do.

This series honors the men, women, and children who never had grave markers, or whose stones have been lost or stolen or destroyed. Graves believed to be in Vick Cemetery, which the City of Wilson stripped of remaining markers in 1996, will be identified with a Vick Cemetery logo.

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Mary Allen died 8 December 1942 at her home at 606 Spring Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 10 May 1878 in Wilson County to Alston [Osborne] Dunston of Louisburg, N.C., and Merria E. Mandia [Mariah Monday], of Richmond, Virginia; was married to Ernest Allen; and was buried in Rountree Cemetery [likely Vick Cemetery.] Delleze [Delzelle] Whitted, 516 Lodge Street, was informant.

In memoriam: Alexander Edwards, age 92.

My parents’ long-time neighbor passed away last week. Alexander Edwards was a well-known and skillful brickmason, one of the last of a multi-generational family line of brickmasons and other building tradesmen that began when carpenter Julius F. Freeman Sr. sent his sons O.N. and Julius F. Freeman Jr. to famed Tuskegee Institute. The Freeman brothers’ maternal first cousins Benjamin A. Harris Sr. and Harry B. Harris followed them into the masonry trades and, eventually, Ben Harris’ sons and nephew, Alex Edwards, took up the trowel.

Mr. Edwards was a fine neighbor and my father’s great friend, a loving husband and father, a dapper dresser, and a craftsman of the old school. May he rest in peace.

Photo courtesy of http://www.carronsfuneralhome.com.

The passing of John Clarence Artis, age 100.

John Clarence Artis, 16 October 1922-13 June 2023.

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John Clarence Artis was born 16 October 1922 in Wilson County to John Columbus Artis and Nancy Pearsall [Pender?]

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1113 Queen Street, widow Mary Pender, 45, laundress; daughter Nancy Artist, 23, laundress; grandsons John C., 7, and Willie, 5; son William H. Pender, 25, auto mechanic at garage; and lodger Maggie Edwards, 21, cook.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farmer Simon Pope, 37; wife Nancy, 33; stepson John Artis, 17; lodger David Ward, 16; nephew James Harris, 10; and mother-in-law Mary Jane Pender, 56, widow.

In 1942, John Clarence Artis registered for the World War II draft in Portsmouth, Virginia. Per his registration card, he was born 16 October 1922 in Wilson; he lived at 1029 London Street, Portsmouth; his contact was Mary Pender, 206 Manchester Street, Wilson; and he worked at the Naval Hospital, Portsmouth.

On 19 July 1957, John C. Artis Jr., 34, of 641 Cemetery Street, Wilson, son of John C. Artis and Nancy Pender Artis, married Margie Dunston, 26, of Lucama, daughter of Aaron and Lenatha Thompson, in Wilson.

Photo courtesy of http://www.carronsfuneralhome.com.

Lane Street Project: in memory of Jesse Henderson Jr. (1928-1929).

I’ve spoken of the database I am developing of likely burials in Vick, Odd Fellows, and Rountree Cemeteries. My spreadsheet draws upon death certificates, obituaries, and other sources — most distressingly imprecise. The term “Rountree Cemetery” on these documents may refer to Vick, Odd Fellows, or Rountree. Some documents broadly refer only to burial in Wilson. However, in the absence of official burial records for any of the cemeteries, we make do.

This series honors the men, women, and children who never had grave markers, or whose stones have been lost or stolen or destroyed. Graves believed to be in Vick Cemetery, which the City of Wilson stripped of remaining markers in 1996, will be identified with a Vick Cemetery logo.

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Jessie Henderson Jr. died 15 April 1929 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 5 months old; was born in Wilson to Jessie Henderson of Dudley, N.C., and Pauline Artis of Johnston County, N.C.; lived at 318 Pender Street; and was buried Rountrees Cemetery [likely Vick Cemetery] by C.E. Artis.

In memoriam: Louis Sanford Thomas III.

Louis Sanford Thomas III passed last week. His hand-lettered signs were instantly recognizable across Wilson. In an era of computer-generated signs, Thomas’ work in this time-honored form brought a particular pleasure. May he rest in peace.

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At age 69, Louis Thomas was born well after the era covered by Black Wide-Awake. His roots were deep in East Wilson, though, as he was the great-grandson of press operator Charlie Thomas and grandson and son of carpenters Louis Thomas Sr. and Louis Thomas Jr., all of whom lived on East Green Street and the first two of whom were buried in Odd Fellows Cemetery. Too, though expressed in clean, modern fonts, his craft was old-school and rooted in the era of East Wilson’s great artistic tradesmen.

In 2014, Thomas sat for interviews as part of Barton College’s Crossing the Tracks: An Oral History of East and West Wilson series, in which he spoke at length of his family’s history, the accomplishments of East Wilson’s tradesmen and professionals, and the community’s emphasis on education and religion.

Rest in power, Fred Valentine.

My chosen family lost yet another patriarch in the closing days of 2022. Fred L. Valentine Sr. passed away in Washington, D.C., on December 26, surrounded by family. An outfielder for the Washington Senators and Baltimore Orioles, “Uncle Fred” spent a stand-out summer with the Wilson Tobs in 1958, where he met his future wife, Helena Smith, and demanded desegregation of the whites-only section of Fleming Stadium after the “colored section” collapsed under an overflow crowd of African-American fans.

The Valentines became close friends of my parents and, as I wrote here, their children were “play cousins” of my sister and me. I honor Fred Valentine’s memory, and send love to his beloved wife, daughters, son, and grandson.

Fred Valentine as a Tob. Photo detail courtesy of North Carolina Baseball Museum, Wilson.

In loving memory of Cornelius Braswell.

Wilson Daily Times, 30 July 1992.

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In the 1920 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer Geo. Braswell, 25; wife Lizzie, 21; and children Cornelia, 5 [Cornelius, erroneously listed as a daughter], James, 4, and Elouise, 4 months.

In the 1930 census of Upper Town Creek township, Edgecombe County: farmer George Braswell, 41; wife Lizzie, 35; and children Cornelius, 15, James, 13, Eloise, 10, Arthur, 8, Rena, 5, Ollin, 3, and Walter, 23 months.

In 1941, Cornelius Braswell registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 26 May 1914 in Wayne County, N.C.; his contact was mother Lizzie Braswell; he lived on Route 3, Wilson; was employed by “(SH & P.W.C.) Prisoner until Feb. 20 1941,” Prison Camp 406, Wilson.