lawsuit

Haywood Sauls and wife Betsey Sauls vs. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company.

In May 1911, Betsey Sauls took the extraordinary step of suing Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company for serious injuries she suffered at Black Creek depot. The law firm of James H. Pou and William A. Finch, well-known in the state for their high-profile civil and criminal litigation, filed on her behalf (and her husband Haywood Sauls‘, as was required by law for married women at the time.)

In a nutshell, on 3 May 1909, Betsey Sauls bought a train ticket to travel from Wilson to Black Creek. The train overshot the depot at Black Creek, but announced “All off for Black Creek!” as usual. As Sauls attempted to disembark, she fell from the train and was injured.

Pou and Finch asserted that by stopping beyond the usual location, Sauls was forced to step down from an excessive height and near a side track with sharp, exposed sills (the long, heavy timbers used as a foundation for crossties.) As Sauls stepped down, the train suddenly began to move backward, throwing Sauls to the ground.

Pou and Finch further asserted that A.C.L.R.R. had failed to provide a stepstool customarily provided for older passengers faced with a higher-than-usual descent.

Sauls was 65 to 70 years old, was “corpulent,” and not used to train travel. The knee injuries she sustained were serious, painful, and — she believed — permanent. She had difficulty walking and sleeping, could not work, and was forced to use a stick or crutch. She also had back and hip pain.

Sauls was now “an invalid and sufferer” of both physical and mental anguish. She could not visit family, friends, or church and had incurred considerable expense for medical treatment.

Sauls sought $5000 in damages.

In a brief, spare decision, the judge G.S. Ferguson awarded Sauls $500 (roughly $17,000 in 2026 dollars.)

Civil Action Papers, Wilson County (N.C.) Court Records (1909), http://www.familysearch.org.

Lynch vs. Odenheimer.

In 1856, Noah Lynch, a free man of color, pressed charges for trespass on the case against German immigrant Falk Odenheimer, claiming one hundred dollars as damages. (“Trespass on the case” was a common law action brought to compensate negligent harm.) Virgil Stephens, Isaiah Rawls, and H.L. Williford were subpoenaed as witnesses, but I have not found the outcome of the suit.

Civil Action Papers (1856), Wilson County, North Carolina Court Records, http://www.familysearch.org

Judgment against Collins & Vick.

Samuel H. Vick briefly partnered with J.C. [J.F.?] Collins to do business as Collins & Vick Livery Company. In early 1907, Ellis Carriage Works of Kinston, North Carolina, sued Collins & Vick when the firm failed to pay for buggies ordered in August and October 1906. In his defense, Vick asserted that he had left the partnership in July 1906, well before the orders were placed. He had notified people in Wilson of the dissolution by word of mouth, but admitted no official notice was published until January 1907. A justice of the peace found in Ellis Carriage’s favor and assessed a two hundred dollar judgment. Vick appealed.

The first order, dated 4 August 1906: “Ellis Carage Works Kinston NC Deare sir som time ago yours agent was Hears and we Romes[?] to Hantle a fue of your Buggys Now you can please shift 2 of your nice Buggys for sanple at once and we will sell as meney as we can for you Yours Respctly Collins and Vick Co” Though not dispositive of his responsibility for the debt, the well-educated Vick clearly did not write this letter, with its shaky penmanship and haphazard spelling. Unfortunately, I can find no trace of J.C. (or J.F.) Collins in Wilson.

Nor the second: “Wilson NC 10/17 1906 Mr Ellis Deare sir please send me 2 Buggy side spring one Red coller and one Black Coller Please send then like the las side spring you shipt me But not Red in tope I will sell a good meney for you please shipe at once Yours truly J.F. Collins and Vick”

Civil Action Papers, Wilson County Government Records 1907-1908, Wilson County, North Carolina Miscellaneous Records, http://www.familysearch.org.

Levied on one negro girl, Barbara.

Tarboro’ Press, 13 July 1833.

By time this public notice was published, Levi Daniel had migrated to Harris County, Georgia, from the Black Creek area of what is now Wilson County. He left behind an enslaved woman, Barbara, with his kinswoman Judith Daniel. Other than it involved levying of property to satisfy a debt, the nature of the civil action is not clear, but Judith Daniel claimed ownership of both Barbara and 165 acres of land Levi Daniel also left behind.

I don’t know the outcome of the suit, but when Judith Daniel made out her will in 1837, she did not mention Barbara. Rather, to her daughter Sarah Barnes, she left “negro boy Amos“; to daughter Temperance Jordan, “negro woman Rhody“; and to daughter Eliza Bass, “negro girl Ginna.”

Mitchell wins suit against First National Bank.

Wilson Daily Times, 23 June 1930.

In 1930, James Gray Mitchell, whose “thriftiness” netted him a prosperous farm, a bank vice-president position, and the wherewithal to donate land for a school near Elm City, sued First National Bank to recover $350 paid from his account to the bearer of a forged check. He won.

Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.

Johnson sues the police chief … and wins.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 July 1914.

What an odd case.

Tom Johnson was treating his ailing horse when Chief of Police J.A. Wiggs showed up and ordered Johnson to mayor’s court. Johnson instead went to get a veterinarian — perhaps Elijah L. Reid. When Johnson returned, he encountered Humane Society president Harry Wainwright, who told him, “We have killed your horse,” apparently with Chief Wiggs’ gun. Johnson sued both.

When the case hit the docket, Wainwright quickly secured a continuance and left the courtroom. Wiggs’ counsel was present, but the chief himself did not bother to show up. After he was adjudged liable and ordered to pay Johnson $30, the chief claimed that the charges against him were brought just “to stir up trouble” and the law was being against him unfairly. This strange assertion was borne out by the prosecutor’s announcement that he was not likely to prosecute Wainwright, though he was the actual shooter. 

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In the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: domestic servant Thos. Johnson, 30; wife Milley, 25, domestic servant; son Charles, 1; Louisa Ruffin, 20, domestic servant; and Phillis Perry, 19, domestic servant.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Lodge Street, Thomas Johnson, 31, teamster; wife Milly, 28; and children Willie, 9, Ella, 8, and Daisey, 5.

On 6 November 1884, Thomas Johnson, 34, of Wilson County, married Alice Beaman, 24, of Wilson County, at Thomas Johnson’s. Missionary Baptist minister E.H. Ward performed the ceremony in the presence of Sam Hill, Henry Linsey, and Rose Allen.

On 2 May 1895, Joe Allen, son of Matilda Allen, and Ella Johnson, daughter of Thomas and Alice Johnson, both 22 and of Wilson County, were married at “the church” by A.M.E. Zion minister L.B. Williams in the presence of S.A. Smith, S.H. Vick, and C.A. Norwood. [Thomas Johnson was a close associate of Samuel H. Vick and family.]

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Thomas Johnson, 53, mail carrier; wife Alice, 40, laundry woman; sons Keefus, 18, Thomas, 1, and Willie, 30; daughter Daisey, 22, cook; and lodger Katie Black, 19, cook.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Lodge Street, Thomas Johnson, 65, odd jobs laborer; wife Allice, 50, laundress; and daughter Ella, 37, cook for private family.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 320 Lodge Street, Ella Allen, 46, laundress, and her father and mother Thomas Johnson, 76, drayman, and Alice Johnson, 68.

Thomas Davis Johnson died 23 February 1924 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 78 years old; was a widower; lived at 316 Lodge; was a self-employed drayman; was born in Halifax County, N.C., to Mack Johnson and Carolina Johnson. Informant was Ella Allen.

Ella Allen died 7 January 1948 at her home at 209 Ashe Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 63 years old; was a widow; was born in Wilson to Tom Johnson and Millie Johnson. Informant was Thomas Wil[illegible], 209 Ashe. She was buried in Rountree cemetery.

Colored insurance organization sued.

Samuel Vick‘s Lincoln Benefit Society did business well beyond Wilson. In 1909, Annie Graham, executrix of the estate of Fred Graham of Wilmington, North Carolina, sued Lincoln for a $500 benefit the company refused to pay out, claiming the Grahams paid the final premium to an unauthorized person.

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Wilmington Morning Star, 16 July 1909.