McNeil

Months after migration, teen dies in Philadelphia.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 18 November 1944.

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  • Donnie McNeil and family

In the 1930 census of Bailey township, Nash County, N.C.: John McNeal, 42, laborer “logs wood”; wife Donnie, 24; and children Gertrude, 3, Thelma, 2, and Josephine, 3 months. The family is described as Indian of “mixed blood” or “full blood” descent. [Though described as “Cherokee,” the McNeil family were from Robeson County, North Carolina, and were likely members of the group we know now as Lumbee.]

1930 census, Bailey township, Nash County.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Donnie McNeil, 36, housekeeper; children Gertrude, 14, Thelma, 12, Josephine, 9, and Bernice, 8; and lodger Celma McMillian, 25, housekeeper. All are described as “Neg.”

Bernice McNeil died 2 November 1944 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per her death certificate, she was born 31 December 1930 in Rocky Mount, N.C., to J.C. McNeil and Donnell Hunt, both of Lumberton, N.C.; lived at 1132 West Oxford Street, Philadelphia; and was buried in Wilson, North Carolina.

Bernice McNeil’s burial site was likely in what we now know as Vick Cemetery, though described here as “Rountree cemetery.”

  • Frances Melton

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Thomas Melton, 49, tobacco factory mechanic; wife Frances, 34, tobacco factory sweeper; and daughter Doris, 10.

500 Hadley Street.

This empty lot is just outside the bounds of East Wilson Historic District. However, the streets southeast of present-day Hines Street, including Hadley Street, have been an African-American residential area since platted in the early twentieth century.

A large two-story house once stood at 500 Hadley Street, at the corner of Rountree Street. According to Herman McNeil, who grew up there in the 1940s, the church across the street owned the house. The church, though sometimes called Weeks Chapel for Rev. Alfred L.E. Weeks, was formally named Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church. During the pastorship of Rev. Charles T. Jones, which began in 1938, its name was changed to Ebenezer Missionary Baptist.

Per deed descriptions, the lot is on the southwest corner of Hadley Street and Bardin Avenue [now Rountree Avenue] and part of lots 5, 6, and 7 of Block #14 of the plat of the “Singletary Land.”

In History of the American Negro and His Institutions, North Carolina Edition, published in 1921, A.B. Caldwell noted that Rev. Weeks arrived in Wilson in 1915 (actually, 1914) and, by time of his writing,  had “firmly established the Tabernacle Baptist Church and built a home.” That home, I suspect, was the two-story house at 500 Hadley.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson township, Wilson County: on Hadley Street, Alfred Weeks, 44, a church minister; wife Annie, 44; daughter Marie, 14, and sister Bessie, 26.

In the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory:

The 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson shows a two-story house with a wrap-around porch at 500 Hadley.

Detail from 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson, N.C.

On 27 December 1922, William Gay, 52, son of Charlie and Emma Gay, married Gertrude Magette, 45, daughter of Jerry and Lucy Magette, in Wilson. Missionary Baptist minster A.L.E. Weeks performed the ceremony in the presence of J.A. Parker, 211 East Spruce Street; Mary L. Moore, 314 South Stantonsburg Street; and Annie E. Weeks, 500 Hadley Street.

In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Weeks Alfred L E Rev, pastor Tabernacle Baptist Church h 500 Hadley

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Frank W (c; Emma) cement fnshr h 500 Hadley

In the 1930 city directory, the house is shown as vacant.

Detail from 1930 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson, N.C.

By 1939, the house was in the hands of Dailey Realty Company, which offered it for sale for $3000.

In 1940, Mathew McNeil Jr. registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 17 January 1919 in Saint Paul, N.C.; his contact was Ola Bell McNeil, wife [sic; she was his mother]; he lived at 500 Hadley Street, Wilson; and worked at the Atlanta Coastline Station.

In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory, at 500 Hadley: Esther McNeil, maid; Mathew McNeil, laborer at City Light Plant; Mathew McNeil Jr., laborer; and Olabelle McNeil (with five children), maid.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 20 January 1947.

In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory, at 500 Hadley: Christine McNeil, nurse; David McNeil, laborer for Town of Wilson; and Mathew McNeil, fireman with City of Wilson, and wife Olabell.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 500 Hadley, Mathew McNeil Jr., 31, proprietor, truck for hire; wife Lucy, 28; children Theron, 5, Leatrice, 2, and Jannie, newborn; mother Ola Bell, 52, widow; siblings Beatrice, 22, Rebecca, 19, David, 17, Herman, 16, Joseph, 12, and Romain, 10; nephews Carl W. Hamilton, 4, and Tyrone McNeil, 4.

The house at 500 Hadley Street caught fire just after Thanksgiving in 1984. It was badly damaged and subsequently torn down.

Wilson Daily Times, 29 November 1984.

“David was the Sixty-Minute Man!”

Just as Black Music Month draws to a close, I learn of a Wilson link to the foundations of both rock and roll and rhythm and blues music.

I’ve been interviewing elders for the past month or so — more about this later — including my father’s Darden High School classmates. I spoke with his good friend Herman McNeil late last week. Mr. McNeil grew up on Hadley Street and was the 11th of 13 children. The brother just above him was David McNeil — of the Dominoes!

The Dominoes’ iconic “Sixty-Minute Man” is considered by some to be the first rock and roll recording, and there is general accord that it was one of the most important to generate and help shape the new genre. Unusually, the bass is the lead vocalist in the song and though David McNeil wasn’t on the recording, he joined the group shortly after the song’s release in 1951 and took on the role of Lovin’ Dan, the Sixty-Minute Man, during his tenure.

More about David McNeil, who also sang with the Larks and the Ink Spots, soon!

Thank you, Mr. McNeil!

1200 Washington Street.

The one hundred eightieth in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District: “ca. 1922; 1 story; hip-roofed, two-bay cottage with side hall.”

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In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Pitt Leaston (c; Maggie) cooper h 1200 Washington

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: McNeil Jesse (c; Cornelia) h 1200 Washington

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1200 Washington Street, “plaster helper” John L. Hart, 49; wife Eloise, 20; and lodger Ross Barnes, 41; his wife Emma, 32; and their daughter Bettie, 1.

Ben Hart died 7 November 1951 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 20 March 1881 in Edgecombe County to Wiley Hart; was a widower; resided at 1200 Washington Street, Wilson. Informant was Rev. J.L. Hart, 1200 Washington Street.

John L. Hart died 6 February 1963 at Mercy Hospital. Per his death certificate, he was born 28 January 1901 in Wilson County to Benjamin Hart and Temie Ann Jones; was a minister; lived at 1200 Washington Street; and was married to Elouise Hart.

The murder of Mary Huggins.

On 22 October 1933, the Daily Times reported the murder of Mary Bethea, who had been found shot to death in a ditch on Suggs Street.

In fact, the victim’s name was Mary Huggins. Per her death certificate, she lived on Gay Street; was married; was 29 years old; and was born in Wilson County to Arch Bynum and Pennie Barnes. Annie James, 619 Suggs Street, was informant. Her listed cause of death went so far as to name a suspect: “Murdered. Shot to death. Supposed by James McPhail.”

On 22 December 1934, the Daily Times reported that James McNeil, not McPhail, had convicted of manslaughter in Huggins’ death and sentenced to ten years in state prison.

Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.

Sending articles to Oteen Hospital.

Wilson Daily Times, 22 April 1921.

  • Angus McNeil — in the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 615 1/2 Viola, barber Angus McNeil, 27, and wife Maggie, 22. In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1202 Wainwright, barber Angus McNeil, 40; wife Maggie, 25; and daughter Agnes E., 6.
  • Oteen hospital — Oteen Veterans Administration Hospital.

 

505 South Pender Street.

The one-hundred-eighteenth in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

The nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District does not list 505 South Pender. However, this description of 501, which does not actually exist, seems to describe the house above instead: “ca. 1922; 1 story; shotgun with shed-roofed porch, gable returns.”

In the 1928 Wilson, N.C., city directory: Leak Clara (c) dom h 505 Stantonsburg

In the 1930 Wilson, N.C., city directory: McNeil Mary (c) dom h 505 Stantonsburg

The 1941 Wilson, N.C., city directory: Barnes Pearl (c; 2) lndrs h 505 Stantonsburg

In the 1947 Wilson, N.C., city directory: Barnes Pearl N (c; wid Zach) lndry wrkr Caro Lndry & Clnrs h 505 Stantonsburg

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The stretch of Pender Street above Suggs Street today, per Google Map. 505 is the silver-roofed shotgun at the corner Pender and Hines.

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Here, the 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson, N.C. Below Nash Street, Pender Street was then called Stantonsburg Street. When Hines Street was extended east in the 1960s, it largely followed the former path of Wiggins Street. It appears that 501 and 503 were cleared out to make way for the much wider Hines.