This occupation description in the 1930 census of Wilson caught my eye:
“Doctor woman”?
The full entry: at 1104 Wainwright Avenue, owned and valued at $1000, widow Etta Plumer, 60, doctor woman, and son Samie, 40, oil mill laborer; Lee Palmer, 25, guano plant laborer, and wife Mary, 24, cook.
Other records show that Plummer was a midwife, but this label suggests a broader medical expertise.
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In the 1900 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer William Plummer, 53; wife Etta, 34; and children William Ann, 18, and Samuel, 14.
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: city laborer William Plummer, 69, and wife Etta, 50.
In the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Plummer Etta (c) midwife h 1104 Wainwright Av
William Henry Plummer died 23 February 1925 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 70 years old; was born in Warren County, N.C., to Mary Plummer; was married to Etta Plummer; worked as a common laborer; and lived at 1104 Wainwright. He was buried in “Rountrees Cemetery,” which could have been Rountree or Vick Cemetery.
In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Plummer Etta midwife h 1104 Wainwright Av
Etta Plummer died 6 September 1939 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 74 years old; was born in Nash County, N.C., to Sam and Pennie Hilliard; was the widow of William Plummer; lived at 1104 Wainwright; and worked as a midwife. Samuel Plummer was informant. She was buried in Wilson, most likely in Vick Cemetery.