migration to Philadelphia

Studio shots, no. 246: Ora Renfrow Parker.

Ora Renfrow Parker (1899-??).

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In the 1900 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer John Rentfrow, 40; wife Marguaratt, 37; and children Franklin, 19, John T., 15, Mattie H., 12, Fannie, 10, Clinton, 7, and Oria, 1.

W.H. Parker, 24, of Springhill township, son of Nancy Parker, married Ora Renfrow, 19, of Old Fields township, daughter of John and Margarette Renfrow, on 6 January 1918 in Old Fields. G.W. Carter applied for the license.

In the 1920 census of Springhill township, Wilson County: farmer William H. Parker, 26; wife Ora, 21; and son Clovis, 10 months.

In the 1930 census of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: at 3905 Folsom Street, railroad porter Henry Parker, 36; wife Ora, 31; and children Clovis, 11, Tarrel, 9, Dorothy, 7, and Henry, 5.

In the 1940 census of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: at 3905 Folsom Street, Pullman Company porter Henry Parker, 45; wife Ora, 40; and children Clovis, 21, retail store porter, Henry, 18, truck driver, and Dorthy, 17.

In 1942, William Henry Parker registered for the World War II draft in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his registration card, he resided at 3905 Folsom Street; was born 26 December 1894 in Wilson County, North Carolina; worked for the Pullman Company, P.R.R. 30th Street Station, Philadelphia; and his contact person was Mrs. Ora Parker.

In the 1950 census of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: at 3905 Folsom, William H. Parker, 56, watch repair; wife Ora, 51; and sons Clovis H., 31, studio ceramic artist, and Henry J., 24, shoemaker.

Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user Sierra Barrett.

William McK. Coppedge, Philadelphia police.

William McKinley Coppedge, born in 1891, left Wilson County for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when he was in his early twenties. After a few years working as a rigger at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Coppedge joined the Philadelphia Police Department. He remained with the force until his death in 1960.

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In the 1910 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: farmer Samuel Alston, 38; wife Carrie, 31; son Moses, 9; and nephew-in-law William Coppage, 18, farm laborer.

William McK. Coppedge, elevator [operator], born 7 June 1891 in North Carolina to Herbert and Martha Arrington Coppedge, married Lena Robinson, 19, born 15 June 1897 to Charles and Susie Harrison Robinson, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1915.

Doria Elnora Coppedge was born 30 August 1915 in Philadelphia. Per her birth certificate, her parents were William McKinley Coppedge, 23, and Sarah Lena Robinson, 23, both of 1726 South Bancroft Street.

In 1917, William M. Coppedge registered for the World War I draft in Philadelphia. Per his registration card, he was born 7 June 1891 in Wilson, N.C.; lived at 1726 South Bancroft; worked as a rigger helper at the Navy Yard; and had a wife and two children. [Coppedge’s firm, flowing signature reveals a solid education.]

In the 1920 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: William Coppedge, 28, rigger at United States Navy Yard; wife Lenia, 24; children Doris E., 4, Loyd R., 3, and Arthur S., 1; and uncle Forge Coppedge, 46.

In the 1930 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: William Coppedge, 38, city policeman; wife Lena, 32; and children Doris, 14, Lloyd, 13, Arthur, 12, Elaine, 9, Margaret, 5, and Vera, 2.

Philadelphia Inquirer, 11 February 1933.

In the 1940 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: William Coppadge, 48; wife Lena, 42; and children Loyd, 23, Elaine, 19, Margaret, 15, and Vera, 12.

In 1942, William McKingley Coppedge registered for the World War II draft in Philadelphia. Per his registration card, he was born 7 June 1891 in Wilson, N.C.; lived at 1819 North 17th Street, Philadelphia; his contact was wife Lena A. Coppedge; and he worked for the City of Philadelphia Bureau of Police.

In the 1950 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: William Mc. Coppedge, 58, city police officer; wife Lena, 51, operator at automat restaurant; son Loyd, 33; daughter Vera, 22, music teacher with own business; and daughter Doris McNeal, 35.

William M. Coppedge died 4 June 1960 in Philadelphia. Per his death certificate, he was born 7 June 1891 in North Carolina; was married to Lena A. Coppedge; and worked as a police officer.

Link Covington of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Link Covington appears on Wilson’s 1926 delinquent property tax list, owing $2.31. Covington had left Wilson more than a dozen years earlier to make Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his home. He was not a Wilson native and left little record there or in his new home.

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On 29 April 1920, Link Covington, 26, of Wilson, married Maggie Morris, 32, of Wilson, in Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister William Baker performed the ceremony.

In the 1930 census of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Link Covington, 35, widower, construction worker, born in Virginia, and Kathryn Curtis, 28, lodger, dress operator.

Family ties, no. 11: going down to Dudley.

Wilson’s emergence as a leading tobacco market town drew hundreds of African-American migrants in the decades after the 1890s. Many left family behind in their home counties, perhaps never to be seen again. Others maintained ties the best way they could.

Sarah Henderson Jacobs Silver and her husband Jesse A. Jacobs Jr. left Dudley, in southern Wayne County, North Carolina, around 1905. They came to Wilson presumably for better opportunities off the farm. Each remained firmly linked, however, to parents and children and siblings back in Wayne County as well as those who had joined the Great Migration north. This post is the eleventh in a series of excerpts and adaptations of interviews with my grandmother Hattie Henderson Ricks (1910-2001), Jesse and Sarah’s adopted daughter (and Sarah’s great-niece), revealing the ways her Wilson family stayed connected to their far-flung kin. (Or didn’t.)

Minnie Lee Simmons Budd was Sarah Henderson Jacobs’ niece, the daughter of her sister Ann Elizabeth Henderson Simmons. Minnie, a dressmaker, and her husband Jesse M. Budd married in 1904 and migrated to Philadelphia around 1905. They returned to Wayne County for several years, then settled permanently in Philadelphia in the 1920s. Both their sons died young, and Minnie asked to adopt my grandmother, but Mama Sarah would not split her and sister Mamie Henderson Holt. (Minnie later reared several of her brother Daniel Simmons’ children after their mother died.) In the late 1950s, my grandmother migrated to Philadelphia, and she and Cousin Minnie were regular visitors until Minnie’s death in 1960.

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“Cousin Minnie she had a piano – that’s a piano there, and when you come in her front door on the right hand side, that room where it set, that was her living room. This was their house in Mount Olive. And when I went down there to stay with her two weeks, and she was practicing and playing the piano, she wanted to learn how to play the piano. Well, I guess she had already learnt. But the house was nice, nobody but her and Uncle Jesse.  She wanted to adopt me. I used to go down there and stay with her and Cousin Jesse. And Cousin Cousin Annie Cox and Uncle Hardy Cox was living at that time, and I used to go down there. I stayed with her when Cousin Jesse, her husband, come up to bring tobacco to sell. They used to bring it to Wilson, and I went with them back on the car. They had a truck one time, and then they had the car. And they’d just come up and visit. Mama was living then.”

Interview of Hattie H. Ricks by Lisa Y. Henderson adapted and edited for clarity. Copyright 1994, 1996. All rights reserved. Photo in collection of Lisa Y. Henderson.

BLACK WIDE-AWAKE POST #6000! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Pfc. Cannon re-enlists.

Wilson Daily Times, 3 January 1948.

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In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: taxicab driver James Cannon, 34; wife Deborah, 25; and children Dorthy, 10, James Jr., 9, Beatrice, 6, William H., 3, and Willie W., 2.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 701 Viola, transfer operator James Canon, 45; wife Sadie D., 33; children Mahazel, 16, Blondie B., 14, William H., 12, Walter W., 11, Charlie T., 8, Joan, 6, and Clara, 3; and grandson Marshall, 1.

In 1945, William Henry Cannon registered for the World War II draft in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his registration card, he was born 3 June 1927 in Wilson, N.C.; lived at 2225 West Stewart Street, Philadelphia; his contact was friend Mrs. Annie Hunt, same address; and he worked for contractor James C. Morrisey.

The Wilson County roots of Professor Christina Sharpe.

While reading Jenna Wortham’s luminous New York Times profile of African-American academic Christina Sharpe, a name popped out at me in the passage detailing her West Philadelphia roots — Van Buren Sharpe.

I knew I knew it. A little research confirmed what I suspected — Christina Sharpe’s paternal roots lie in Wilson and Edgecombe Counties.

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On 26 December 1866, Sampson Sharpe married Nelly Hargrove in Edgecombe County. Wilson Sharpe was bondsman, and Irvin Thigpen, witness.

In the 1880 census of Lower Town Creek township, Edgecombe County, North Carolina: farmer Samson Sharpe, 40; wife Nellie, 40; and children Mack, 11, Reuben, 8, Madison, 7, Cet, 6, Van, 4, Shepherd, 2, and Mattie, 7.

In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Sampson Sharpe, 57, and children Mary J., 19, Earnes, 17, Frankling, 15, and Eva, 13.

On 2 February 1901, Mack Sharpe, 31, married Katie Taylor, 19, in Wilson. Rev. J.W. Williams performed the ceremony in the presence of J.D. Reid, Albert Mitchell, and Olin Fenderson.

In the 1910 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: hotel waiter Van Sharpe, 32; wife Marion, 22; and son Carlwood, 9 months.

In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: tobacco factory laborer Mack Sharpe, 43; wife Katie, 29, laundress; and children Harvey, 12, servant, Wilbur C., 10, Earnest, 8, Samson, 6, Nellie B., 3, and Elexander, 18 months.

Vanburen Sharpe was born 25 August 1913 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his birth record, his parents were Vanburen Sharpe, 36, waiter, and Marion Sharpe, 27.

In 1918, Van Buren Sharp registered for the World War I draft in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his registration card, he was born 29 April 1877; lived at 3921 Melon Street; worked as an oyster opener at Ridgway Hotel, Camden, New Jersey; and his nearest relative was wife Marion Sharp.

In the 1920 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: at 3921 Melon Street, Vanburen Sharpe, 42; wife Marion, 31; and children Carlwood, 10, Alice, 8, Vanburen Jr., 6, Byron, 4, Roland, 1, and George, 10 months.

Mary Jane Barnes died 27 October 1920 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 6 April 1881 in Edgecombe County to Samptson Sharpe and Lillie [no maiden name listed]; was married to Jake Barnes; lived at 814 Nash Street; and worked as a domestic. She was buried in Wilson [most likely, Vick Cemetery.]

Eva Lucas died 14 November 1926 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 35 years old; was born in Wilson to Sampson and Mary Jane Sharpe; was married to Walter Lucas; and lived at 108 Vick Street. She was buried in Wilson, N.C. [most likely, in Vick Cemetery.]

In the 1930 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: at 540 North Wanamaker, club waiter Van Buren Sharpe, 55; wife Marion, 44; and children Carlwood, 20, Alice, 19, Van Buren, 16, Byron, 14, Roland, 12, George, 11, Marion, 8, and Robert, 4.

Earnest Sharpe died 3 January 1931 in U.S. Marine Hospital, Norfolk, Virginia. Per his death certificate, he was born 25 February 1882 in North Carolina to Sampson Sharpe and Milly Hargrove; was married to Martha Sharpe; lived at 754 Brewer Street, Norfolk; and worked as a waiter on table for the Merchant Marines.

In the 1940 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: at 5942 Vine, waiter Van Buren Sharpe, 59; wife Marion, 54; and children Alice, 28, Van Buren Jr., 26, Byron, 24, Rowland, 22, George, 21, Marion, 18, and Robert, 14.

In 1942, Van Buren Sharpe registered for the World War II draft in Philadelphia. Per his registration card, he was born 25 August 1913 in Philadelphia; lived at 5942 Vine Street; his contact was father Van Buren Sharpe; and he worked as a classified laborer for Philadelphia Navy Yard, League Island, Philadelphia.

In the 1950 census of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania: at 5942 Vine, hotel waiter Van Buren Sharpe, 68; wife Marion, 63; and children Alice, 36, post office char woman, Marion, 28, department store stock girl, and Robert, 24.

Van Buren Sharpe died 14 August 1953 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his death certificate, he was born 29 April 1880 in Wilson, N.C.; was married; and worked as a waiter.

Shepard Sharpe died 16 October 1959 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 5 January 1887 in Edgecombe County to Samson Sharpe and Nellie (?); lived at 135 Narroway Street; and worked as a cook. Naomi Sharpe was informant.

The obituary of Juanita Kelley Wilson.

Philadelphia Daily News, 1 July 1994.

Juanita Kelley Wilson made the great migration in stages. Born in South Carolina, she spent her childhood in Wilson before moving to Richmond, Virginia, and then on to Philadelphia.

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In the 1920 census of Richmond, Virginia, 16 year-old Juanita Kelley is listed as a servant for the family of James and Clara Williams, 1622 Maryland Avenue.

His daddy told him: “Take up something and take half his head off.”

Wilson Daily Times, 21 June 1948.

  • Willie Greenfield — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 319 North Hackney Street, Rufus Green [sic], 28, shoe repairer; wife Reva, 26; and children Willie Lee, 6, Ruby L., 5, Evelyn, 4, Charlotte, 3, and Bobby J., 1. [By 1950, the Greenfield family had migrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My grandmother Hattie Henderson Ricks, who migrated to Philadelphia later in the 1950s, spoke of Rufus Greenfield, mentioning that he was originally from Wayne County, North Carolina, and was blind by time she arrived in the city.]

Senior Willie L. Greenfield, Flame and Steel, the Dobbins-Randolph Vocational-Technical High School yearbook, 1952. [Greenfield would have been in my father Rederick C. Henderson’s class at Darden High School.]

  • Albert Parker — quite possibly, my cousin Albert Thomas Parker Jr. In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 800 Gay Street, oil mill laborer Thomas Parker, 25; wife Minnie, 23; and children Spencer, 5, Louise, 4, and Albert, 1.

Snaps, no. 87: Iora Blanche Wilkins Jones Baines Lucas.

Iora Wilkins Jones Baines Lucas.

In the 1900 census of Old Field township, Wilson County: Francis Kates, 37, widow, farmer, and children Ora, 16, Jane, 14, Willie, 10, and Earnest, 6.

Iora Lucas, 15, of Old Fields township, daughter of Buck Wilkins and Frances Kates, married James E. Jones, 28, of Old Fields, son of Burt Jones and Susan Jones, on 2 June 1901 at Frances Kates’ in Old Fields. Thomas A. Jones was a witness.

On 19 February 1906, Frank Baines, 26, of Old Fields, son of Simon and D. Baines, married Iora Jones, 21, of Nash County, daughter of Frances Cates, at Frank Baines’ residence. Thomas A. Jones, John R. Jones, and Dorsey Powell were informants.

In the 1910 census of Old Fields township, Wilson County: Franklin Baines, 28; wife Ora, 24; and children James V., 8, Elroy, 4, Cornelia, 2, and Mary A. Baines, 7 months.

In the 1920 census of Old Fields township, Wilson County: widowed farmer Ora Bains, 33, and children Elroy, 12, Cornelia, 11, Mary E., 10, Rosevelt, 7, Donnie, 5, Armensie, 3, and Josephine, 2.

In the 1930 census of Jackson township, Nash County: widow Ora Lucas, 45, and children Donnie, 16, Armensie, 14, Josephine, 12, Junius, 8, and Monzora, 6. [The latter two by her third husband, June Lucas.]

Iora Lucas migrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user Jerry Smith.