Moore

Mitchell vs. Smith and Moore.

In 1911, Annie Mitchell filed suit against Rev. Owen L.W. Smith over a land dispute. In 1907, Mitchell had purchased from Smith a lot in what is now the 500 block of East Nash Street. Per the deed, the lot measured 44 1/4 feet by 210 feet.

Soon, though, Mitchell learned that the lot was only 147 feet deep and that the back 63 feet that she thought she owned in fact was R.J. Taylor’s lot. She sued for the difference in the values of the full lot and the lot she got.

For reasons unstated, the court granted O.L.W. Smith’s motion to add Edward Moore as a party.

On 15 February 1913, Judge B.D. Cline ordered Smith to pay Mitchell $125, plus interest, and Moore to pay Smith $100, plus interest.

Civil Action Papers Concerning Land, Wilson County, N.C., 1908-1916; Wilson County, N.C., Court Records 1904-1916; http://www.familysearch.org.

The guardianship of the McIver girls.

In November 1908, Wilson County Superior Court named George W. Suggs guardian to sisters Kate, Sarah, Bettie and Ida McIver, the minor children of Amanda McIver. Their father, Rev. Byron D. McIver, was still alive, but had been removed as guardian overseeing the tiny inheritance from their deceased mother. L.A. Moore signed the bond with Suggs.

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In the 1900 census of Hookerton, Greene County, N.C.: clergyman Byron D. McIver, 44; wife Amanda, 29; and daughters Laura, 16, Minnie, 11, Katie, 6, Sarah, 3, and Bettie, 2.

Wilson County, N.C., Guardianship Records 1903-1909, http://www.familysearch.org.

The Johnson-Moore wedding.

The Afro-American (Baltimore, Md.), 1 February 1936.

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Robert Huff Johnson married Muriel Jeanette Moore during the brief time her father I. Albert Moore was pastor at Wilson’s Saint John A.M.E. Zion Church. Johnson’s father, Rev. Robert J. Johnson eventually was appointed rector at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Wilson. The marriage imploded in less than a year.

News of Auxiliary Moore.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 10 July 1943.

Among other news of Wilson, the Journal and Guide reported that Xizmenna Moore had joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and had reported to the W.A.A.C. Training Center in Fort Des Moines, Iowa.

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In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 646 Nash Street, Leon A. [Lee Andrew] Moore, 57, insurance agent; wife Virginia, 29; stepchildren Westry, 11, Wall C., 10, and Lula Darden, 9; and children Walter L., 5, Ruth, 3, and Xzimena Moore, 1.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 106 Pender Street, insurance agent Lee A. Moore, 59; wife Virginia, 37; and children Walter, 14, Ruth, 13, Simenia, 9, Bernard, 6, and Corteze, 4. The house was valued at $5000.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 106 Pender Street, insurance agent L.A. Moore, 70, retired insurance man; wife Virginia, 46, day laborer at tobacco factory; children Xizmenna, 19, E.R., 23, cafe waiter, Bernard, 17, drugstore delivery boy, and Cortez, 13.

Historic Black Business Series, no. 31: Moore & Battle, soft drinks.

The 500 block of East Nash Street is justly remembered as the 20th century epicenter of Wilson’s African-American-owned businesses. However, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Black entrepreneurs and tradespeople also operated across the tracks. As Wilson’s downtown experiences a resurgence, let’s rediscover and celebrate these pioneering men and women.

Check in each Sunday for the latest in the Historic Black Business Series!

Around 1912, Henry Moore and John Battle ran a soft drink shop at 217 South Goldsboro Street.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, December 2024.

County Home residents give thanks for gifts.

Wilson Daily Times, 29 December 1944.

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“Inmates” in this context were not prisoners, but indigent people who lived at the Wilson County Home. The Home was located near the current intersection of Ward Boulevard and Goldsboro Street, behind the gas station/convenience store. 

Rev. Frank Moore and his wife, Ara Moore, regularly ministered to residents of the Wilson County home in the 1940s. Frank Hilliard is listed in the 1940 census of Wilson as one of 46 lodgers at the home, 19 of whom were African-American.