Moses

917 Mercer Street.

This house is not within the bounds of East Wilson Historic District. However, the blocks of Mercer Street southwest of the Norfolk & Southern Railroad lines have been an African-American residential area since the early twentieth century.

In-fill building in the 1920s and ’30s caused house numbers in this block to shift several times. Now 917 Mercer, it was once 913 1/2, and briefly 915 1/2.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moses Narcissus (c) lndrs h 915 1/2 Mercer

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moses Narcissus (c) dom h 913 1/2 Mercer

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 913 1/2 Mercer Street, rented at $12/month, Narcissus Moses, 35; Elsie B. Moses, 70, mother; and roomer Darthy Curry, 26, cook.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 917 Mercer Street, Narcissus Moses, 51, hangs tobacco at redrying plant; cousin Effie Read, 38, private cook; and adopted son Jerome Wallace Lassiter, 9.

In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moses Narcissus (c; 1) lndrs h 917 Mercer

In 1942, Narcissus Moses hosted a banquet for the Saint Rose Bible Band at her home at 917 Mercer Street.

Wilson Daily Times, 25 March 1942.

In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moses Narcissus (c) tob wkr h 917 Mercer

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 917 Mercer, Narcissa B. Moses, 62, and cousins Effie B. Read, 46, cook, and Ralph B. Read, 6. 

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, September 2022. 

 

Zion Hall buys a lot.

Deed book 68, page 311, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office. 

On 2 January 1905, Orren and Hancy Best sold Caesar Moses and James Watson, trustees of Zion Hall No. 5952, Grand United Order of Odd Fellows, a 48 by 48-foot lot at the rear of their property “near the corporate limits of the Town of Wilson.” Orren and Hancy Best lived at the heart of Grabneck, and Zion Hall was one of at least eight African-American Odd Fellows lodges active in Wilson County in the early 20th century.

The death certificate of Henry Moses.

Henry Moses had two death certificates, each of which offers unique information.

The basics: Henry Moses died 15 December 1913 of a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Certificate #1. This document is most complete. Moses lived on Youngs [Alley or Avenue]; was born 27 May 1878 in Franklin County, North Carolina; was married; could read and write; and operated both a restaurant and a pressing club. Undertaker A.D. McGowan buried him in Wilson.

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Certificate #2 appears to start off as a copy of the first, though on a slightly different form. The person who filled it out misread the signature of the registrar, L.A. Hinnant, writing “Hinerant.” He or she (most likely he) also misread the first name of the informant, who was Henry Moses’ father Caesar Moses. This document dispensed with Moses’ occupation, but added two details to his cause of death: (1) it was a homicide and (2) “gambling” was the contributory cause.

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On 22 November 1905, Henry Moses, 27, of Wilson, son of Caesar Moses, married Sandora Dancey, 25. Rev. P.H. Howell, a Christ Disciple minister, performed the ceremony at Henry Moses’ home in the presence of W.M. Mayo, L. Studeway and Frank Sims.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: tobacco factory laborer Henry Moses, 31; wife Dora, 31; and daughter Luevenia Dancy, 16, servant.

Also in the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on TIllmans Road, house carpenter Caesar S. Moses, 56; wife Alice, 53; and children Oliver, 22, and Walter, 13.

Caesar Moses died 19 January 1917 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was a widower; was 63 years old; worked as a carpenter; and his father was named Crofford Stone. Oliva Moses was informant.

[Note: the 1900 census of Jeffreys township, Florence County, South Carolina, lists a Henry Moses in the household of his father Caesar Moses. As uncommon as the names are, this is a coincidence. This Henry Moses died of typhoid fever in 1917 in Florence County.]

Saint Rose honors its elders.

Wilson Daily Times, 16 August 1980.

  • Ida Barnes Ross

On 7 October 1914, Will Ross, 33, of Norfolk, Virginia, married Ida Barnes, 26, at Silas Barnes’ house in Wilson County in the presence of Silas Barnes, Sam Sharp and Jim Rountree.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 806 Robeson Street, widow Ida Ross, 53, tobacco factory laborer, and son Silas Ross, 9.

Ida Barnes Ross died 4 July 1985 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 21 February 1897 [actually, about 1886] in Wilson County to Silas Barnes and Mary Athy; was a widow; and resided at 1318 Atlantic Street. Silas Ross of Jersey City, New Jersey, was informant.

  • Narcissus Battle Moses

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 603 Warren Street, Elsie Battle, 49, widowed laundress; daughter Narcissus Moses, 30, laundress; and roomer Lewis Carter, 23.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 913 1/2 Mercer Street; Narcissus Moses, 35, servant, divorced; mother Elsie B., 70, widow; and Darthy Curry, 26, cook.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 917 South Mercer, Narcissus Moses, 51; cousin Effie Read, 38; and adopted child Jerome Wallace Lassiter, 9.

Narcissus Moses died 1 August 1983 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 4 March 1882 in Nash County to Elsie Battle; resided at 705 Suggs Street; was a widow; had worked as a laborer; and was buried at Williams Chapel cemetery. Effie Battle, niece, of 705 Suggs was informant.