Nash County NC

A card of thanks from Dennis Taybron’s family.

Wilson Daily Times, 1 June 1932.

Dennis Taybron — not Taylor — was the father of Barney Reid‘s wife Anna Taybron Reid.

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In the 1850 census of  Nash County, N.C.: Allen Tayborne Jr., 30; wife Bitha, 22; and children Rixy, 3, and Dennis, 1.

In the 1870 census of Springfield township, Nash County, N.C.: Allen Taborn, 60, and children/grandchildren Elizabeth, 25, Dennis, 20, Amanda, 17, Mathew, 16, Robt., 13, Belinda, 12, Morris, 9, Levi, 7, Savage, 4, and Lizena, 1.

In the 1880 census of Jackson township, Nash County, N.C.: farmer Dennis Taborn, 31, and wife Harriet, 26.

In the 1900 census of Jackson township, Nash County, N.C.: farmer Dennis Taborn, 51;wife Harrett, 40; and children Cephus, 18, Theodoric, 16, Anna D., 13, and Arena H., 7.

In the 1910 census of Ferrells township, Nash County, N.C.: farmer Dennis Tabron, 66; wife Harret, 50; and daughters Anna D., 18, and Irene H., 15.

Dennis Taybron died 27 May 1932 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 75 years old; was born in Nash County, N.C., to Allen and Tabitha Taybron; was the widower of Harriet Taybron; lived at 300 Vick Street; and was buried in Nash County. Sandora Reid, 300 Vick, was informant.

Anna Dora Reid Hall died 20 April 1969 in Kinston, Lenoir County, N.C. Per her death certificate, she was born 15 September 1894 to Dennis Taybron and Harriett Wilkins; resided in Wilson; was a retired teacher; and was a widow. Informant was Goldie Forbes, 1005 Washington Street, Wilson.

James Williams stabbed to death while feeding stock.

Wilson Daily Times, 9 May 1945.

James Williams was a Wilson County native working in Nash County when he was killed by his employer.

Though the attack was unprovoked, Davis was charged only with manslaughter. He pleaded nolo contendere, a legal response in a criminal case where the defendant does not admit guilt, but foregoes trial and accepts the punishment as if he were guilty. Davis was sentenced to 3 to 5 years in state prison, which was suspended, and five years probation. He paid Williams’ hospital and funeral expenses and was ordered to pay Williams’ estate $4750. In essence, Davis got away with murder.

Nashville Graphic, 30 August 1945.

Williams’ death certificate reveals that he was stabbed in the left lung, liver, and stomach.

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On 12 August 1938, James Williams, 22, of Nash County, son of Will and Rosa Williams, married Senora Hall, 16, daughter of Weldon and Pearlie Williams, in Nash County, N.C.

In the 1940 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: farmer James Williams, 23; wife Senora, 17; and daughter Jearleen, 1.

In 1940, James Joseph Williams registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 9 April 1916 in Wilson County; lived at Route 1, Wilson, Wilson County; his contact was wife Senora Williams; and he worked for Watson Tobacco Company, South Lodge Street, Wilson.

In July 1945, Senora Williams was named administrator of her husband’s estate and named herself and daughters Geraldine and Bettie Lou Williams as his heirs.

Hog-killing time in Dixie.

On 1 January 1949, the Baltimore Afro-American ran a story on hog-killing time featuring Olford Ricks of R.F.D. 1, Wilson. Ricks actually lived just over the line in Nash County, but his close ties with Wilson County more than warrant his inclusion here. (Plus, we’ve already met members of his family who did live in Wilson.) The article not only detailed the work that went into processing hogs, but emphasized Ricks’ accomplishments as a prosperous, modern farmer.

The Afro-American (Baltimore, Md.), 1 January 1949.

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Olford Ricks died 5 September 1973 in Rocky Mount, Nash County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 22 January 1897 to Joseph Ricks and Nancy Jones; was a retired farmer; was married to Odell Brodie Ricks; and was buried in William Chapel cemetery, Wilson County.

 

Studio shots, no. 263: Sallie Joyner Edwards.

Sallie Joyner Edwards (1842-1925).

Sallie Joyner Edwards spent most of her life in Nash County, but was a matriarch of two impactful Wilson County families. Rev. Buck H. Edwards was pastor of Sandy Fork Missionary Baptist and Mary Grove Missionary Baptist Churches, as well as others in Nash and Edgecombe Counties, and father of Oliver H. and James W. Edwards, founders of Edwards Funeral Home. Amanda Edwards Mitchell and her husband James Gray Mitchell were a prosperous farming family whose children were impactful leaders in the Elm City community. Mitchell School was named for J.G. Mitchell.

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In the 1880 census of Rocky Mount township, Nash County, N.C.: farmer Rob Edwards, 40; wife Sallie, 38; children Waitie, 20, Mary E., 19, Lucy, 17, Georgeanna, 15, Jerryhill, 12, Mandy, 11, Morning, 9, Charity, 7, Cora, 5, Maddieann, 3, and Buckhill, 4 months; and grandson Aaron, 1.

In the 1900 census of Coopers township, Nash County: farmer Robert Edwards, 65; wife Sallie, 68; and children Charity, 26, and Buck, 20. 

In the 1910 census of Coopers township, Nash County: farmer Robert Edwards, 75; wife Salaan, 68; and grandchildren James W., 20, Lydie, 16, and Sallie Norfleet, 12, and Blonie Dew, 5.

Sallie Joyner died 1o March 1925 in Taylors township, Wilson County, N.C. Per her death certificate, she was 82 years old; a widow; was born in Nash County to Pomp Joyner; and was buried in Wilson County. B.H. Edwards was informant.

Photo courtesy of Amanda Mitchell Cameron.

The estate of Benjamin Flowers (1853).

Benjamin Flowers executed his will on 13 September 1852. Among his bequests were a “negro girl child” named Barthena to his wife Nancy Flowers; a woman named Grace to his son Bennett Flowers after Nancy’s death; a woman named Spice to his son Gray Flowers; a boy named Spencer to his grandson Adam Flowers; and, to be “equally divided” between his sons Bennett and Gray, a man named Henry.

Flowers died in early 1853, and his heirs began to squabble over the will.

An inventory done in March 1853 showed Flowers died with eight enslaved people — Mary, Hanner, Henry, Grace, Spice, Spencer, Barthana, and Mariah.

In 1855, Bartley Deans, who had witnessed Flowers’ will, gave a deposition in which he declared that Flowers seemed of sound mind when he dictated his wishes; denied he had told anyone he would “spend negroes or money” to influence Flowers’ will; said he had never possessed any of Flowers’ enslaved people except Henry, who had been hired to him before Flowers’ death, and Flowers’ sons Gray and Bennett had told Deans “Henry could go with the contract and finish my mill.” Finally, and curiously, he added that he did not know if Henry had influence “over his master.”

Late in 1855, the matter was transferred to newly established Wilson County from Nash County, and the will was finally validated. It is difficult to discern from available records what the parties’ contentions were. Gray Flowers, who initially was executor of the estate, apparently died in the late 1850s, and B.H. Bardin was appointed administrator in his place.

In January 1859, Bardin submitted a note to the court: “I am advised that there are certain Slaves belonging to the estate of Benjamin Flowers Sr. dec’d which are in the possession of divers persons supposed to be about forty in number and which I cannot get possession of without legal process and I am advised that there is no other property belonging to said estate.”

Forty??? How did eight enslaved people become 40 in six years? The court had questions, too, as this undated set of interrogatories indicates. The last question contains an important clue: When “were the negroes brought back from V[irgini]a”?

1. Ascertain of whom & where did Benj Flowers buy the slaves, what were their names, ages, sizes

2. Who are the descendants of these negroes tracing the children of each as far as is known

3. In whose possession are the slaves and how do they [illegible] title thereto, and how did their [illegible] or assigns get poss’n of them

4. Who were the children of Ben Flowers at his death What were their probable ages — Were the daughters married & to whom — were they under age when married — are any of them dead — did they die covert — If they were discovert, where did they live — Where did his children live at his death — And generally under what [illegible] did any of them labor, either of a single or cumulative character

If any of the children are dead who are their representatives &c

Age of Benj Flowers Sr date of his death At what time were the negroes brought back from Va — how long after did he live

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Benjamin Flowers (1855), N.C., U.S. Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998, http://www.ancestry.com; Benjamin Flowers Estate (1855), Wilson [County] North Carolina Probate Estate Case Files 1854-1959, http://www.familysearch.org.

 

Recommended reading, no. 17: Sandy Level Cemetery Burial Records.

I added Bailey and Bailey’s Sandy Level Cemetery Burial Records to my little local history set yesterday. Sandy Level is in Nash County, but this is a valuable Black Wide-Awake resource for many reasons.

(1) Sandy Level Cemetery is on present-day Stoney Hill Church Road at Bailey Road, less than three miles from the Wilson County line. Extended families often straddled the line between Nash County’s Bailey and Jackson townships and Wilson County’s Old Fields township.

(2) Sandy Level A.M.E. Church established the cemetery circa 1900. (The church itself was formed before 1875, and Willis Cone was an early trustee.) Mount Carmel A.M.E. of Bailey, which is still active (and my mama’s church!), was more or less its successor. Dozens of church members are buried in Sandy Level, but the cemetery also seems to have become a community burial ground by mid-twentieth century.

(3) Many who left the Bailey area for different opportunities returned to Sandy Level for burial. Some only migrated 15 miles east to Wilson. Others joined the Great Migration North. And Mercy Hospital was the closest African-American hospital during the Jim Crow era, so many Nash County residents buried in Sandy Level actually died in Wilson.

(4) The Baileys’ book is an exemplar for recording and preserving African-American church and cemetery history. The 154 known burials are presented alphabetically, with a brief description drawn from obituaries or death certificates.

If you’re interested in ordering a copy of Sandy Level Cemetery Burial Records, please contact Margaret Bailey at baileym@uncw.edu. The book costs $25, shipping is $5, and the order turn-around time is impressive.

Seeking?

Baltimore Afro-American, 14 July 1928.

This is a confounding notice. A Pittsburgh man, W.P. Duke, placed it in a Baltimore newspaper to find Mrs. Ella (Ellen?) M. Pridgeon, who was formerly Hattie Barnes of Wilson and who once lived with her sister Mrs. F.O. Pridgeon of Cleveland.

Mrs. F.O. Pridgeon was Louise Johnson Pridgeon, wife of Frank O. Pridgeon, and the first African-American woman to practice law in Cleveland. She was born in Gallipolis, Ohio, in 1891 to Joseph and Mary Ferguson Johnson, both born in Ohio, and I have seen no evidence that she had a sister named Hattie or Ella/Ellen.

The only Ella Pridgeon I have found is Sarah Ellen “Ella” Pridgeon, daughter of  (1867-1945), daughter of Baltimore jeweler Johnson Pridgeon and wife Rebecca, all of whom were white. Ella was a prominent teacher in Baltimore.

My research suggested that W.P. Duke was Willie or William P. Duke, a Southern-born shoeshiner and laborer, who migrated to Pittsburgh prior to 1920. He is listed as single in census records and city directories, but a “Mr. and Mrs. W.P. Duke” appear in Pittsburgh Courier’s society columns in 1925, 1932 (when the Pridgeons were guests), and 1933 (when they celebrated their 11th anniversary with a “sumptuous repast” for high-toned guests.) A 1926 Courier piece, however, refers to “W. Duke Pridgeon” of Pittsburgh receiving a visit from his brother Frank O. Pridgeon of Cleveland. Et voila!

William Duke Pridgeon died 28 May 1933 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Per his death certificate, he was born 2 February 1887 in Wilson, North Carolina, to unknown parents; was married to Flora Duke Pridgeon; worked as a porter; lived at 5643 Harvard Street; and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

With this, things began to fall into place. Sort of.

William and Frank O. Pridgeon’s parents were William and Sylvia Harris Pridgen of Nash County, North Carolina. By 1898, Frank had moved to Wilson, where he married Addie (not Hattie) Barnes — whose parents I have not identified. The couple soon migrated to Baltimore, Maryland, and, within a few years, to Cleveland, Ohio. The couple had no children and divorced before 1912. Frank Pridgeon married three more times.

It appears, then, that W.P. Duke was trying to find his brother’s first wife, Addie Barnes Pridgeon. But why did he call her Ella Pridgeon? And describe her as the sister of Louise J. Pridgeon? And why did William Pridgen call himself W.P. Duke?

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In the 1880 census of Nashville township, Nash County, North Carolina: William Pridgen, 36; wife Sylvia, 34; children J.S., 9, M.A., 6, Frank O., 4, and Wm. C., 1; mother Celia Harris, 54, washerwoman; daughter Fannie, 20; and sister-in-law Mary, 12. [Next door: Matthew Harris, 24, and his wife Tempie, 16. Matthew Harris was Sylvia Harris Pridgeon’s brother; their parents were Solomon and Celia Harris.]

On 22 May 1898, F.O. Pridgen, 22, of Wilson, married Addie Barnes, 18, of Wilson, in the Town of Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister W.M. Strickland performed the ceremony in the presence of Richard Renfrow, Victory Renfrow, and Harriet Knight. [Richard Renfrow was a barber and may have taught Pridgeon his trade.]

In the 1900 census of Baltimore, Baltimore County, Maryland: boarders Addie, 19, Frank, 24, barber, and Annie Pridgen, 13, all born in N.C.

In the 1904 Cleveland, Ohio, city directory: Pridgeon Frank O barber r 1172 Payne av

On 15 August 1912, Frank A. Pridgeon, 30, born in North Carolina to Wm. Pridgeon and Sylvia Harris, barber, married Elizabeth B. Ramsey, 24, born in Nashville, Tennessee, to William Ramsey and Anna White, in Cleveland. Both reported having been divorced once.

On 9 March 1915, Frank O. Pridgeon, 39, son of William Pridgeon and Silvia Harris, born in Wilson, N.C., married Louise J. Ogilvie, 24, daughter of Joseph Johnson and Mary Ferguson, born in Gallipolis, Ohio, in Cleveland, Ohio. Both had been divorced in 1914.

In 1918, Frank Oliver Pridgeon registered for the World War I draft in Cleveland, Ohio. Per his registration card, he was born 5 September 1875; lived at 2378 East 85th; worked as a barber for George S. Meyer, Hollander Hotel; and his contact was Mrs. Louis[e] Pridgeon.

In the 1920 census of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: at 49 Crawford Street, Wm. P. Duke, 32, roomer, shoeshiner, born in North Carolina.

In the 1920 census of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio: at 2378 East 85th, Frank Pirdgeon, 43, barber, and wife Louise, 28, social worker at police station.

In the 1929 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, city directory: Duke Wm P shoe shiner East End Shoe Hospital h 5813 Harvard

In the 1930 census of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: at 5813 Harvard Street, William P. Duke, 50, lodger, construction laborer, born in Virginia.

In the 1930 census of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio: at 2319 East Eighty-fifth Street, owned and valued at $8000, Frank O. Pridgeon, 55, barber, born in N.C.; wife Louise, 39, attorney, born in Ohio; brother-in-law Hobert Johnson, 31, barber; sister-in-law Nannie H. Johnson, 27, enumerator; nephew Joseph, 3; brother-in-law James H. Johnson, 37, barber; and father-in-law Joseph Johnson, 71.

Louise Johnson Pridgeon died 18 July 1932.

Pittsburgh Courier, 22 October 1932.

On 18 December 1935, Frank O. Pridgeon, 45, born in Wilson, N.C. to William Pridgeon and Sylvia Harris, married Inez Branch, 30, born in Rome, Georgia, to Ernest Collins and Mary Jones, in Cleveland. Pridgeon reported that his first two marriages had ended in divorce (in 1913 and 1914) and his third in death.

In the 1940 census of Cleveland, Cuyahoga township, Ohio: at 2521 East 83rd, barber Frank O. Pridgeon, 65; wife Inez, 36; and roomer Grant Russell, 55, auto mechanic.

Frank O. Pridgeon died 9 January 1941 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Studio shots, no. 234: A. John Locus.

Asa John Locus (1895-1974), son of Asa and Annie Eatmon Locus.

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In the 1900 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: farmer Asa Locus, 27, wife Anna, 22, and children Larry, 5, Johney, 4, and Kniver, 1.

In the 1910 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: on Nash Road, farmer Acy Locust, 40, wife Annie, 33, and children Larry, 15, John, 13, Eva, 11, James, 8, Ada, 6, and Paul, 3, and mother-in-law Wilmur Eatman, 68.

On 1 September 1917, John Lucas, 21, of Nash County, son of Asa and Annie Lucas of Taylors township, married Susie Stamper, 18, of Oldfields township, daughter of John and Ella Stamper, at the courthouse in Wilson. Gray Ellis applied for the license.

In the 1920 census of Griffins township, Nash County: farmer John Lucas, 24; wife Suddie, 20; and children Paul, 2, and Queenaster, 10 months.

In the 1950 census of Jackson township, Nash County: farmer John Lucas, 57; wife Sudie, 50; hired hand James Morgan, 44, farmhand; and mother Annie Lucas, 74.

John Lucas died 21 December 1974 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 15 March 1899 to Ace Lucas and Annie Eatmon; was married to Suddie Stample; lived at 401 East Banks; and was engaged in farming.

Photo courtesy of Europe A. Farmer, Free in a Slave Society: The Lucas/Locus Family of Virginia and North Carolina (2006).

Studio shots, no. 233: Linwood Lucas.

Linwood “Hawk” Lucas (1909-1972).

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In the 1920 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Edward Locus, 37; wife Cora, 27; and children Linwood, 10, Maggie, 9, Beulah, 8, Winnie, 6, Chicken, 4, Delphy, 3, John Ed., 1, and Quinton, 6 months.

In the 1930 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Ed Locus, 47; wife Cora, 35; and children Linward, 20, Maggie, 19, Ula, 18, Winnie, 17, Alma, 16, Redelpha, 13, John E., 11, Clinton, 10, Kenny, 9, Josephine, 7, Easter, 5, Louise, 4, Frank, 3, and Nancy, an infant.

On 17 March 1934, Lenwood Lucas, 24, of Wilson County, son of Ed and Cora Lucas, married Minnie Whitaker, 18, of Wilson County, daughter of Jim and Basoria Whitaker, in Nashville, Nash County, N.C.

In the 1940 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Lenard Locus, 30; wife Minnie, 23; and sons Edward, 5, Cleveland, 3, and Limeon [Leamon], 1.

In 1940, Linwood “Hawk” Lucas registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 7 August 1909 in Nash County, N.C.; his contact was Minnie Whitaker Lucas; and he worked for Edd Lucas, Wilson.

Minnie Lucas died 14 June 1942 in Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 20 August 1917 in Edgecombe County, N.C., to Bazora Atkinson; was married to Linwood Lucas; worked in farming; and was buried in a family cemetery.

Linwood Lucas died in 1972 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Photo courtesy of Europe A. Farmer, Free in a Slave Society: The Lucas/Locus Family of Virginia and North Carolina (2006).