Negro League

Johnny Brewington and the Negro League.

During Black History Month two years ago, when they were still playing near Zebulon, North Carolina, as the Carolina Mudcats, the Wilson Warbirds highlighted throwback jerseys honoring the Raleigh Grays, a semi-pro Negro League team.

The Grays and the Raleigh Tigers, who played from the mid-1940s to early 1960s, had a Wilson connection —  Johnie Brewington, who briefly managed both teams.

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 23 July 1941.

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 15 May 1946.

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 4 June 1946.

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 20 June 1946.

When necessary, Brewington stepped behind the plate to play catcher.

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 10 September 1946.

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In the 1920 census of South Clinton township, Sampson County, N.C.: farmer Cnelus Brewington, 36; wife Emma, 26, retail grocery merchant; and children Norward, 22, Mabel, 6, and John, 3.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 912 East Nash, rented for $24/month, Frank Williams, 50, building mechanic; wife Emma, 36, public school teacher; and stepchildren Norwood, 21, odd jobs laborer, Mabel, 16, and Johnie Brewington, 14.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 309 Elba Street, rented for $20/month, widow Emma Williams, 45, public school teacher; daughter Mable Brewington, 25, public school teacher; son Johnie Brewington, 24, new worker; and lodgers Walter Holmes, 35, veneer factory laborer, and Alice Bryant, 33, household servant.

In 1940, Johnie Marion Brewington registered for the World War II draft in Wilson. Per his registration card, he was born 3 February 1916 in Clinton, N.C.; lived at 309 Elba Street, Wilson; worked for Imperial Tobacco Company, Wilson; and his contact was mother Emma Williams.

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 23 July 1941.

Even as he managed the Grays, Brewington played football at North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University.)

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 4 October 1941.

Johnnie Brewington enlisted in the United States Army on 26 January 1942 in Daytona Beach, Florida, and was discharged 4 August 1945, having achieved the rank of first sergeant in Company A, 184th Engineer Combat Battalion.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 411 North Vick, John E. Dixon, 38, science teacher in city school; wife Mable E., 33, elementary educator in county school; sons John E. II, 6, and Levie, 4; mother-in-law Emma B. Williams, 50; and brother-in-law Johnie M. Brewington, 31.

Johnie Marion Brewington died 20 November 1964 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Durham, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 3 February 1916 in North Carolina to Neal Brewington and Emma Moore; was never married; lived at 411 North Vick Street, Wilson; and was a merchant (“general work & sports”); was a World War II veteran; and was buried in Rest Haven cemetery. Emma Williams was informant.

Elm City Negro Giants: ‘we’re not boasting, but we believe we’re the best!’

Finding the Elm City Negro Giants was surprising enough, but to read that their first baseman was future Negro League legend Buck Leonard?!?

News and Observer, 13 August 1930.

For more links between Wilson County and the baseball-star Leonard brothers, see here and here and here.

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  • Morris Williams
  • Ralph Ricks

In the 1920 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: Ed Ricks, 41; wife Nannie, 38; children Siddie, 20, Annie, 17, Maggie, 11, Mamie, 10, Raph, 8, and Ruth Ricks, 5; and niece Albie Walston, 17.

In the 1933 Washington, D.C., city directory: Ricks Ralph clo clnr Economon Bros r2137 L nw

On 17 June 1936, Ralph Ricks married Cornelia Harrell in Washington, D.C.

In the 1940 census of Washington, D.C.: Cornelia H. Ricks, 23, cook, and husband Ralph, 28, cleaning shop presser, lodgers.

Ralph Ricks registered for the World War II draft in 1940. Per his registration card, he was born 16 September 1911 in Elm City; lived at 1530 Swann Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.; his contact was mother Nannie Ricks, 1742 – 6th Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.; and he worked for Joseph Westline.

The Newark Eagles defeat the Homestead Grays in Wilson.

Wilson Daily Times, 30 August 1939.

Two Negro League powerhouses, the Newark Eagles and the Homestead Grays, clashed in a baseball game at Wilson’s Municipal [later, Fleming] Stadium in the summer of 1939. The Grays held spring camp in Wilson and regularly scheduled a game in town before rapt fans.

Homestead Grays play the New York Black Yankees in Wilson.

On 4 August 1942, the Daily Times printed two short pieces on the extraordinary match-up at Wilson’s Municipal (now Fleming) Stadium — the Homestead Grays vs. the New York Black Yankees!

Grays’ catcher and power hitter Josh Gibson in an undated photograph. AP.

Wilson Daily Times, 4 August 1942.

Buck Leonard at bat, 1945. He and Gibson were known as the Thunder Twins. Now regarded as among the best ever to play the game, neither played Major League baseball. Photo courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame. 

The Homestead Grays in 1942, the year they visited Wilson. Getty Images.

Black Yankees Leslie “Chin” Green and Jimmy Ford, 1942. Detail, Getty Images.

Wilson Braves score victories.

The Wilson Braves had a much better May than April 1932.  The nine played the Bull City Aces (of Durham), the Harlem (N.Y.) Black Sox, the Hamlet Airliners, the Camel City Aces (of Winston-Salem), and teams from Leaksville and Greenville and went 9-2.

Wilson Daily Times, 2 May 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 11 May 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 16 May 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 May 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 18 May 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 21 May 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 24 May 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 26 May 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 27 May 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 28 May 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 30 May 1932.

Wilson Braves, Negro nine.

I was delighted to find that the Daily Times regularly covered the 1932 season of the city’s semi-pro African-American baseball team, the Wilson Braves.

I’ve been able to discover very little about the team. They played home games in the “Vance Street ballpark,” a forerunner to Fleming Stadium that stood in the vicinity of modern-day Wells Elementary School. The articles highlight players generally by first or last name only, but I am working to identify them further. They included second baseman George Leach, centerfielder Monk Johnson, pitchers Joe Haskins and Jarvis Bank, Joe Harris, catcher Leroy, Wynn, Holden, Taylor, Hargroves, Fisher, Tate, Locus, pitcher Henry, and “Dummy.”

Here are the April games, in which the Braves played the Capital City Blue Aces (of Raleigh), the Kinston Royal Giants, the Rocky Mount Aces, the Statesville All-Stars, and a team from Suffolk, Virginia, and went 2-3-1.

Wilson Daily Times, 7 April 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 14 April 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 18 April 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 21 April 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 22 April 1932.

Wilson Daily Times, 28 April 1932.