Odd Fellows cemetery

Lane Street Project: Ben Mincey’s cleanup work revisited.

Another gift from the Joneses: the aluminum offset printing plates for the 18 February 1989 edition of the Wilson Daily Times, which featured Ben Mincey‘s work to honor his parents at Odd Fellows Cemetery.

On closer look, I see that the photo below was taken in Vick Cemetery. Though the City later was struck by amnesia, the sign clearly states that the property was overseen (if not actually cared for) by “The City of Wilson Cemetery Commission.”

This photo was taken in Odd Fellows, but a very different-looking Odd Fellows than today. The two tall grave markers at center left are those of Della Hines Barnes and Dave Barnes. You’ll notice that, while today they stand in the open, they were then surrounded by trees. A car is visible inside the tree line, likely parked on one of the paths that were used to dump trash in the cemetery.

Below, Ben Mincey stands closer to what is now the Vick Cemetery parking lot (the Barnes markers behind him.) In the foreground, a large flanged metal pipe. In the back, Henry Tart‘s tilting monument.

Lane Street Project: the season’s last service day.

The workday’s shoutouts:

  • to the veterans who visited Odd Fellows Cemetery Saturday morning to place flags for Memorial Day;
  • to Will Kinsler, who came back with friends Haley of Fayetteville and Savannah and Dustin of greater Raleigh. They spent a full shift hacking new wisteria from trees and clearing the tree line to aid our mowing efforts; and
  • to the inimitable Senior Force — Castonoble Hooks, R. Briggs Sherwood, and William Hooks — our foot soldiers month in and month out.

Finally, a resounding thank you to everyone who came out to help this season. Each of you made a tremendous difference in the reclamation of Odd Fellows Cemetery, and we are honored that you chose to spend a Saturday morning with us when you could have been doing anything else.

Big things are coming, and we hope you’ll continue to support us as we put the generous gifts we’ve received to work. Though our official cleanup season has ended, we may call on you for specially scheduled service days this summer or fall related to upcoming projects. Thanks again!

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, May 2026.

Lane Street Project: a grass-cutting appeal.

Oh! Look! Odd Fellows Cemetery awash in dandelions! Lovely, isn’t it?

Well. Not really.

Odd Fellows is a graveyard. Not a meadow. It’s overgrown. And our lawnmower has conked out. Until Friends of Lane Street Project (FoLSP) raises funds for a new one, won’t you consider stopping by to mow the front? Our last cleanup of the season in Saturday, May 23, but you can come whenever convenient. 

Thank you!

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, May 2026.

Lane Street Project: next service day — March 28!

March has been a fantastic month for Lane Street Project! First, we welcomed our friends from Greenfield School:

Then, Wilson City Council adopted a positive plan for Vick Cemetery’s near future, one that included the additional ground-penetrating radar we have long urged.

Please help us keep us the momentum going by coming out to Odd Fellows Saturday, March 28, at 10:00 A.M. for our next cleanup service day. Greenfield students made tremendous progress clearing dead brush and high weeds in the interior of the cemetery. We want to continue that work, which is especially important as warming weather awakens the wisteria that infests the space. We also need to mow the front section of Odd Fellows as the grass begins to green up.

A couple of hours of work by a couple of dozen people make a tremendous difference. We hope to see you Saturday!

Excerpt from “Greenfield volunteers support cemetery cleanup,” Wilson Times, 24 March 2026; photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, March 2026.

Lane Street Project: at Odd Fellows, next steps loading.

Vicki M. Cowan shared these snapshots of her mother Monte Vick Cowan and uncle Robert E. Vick visiting Odd Fellows Cemetery on a winter afternoon, perhaps in the 1990s.

In the first image, they stand beside the marble ledger tablet that covers the grave of their mother Annie M. Washington Vick. Rountree Cemetery is behind them. 

Below, Robert E. Vick standing in Odd Fellows with the Dawson and Tate headstones rear left.

The families of the Lane Street cemeteries never forgot their dead. Never abandoned them.  Distance, or age, or responsibilities to the living may have kept them from coming to lay flowers or from fighting nature’s relentless threats, and time is the thief of memory, but never abandoned. We knew our people were here, even if we didn’t know how best to reclaim them.

Lane Street Project will soon announce new initiatives to expand our care for the dead of Odd Fellows Cemetery. We’re excited about the possibilities for improving conditions in this cemetery, and count on your continued support.

Thank you, Vicki Cowan!

Lane Street Project: I didn’t think I was shockable anymore, but here we are.

Driving into Wilson with a grin on my face, and POW! — “A Wilson man has been charged after admitting to digging up a grave at Vick Cemetery….”

You can read the sorry details here.

I immediately called Castonoble Hooks and diverted to the cemetery. The alleged perpetrator unearthed a corner of a burial vault in a grave at the edge of the ditch, but it has been recovered, and the earth tamped back down. While we were there, Public Works pulled up to shovel dirt over the remnants of the marble markers dislodged back in December. I was too shaken to even question why, but will find out.

Lane Street Project: council talking points, 19 February 2026 edition.

Vick Cemetery’s not on the February 19 Agenda, but that doesn’t stop you from speaking out in the audience comment portion of Thursday’s city council meeting. The impassioned remarks of a few of Lane Street Project’s descendant community and allies snatched the attention of council and the Wilson Times last month. Two weeks later, after a rambunctious discussion, four council members stood ten toes down to restore the public broadcast of the citizens’ comments portion of council meetings. Your voice matters, and now it can be heard by folks who can’t physically attend meetings.

If you’re thinking about speaking tomorrow, here are a few questions you might ask:

  • what is the status of interpretive signage at Vick Cemetery? Has the draft language been approved?
  • when will the plat map of Vick Cemetery be recorded with Register of Deeds?
  • will the damage done to Odd Fellows Cemetery — specifically the removal of soil under the kerbing around the Tate family plot — be repaired?

  • why was the City using heavy equipment to clearcut the north side of Rountree Cemetery?

I was going to add “why hasn’t the Vick Cemetery city project page been updated since 15 October 2025?,” but I double-checked and, lo and behold, there’s been activity. The original October 15 update has been modified slightly, and this has been added (in January? I’m pretty sure February, but I quibble):

Finally:

  • We want ground-penetrating radar of the public right-of-way.