Parker

Chester Parker gets 30 years for murder of wife.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 May 1944.

Chester Parker‘s first murder victim was Ed Howard.

——

  • Chester Parker

In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer David L. Parker, 39; wife Elizabeth, 38; and children William E., 15, Richard, 13, Anna, 12, Sarah, 10, Sylvanter, 9, Millie J., 7, Mary L., 5, Chester, 3, and John F., 7 months.

In the 1930 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: Floyd Ellis, 38; mother Cora Ellis, 60, widow; and boarder Chester Parker, 22; all farm laborers.

On 30 September 1937, Chester Parker, 28, of Taylor township, son of David and Liner Parker of Georgia, married Polly Barnes, 19, of Toisnot township, daughter of John and Pennie Barnes, in Wilson.

In the 1940 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farm laborer Chester Parker, 32, and wife Pollie, 21, cook.

In 1940, Chester Parker registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. per his registration card, he was born 22 October 1905 in Wilson County; lived at Route 2, Box 225, Elm City, Wilson County; his contact was wife Polly Barnes Parker; and he worked for Raleigh Granite Company, Bailey, Nash County, N.C.

In October 1941, Parker, already on bond on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon for stabbing his wife, was arrested again after threatening to kill her and then himself.

Wilson Daily Times, 3 October 1941.

Chester Parker died 9 July 1966 in Zebulon, Wake County, North Carolina. Per his death certificate, he was born 1 January 1908 in Wilson County to David Parker and Elizabeth [maiden name unknown]; worked as a saw mill fireman; and was married to Odell Parker.

  • Pauline Parker

In the 1930 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: Penny Edwards, 46, widow, and children Jesse J., 20, Sarah, 16, Mary, 14, Pollyanna, 11, and Arron, 9.

Polly Ann Parker died 24 April 1944 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 17 October 1918 in Wilson County to John and Pennie Barnes; was married; lived at 608 East Vance Street; and worked as a domestic. Cause of death: “gun shot wound of stomach; due to homicide.”

C.J. Parker commissioned as lieutenant.

Wilson Daily Times, 2 November 1943.

——

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 511 East Green Street, laborer Jessie R. Parker, 31; wife Minnie, 29; and sons Jesse R., 3, and Charles J., 1.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1110 Washington Street, owned and valued at $2500, Jessie Parker, 39; Minnie Parker, 41, cook; and children Jessie Jr., 13; Charley G., 11; Gertrude, 9; Walter, 7; Jasper, 5, and Minnie L., 3; and lodger Nathan Harriss, 14,

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1110 Washington Street, widow Minnie Parker, 51, cook, and children Gertrude, 18, beauty parlor operator, Joseph, 15, Minnie, 13, Louise, 9, David, 7, and Charles, 21, CCC.

Charles James Parker registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County in 1940. Per his registration card, he was born 27 January 1919 in Wilson; lived at 1110 Washington Street; his contact was mother Minnie Daniel Parker, same address; and he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps, Company 410, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

In the 1950 census of Washington, D.C.: in the household of Wilbert and Betty  Spencer, Charles J. Parker, 30, nephew, born in N.C., claims clerk, U.S. Veterans Administration.

Daily Times paperboys, no. 5.
  • Elmo Parker

Wilson Daily Times, 7 October 1950.

In the 1940 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: S.T. Parker, 39; wife Irene, 20; children Elma, 5, William, 3, and Fannie P., 1; sister Bertha, 34; nephew Jessie Lewis, 8, and Daisy Lee Parker, 4.

  • Frank Barnes

Wilson Daily Times, 6 October 1950.

  • Timothy Autry

Wilson Daily Times, 6 October 1950.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 507 Hadley Street, plowman Henry L. Hill, 64; wife Rosa, 43, seamstress; daughter Mammie, 36, beautician; and grandchildren Delores, 16, Dorothy, 14, Timothy, 12, and Peggie J., 8. 

The death of little Etta Parker.

“Pistol ball in brain by toy pistol in hands of boy unintentionally.”

I have not been able to learn more about the death of six year-old Etta Parker, who was fatally shot in the head by an unidentified boy with a toy pistol. (What kind of toy gun shot “pistol balls”? A BB gun?)

His daddy told him: “Take up something and take half his head off.”

Wilson Daily Times, 21 June 1948.

  • Willie Greenfield — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 319 North Hackney Street, Rufus Green [sic], 28, shoe repairer; wife Reva, 26; and children Willie Lee, 6, Ruby L., 5, Evelyn, 4, Charlotte, 3, and Bobby J., 1. [By 1950, the Greenfield family had migrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My grandmother Hattie Henderson Ricks, who migrated to Philadelphia later in the 1950s, spoke of Rufus Greenfield, mentioning that he was originally from Wayne County, North Carolina, and was blind by time she arrived in the city.]

Senior Willie L. Greenfield, Flame and Steel, the Dobbins-Randolph Vocational-Technical High School yearbook, 1952. [Greenfield would have been in my father Rederick C. Henderson’s class at Darden High School.]

  • Albert Parker — quite possibly, my cousin Albert Thomas Parker Jr. In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 800 Gay Street, oil mill laborer Thomas Parker, 25; wife Minnie, 23; and children Spencer, 5, Louise, 4, and Albert, 1.

Squabble ends in death in Oil Mill Alley.

Wilson Daily Times, 2 November 1948.

In his 2005 memoir Son of the Rough South, civil rights journalist Karl Fleming identified this column as his first front-page story in the Daily Times.

On 18 February 1949, the Daily Times reported that Leroy Hammonds [not Hamilton] had been convicted of Louise Parker‘s murder. 

——

  • Louise Parker

In the 1930 census of Crossroads township, Wilson County: farm laborer Robert Gray, 34; wife Minerva, 34; and children Lossie, 15, Robert, 14, Willie, 11, Louisa ,7, Etta, 6, and Maggie, 1.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Therman Ruffin, 33, lumber mill laborer, and wife Delzell, 27, cook; plus Curtis Parker, 26, lumber mill laborer, and wife Louise, 19.

Curtis Hersey Parker registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 12 March 1912 in Lumber Bridge, North Carolina; lived at 814 Stantonsburg Street, Wilson; his contact was wife Louise Sis Parker; and worked for Stephenson Lumber Company on Stemmer Street.

Louise Parker died 1 November 1948 at 804 Oil Mill Alley, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 23 August 1925 in Wilson County to Robert Gray and Minnie Knight and was married to Curtis Parker. Lossie Williams, 625 Cemetery Street, was informant.

  • Leroy Hammonds

In the 1920 census of Wishart township, Robeson County, North Carolina: William L. Hammond, 27; wife Lula H., 23; and children Josiah, 7, William E., 5, Luther E., 3, and Grover L., 1. The family was described as Indian.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Luther Hammond, 59 [sic]; wife Lula, 32; and children Joseph, 17, Elwood, 14, Wallace R., 12, Grover, 10, and Hubart, 2.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Luther Hamonds, 41, light plant foreman; wife Lula, 40, tobacco factory laborer; and children Luther Jr., 24, tobacco factory laborer; Leroy, 21, body plant laborer, Hubert, 13, Lillie, 7, and grandson Junior Hamonds, 2.

Roxie Parker, oldest local citizen?

Wilson Daily Times, 22 May 1948.

Per census records, Roxana Vick Parker Hines was actually a toddler when the Yankees rode through, having been born circa 1861.

——

In the 1870 census of Cokey township, Edgecombe County: farm laborer Peyton Vick, 29; wife Ellen, 21; children Henry, 11, Riley, 9, Roxana, 3, and Isadora, 2; and Zady Mercer, 58.

In the 1880 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Peyton Vick, 24; wife Ellen, 24; and children Rily, 18, Roxie, 13, Isadora, 12, Lou C., 10, Defada, 8, Sablaska, 6, Investa, 4, and Invoida, 1.

On 27 October 1887, Jerry Parker, 21, of Wilson County, married Roxey Vick, 22, of Wilson County, at Paton Vick’s in Toisnot township.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Roxy Parker, 24, and children Joseph, 14, Minnie, 13, Elenn, 12, Armena, 11, Mathew, 10, and Defatie, 2.

On 19 April 1903, Charlie Hines, 40, of Wilson township, son of Wesley and Ollie Hines, married Rox Anna Parker, 40, of Wilson township, daughter of Payton and Ellen Vick. Elder B.W. Tippett, a Free Will Baptist minister, performed the ceremony at Rox Anna Parker’s residence in the presence of Stephen Strickland, Wm. H. Tippett, and H.F. Boswell, all of Elm City.

In the 1916 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Parker Roxie A (c) h Harper’s la nr Herring av

n the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Lipscomb Road, widow Roxie Parker, 50, cook, and daughter Ellen, 21, farm laborer. Next door: William H. Knight, 22; wife Minnie, 24; brothers-in-law Cephus, 29, Menus, 22, and Mathew, 18; and lodgers Mary Saunders, 25, and her children Lebis, 10, and Lovie, 8.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Parker Roxie A (c) laundress h 731 Harper

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Parker Roxie A (c) laundress h 802 Viola

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 811 Viola, laundress Ellen Gay, 36; mother Roxanna Parker, 67; and nephew Matthew, 16.

Roxie Parker died 18 August 1949 at her home at 616 Viola Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 6 April 1847 in Edgecombe County to Hayden Vick and Ellen Jones; and was a widow. Minus Parker was informant. 

Parker refuses to give up his seat on the bus.

Wilson Daily Times, 6 April 1943.

Meet James Parker, American hero.

In April 1943, Parker boarded a Wilson city bus on Saturday evening. He sat down in the white section and remained firmly ensconced when the driver asked him to move. The driver, James Batchelor, abandoned his route to drive the bus to the police station, where Parker was arrested and charged with violating North Carolina’s “passenger law,” which allowed for the designation of colored and white sections in commercial transport vehicles. Parker was adjudged guilty and given a thirty-day suspended sentence provided he remain “in good behavior.” Per the Daily Times, Parker was the first person to challenge Jim Crow laws in Wilson County in 25 years.  

Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.

F-L-T.

We have seen here that Wilson’s Hannibal Lodge #1552 was not the only Odd Fellows lodge in Wilson County.

The three links engraved on the headstones of Gray Williams and Henderson Parker in William Chapel cemetery suggest an Odd Fellows lodge in Taylor township in far northwest Wilson County.

On 27 February 1900, the trustees of the Colored Odd Fellows paid Caswell F. and Eliza J. Finch $12.50 for a one-acre lot in Taylors township on the east side of the Wilson and Nash Road adjacent to the colored school lot. The deed was recorded on 10 March 1900 in Wilson County Register of Deeds in Deed Book 54, page 314. The Wilson and Nash Road was today’s N.C. Highway 58, and “the colored school lot” is probably a reference to Farmers Colored School, which was located just north of modern-day Silver Lake.

Gray Williams Oct 3 1882 Jul 12 1925 Lula Williams Born 1878 Jan 21 1923 Gone But Not Forgotten

Henderson Parker July 5, 1878 Sept 6, 1919

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, April 2022.