Rest Haven cemetery

The roots of Rest Haven cemetery.

Heather Goff, Wilson Cemetery Commission Leader, has gone above and beyond to educate herself about the city’s historic black cemeteries and to search for documents concerning these little-known properties. She recently unearthed these Cemetery Commission records shedding light on Rest Haven Cemetery’s early days.

A document labeled Agreement: Town of Wilson vs. Colored Cemetery Commission:

The text of the document does not make reference to a lawsuit or the Colored Cemetery Commission. The passive voice construction in the first independent clause conceals a critical fact: who conveyed 38 acres known as the Jesse Barnes land to the Cemetery Trustees of the Town of Wilson on 24 October 1933? The Town of Wilson actually put up the money for the property and held it in trust until the Trustees paid the Town $3500, plus interest. This amount was to be realized, after deducting operating expenses, from sums raised from the sales of burial lots. The document is signed by the white Cemetery Trustees of Wilson, and I have not been able to identify any “colored” ones. The notes on the reverse show six payments totaling $2000 made between 1939 and 1945.

And thus we get an establishment date for Rest Haven cemetery — 1933 — and the provenance of its earliest section.

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So, who was Jesse Barnes?

This 12 June 1975 letter proclaims that “the lots adjacent to the Rest Haven Cemetery are have been, and in the future will be set aside for the heirs of the said, Jessie R. and Sarah L. Barnes. These lots are located at the back of Section No. 2 on row beside the ditch in the cluster of trees.” Frank Barnes signed the letter.

Jesse Reese Barnes (1873-1949) and Sarah Eliza Barnes Barnes (1872-1936) were married in 1893. Frank Washington Barnes was their son. Without access to deeds, I cannot determine at this time when the Barneses purchased their 38 acres. However, presumably, Jesse and Sarah sold it to the Cemetery Commission.

And “the back of Section No. 2 on row beside the ditch in the cluster of trees”? It’s here:

Less than a month after the note above, Frank W. Barnes sold four grave plots to John E. Dixon. This note is on file with the Cemetery Commission: “This is to certify that I, Frank W. Barnes of 308 Ward Boulevard, Wilson, North Carolina acting on behalf of myself and with the full consent of other concerned members of the Barnes family do hereby  for the sum of Ten Dollars ($10.00) and other value received do convey to said John E. Dixon and family of 411 N. Vick Street of Wilson, North Carolina space for four (4) grave plots in the Barnes Family Cemetery which is a part of REST HAVEN CEMETERY of Wilson, North Carolina. These grave plots are located near the south-east corner of the Barnes Cemetery between two (2) big Cedar trees. These plots are theirs to have and hold from this day hence-forth.” Joan Howell’s Cemeteries, Volume V, lists the burials of Jesse Barnes, Jesse J. Barnes, John E. Dixon, Mabel B. Dixon and Levi C. Dixon in the Barnes section of Rest Haven.

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In the 1880 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Lemon Barnes, 32, farmer; wife Nancey, 26; and children Morrison, 8, Jessee R., 7, Ida, 6, Eddie, 3, Lemon Jr., 2, and General, 3 months.

In the 1880 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Ned Barnes, 34; wife Margaret, 35; and children Luvenia, 9, Franklin, 8, Walter, 10, and Sarah Eliza, 7.

Jesse Barnes, 19, married Sarah Barnes, 21, daughter of Ned Barnes and Margarett Artis, on 2 December 1893 at the bride’s home in Wilson County. Per their marriage license, Presbyterian minister L.J. Melton performed the ceremony in the presence of L.A. Moore, John Hardy and Davis Barnes.

In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer Jesse R. Barnes, 27; wife Sarah, 28; and children Lucretia, 5, Ned, 4, Nancy, 2, and Lemon, 11 months.

In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Saratoga Road, Jesse Barnes, 37, farmer; wife Sarah, 31, public school teacher; and children Lucresia, 16, Ned, 14, Nancy, 12, Lemon, 11, Jessie Bell, 10, Maggie May, 7, and Ardenia, 5.

Lucrettia Barnes died 11 March 1915 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 14 October 1894 to Jesse Barnes and Sarah Barnes.

In 1919, Margaret Edmundson Barnes Artis, signed her mark to a will leaving her real property to daughter Sarah Barnes Barnes. The land was described as a tract “adjoining the lands of Martin Barnes, Harry Clark, Daniel Vick‘s heirs, Dollison Powell and the Singletary Place, containing forty-four acres more or less.” (Margaret had jointly owned or inherited this property from her second husband Cain Artis.]

In the 1920 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Saratoga Road, farmer Jesse Barnes, 46; wife Sarah, 47; and children Ned, 23, Nancy, 22, Lemon, 20, Jessie Belle, 18, Maggie, 15, Ardenia, 13, Frank, 11, James, 6, and Mildred, 3.

In the 1930 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Powell Street, farmer Jessie R. Barnes, 55; wife Sarah, 56; and children Mildred, 16, James, 13, and Frank, 18; granddaughter Alma, 10; daughter Nancey Farmer, 30, and son-in-law Andrew Farmer, 29, truck driver for Wilson Sales Grocery.

Sarah Eliza Barnes died 29 August 1936 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 52 years old; was born in Wilson County to Ned Barnes and Margarette Edmundson; lived on East Nash Road; and was married to Jesse R. Barnes.

Jessie Reese Barnes died 20 April 1949 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 3 April 1873 in Wilson County to Lemuel Barnes and Nancy Woodard; was a widower; was a farmer. Frank Barnes, 513 East Nash, was informant.

Many thanks to Heather Goff for her diligent search for these records.

Cemetery records request update, no. 6: the removal of graves from Oakdale cemetery.

Here’s my most recent request for public records, made 25 February 2020 to the Wilson Cemetery Commission:

Under the North Carolina Public Records Law, G.S. §132-1, I am requesting an opportunity to inspect or obtain copies of the following public records related to the Old Negro Cemetery (also known as the colored cemetery, Oakdale or Oaklawn Cemetery) and Rest Haven Cemetery:

  • Any and all documents showing the identity of persons buried in the Old Negro Cemetery during the period of its active existence
  • Any and all documents related to the Old Negro Cemetery
  • Any and documents showing the identity of persons whose graves were moved from the Old Negro Cemetery to Rest Haven Cemetery in or before 1941
  • Any and all documents, including but not limited to maps, plats, surveys and photographs, showing the location of graves and grave markers in the Old Negro Cemetery at the time the City of Wilson or the Cemetery Commission moved graves from the Old Negro Cemetery to Rest Haven Cemetery in 1941
  • Any and all documents, including but not limited to maps, plats, surveys and photographs, showing the relocation of graves and grave markers to Rest Haven Cemetery from the Old Negro Cemetery in 1941

Oakdale was the cemetery located near present-day Cemetery Street. The request was spurred by this article.

The reply? The Cemetery Commission has no documents responsive to this request.

Timeline of Wilson’s African-American cemeteries.

Between 1865 and 1975, African-Americans in the town of Wilson buried their dead in at least eight cemeteries — two in the area of present-day Cemetery Street and six along what is now Lane Street. From 1895 to about 1925, five of the cemeteries operated simultaneously. They often were referred to collectively and interchangeably as “the colored cemetery.” Similarly, the three cemeteries on the eastern end of Lane Street are colloquially known collectively as “Rountree cemetery,” though Rountree is but one of the three.  I’ve created this timeline to better understand the arcs of their usage, which, at this point, are baffling.

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1870 — Washington Suggs purchased a lot adjacent to “the grave yard lot” and the African church. Suggs’ land was south of downtown between the railroad and what is now Pender Street. [Was this an African-American cemetery? If so, when was it established? If not, where were mid-nineteenth century black folk buried? It seems to have been located in the same general area as the later Oakdale cemetery.]

1895 — Per the 4 July Wilson Daily Times, the county commissioners took up the question of a “suitable burying ground for the colored people.” [Was there none? Or was it that the old one had been “unsuitable”?]

1897-1899 — The Funeral Register of Wootten and Stevens, Undertakers of Wilson, North Carolina, November 18, 1896-June 27, included burials of African-Americans, dozens of whom were interred in Oakdale (in one instance, called Oakwood) and generically labeled “colored” cemeteries, as well many rural graveyards.

1897 — Trustees of Rountree Missionary Baptist Church bought one acre of land “beginning at a stake on the path leading from the Plank road to the Stantonsburg road where a small branch crosses said path.” [This appears to be the half of Rountree cemetery that lies on the northwest-side of present-day Lane Street. The widening of the street for paving in the 1990s reduced the size of this lot.]

1896 — Rev. Owen L.W. Smith purchased from the Town of Wilson, in the person of Mayor John F. Bruton, lot 7, F Street, Section North, of Oakdale Cemetery (col’d). [This is the only evidence I have found of a formal layout for Oakdale.]

1897 — As reported in the 1 October 1897 issue of Wilson Daily Times, the Town of Wilson “paid on the account of Oakdale Cemetery 49.20.”

1900 — On October 8, Mount Hebron Lodge No. 42, Prince Hall Masons, purchased a lot from Cain and Margaret Artis near the Colored Graded School, Charley Battle, Cain Artis and Daniel Vick. [This is the Masonic cemetery. I was initially confused by the reference to the school, but a contemporaneous topographic map shows that Lane Street once extended parallel to Nash Street, across then-open fields, to meet Stantonsburg Street [now Pender] at the approximate location (and in the path of) today’s Black Creek Road. ]

1904 — The topographic map of Wilson shows empty spaces at the locations of Oakdale, the Masonic and Rountree cemeteries.

1906 — Trustees of Rountree Missionary Baptist Church bought one acre of land bordering a canal [Sandy Creek.]

1908 — The Wilson city directory listed Oaklawn cemetery (colored) on Cemetery Road near the Atlantic Coast Line Railway, Berry Williams, keeper.

1908 — T.M. Fowler’s bird’s-eye map of Wilson shows only a blank expanse of ground above and below Cemetery Street.

1908 — On February 17, F.W. and Mattie B. Barnes sold Samuel H. Vick ten acres in Wilson township adjacent to the Rountree church lot on what is now Lane Street. The purchase is recorded in Deed Book 81, Page 196. On an unknown date, Vick is believed to have sold Hannibal Lodge #1552, Order of Odd Fellows about two acres, upon which it established its cemetery. The lodge apparently never filed a deed for the purchase. The Vick Family Cemetery is in Odd Fellows Cemetery, with several marked graves predating Vick’s purchase of the land. Presumably, these graves were moved from elsewhere, most likely Oakdale Cemetery.

1909 — Calvin Blount‘s will referred to a one-acre lot adjacent to G.W. Sugg, Cater [Daniel C.] Sugg, and the colored cemetery.

1910 — On July 15, the Daily Times reported Henry Hagans‘ escape through the colored cemetery [Oakdale/Oaklawn] after shooting a woman.

1911 — On December 12, the Daily Times reported two commissioners had been appointed to investigate complaints about drainage problems at the colored cemetery. [This would have been Oakdale/Oaklawn.]

1912 — The Wilson city directory listed Oaklawn cemetery (colored) on Cemetery Road near the Atlantic Coast Line Railway, Blount Moore, keeper.

1913 — The town of Wilson purchased 7.84 acres from Samuel and Annie Vick adjacent to the “colored Odd Fellows cemetery track.” This parcel was the remainder of the ten acres Vick had purchased from F.W. Barnes in 1908. [After less than 20 years, Oakdale/Oaklawn was not only experiencing serious drainage issues, it also was crowded and becoming hemmed in by residential expansion.]

1916 — The Wilson city directory listed Oaklawn cemetery (colored) on Cemetery Road near the Atlantic Coast Line Railway.

1922 — The Wilson city directory listed Oaklawn cemetery (colored) on Cemetery Road near the Atlantic Coast Line Railway.

1923 — The plat map of D.C. Suggs‘ property shows a blank area labeled “colored cemetery.”

1924 — Per 1940 news article, the last burial in the Cemetery Street cemetery took place in this year.

1925 — The Wilson city directory listed Oaklawn cemetery (colored) on Cemetery Road near the Atlantic Coast Line Railway.  The Business Directory section lists only Maplewood under the “Cemeteries” heading.

1925 — A soil survey of Wilson County shows the Masonic cemetery and a combined Rountree/Odd Fellows/Vick cemetery, but not Oakdale.

1925 — Per an article published in the Daily Times on February 10, Samuel H. Vick requested that city board of aldermen provide an awning for the colored cemetery [likely, Vick] and repair roads leading to it. An alderman noted that the “old cemetery” [Oakdale] was on valuable land.

1925 — Per notice published in the Daily Times on December 2, a trustee offered for sale a lot owned by Nathan Hines south of Suggs Street “beginning at a corner near a ditch on the South East corner of the colored cemetery on Sugg Street.” [Suggs Street runs parallel to and a block north of Cemetery Street.]

1927 — Per notice published in the Daily Times on July 16, a trustee offered for sale six acres owned by D.C. Suggs and wife, north of Contentnea Street [Cemetery Street, see below] and adjoining the Calvin Blount land on the west, John Ratley and S.H. Vick on the east, and the colored cemetery and A.S. Woodard on the north.

1928 — Oaklawn is no longer listed in the Wilson city directory, and no “colored” cemetery is listed under the heading in the Business Directory section.

1930 — Oaklawn is not listed in the Wilson city directory, and no “colored” cemetery is listed under the heading in the Business Directory section.

1932 — In a notice of sale published on March 31 in the Daily Times, a lot is described as beginning at the corner of S.H. Vick and Dollison Powell‘s land on “the colored Masonic Cemetery road.”

1933 — The City of Wilson purchased 38 acres from the Jesse R. Barnes family to establish Rest Haven cemetery. See also here.

1937 — Per letter and article published on September 24 and 30 by the Daily Times, Camillus L. Darden and others requested paving of the road leading to the “negro cemetery.” [This is most likely a reference to Vick cemetery.]

1940 — On August 30, the city manager published in the Daily Times a notice of removal of graves from the abandoned cemetery on Cemetery Street, in which there had been no burials in 16 years, to “the new cemetery for the colored race, situated near the Town of Wilson, N.C., and known as Resthaven cemetery.”

1941 — On November 6, the Daily Times published a brief article on the removal of graves from the old Negro cemetery [Oakdale] to Rest Haven cemetery.

1941 — Cemetery Street had been called Contentnea Street as far back as 1922 (see above), but the change apparently was not made official until graves were moved from Oakdale to Rest Haven. The change did not take; Cemetery Street was so-called in both the 1941 and 1947 city directories and still is today.

Wilson Daily Times, 7 November 1941.

1949 — On November 7, the Daily Times reported a dispute between Harry Howell and Carl Ward, who each purchased the same plot in the colored cemetery in 1934. Howell had recently requested that the cemetery commission remove Ward’s wife from the lot and place her body in another. [This dispute likely involved Vick cemetery, but maybe Rest Haven.]

1953 — On January 8, the Daily Times reported that farmer J.J. Skinner found a stolen safe “at the old colored cemetery just outside Wilson.” Skinner, who lived nearby, had cut through the cemetery on the way to his fields. [This was likely Rountree/Odd Fellows/Vick cemeteries.]

1953 — The heirs of Harry Clark sold three tracts of land to the Cemetery Commission for the expansion of Rest Haven cemetery.

1958 — On February 10, the Daily Times reported a stolen truck abandoned on a rural road “near the old Colored cemetery one mile east of Wilson.” [This, too, was likely Rountree/Odd Fellows/Vick.]

1967 — On June 10, the Daily Times ran a photograph of dumping at “Rountree cemetery.”

1969 — On March 3, the Daily Times ran a notice seeking volunteers for a clean-up at Rountree cemetery.

1983 — Per a 19 May 1996 Daily Times article, the Cemetery Commission “heard” the city owned Vick in this year and spent $10,000 on a partial clean-up.

1985 — A man jogging on Lane Street found human bones exposed in a ditch.

1989 — On February 18, the Daily Times ran a full-length feature article on Ben Mincey‘s attempts to maintain Odd Fellows cemetery.

1990-1991 — The city cleared Vick cemetery with a bush hog and began public discussions about clean-up and maintenance.

1994-1996 — As detailed here and here, the city cleared Vick cemetery of grave markers, graded the site, and erected a single monument commemorating all buried there. The grave markers were originally to be replaced in the cemetery, but city officials later decided to store them in an unknown location.

1996-2022 — City contracted out the maintenance of Vick Cemetery, which consisted primarily of cutting grass and filling in low areas with dirt.

ca. 2003 — Gravestones removed from Vick are believed to have been destroyed.

2015 — Wilson County Genealogical Society published Wilson County Cemeteries, Vol. V: The Two City-Owned African-American Cemeteries, containing alphabetical listings of 11,472 burials in Rest Haven cemetery and 650 burials in “Rountree-Vick” cemetery. The latter were largely derived from death certificates issued in the 1940s to 1960s. Though an admirable and worthwhile effort, the Rountree-Vick list is a vast undercount and does not accurately reflect actual burial locations, as individuals may have been buried in Rountree, Odd Fellows, or Vick.

2020 — In response to Public Records Law request, the city of Wilson confirms that it cannot produce any record of the identities of those whose grave markers it removed from Vick cemetery or provide any documentation of the decision to destroy those markers.

2020 — On December 15, Lane Street Project volunteers locate the graves of Samuel H. Vick and his wife Annie Washington Vick in Odd Fellows cemetery.

2021 — Beginning the weekend of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, LSP volunteers begin regular clean-ups in Odd Fellows cemetery. Season 1 extends to May.

2022 — On October 21, the City of Wilson deeds Vick Cemetery to Cemetery Trustees of the City of Wilson. The transaction is recorded at Deed Book 2990, Pages 678-679. The Cemetery Commission assumes maintenance for Vick, resulting in improved appearance over the next several months as the ditch is cleared and overgrown trees and shrubs around the central monument are pruned or removed.

2022-23 — LSP clean-ups continue in Odd Fellows.

2022 — In June and July, New South Associates conducts a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey of Vick Cemetery.

2023 — After a public records request, on April 28, the city of Wilson releases the GPR report, which identifies at least 4,224 grave anomalies in Vick Cemetery. On May 11, at the request of LSP, Mayor Carlton Stevens arranges an open forum at which Lisa Y. Henderson shares results of the survey with the public. On June 29, New South returns to Vick Cemetery to mark graves lying on the cemetery’s borders.

2023 — Working with LSP, on August 5, faith leaders reconsecrate Vick Cemetery in a public ceremony.

Harry Clark’s farm.

The city’s response to my request for documents about Vick cemetery yielded an unexpected bit of information. One of the plat maps revealed a property across Lane Street from Vick that the city’s Cemetery Trustees purchased from Augustus S. Clark of Cordele, Georgia, in 1953 for $4400. Partially visible next to it is a parcel marked “Bethel.”

The deed for the Augustus Clark parcel describes it as:

“The public road leading from Ward’s Boulevard pass [sic] Rest Haven Cemetery” is the western leg of what is now called Lane Street. “The road leading to Highway #264” is the eastern leg. Harry Clark was Augustus S. Clark’s father, and a 1921 plat map of his farm is annotated here:

In short, the southeastern half of Rest Haven cemetery was once the northeastern half of Harry Clark’s farm. In 1953, the Cemetery Commission purchased three tracts from the Clark family for the cemetery’s expansion.

On 23 January 1953, the same day A.S. Clark sold his share of his father’s estate, his niece Flora Clark Bethel and her husband Wilton Bethel sold Tract No. 6 to the Cemetery Trustees. (Flora C. Bethel had inherited the tract from her father, John H. Clark.)

On 5 June 1953, pursuant to a suit filed by the Cemetery Trustees against William H. Clark‘s heirs (widow Mary Clark, Thomas Clark and wife Sarah, A.S. Clark, Flora Clark Bethel and husband Wilton, A.S. Gaston, Theodore Gaston, Ralph Gaston and wife Dora, Cicero Gaston, George Gaston and unnamed wife, Russell Golding and unnamed wife, Flora Golding Parks and unnamed husband, and Harry Jenkins and wife Bertha), Tract No. 5 of the Clark farm was condemned. The heirs were awarded $3600, split according to their interests.

The road separating Tracts 1, 2, 3, and 4 from 5, 6, and 7 is now Lane Street, as is the road extending toward Martin Luther King Parkway from the dead-end of the first road. Tract No. 4 belonged to the heirs of Ella Clark Gaston Hinton, who died in 1947. The small black square in this tract shows the location of the Clark “home-house” (as the house recognized as the family seat is called in Wilson-speak.)

Here’s this area now:

The old path of Lane Street is clearly visible running alongside the softball field toward Stantonsburg Road. The electrical substation that the city lopped off A.S. Clark’s tract is the square of cleared land off Lane Street mid-frame. Vick cemetery is the field below Lane Street closest to the right edge of the frame. My best estimate is that the southwest half of Harry Clark’s farm stretched roughly from today’s Snowden Drive to the former path of Lane Street. The northeast half encompassed the portion of Rest Haven in which the sections widen over to Lane Street.

Plat Book 1, page 220; Deed Book 489, page 439, Register of Deeds Office, Wilson; Deed Book 489, page 437; Deed Book 499, page 353, Register of Deeds Office, Wilson. Aerial view courtesy of Bing Maps.

Removal of graves from abandoned cemetery.

As noted here and here, I have long been intrigued by the disappearance (in space and memory) of Wilson’s first African-American cemetery, sometimes called Oaklawn or Oakland or Oakdale. Yesterday, the mystery was solved.

In the late summer of 1940, the Wilson Daily Times for several weeks ran a “Notice of Removal of Graves from Abandoned Cemetery.”  Town Commissioners had declared Wilson’s “colored cemetery” on Cemetery Street abandoned as there had been no burials there in 16 years. The Commissioners proposed “to remove all graves to the new cemetery for the colored race situate near the Town of Wilson, N.C., and known as Resthaven Cemetery.” Interested persons had 30 days to object.

Wilson Daily Times, 13 September 1940.

Whether or not there were objections, the work of removal commenced. It seems likely, then, that the oldest headstones in Rest Haven (such as those of the Dunstons) mark graves moved from Oaklawn, rather than Rountree cemetery, as I earlier speculated.

[Of course, as I learned back in February, the Cemetery Street cemetery was never entirely forgotten, at least by people who lived in the neighborhood. Harry Harris recently shared the history of the Turkey Bowl, an informal neighborhood football game taking place on holidays. The original game, he said, was played Christmas Day 1958 at the “old Carnival Ground,” then an open field at the corner of Barnes and Stantonsburg (now Pender) Streets. In 1965, the game moved to Stephenson Street, in “the projects,” where it became “part of the fabric of local community culture.” After several years, however, the game was again moved “because the ladies who lived there at that time reminded us that we were playing on sacred ground as the projects were built upon the grounds of the old Black cemetery, hence Cemetery Street.”]

Map courtesy of Bing.com.

 

Wilsons of Wilson.

Though there is only one individual headstone, this family plot in Rest Haven cemetery likely holds the remains of several members of the John Adam Wilson and Mollie Newsome Wilson family.

On 13 July 1893, Adam Wilson, 26, married Mollie Newsome, 19, in Wayne County.

In the 1900 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County: farmer Adam Wilson, 34; wife Mollie, 27; and children Leonard, 5, Nina, 4, Adam, 2, and Zilphia, 1 month; and John Locus, 20, boarder. [Locus was the son of Adam Wilson’s sister Louisa Wilson Locus.]

In the 1910 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County: farmer Adam Wilson, 44; wife Mollie, 36; and children Lenna, 15, Nina, 14, Adam J., 12, Zilpha A., 10, Sarah P., 8, Bunna, 6, Hurman, 4, William H., 2, and James J., 8 months.

Adam Wilson has two death certificates — (1) Adam Wilson died 30 October 1916 at the State Hospital in Fork township, Wayne County; he was 51; his regular residence was in Wilson County; and he was a carpenter, and (2) Adam Wilson did 31 October 1916 in Wilson; he was about 51; he was born in Wayne County to John Wilson and Zilfie Artis; he was a carpenter; and informant was Mollie Wilson of Wilson. [J. Adam Wilson was the brother of Elizabeth Wilson Reid.]

Fredrick Odel Wilson died 19 May 1918 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 16 December 1916 in Wilson County to Adam Wilson and Mollie Newsome, both born in Wayne County. He died of ileocolitis, and Mollie Wilson was informant.

John Adam Wilson registered for the World War II draft in Newport News, Virginia, in 1918. Per his registration card, he was born 25 February 1899; resided at 2131-22nd Street, Newport News; worked as a carpenter for Boyle-Robertson Construction Company; and his nearest Relative was Mollie Wilson of Wilson, North Carolina.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 302 Vick, Mollie Wilson, 46; son Lennie, 25, house carpenter; daughter-in-law Georgia, 23; grandson Lennie Jr., 2; and children John A., 22, house carpenter; Annie D., 19, Sarah, 17, Bunyon, 16, Hirmon, 14, William H., 12, James J., 10, and Ire, 7.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 302 Vick, owned and valued at $2000, widow Nolly Wilson, 54, laundress; son John B., 20, theatre janitor; daughter Irene, 17; and lodgers Mollie Zackery, 30, nurse; Blonnie Zackery, 22, cook; and Earl Zackery, 44 barber. [This entry is riddled with errors. Nolly Wilson was in fact Mollie Wilson, and Mollie Zackery (who was male, not female) was Nolly Zachary, who was a barber, not a nurse. Earl Zachary, son of Nolly and Blonnie Barnes Zachary’s son, and was 4 years old in 1930. Also, it is not clear who “John B. Wilson” is, unless this is a misnomer for son James J. Wilson.]

In the 1930 census of Newark, Essex County, New Jersey: at 10 Burnett Street, apartment janitor Leonard Wilson, 34; wife Georgia, 33; brother Herman, 21, lather; and children Leonard Jr., 11, Elma, 10, Ernest, 8, and Toney Lee, 6. All were born in North Carolina.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 302 Viola Street, owned and valued at $1800, widow Mollie Wilson, 66; fish market owner Dorphus Williams, 61, roomer; and father James Newsome, 86.

Mollie Wilson died 30 January 1952 at Mercy Hospital. Per her death certificate, she was born 1 September 1875 in Wayne County to James Newsome and Penina Artis; was the widow of John A. Wilson; and resided at 301 North Vick. Informant was Irene Sherrod, 302 North Vick.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, April 2018.

Cemeteries, no. 10: Rest Haven cemetery.

City-owned and -maintained and now open to all, Rest Haven has been the primary cemetery for African-Americans in Wilson County since the 1940s.

  • Dallas Williams

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On 24 June 1867, Dallis Williams, son of Jacob Flowers and Lewis Barnes [sic; clearly an error], married Sarah Dew, daughter of Lewis Barnes and Jenny Dew, at Peter Dew’s in Wilson County.

In the 1870 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Dallas Williams, 40, wife Sarah, 27, and children Mary E., 3, and Essex, 5 months.

In the 1880 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Dallas Williams, 40; wife Sarah, 35; and children Mary E., 13, Jonney, 7, Hewel, 6, Peter, 3, and Eliza J., 1.

On 6 June 1889, John Brown, 19, of Wilson township, son of Krewble and Ellen Brown, married Mary Ella Williams, 22, of Taylors township, daughter of Dallis and Sarah Williams. Missionary Baptist minister Crockett Best performed the ceremony in the presence of Annie Bess, John Bess, and S.W. Mitchell.

On 17 December 1899, Peter Williams, 23, son of Dallas and Sarah Williams, married Minnie Woodard, 20, daughter of Bill and Zilpha Woodard, in Taylors township. General Barnes applied for the license on their behalf.

In the 1900 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: Dallas Williams, 59; wife Sarah, 54; and children George, 19, Ginnie, 17, Henry, 13, Sara, 12, Minnie, 10, and Lenea, 6.

On 8 February 1903, Huley Williams, 27, of Wilson, son of Dallas and Sarah Williams, married Ada Dew, 20, in Wilson township.

On 11 April 1903, Mary Ella Brown, 23, of Nash County, daughter of Dallas Williams, married Clayton Jones, 25, of Nash County, in Taylors township.

In the 1910 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Dallas Williams, 69; wife Sara, 61; and children Minnie, 18, Lena, 16, and Henry, 24.

Dallas Williams died 26 June 1920 in Taylor township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born in 1834 to Jake Flowers and Easter Thompson and worked as a farmer; Peter Williams was informant. Cause of death? “Valvular heart disease bronchitis chronic 86 yrs old & worn out.”

On 18 July 1930, Henry Williams, 40, son of Dallas and Sarah Williams, married Bertha Neal, 19, son of Rufus and Hattie Neal. L.V. Kennedy, an A.M.E. Zion minister, performed the ceremony.

  • Blount Knight

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In the 1880 census of Walnut Creek, Edgecombe County: farm laborer Martha Knight, 47, and children Ellen, 22, Blunt, 18, George, 16, Moses, 14, and Haywood, 10, plus granddaughters Emma, 3, and Delia Harrison, 4.

On 30 July 1908, Blount Knight, 50, son of Isaac and Martha Knight, of Gardners township, married Mary Ellis, 39, daughter of Frank and Sara Edmundson, of Gardners, in Saratoga township.

In the 1910 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: ditcher Blount Knight, 52; wife Mary, 41; children Minnie, 19, Jimmie, 13, Mollie, 10, and Louisa, 6; son-in-law Willie Anderson, 30, daughter Martha, 22, and grandchildren Robert, 2, and “no name” Anderson, 0, and Jennie Knight, 1.

In the 1916 Wilson city directory: Knight Blount, laborer, Harper’s Ln near Herring Av

In the 1920 Wilson city directory: Knight Blount, farmer, 1 Carolina

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Carolina Street (suburbs Wilson), farmer Blount Knight, 59, wife Mary, 42, and daughters Mary 17, and Louisa, 15, with James Blount, 38, and wife Lulu, 19.

On 4 October 1921, Louisa Knight, 17, daughter of Blount Knight and Jennie Knight, married Gilbert Melton, 25, son of Mark and Sarah Melton, in Wilson County.

  • Maggie Towe

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Maggie Towe, wife of Granville H. Towe, died 15 April 1899. Her youngest child is buried next to her under a stone marked “Maggie L.B. Towe Daughter of G.H. & Maggie I. Towe December 27 1898 July 24 1899.” Maggie and child appear in the records of undertakers Wootten & Stevens, and it is likely that they were originally buried at Oaklawn cemetery.

On 29 November 1899, G.H. Towe, 48, of Wilson, son of Thos. J. and Sarah L. Towe, married Rosa Wallace, 38, daughter of Jacob and Eliza Zimmerman, at “Mr. Peter Rountree‘s House” in Wilson. Rev. Fred M. Davis performed the ceremony in the presence of S.A. Smith, C.L. Darden and S.D. Bowen.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: schoolteacher Granville Tower, 40, wife Rosa, 40, and children Ophelia, 21, Addie, 18, Stella, 15, Ambrose, 14, Granville, 12, Powhatan, 9, Marry, 7, and Sinclair, 7.

On 2 October 1900, Charlie Alston, 21, of Wilson County, son of Alfred and Cora Alston of Louisburg, North Carolina, married Addie E. Towe, 19, of Wilson, daughter of G.H. and Maggie Towe, in Wilson at G.H. Towe’s. Rev. R.S. Rives performed the ceremony in the presence of L.A. Moore, Mark Cotton and G.H. Towe.

On 29 May 1901, Henry Saunders, 27, of Wilson, son of Lovett and Charity Saunders, married Ophelia Towe, 24, of Wilson, daughter of G.H. Towe of Norfolk, Virginia. Jeff Farmer applied for the license on the couple’s behalf, and A.M.E. Zion minister C.L. Alexander performed the ceremony at M.H. Cotton’s house in the presence of Lee Simms, Mary Simms, and Bessie Sanders.

Ethel Barnes died 19 July 1931 at her residence at 530 Stemmery Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born in 1888 in Portsmouth, Virginia, to Granville Towe of Hampton, Virginia, and Margaret Corprew of Deepcreek, Virginia; was married to George Barnes; and worked as a day laborer for a tobacco manufacturing company. Ambrose Towe, 112 Vick Street, Wilson, was informant.

Powhatan Towe died 19 June 1942 at Good Shepherd Hospital in New Bern, North Carolina. Per his death certificate, he was born 4 September 1889 in Portsmouth, Virginia, to Granville and Maggie Towe; resided in James City, North Carolina; worked as a truck driver; and was married to Anner Towe.

Ambrose M. Towe died 7 July 1945 at Mercy Hospital in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born November 1891 in Portsmouth, Virginia, to Granville H. Towe and Maggie [maiden name unknown]; was married to Effie Towe; and worked as a laborer for Export Tobacco Company.

Estella Rush Joyner died 7 October 1951 in Farmville, Pitt County, North Carolina. Per her death certificate, she was born 19 December 1885 in Wilson to Granville Towe and Maggie [maiden name unknown] and was divorced.

  • Matilda Roberts

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In the 1880 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: Virginia-born farm laborer Jacob Roberts, 35; wife Matilda, 25; and children Willie, 8, Rebecca, 5, Lettis, 3, and Isam, 11 months.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Virginia-born carpenter Jake Roberts, 54; wife Matilda, 44, washing; and children Rebecca, 23, cooking, Lettie, 21, cooking, Luginia, 18, cooking, Mattie, 16, nurse, Westly, 14, tobacco stemmer, Marrie, 13, Eddie, 8, Laura, 5, and Addie, 2.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widowed laundress Matildy Roberts, 45, and children Mattie, 23, Lara, 15, and Addie, 11, plus nephews William, 12, and Thomas Hilliard, 7.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 703 Vance Street, widow Matilda Roberts, 54; son-in-law John Bullard, 24, a truck driver, daughter Laura, 24, a dressmaker, grandsons John, 4, and Albert, 3; and adopted son Thomas Hilliard, 17.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 802 East Vance Street, widow Mitilda Roberts, 73, with Oscar Powell, 31, and wife Annie, 27.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 802 East Vance Street, widow Matilda Roberts, 82, son William, 67, a building carpenter, and son-in-law Prince W. Ward, 75. William reported that he had lived in Deland, Florida, in 1935.

Matilda Roberts died 25 September 1944 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 18 February 1864 in Edgecombe County to William Hilliard and Dorcas Mann; resided at 1209 East Nash; and was the widow of Jacob Roberts.  was informant.

  • Della Crumedy

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On 15 September 1912, Wm. Edwards, 24, of Wilson, married Clara E. Crumedy, 19, of Wilson, daughter of Delia Crumedy, at the bride’s mother’s house. A.N. Neal applied for the license on the couple’s behalf, and Primitive Baptist minister Jonah Williams performed the ceremony in the presence of Howard Powell, James Williams and Lear Arrington.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 905 Stantonsburg Street, widow Della Crumedy, 69; widowed laundress Haric Barnes, 45; and Della’s granddaughter Esther M. Crumedy, 9. Della owned the house, which was valued at $600.

Della Crumedy died 25 May 1941 at her home at 804 Lincoln Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was the widow of Calvin Crumedy; and was born 16 November 1865 in Greene County to Ester Fields. Clara Edwards was informant.

Edward Crumedy died 4 August 1947 in Lucama, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 1 January 1892 in Greene County, North Carolina, to Calvin and Della Crumed; was a farmer; and was married to Lizzie Crumedy. Calvin Crumedy was informant.

Photographs by Lisa Y. Henderson, February 2017.