Samuel H. Vick

Hoo-la-ray?

Wilson Times, 18 September 1896.

  • The Pops — the Populist Party.
  • McKinley — President William McKinley.
  • Pritchard — U.S. Senator Jeter Conley Pritchard, lead of the “Lily White” faction of North Carolina’s Republican Party, who later removed Samuel H. Vick from his federally appointed position as Wilson’s postmaster.
  • Sim Smith — Simeon A. Smith.
  • Sam Vick — Samuel H. Vick.
  • Meares — John D. Meares of Elm City, a Republican turned Populist.
  • Cherry — Sheriff John N. “Jack” Cherry, a Republican turned Populist.

A legacy repurposed.

Restoration of the platform canopy of Wilson’s historic railway station began in May of this year. The ornamental ridge cap and copper gutters will be faithfully restored, as will the slate roof. These lustrous, deep gray shingles might look familiar to the keenly observant eye — they were sourced from the recently replaced roof of the Samuel H. Vick house!

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, August 2024.

B.W.A. Historical Marker Series, no. 8: Odd Fellows Cemetery.

In this series, which will post on occasional Wednesdays, I populate the landscape of Wilson County with imaginary “historic markers” commemorating people, places, and events significant to African-American history or culture.

We been here.

ODD FELLOWS CEMETERY

Est. ca. 1908 by Samuel H. Vick for families of Wilson County’s African-American Odd Fellows fraternal lodges. Burial site of many leading business men and women and skilled craftsmen. Active to early 1950s.

 

Ex-Senator Person speaks out for Samuel H. Vick.

The Washington Bee, 14 March 1903.

——

As Samuel H. Vick faced ouster from his postmaster position, William Lee Person wrote a scathing letter to the Washington Bee defending Vick’s honor, chastising United States Congressman Henry P. Cheatham, and excoriating Lily White Jeter C. Pritchard.

Lee Person’s career had multiple parallels to Vick’s, having incorporated several fraternal lodges and founded a bank and a tuberculosis sanatorium. Person also served as Rocky Mount’s postmaster for several years before being elected to represent his district in the North Carolina state senate. There, he fought unsuccessfully to enact laws against lynching and to prevent discrimination in passenger accommodations.

Vick and others incorporate theatre business.

I knew Samuel H. Vick founded a vaudeville hall and movie theatre on the second floor of the Odd Fellows building, and I knew he (and later his son, Samuel Vick Jr.) booked talent for his venue. I was surprised, however, to learn that Vick had joined with other Black North Carolina businessmen to incorporate First National Negro Theatre Corporation in 1926.

The theatre corporation’s purview was broad — financing, theatre operation, vaudeville development, film production, booking services, and standardized theatre plans. “In the case of the First National … the Negro banker and business man and the theatre owner or operator will join hands and will unite capital and experience in the promotion of the corporation.” S.H. Vick was a charter member and treasurer. “Movie King” Frederick K. Watkins of Durham, N.C., and William S. Scales of Winston-Salem, N.C., were also charter members, and notable Durham lawyer R. McCants Andrews signed on as legal advisor.

New York Age, 23 January 1926.

I have found little additional mention of the First National Negro Theatre Corporation and suspect it tanked during the Great Depression.