News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 16 July 1925.
Garage owner James Edward Smith died of complications resulting from an automobile accident in March 1925. His widow Annie B. Smith, as administrator, sold two of his buses at public auction in August of that year. Alex Obey later bought the garage.
In 1911, Annie Mitchell filed suit against Rev. Owen L.W. Smith over a land dispute. In 1907, Mitchell had purchased from Smith a lot in what is now the 500 block of East Nash Street. Per the deed, the lot measured 44 1/4 feet by 210 feet.
Soon, though, Mitchell learned that the lot was only 147 feet deep and that the back 63 feet that she thought she owned in fact was R.J. Taylor’s lot. She sued for the difference in the values of the full lot and the lot she got.
For reasons unstated, the court granted O.L.W. Smith’s motion to add Edward Moore as a party.
On 15 February 1913, Judge B.D. Cline ordered Smith to pay Mitchell $125, plus interest, and Moore to pay Smith $100, plus interest.
Civil Action Papers Concerning Land, Wilson County, N.C., 1908-1916; Wilson County, N.C., Court Records 1904-1916; http://www.familysearch.org.
Why was the Wilson County Commission paying Rev. O.L.W. Smith, and why was his remittance reduced to $833 per year in September 1902?
Wilson County Minutes of County Commission, Wilson County Public Records 1895-1914, http://www.familysearch.org.
Chicago Defender founder and publisher Robert Sengstacke Abbott created Bud Billiken in 1923 for the Defender Junior, the newspaper’s children’s page. The Bud Billiken Club encouraged reading, good behavior, and community involvement. Though based in Chicago, club membership was open to children across the country, and 14 year-old Christine McDaniel quickly applied.
Chicago Defender, 3 March 1923.
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In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Mamie McDaniel, 36, laborer; daughter Christian, 11; roomer Mattie Allen, 29, cook at Wilson Sanatorium; and brother Thomas Hicks, 18, cafe cook.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Minnie McDaniel, 58; daughters Christine Smith, 27, teacher at Turner School, and Erma L. McDaniel, 14; and roomers Mozelle Simms, 22, and Lizzie Rogers, 20, both cooks.
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Minnie McDaniel, 64, widow; son-in-law Robert Armstrong, 29, local hospital orderly; wife Christine, 35, elementary school teacher; and lodger Emma L. Armstrong.
Haywood Freeman, Sidney Freeman, Nettie M. Vick, Hagar Edwards, and Mary Ward were called as witnesses to the divorce action filed by Charles H. Smith against his wife Virginia Smith.
Haywood and Sidney Freeman were the father and brother of Joseph Freeman, who was named as one of the men with whom Jenny Smith allegedly committed adultery. Hagar Edwards’ home in Greene County was the site of an alleged tryst. The focus of Nettie Vick and Mary Ward’s anticipated testimony is not known.
Three witnesses requested that their witness fees be paid over to someone else — in two cases, the man for whom they testified, Charles H. Smith himself. At a minimum, this request would raise an eyebrow today.
“please pay to C.H. Smith what is due me as a witness in his case”
“please pay to C.H. Smith the amount due me as a witness in his case”
Nettie M. Vick requested that her fee go to her brother W. Henry Vick. (Samuel H. Vick was another of her brothers.)
“please pay to Henry Vick the amount due Nettie Vick Witness of C.H. Smith case”
On 7 September 1883, Charles H. Smith filed a divorce action in Wilson County Superior Court against his wife Jennie Smith. Smith had been principal of Wilson Academy (the private graded school that preceded the Colored Graded School) and was an up-and-coming figure in the A.M.E. Zion Church. He also founded a school in Black Creek. Jennie Smith was the sister of Braswell R. Winstead, educator, postal clerk, and close associate of Samuel H. Vick. J.W. Hood highlighted Charles H. Smith in One Hundred Years of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; or, the Centennial of African Methodism. Hood’s bio of Smith does not mention his marriage to Virginia Smith.
The plaintiff complains and alleges
(1) That on the ____ day of 1871 (or 72) he intermarried with the defendant Jennie Smith
(2) That he and said defendant were then and have ever since been citizens and residents of the State of North Carolina
(3) That he and said defendant had lived together as man and wife in various places in this State after their said marriage until on discovering the various acts of adultery hereinafter mentioned, he separated from her
(4) That in or about the Summer of 1881 (for want of information plaintiff is unable to state this or any subsequent dates with greater particularity) the defendant at the residence in the County and town of Wilson committed adultery with one Patrick Brewer
(5) That in or about April 1881 in Greene County, N.C., at or near the house of Hagar Edwards, the defendant committed adultery with one Scott Ward
(6) That in the winter of 1880 and also in [illegible] ’81 in the County and Town of Wilson, N.C., in or about the winter of 1881, and at her residence, the defendant committed adultery with said Scott Ward
(7) That at her residence in the County and Town of Wilson, N.C., in or about the summer of 1881, the defendant committed adultery with one Wardson Ward
(8) That in the County and Town of Wilson, N.C., in or about the winter of 1881, at her residence, the defendant committed adultery with one Joseph Freeman
(9) That there were born of the said marriage a son named Charles H. Smith aged five years, and a daughter named Araminta Smith aged nine years, now in the care and custody of the plaintiff
[Jurat omitted]
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Perhaps: in the 1870 census of Town of Wilson, Wilson County: farm laborer William Smith, 27; wife Temperance, 31; son Charles, 20, farm laborer; and Nancy Brown, 51.
On 28 August 1874, Charles Smith, 22, married Jennie Barnes, 17, in Wilson County.
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Pettigrew Street, minister Charles Smith, 26; wife Virginia, 22; and children Arminta, 7, John T., 3, and Charles H., 1; and brother-in-law Braswell Winstead, 20, teaching school.
On 28 August 1874, Charles Smith, 22, married Jennie Barnes, 17, in Wilson County.
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Pettigrew Street, minister Charles Smith, 26; wife Virginia, 22; and children Arminta, 7, John T., 3, and Charles H., 1; and brother-in-law Braswell Winstead, 20, teaching school.
In the 1880 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: day laborer Scott Ward, 23; wife Tena, 24, cook; and children Beauty, 1, and Nathan, 3.
Perhaps, in the 1880 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Warren Ward, 53; wife Sarah, 52, washing; and children Manda, 8, Henry, 7, and Lawrence, 19.
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Pettigrew Street, farmer Haywood Freeman, 53; wife Emily, 40; and children Joseph, 17, and Sydnor, 15.
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Pettigrew Street, minister Charles Smith, 26; wife Virginia, 22; and children Arminta, 7, John T., 3, and Charles H., 1; and brother-in-law Braswell Winstead, 20, teaching school.
On 17 April 1901, Chas. H. Smith married Elizzie Reed in Fair Bluff, Columbus County, N.C.
In the 1910 census of Tatums township, Columbus County: Charley Smith, 30, lumberyard foreman, and wife Lizzie, 28.
In 1918, Charlie Henry Smith registered for the World War I draft in Columbus County, N.C. Per his registration card, he was born 7 October 1879; lived in Boardman, Columbus County; worked as a lumberman for Butlers Lumber Company; and his nearest relative was Elizabeth Smith. He signed his card “Charles Henry Smith.” [Not to be confused with another Charlie Smith, who also registered in 1918. Per his registration card, he was born 12 August 1876; lived in Acme, Columbus County; worked as a laborer for Acme Manufacturing Company; and his nearest relative was Lizzie Smith. The form was signed with an X.]
In the 1920 census of Tatums township, Columbus County: lumber camp overseer Charlie Smith, 38, and wife Lizzie, 36.
Charles H. Smith died 9 June 1932 in Fair Bluff, Columbus County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was 54 years old; was born in Wilson to Charlie H. Smith; was married to Annie Smith; and worked in a sawmill. Charlie Maultsby was informant.
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Pettigrew Street, minister Charles Smith, 26; wife Virginia, 22; and children Arminta, 7, John T., 3, and Charles H., 1; and brother-in-law Braswell Winstead, 20, teaching school.
In December 1898, Charly Maultsby, son of Sophia Maultsby, married Araminta Smith, daughter of C.H. Smith and Jennie Smith, in Columbus County, N.C.
In the 1900 census of Whiteville, Columbus County, N.C.: day laborer Charles Maultsby, 25, and wife Araminta, 22.
Wilson County Divorce Records 1859-1913,
In September 1914, having borrowed money from Rev. Owen L.W. Smith, Sarah Walker secured her note with a mortgage on her property near South Goldsboro Street. Walker defaulted on the loan, and Smith put her property up at auction in May 1916. Samuel H. Vick made the high bid.
“Beginning at a stake, Southwest corner of A.J. Townsend‘s lot on the edge of the west edge of a drainage ditch at the embankment of South Goldsboro Street South of Norfolk and Southern Railroad….” Deed book 111, page 336, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.
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In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Robert Walker, 31, lumber mill laborer, and wife Sarah, 29.
In the 1916 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Walker Sarah (c) seamstress h 402 E Walnut
In the 1920 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Walker Sarah (c) domestic h 402 E Walnut
In the 1922 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Walker Sarah (c) tobwkr h 109 S East
In the 1928 and 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Walker Sarah (c) domestic h 109 S East
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: paying $/8 month rent, seamstress Sarah Walker, 40; also paying $8/month, Leon Crawford, 39, bricklayer; wife Mary, 37, cook; and roomers John Staden, 39, bellhop, and wife Louise, 33.
To stave off responsibility for caring for poor women and their children, unwed mothers were regularly brought before justices of the peace to answer sharp questions about their circumstances.
On 19 November 1875, Susan Mitchell admitted to Wilson County justice of the peace T.C. Davis that she had given birth to a child whose father was William Smith. Davis ordered that Smith be arrested and taken to a justice to answer Mitchell’s charge.
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In the 1860 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Susan Mitchell, 26, washing, and children James, 10, Annie, 7, and George Mitchell, 2.
In the 1870 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Susan Mitchell, 35, and children Anna, 17, George, 12, Lucy, 9, Louisa, 7, Edwin, 4, and Joseph, 4.
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Spring Street, washerwoman Susan Mitchell, 47, with children Lucy, 19, and Louiza, 15, both house servants, Eddy, 12, and Joseph, 9.
In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Susiana Mitchel, 65, a “grannie,” and son Edd, 33, a barber.
In the 1908 Wilson city directory: Mitchell Susan laundress h 604 Park av
In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Susan Mitchell, 75, lived alone in a rented house on the N&S Railroad.
Bastardy Bonds, 1866, Miscellaneous Records, Wilson County Records, North Carolina State Archives.
