Cleveland (Oh.) Gazette, 29 March 1924.
——
$1,285,000 was a staggering net worth in 1924. Greensboro was the city in which Daniel C. Suggs lived, but was not his hometown. He was a native of Wilson and owned considerable property there, too. Though I question the accuracy of the valuation of Suggs’ property, he was unquestionably a wealthy man in the lead-up to the Great Depression.
The Freeman (Indianapolis, Ind.), 8 September 1900.
We know very little about Joseph H. Ward‘s early life in Wilson, but we know he maintained ties with his hometown and kept up with contemporaries like Daniel C. Suggs. At the time of this visit, Suggs was a professor and administrator at Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth (the precursor to Savannah State University) in Savannah.
Savannah Tribune, 22 February 1908.
Samuel H. Vick‘s cohort, born into slavery and educated by Joseph C. Price, produced phenomenally successful men. As wealthy as Vick was at him prime, he may not have been the wealthiest of the group. Daniel C. Suggs, educator and entrepreneur, was said to be a millionaire, and his diverse portfolio included an insurance company, Savannah Mutual and Fire Association.
Hugh B. Johnston, writing as “An Old Reporter,” wrote dozens of genealogy columns for the Daily Times and Rocky Mount Telegram. His piece about Jesse Farmer relayed two anecdotes highlighting the violent treatment of enslaved people.
In the first, after naming the eight people Jesse and Mary Batts Farmer enslaved near present-day Elm City — Nellie, Clarkey, Ailsey, Dinah, Jim, Jerry, Hilliard, and Cindy — Johnston recounts Dinah’s reaction to Emancipation. “I understand that I’d been freed,” she told Jesse Farmer. “Well, I haven’t freed you yet,” he responded, and beat her.
The second incident occurred during the Civil War. A free woman of color named Clarkey had just died, and her body lay in a cabin at the edge of the yard. Jim O’Neal, overseer on a neighboring plantation, arrived with several people enslaved by Dr. George Sugg. O’Neal accused Jerry of having stolen one of his hogs with Bill, an enslaved man standing “nearly naked and bound with leather straps.” Mary Batts Farmer defended Jerry and declared he would not be beaten. When O’Neal threatened to do so anyway, Mary Farmer told Jerry to defend himself. He grabbed an ax and walked away, and despite orders, the enslaved men with O’Neal refused to follow. O’Neal then took Bill under the lean-to of Clarkey’s cabin and forced the others to beat him with switches “until he almost smoked.”
Rocky Mount Telegram, 14 March 1956.
In 1866, Jerry Farmer and Kate Sugs registered their two-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace.
In the 1870 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: Jerry Farmer, 26, and wife Kate, 26.
In the 1880 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farm laborer Jerry Farmer, 37, widower.
On 10 January 1884, Jerry Farmer, 39, married Annice Pender, 23, at Abram Sharpe’s. Charles Barnes, Haywood Batts, and Haywood Pender were witnesses.
Wilson Daily Times, 15 January 1923.
Washington Suggs’ large parcel of land south of present-day Hines Street and east of South Pender Street was sold off in batches, including an auction in January 1923.
——
Late local historian Hugh B. Johnston Jr.’s file contained this note, apparently copied from volumes of city commissioners or boards of aldermen meetings that cannot now be located:
“Dec. 17, 1888 Oakview Cemetery. Gray Farmer, [illegible] Robinson, and Washington Sugg were appt. a Committee to look for a burial ground for the colored people.”
This is the earliest reference to a public African-American cemetery in Wilson and appears to presage the establishment of Oakdale (also called Oaklawn, Oakland, Oakwood, and Oakview) Cemetery in the area of present-day Cemetery Street south to the former Elvie Street School. Sugg (or Suggs) owned extensive property in the area, and the deed for his first land purchase refers to a preexisting “graveyard lot” near his property. This lot may have been developed into a city cemetery.
However, an 1895 Wilson Daily Times article mentions that county commissioners had begun to search for a “suitable burying ground for the colored people.” What had happened (or not happened) in the previous seven years?
Oakdale Cemetery, which was active until about 1920, was the predecessor of Vick Cemetery.
Thanks to J. Robert Boykin for bringing this to my attention.
Wilson Daily Times, 31 January 1929.
——
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: brickmason Washington Sugg, 51, wife Esther, 38, and children Nicy, 21, Sarena, 17, Cator, 16, Molly, 12, Edmonia, 10, Juda, 5, and James, 3.
Harry Bryant, 21, of Wilson, son of Nestus and Ann Bryant, married Julia Suggs, 20, of Wilson, daughter of Washington and Easter Suggs, on 26 September 1895 at the Methodist church, Wilson. Richard Renfrow applied for the license, and Presbyterian minister L.J. Melton performed the ceremony in the presence of Mattie Harris, L.A. Moore and Lovet Freeman.
In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farm laborer Harry Bryant, 34; wife Julia, 34; and sons Leonard, 14, and Leroy, 4.
In 1918, Harry Haywood Bryant registered for the World War I draft in Wilson. Per his draft registration card, he was born 23 January 1873; lived at 132 Sugg Street; was married to Julia Bryant; and worked as a carpenter for Boyle-Robertson Company in Newport News, Virginia.
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Suggs Street, Harry Bryant, 44, carpenter for construction company, and wife Julia, 41.
Julia Bryant died 27 January 1929 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 23 September 1874 in Wilson to Washington Sugg and Easter Best of Greene County; was married to Harry Bryant; and resided at 618 Sugg Street.
Roxboro Courier, 29 October 1891.
Daniel C. Suggs was appointed vice-president of Georgia State Industrial College in 1891. The college, established in 1890, is now Savannah State University.
Wilson Daily Times, 18 October 1920.
“FORTY-FOUR LOTS REMAIN UNSOLD OF THE OLD WASHINGTON SUGGS PROPERTY LOCATED ON STANTONSBURG ROAD, NEAR THE COLORED GRADED SCHOOL IN WILSON, N.C. THESE WILL BE OFFERED AT AUCTION SATURDAY, OCTOB’R 30th AT 2:00 P.M.
“All lots are splendidly located, naturally drained building locations suitable for business or residential property. Only 3-4 mile from the business section of the city and the same distance from the railroad stations. All lots approximately 25×110 feet in size, furnished with city electric lights. Colored graded school just across the street, many large manufacturing establishments nearby.
“Select the lots which you desire to purchase of those that remain in the old Washington Suggs Property. There were originally 109 lots in this subdivision and so great has been the demand for them that since June 10th all have been disposed of with the exception of 44. This is an opportunity well worth taking advantage of and an opportunity which will be lost after this sale on Saturday, October 30th. The terms have been arranged very easy, in fact, so easy that anyone who desires can purchase and hardly miss the payments as they become due monthly.
“THE BEAUTIFUL VICTROLA NO. 6 IS ON DISPLAY IN GRAHAM WINSTEAD’S MUSIC STORE WINDOW. THIS IS A MAHOGANY MACHINE AND HAS A GOOD TONE. IT WILL BE GIVEN AWAY SATURDAY OCT. 30, AT OUR SALE.”
Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.
Greensboro Record, 23 January 1917.
——
With Samuel H. Vick, Daniel C. Suggs was one of the first generation of Wilson County freedmen to attend college. A Lincoln University graduate, he was not only a college president, but a lay leader in the A.M.E. Zion church and a wealthy real estate developer.
Daniel C. Suggs’ family was the Suggs of Suggs Street. His “valuable holdings elsewhere in the state” included considerable property in Wilson south of present-day Hines Street.