Wilson Times, 3 December 1918.
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Goldsboro News-Argus, 29 November 1945.
The attendees from Goldsboro included Wilson native Lula Taylor Faucette and her daughter Sue Faucette.
I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.
I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated. Let me know what you think about them.
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 Alice Taylor Perry (1889-?) and Martha Taylor Jones (1887-1970).
I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.
I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated. Let me know what you think about them.
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Roderick Taylor Jr. (1883-1947), barber.
I’ve long been curious about the trio of little houses behind the Mary Jane Taylor Sutzer house in the 500 block of East Nash Street. In an interview a few months ago, Samuel C. Lathan mentioned them:
Lathan: … And Rev. [Russell B.] Taylor had an orchard.
Henderson: Oh, okay.
Lathan: Back there where those houses at down Nash Street.
Henderson: Okay. Back behind?
Lathan: Yeah, it was an orchard back there. …
Not long after, I noticed a little notation in a margin of the 1940 census of Wilson. Listed adjacent to the Taylor household were the three households of  … Taylor’s Alley.
Here they are yesterday morning:
Per description in the nomination form for Wilson Central Business-Tobacco Warehouse Historic District, Sutzer purchased the house on the left from Alfred Robinson prior to building her own house in 1915. The two dwellings on the right are described as “small, four-bay by one-bay, two-room bungaloid houses.”
A little further west on the 500 block of East Nash, the census records another alley, Gilliam’s, with a duplex.
The 1930 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson reveals Gilliam’s Alley as the tiny space running from Nash Street between Dr. Matthew S. Gilliam‘s medical office and the Orange Hotel. (Of the buildings shown below, only the Orange still stands.)
Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2025.
I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.
I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated. Let me know what you think about them.
——
Mary Joyce Taylor Stokes Crisp (1926-2006), teacher, college administrator.
I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.
I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated. Let me know what you think about them.
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Rev. Halley B. Taylor (1879-1965), Presbyterian minister.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 30 April 1949.
Mary Joyce Taylor and Franklin Stokes were married 9 June 1949 in Wilson.
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In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 610 East Green Street, rented for $20/month, barber Roderick Taylor, 45; wife Mary, 39; and children Edna G., 8, Mary J., 4, and Roderick Jr., 1.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 607 East Green Street, barber Roderick Taylor, 58; wife Mary J., 50; and children Edna G., 18, Mary J., 14, and Roderick Jr., 12.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1208 Atlantic, barber James Stokes, 45; wife Viola, 35; and children Frank, 18, tobacco factory laborer, Dorothy, 14, Thomas, 12, Annie M., 9, Jannie L., 7, Donnie, 5, and Carlton, 4.
In 1942, Frankin Roosevelt Stokes registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 21 November 1921 in Troupland [Treutlen] County, Georgia; resided at 1208 Atlanta [sic] Street; his mailing address was Carter Hall, Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte; and his nearest relative was James Stokes, 1208 Atlanta Street.
On 9 June 1949, Frank Stokes, 26, of Wilson, son of James Stokes and Viola Reese Stokes, married Mary Joyce Taylor, 23, daughter of Roderick Taylor and Mary John Taylor, in Wilson. Presbyterian minister O.J. Hawkins performed the ceremony in the presence of Johnnie K. Boatwright, Sue Faucette, and Frances E. Williams.
In the 1950 census of Boulder, Boulder County, Colorado: at the University of Colorado, Â Franklin R. Stokes, 28, lodger.
In the 1955 Boulder, Colorado, city directory: Stokes Franklin R (Joyce M) lab Maaco Puget Sound h 1906 Pearl
Mary Joyce Taylor Stokes Crisp died 26 September 2006 in Mount Clemens, Michigan.
Obituary of Mary Joyce Taylor Stokes Crisp, vickfuneralhome.com
Johnson C. Smith University’s Student Union building was renamed in Crisp’s honor.
Campus map, Johnson C. Smith University.
Franklin R. Stokes died 21 December 2006 in Denver, Colorado.
Obituary of Franklin R. Stokes, Newcomer Cremations, Funerals, Receptions.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 17 October 1925.
Notes of Greenville’s social doings reveal numerous links with folks in Wilson:
In the 1920 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Saratoga Road, Henry Whitehead, 48; wife Victoria, 32; and children Willie, 27, Della Mae, 13, Catherine, 9, Odell, 7, James, 5, Grace, 2, and Rosalie, 1.
In the 1930 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Highway 91, owned and valued at $2500, oil mill contractor Henry Whitehead, 53; wife Victoria, 43, seamstress; and children Katherine, 19, Odell, 17, James, 15, Grace, 13, Rosalyn, 11, Herbert, 9, Gertrude, 6, Mable, 4, and Victoria, 2.
On 8 September 1933, Graham Bynum, 25, of Wilson, son of Peter and Dora Bynum, married Catherine Whitehead, 23, of Wilson, daughter of Henry and Victoria Whitehead. C.E. Artis applied for the license, and Missionary Baptist minister Charles T. Jones performed the ceremony in the presence of Ash Hines, George Green, and Francis Rosser.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 817 East Green, Graham Bynum, 31, building carpenter, and wife Katherine, 29, hospital nurse.
In 1940, Graham Gregory Bynum registered for the World War II draft. Per his registration card, he was born 28 July 1908 in Wilson; lived at 909 East Green Street, Wilson; his contact was wife Catherine Lethia Bynum; and was self-employed.
In the 1950 census of Raleigh, Wake County, N.C.: at Shaw University, Catherine W. Bynum, 39, dean of women.
In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: the widower Mark Blount, 38, a cook, and his children Coneva, 10, Dotsey, 9, and Theodore W., 6, were lodgers in the household of George Faggin.
In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: cook at cafe Mark Blount, 60, wife Mary, 29, children Allen, 2, Frances E., 1, Dotsey, 19, a nurse, and Walter, 17, a tobacco factory laborer.
On 21 June 1916, A.B. Barnhill, 27, of Greenville, N.C., son of Fred and Atha Barnhill, married Dotsie Blount, 24, of Wilson, daughter of Mark and Annie Blount, at Calvary Presbyterian Church. John Perrington applied for the license, and Presbyterian minister H.B. Taylor performed the ceremony under the presence of G.W. Joyner, M. Ada Perry, and C.C. McCoy.
In the 1920 census of Greenville, Pitt County: Alfred Barnhill, 31, milk wagon driver; wife Dotsie, 28; and children Dorothy L., 2, and Alfred D., 8 months.
In the 1930 census of Greenville, Pitt County: Alfred Barnhill, 41, cook at college; wife Dotsie, 38; and children Dortha L., 12, Alfred, 11, Ethel G., 6, and James N., 6.
In the 1940 census of Greenville, Pitt County: widow Dotsie Barnhill, 48, laundress; daughters Dorothy, 22, assistant nurse, and Ethel, 16; and son James, 15.
In 1942, James Norward Barnhill registered for the World War II draft in Pitt County. Per his registration card, he was born 6 November 1924 in Pitt County; lived at 310 Tyson Street, Greenville; his contact was mother Dotsie Barnhill; and he worked for Bell’s Cafe, 310 Albemarle Avenue.
In the 1950 census of Greenville, Pitt County: widow Dotsie Barnhill, 58; son Alfred Jr., 30, funeral home embalmer; daughter Ethel, 26, house service; son James, 25, delivers ice; and daughter-in-law Margaret, 22, beauty parlor operator.
On 4 October 1909, Edgar Barnes, 21, of Wilson, son of Willis Barnes and Cherry Barnes, married Mary Hill, 19, daughter of Joe Hill and Anna Hill, at Saint John A.M.E. Zion in Wilson.
In 1917, Edgar Barnes registered for the World War I draft in Pitt County, N.C. Per his registration card, he was born 15 January 1892 in Wilson; lived on Second Street, Greenville; worked as a laborer for W.S. Skinner; and was single.
On 24 September 1921, Edgar Barnes, 27, of Greenville, son of Willis Barnes and Cherry Barnes, married Delia Hawkins, 22, daughter of Will Hawkins and Ella Hawkins, in Greenville, Pitt County.
In the 1930 census of Greenville, Pitt County, N.C.: at 1311 North 4th Street, owned and valued at $3000, Edgar Barnes, 36, plasterer, and wife Delia, 25, presser.
In the 1940 census of Greenville, Pitt County, N.C.: at 1311 North 4th Street, Edger Barnes, 47, plasterer, and wife Delia, 33.
Edgar Barnes died 6 April 1940 at the Veterans Hospital in Kecoughtan, Elizabeth City County, Virginia. Per his death certificate, he was born 8 March 1893 in Wilson to Willis Barnes and Cherry Eatman, both of Wilson County; was married to Delhia Barnes; worked as a plasterer; and was buried in Greenville.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 3 August 1946.
Edna Gray Taylor married New Orleans native Sidney L. DesVigne Jr. on 12 June 1946 in Wilson. The venue, Saint Alphonsus Catholic Church, apparently was an accommodation for the groom’s faith, as the Taylors were members of Saint John A.M.E. Zion. Hattie Pearce Tate, widow of barber Noah J. Tate, hosted a reception at her home at 307 North Pender Street.
Wilson natives in the bridal party were the bride’s brother Roderick Taylor Jr.; siblings Rosemary Fitts and Howard Fitts Jr.; the bride’s sister Mary Joyce Taylor; and standing at rear, the bride’s father Roderick Taylor Sr.