In August 1912, Luther Vailes‘ landlords, George W. Dew and D.W. Dew, sued him for allegedly failing to produce the crops due under the terms of a sharecropping agreement.
Pending a judgment, the Wilson County sheriff seized from Vailes a thousand pounds of tobacco and four acres each of fodder and cotton. Alex Williamson and Jonah Williams stepped forward to post bond for Vailes, each averring that they owned sufficient property to do so. Williamson was one of the most prosperous African-American farmers in Springhill township, and his involvement is not surprising. Primitive Baptist elder Williams was also relatively well-to-do, but has no obvious links to Vailes beyond a shared home county.
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In the 1900 census of Goldsboro, Wayne County, N.C.: farmer Lafayette Vail, 30; wife Jane, 27; and children Luther, 9, Minnie, 3, Dallas, 1, and Lafayette, 6 months; plus Hattie Edmondson, 23, servant.
In the 1910 census of Bull Head township, Greene County, N.C.: farmer Lafyette Vales, 40; wife Jane, 38; and children Luther, 19, Dallas, 11, Lafyette, 9, Clarence, 7, and Pearlie Jane, 1.
On 12 August 1911, Luther Vail, 20, of Springhill township, married Della Whitley, 19, of Springhill township, in Wilson County. Rev. J.M. Richardson performed the ceremony in the presence of Willie Edmundson, Elizzi Edmundson, and John Newsom.
In 1917, Luther Vailes registered for the World War I draft in Washington, D.C. Per his registration card, he was born 3 October 1891 in Wayne County, N.C.; lived in Deanwood, Washington, D.C.; worked for C.H. Thompkins; and supported a wife and four children.
In the 1920 census of Washington, D.C.: Luther Valle, 29, wiper at round house; wife Della, 27; children Leonard, 7, Ola, 5, Ethel, 3, J.T., 9 months; and brother Lafayette, 18.
In the 1930 census of Dale township, Chesterfield County, Virginia: Luther Vailes, 39, odd jobs laborer; wife Della, 37; and children Leard, 18, Alia, 15, Ethel, 13, Claud, 7, Olive B., 5, Bernie, 4, Kenneth, 2, and Virginia, 5 months.
In the 1940 census of Richmond, Virginia: Luther Vailes, city government laborer; wife Della, 42; and children Ollie, 23, Claude, 17, Ollie B., 15, Bernice, 13, Kenneth, 11, Virginia, 8, Dorsey, 6, and Dolores, 4.
In 1942, Luther Vailes registered for the World War II draft in Washington, D.C. Per his registration card, he was born 3 October 1891 in Wane [sic] County, North Carolina; lived at 1704 V Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.; his contact was Della Vailes; and he worked for Ross Company Construction, Captain Johns, Maryland. Vailes was measured at 4’5″ tall.
In the 1950 census of Kings County, New York: Luther Vailes, 58, butler; wife Della, 54; children Ollie B., 27, Bernice, 25, Virginia, 19, Dorsey, 16, and Delores, 13; and grandchildren Gloria Jean Vailes, 4, Patricia Ann Harvey, 4, Robbie Stuckey, 2, Carol Stuckey, 18 months, and Deborea Vailes, 1.
Civil Issues Dockets, Wilson County, N.C., Miscellaneous Records, http://www.familysearch.org.
