Wilkins

The obituary of John W. Wilkins.

Wilson Daily Times, 27 March 1948.

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In the 1900 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: farmer Spencer Wilkins, 45; wife Martha A., 27; and children Mary J., 18, Silva A., 17, Walter, 14, John, 9, Steller, 7, Annie B., 5, Susia, 3, Alger, 1, and Dianie, 0 months.

On 9 January 1906, John Wilkins, 20, of Oldfields township, son of S.M. and Riney Wilkins, married Rosa Arrington, 21, of Oldfields township, daughter of Tempy Arrington Coley, in Oldfields township, Wilson County. Ed Coley applied for the license.

On 26 July 1920, Johnie Wilkins, 38, of Nash County, N.C., married Effie Allen, 28, of Taylor township, in Wilson,

In the 1930 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: farmer John Wilkins, 53, and wife Effie, 38.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 617 Hines, John Wilkins, 59; wife Effie, 50; daughter Victoria, 28; and grandson David W. Wolf[?], 6. 

John W. Wilkins died 22 March 1948 at the County Home, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 20 October 1882 in Wilson County to Spence Wilkins and Ronnie Locus; lived 617 West Hines Street; was married; worked in farming; and was buried in New Vester Cemetery. Walter Wilkins was informant. 

R.S. Wilkins has a house built.

When Redden S. Wilkins contracted Claudius Aycock to build him a house in 1897, Wilkins borrowed $206.50 from J.R. Uzzell and put up his Lodge Street lot as surety. The house was a tiny one, measuring 36 feet long by 21 feet wide with an 18-foot porch and a six-foot-wide passageway. (That seems like a lot of hall for such a narrow house.)

Deed book 45, page 53, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson, N.C.

Physician’s house bombed.

In January 1952, in the midst of the N.A.A.C.P.’s push to integrate Cairo, Illinois, schools, the home of Dr. Urbane F. Bass; his wife, Wilson native Mary Della Wilkins Bass; and their four children was rocked by a dynamite blast. No one was injured, but the rear of the house was heavily damaged. The bombing followed burning crosses set as a warning to Black parents seeking to transfer their children to all-white Cairo schools.

Clinton Daily Journal and Public Record, 30 January 1952.

Within days, the police arrested and charged five white men with the crime. A year later, used car salesman Robert Hogan pleaded guilty and received a one-year suspended sentence. Charges against the rest were dismissed.

Reunions.

A quick chart I drew up.

Among the most rewarding aspects of researching for Black Wide-Awake are discovering, uncovering, and recovering lost family connections, both my own and others’. I was particularly excited to piece together the Taylor family puzzle, which linked three of my childhood friends. Wilson County is small enough that it’s not surprising that many of us share distant common ancestry, but just who those long-lost cousins are can be surprising indeed.

Studio shots, no. 196: Jesse and Levan Wilkins Handy.

Jesse and Levan Wilkins Handy.

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In the 1900 census of Red Bluff township, Marlboro County, South Carolina: wood cutter George Handy, 36; wife Mary, 30; and children Neill A., 12, George, 8, Simeon, 5, Iola, 2, and Jessee, 2 months.

In the 1910 census of Stewartsville township, Scotland County, North Carolina: farmer George Handy, 55, and children Neill, 20, George, 18, Sim, 15, Iola, 12, Jessie, 9, Mary, 6, and Archie, 4.

Neil Handy registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County in 1918. Per his registration card, he lived at Route 6, Wilson; was born 30 May 1886; was a farmer for Jesse Barnes; and Nellie Handy was his nearest relative.

In the 1920 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Black Creek Road, George Handy, 60, and children Douglass, 18, Arch, 12, and Mary Sudie, 14.

In the 1930 census of Jonesboro, Lee County, North Carolina: odd jobs laborer Jesse Handy, 25; wife Janie, 25; and daughter Mary J., 2.

In the 1930 census of Mannings township, Nash County, North Carolina: farmer John Wilkins, 52, widower, and children William C., 20, farm laborer, Levian, 17, and Zollie, 15, farm laborer.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Spring Street Alley, brickmason Douglas J. Handy, 40; wife Evan, 28, laundress; and daughter Mary J., 12.

Jessie Dugles Handy registered for the World War II draft in Wilson in 1942. Per his registration card, he was born 14 April 1898 in Marion County, South Carolina; resided at 404 South Spring Street Alley; worked for Jones Brothers Construction on Lodge Street; and his contact was brother, Neal Handy, a brickmason.

In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Handley Jesse (c; Levan) brklyr h929 Carolina

Jessie Handy died 19 August 1979 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 14 April 1900 in Cumberland County, North Carolina, to George and Mary Handy; resided at 107 South East Street; worked as a brick mason; and was married to Levan Wilkins Handy.

News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 13 August 2005.

Photo courtesy of Cassandra Handy Horsley. Thank you for sharing!

 

Snaps, no. 87: Iora Blanche Wilkins Jones Baines Lucas.

Iora Wilkins Jones Baines Lucas.

In the 1900 census of Old Field township, Wilson County: Francis Kates, 37, widow, farmer, and children Ora, 16, Jane, 14, Willie, 10, and Earnest, 6.

Iora Lucas, 15, of Old Fields township, daughter of Buck Wilkins and Frances Kates, married James E. Jones, 28, of Old Fields, son of Burt Jones and Susan Jones, on 2 June 1901 at Frances Kates’ in Old Fields. Thomas A. Jones was a witness.

On 19 February 1906, Frank Baines, 26, of Old Fields, son of Simon and D. Baines, married Iora Jones, 21, of Nash County, daughter of Frances Cates, at Frank Baines’ residence. Thomas A. Jones, John R. Jones, and Dorsey Powell were informants.

In the 1910 census of Old Fields township, Wilson County: Franklin Baines, 28; wife Ora, 24; and children James V., 8, Elroy, 4, Cornelia, 2, and Mary A. Baines, 7 months.

In the 1920 census of Old Fields township, Wilson County: widowed farmer Ora Bains, 33, and children Elroy, 12, Cornelia, 11, Mary E., 10, Rosevelt, 7, Donnie, 5, Armensie, 3, and Josephine, 2.

In the 1930 census of Jackson township, Nash County: widow Ora Lucas, 45, and children Donnie, 16, Armensie, 14, Josephine, 12, Junius, 8, and Monzora, 6. [The latter two by her third husband, June Lucas.]

Iora Lucas migrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user Jerry Smith.

The People’s Palace.

The 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory lists the People’s Palace, a soda shop at 901 East Nash Street. Washington Wilkins and Edward Taylor co-owned the establishment. Wilkins’ day jobs were in construction.

National Register nomination form describes a brick commercial building built about 1940 at 901 East Nash as the People’s Palace, a confectionary operated by Rufus Hilliard. The building has since been destroyed.  If it was the same building that housed Wilkins and Taylor’s Palace, it obviously was built well before 1940.

603 East Green Street.

The fifty-second in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District: “ca. 1930. 1 1/2 stories. Washington Wilkins house; bungalow with engaged porch and gabled dormer; Wilkins was a carpenter.”

In the 1912 Wilson, N.C., city directory: Wilkins Washington, lab 604 E Green. [603 East Green was formerly numbered 604.]

In 1917, Washington Wilkins registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born in 1893 in Wilson County; lived at 604 East Green Street; and worked as a blacksmith for Hackney Wagon Company.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 604 Green, wagon factory blacksmith Washington Wilkins, 26, wife Nancy, 24, children George Washington, 4, and Virginia, 2, niece Beatrice Barnes, and sisters Mittie Wilkins, 22, and Lucy Wilkins, 27. Wilkins owned his home subject to mortgage.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Nancy Wilkins, 30; husband Washington, 40, a city laborer; sister-in-law Lucy Wilkins, 45; sons Washington, 15, and James, 10; daughters Virginia R., 11, and Nancy G., 4; roomers Mary Wilkinson, 23, Davis Carroll, 35, and Adline Adams, 65; and niece Beatrice Barnes, 17. The Wilkins’ house was valued at $4000.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 603 Green, plumber Washington Wilkins, 46, wife Nancy, 44, and children George W., 24, and Nancy G., 14.

In 1940, George Washington Wilkins registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 7 June 1915 in Wilson; resided at 603 East Green; his contact was his mother, Nancy Wilkins, 603 East Green; and he worked at Imperial Tobacco Company, corner of Lodge and Factory Streets.

Washington Wilkins died 13 February 1958 at his home in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he lived at 603 East Nash Street (this is clearly an error); was married; was a laborer; and was born 14 June 1894 in Wilson County to Richmond Wilkins and Patsy Armstrong.

Nancy Wilkins died 24 August 1972 in Goldsboro, Wayne County. Per her death certificate, she was a widow; lived at 603 East Green Street, Wilson; was born about 1892 to Minnie Adams; and had been a tobacco factory laborer.