Wilson Daily Times, 19 May 1937.
When 16 year-old John Lane was snatched from one of U.H. Cozart’s fields in May 1937, authorities blamed his mother. Seven years earlier, she had allowed a family named Williams to adopt the boy, and she migrated to Washington, D.C. A radio bulletin went out seeking three men and a women traveling in older model Paige automobile with D.C. tags.
Nora Williams Battle (1883-1958)
In the 1900 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: widower Levi Williams, 55, widower, and children Maggie, 18, Norah, 16, James, 14, Joseph, 12, Arthur, 10, Walter, 8, Hattie, 6, and Ora, 4.
William Battle, 36, married Nora Williams, 22, in Wilson County on 4 November 1908 in Wilson. Primitive Baptist minister Jonah Williams performed the ceremony in the presence of Dempsey Lassiter, Harvey Mercer, and Jessie Whitehead.
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 609 East Green Street, William Battle, 43; wife Nora, 30; and children Ester, 12, Jessie, 9, William Jr., 7, Aurtha L., 4, and Walter E., 1; and roomers William, 57, widower, and Mary Christmas, 24.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 609 East Green, widow Nora Battle, 49, washing; daughter Esther Moye, 30, widow, tobacco factory stemmer; and seven other families.
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 608 East Green, downstairs, widow Nora Battle, 65; son Jessie Battle, 35, cook; daughter Ester Moye, 37, widow, cook; grandchildren Fred Jr., 18, cook, Cornelius, 16, and William A. Moye, 13; and lodgers Arthur Cobb, 59, and Sally Phillips, 75.
Nora Elizabeth Battle died 4 March 1958 at her home at 701 Viola Street in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 10 February 1890 in Edgecombe County, N.C., to Levi Williams and Harriett Bullock and was a widow.
Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user PHILLYEVANS44.
Sidney Wheeler was only about 17 in 1890. What lead up to this strange transaction?
Deed book 43, page 91, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office.
From Lu Williams to Sidney Wheeler Wilson N.C. January the 8, 1890. Sidney Wheelers I will give you this house an lot of mine you can have it you may Sell it or you can do what you Please with it now I consider my Property your. [Joseph] Smith, Martha Smith, Lu William
I wondered if Lu Williams was Lula Wheeler, Sidney Wheeler’s wife. However, per their marriage license, Sidney Wheeler, 24, married Lou Armstrong, 20, in Wilson on 23 December 1896. Baptist minister W.T.H. Woodard performed the ceremony in the presence of Richard Renfrow, S.A. Smith, and Janie Booth.
The deed was registered on 19 January 1897. Is the 1890 date in the transfer a misreading of “1896”?
Wilson Daily Times, 11 March 1950.
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In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 317 North Hackney Street, Annie Sauls, 30, laundress; father Will Odom, 50; and lodger Flora Terry, 30, and her son Rudolph Terry, newborn.
Annie Pearl Williams died 9 March 1950 at her home at 110 Ash Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 23 December 1910 in Georgia to Will Odom and Martha Bullock; was married; and was a factory worker. Roosevelt Williams was informant.
The 1908 Wilson city directory lists Berry Williams as the keeper of Oaklawn Cemetery. Oaklawn, also known Oakland and Oakdale, preceded Vick Cemetery as Wilson’s Black public burial ground. It lent its name to Cemetery Street.
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On 13 April 1890, Berry Williams, 33, of Wilson township, son of Gilly Batchelor, married Penina Campbell, 19, of Wilson township, daughter of Sidney and Maggie Campbell, at Walter Ward‘s in Wilson township. Free Will Baptist minister Crocket Best performed the ceremony in the presence of Anthney Vick, Ransom Ruffin, and Hardy Ellis.
In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: carpenter Berry Williams, 49, and wife Penina, 29.
In the 1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Berry (c) keeper Oaklawn Cemetery h 146 Suggs
In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farm laborer Berry Williams, 51, and wife Penny, 39.
In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Berry (c) carpenter h 146 Suggs [146 Suggs Street, later numbered 701, was at the corner of Suggs and Moore Streets, just north of the cemetery.]
In the 1916 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Berry (c) farmer h 146 Suggs
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Suggs Street, Berry Williams, 65, and wife Penina, 42, tobacco factory worker.
In the 1920 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Berry (c) laborer h 147 Suggs
In the 1925 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Berry (c) farmer h 701 Suggs
In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Williams Berry (c; Penina) farmer h 701 Suggs
Berry Williams died 19 November 1929 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 74 years old; was born in Nash County, N.C., to Gillie Batcher; was married to Pennie Williams; lived at 701 Suggs Street; worked as a common laborer; and was buried in Wilson [most likely, in Rountree Cemetery, but possibly Oakdale.]
Ada Daniel Williams died in Washington, D.C., and was returned to Wilson for burial. (The typist was one key off when typing her middle name for the funeral program.)
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In the 1910 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Tarboro Road, widow Venus Farmer, 60; children Jamarmah, 38, Rhodie, 28, John D., 22, and Flora Farmer, 13; son Zecal McCaw, 34; and [granddaughter] Ader D. Farmer, 4.
Jerry Williams, 34, of Wilson, son of John and Mary Williams of Edgecombe County, N.C., married Rhoda Farmer, 20, daughter of Daniel and Venus Farmer, at the bride’s sister’s house in Toisnot township, Wilson County. Frank Savage, Ned Barnes, and Jonas Bynum witnessed.
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 217 Manchester, wood cutter Jerry Williams, 42; wife Rhoda, 38, laundress; and daughter Ada, 14, nurse.
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 211 Manchester, owned and valued at $800, laundress Rhoda Williams, 49, widow; daughter Ada, 24, cook; and grandchildren Aline, 5, and Inza, 3.
Rhoda Williamson died 19 August 1931 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 46 years old; was born in Wilson County to Daniel Farmer of Virginia and Venus Woodard of North Carolina; was a widow; lived at 211 Manchester; and was buried in Wilson [most likely, Vick Cemetery.] Ada Williams was informant.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 211 Manchester, owned and valued at $800, tobacco factory laborer Ada Williams, 34, and daughters Allean, 14, and Inza, 13.
David Williams is best known for his work in the state legislature with General Joshua Barnes create Wilson County from parts of Edgecombe, Nash, Johnston, and Wayne Counties. Williams’ house was in Edgecombe County during his lifetime, but a boundary adjustment in 1883 shifted it into Wilson. His enormous plantation sprawled into both counties, however.
The David Williams house, 1980. It has since been demolished.
Per the National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form for Upper Town Creek Rural Historic District, prepared by Kate Ohno in 1982, the house was built between 1845 and 1860. “This square two-story double-pile Greek Revival house is typical of the kind of plantation house popular with the prosperous planters of this area during the fifteen years before the Civil War.
Detail of ceiling medallion, 1980. “The most outstanding feature of the interior is, however, the elaborate plaster ceiling medallions and cornices. The hall boasts the most elaborate round medallion, while the parlor has a simpler round one and an elaborate plaster cornice.”
Despite the dozens and dozens of number of people David Williams enslaved, I have only been able to identify a handful by name. The 1830 will of Drewry Williams, which entered probate in 1831, included bequests to son David of a “Negro girl by the name of Rose one Negro boy by the name of Amos and one Negro man by the name of George.” David Williams was also bequeathed a one-third interest in three enslaved people — Pink, Nan, and Peter — after the death of his mother.
In the 1850 federal slave schedule of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, David Williams is listed with 17 enslaved people.
In the 1860 federal slave schedule of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Williams reported an astonishing 128 enslaved people, making him one of the largest slaveholders in the area. The quarters on his plantation included 20 houses, none of which was standing at the time the house was nominated for the historic register.
On 13 August 1866, Preston Williams and Betty Petteway registered their 15-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace. W.D. Petway was a close neighbor of David Williams, and the couple may have been enslaved on their adjoining plantations.
In the 1870 census of Joyners township, Wilson County: farmer Preston Williams, 46; wife Bettie, 34; and children Samuel, 17, Warren, 14, Rose, 11, William, 6, and Virginia, 2. On 18 August 1870, Dicey Petway, daughter of Bettie Williams, married Red[mond] Braswell, son of Preston Wilson, at Joyners township. [Braswell was the surname of another slaveholder who lived near Williams and Petway.]
A Google Maps aerial showing the former site of the David Williams house at A. (William D. Petway’s house was located at B. The Edgecombe County line runs parallel to and a couple of hundred feet east of Orchard Road.
Wilson Daily Times, 25 August 1911.
Herbert Williams had plenty of sense.
