Wilmington NC

John Hadley, Co. D, 37th United States Colored Troops.

On 31 January 1864, John Hadley enlisted in the United States Colored Troops in Washington, North Carolina. Born in what is now Wilson County about 1844, Hadley likely was enslaved by Thomas J. Hadley III (who held dozens in bondage) or IV.

Hadley was mustered into service at Norfolk, Virginia, by “Capt. Gould,” the officer who was responsible for processing and swearing in hundreds of newly freed individuals and volunteers enlisting in the United States Colored Troops. He was 18 years old. The same day, Gilbert Hadley, who may have been John’s brother, mustered into the same company.

Hadley did not return to Wilson County after he mustered out of service.

On 21 February 1867, John Hadley applied for a license to marry Flora Williams in New Hanover County, North Carolina. The same day, he was listed as a witness in support of James Harris’ application for arrears of pay and bounty for his brother Richard Taylor. Taylor had died in Wilmington in September 1865 while in military service. Hadley and Dock King attested to their close acquaintance with Taylor during his service in Company E, United States Colored Troops.

I have found no further record of him.

Gilbert Hadley, Co. D, 37th United States Colored Troops.

On 31 January 1864, Gilbert Hadley enlisted in the United States Colored Troops in Washington, North Carolina. Born in what is now Wilson County about 1844, Hadley likely was enslaved by Thomas J. Hadley III (who held dozens in bondage) or IV.

Hadley was mustered into service at Norfolk, Virginia, by “Capt. Gould,” the officer who was responsible for processing and swearing in hundreds of newly freed individuals and volunteers enlisting in the United States Colored Troops.

Hadley did not return to Wilson County after he mustered out of service.

On 7 March 1867, Gilbert Hadley married Margaret Singleton in New Hanover County, N.C. John Hadley and Richard Smith served as bondsmen and R.B. Wood Jr. as witness. (John, who enlisted with him, appears to have been his brother.)

Hadley led a turbulent life, and his name regularly appears in Wilmington newspaper accounts of violence and petty crime. (But also an industrial accident.)

On 27 May 1871, a paper reported he had been arrested to face malicious mischief charges in neighboring Brunswick County.

On 4 February 1873, Gilbert Hadley, 25, of Wilmington, N.C., son of Moses and Venus Hadley of Goldsboro, married Mary Ann Moseley, 26, of Wilmington, daughter of Robert and Nannie Moseley, both deceased, in Wilmington.

In April 1873, he received minor injuries when struck by debris from a boiler explosion while sawing wood nearby.

In September 1873, as police attempted to arrest Hadley for beating his wife, he fought the officer and escaping over a fence.

Wilmington Star-News, 3 February 1873.

A 28 November 1875, a paper reported that Hadley had been discharged from a chain gang for good behavior.

In the 1875-76 Sheriff & Company’s Wilmington, N.C., city directory:

In August 1876, Gilbert and Mary Hadley were charged with disorderly conduct after a public argument.

Wilmington Star-News, 9 August 1876.

In October 1883, Hadley was charged with assault and battery on Sarah Robinson.

In November 1883, Hadley was one of seven prisoners who broke out of jail in Wilmington. Hadley jumped a fence, but was immediately captured. The following month, he was sent to a workhouse.

On 23 June 1885, a newspaper reported Hadley had been arrested for stealing a pair of shoes from a Wilmington store. (Allegedly, he tried on and bought a pair and, in the meantime, slipped another pair into a basket.) In July, Gilbert Hendricks, alias Gilbert Hadley, was convicted of larceny and sentenced to two years in the state penitentiary.

In the 1890 federal veterans’ census schedule of New Hanover County, N.C.: Gilbert Hatley, Private, 37 U.S. Infantry, 1863-1866.

In the 1900 census of Wilmington, New Hanover County: Gilbert Hadley, age unknown, laborer; wife Susan, age unknown; and mother Amanda Juitt, age unknown, laundress.

On 18 May 1904, Gilbert Hatley and Susan Robinson were married in Wilmington. (This appears to be the Susan who lived with him in 1900.)

Gilbert Hadley died the next day.

Wilmington Star-News, 25 May 1904.

Lane Street Project: Wilmington’s Maides Cemetery.

Goals.

Historic Wilmington Foundation is partnering with a community advocate Kathy King to preserve and protect Wilmington’s historic African-American Maides Cemetery. University of North Carolina-Wilmington joined in to conduct ground-penetrating radar to help determine the cemetery’s limits as well find out more about those interred there.

Historic Wilmington’s website links an enviable storymap that reveals the cemetery’s history in detail.

Thanks to Jane Cooke Hawthorne for the tip!

The Taborn sisters help their mother.

In January 1894, Edward Mitchell, his wife Elma Taborn Mitchell, and her half-sister Stella Taborn completed a real estate transaction designed to “assist [Elma and Stella’s mother] Edmonia Taborn to meet the indebtedness incident to the death of her husband Lemon Taborn and further for the purpose of assisting her in the care of the infant children born unto the said Lemon Taborn….”

Deed book 35, page 426, Wilson County Register of Deeds, Wilson.

Lemon Taborn died intestate, and his property passed to his wife and children. By this deed, Elma and Stella transferred their interest in his one-quarter acre Tarboro Street property to Edmonia Taborn.

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On 18 July 1870, Lemon Tabourne, son of Hardy Taylor and Celey Tabourn, married Edmonia Barnes, daughter of Louisa Barnes, “in church” in Wilson. 

In the 1870 census, in the town of Wilson, Wilson County: barber Lemon Taber, 28; wife Edmina, 17; and daughter Stella [by a previous wife], 5; plus domestic servant Tillman Blount, 13, and Terry Noble, 18, barber. Edmonia reported that she was born in Virginia.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Tarboro Street, barber Lemon Taborn, 45; wife Edmonia, 26; and children Stella, 16, Elma, 7, Carrie, 5, Lucy, 3, and Joshua, 1.  

On 27 January 1888, Ed Mitchell married Elma Taborn in Halifax County, North Carolina. [Edward Mitchell was a barber in Lemon Taborn’s barbershop.]

On 26 February 1894, George Thomas, 29, of Wilmington, North Carolina, son of Richard and Eliza Thomas, married Estella Taborn, 27, of Wilson, daughter of Lemon Taborn, in Wilson. Hardy Tate applied for the license, and Presbyterian minister L.J. Melton performed the ceremony in the presence of Mattie Harris, W.M. Phillips, and L.A. Moore. 

Elma Taborn Mitchell apparently died before 1900.

In the 1900 census of Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina: porter George W. Thomas, 33; wife Stella, 33; children Clarence, 3, and Mena, 1; and servant Grace Tate, 15.

In the 1910 census of Wilmington, New Hanover County, N.C.: railroad porter Geo. Thomas, 45; wife Stella, 45; and children Clarence, 15, Blommie, 12, Richard, 5, and Georgia, 3.

Stella Thomas died 26 January 1918 in Wilmington, New Hanover County, N.C. Per her death certificate, she was born 1865 to L. and Julie Taboron; was married to G.W. Thomas; lived at 611 North 8th Street, Wilmington; and was buried in Pine Forest Cemetery.

Where did they go?: Intrastate migration, no. 1.

  •      Mahalia Artis and family

Between 1890 and 1900, Mahalia Artis, her adult daughters Sarah and Mary Ella, and Mary Ella’s son Bruce moved 300 miles from Wilson to Asheville, North Carolina.

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In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Goldsboro Street, Mahala Artis, 50, and daughters Sarah, 25, and Mary R., 18, both laundresses. They are identified as white, which was unlikely.

In the 1900 census of Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina: at 20R Cumberland Avenue, widow Mahalie Artis, daughters Sarah Artis, 40, and Mary E. Artis, 37, both washerwomen, and grandson Bruce Artis, 10.

In the 1910 census of Asheville, Buncombe County: at 18 Cumberland Avenue, Mary E. Lindsey, 37, her son Bruce S. Lindsey, 19, and widowed sister Sarah Battle, 50. Mary and Sarah were laundry women; Bruce did laundry work.

In the 1920 census of Asheville, Buncombe County: at 34 Gaston Street, laundresses Sarah Battle and her sister Mary Lindsey, ages listed as unknown.

In the 1930 census of Asheville, Buncombe County: laundress Mary Lindsey, 46, living alone in a home she owned.

  • Reddick D. Dew

Reddick D. Dew, son of Alfred and Susan Dew, moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, circa the 1890s.

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In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farm laborer Alford Due, 26; wife Susan, 23; children Jack, 6, Redick, 4, and “no name,” 1 month; plus Oliver Due, 48, Amos Barnes, 23, and Anna Due, 19.

In the 1880 census of Wilson township (south of the Plank Road), Wilson County: Alford Dew, 39, wife Louiza, 35, mother Olivia, 60, children Jackson, 18, Redick, 16, George, 15, Needham, 12, and Martha, 10, and niece Hatta, 4.

On 28 June 1898, Reddick D. Dew, 30, of Wilmington, whose parents lived in Wilson, married Addie J. Cash, 30, daughter of John and Martha Cash of Wilmington.

In the 1900 census of Wilmington, New Hanover County: at 718 Orange Street, widow Marthia Cash, 59, daughter Addie Diew, 33, and son-in-law Reddick Diew, a barber.

In the 1910 census of Wilmington, New Hanover County: at 718 Orange Avenue, South Carolina-born widow A. Martha Cash, 68, a lace stretcher (she reported only one of nine children); son-in-law D. Reddick Diew, 40, barber; and daughter J. Addie, 39; plus three lodgers.

In the 1915 city directory of Wilmington, North Carolina: Redick D Dew, barber, 6 S. 2nd.

In the 1920 census of Wilmington, New Hanover County: at 718 Orange Avenue, barber Redick Diew, 51, wife Addie, 52, and mother-in-law Martha Cash, 82.

Probably, in the 1928 city directory of Goldsboro, North Carolina: Redick D Dew, barber, 603 W. Pine.

Redick Diew died 6 August 1933 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 3 August 1868 in Wilson County to Alfred and Susan Diew; was a barber; was a widower; and resided at 1108 Wainwright Avenue. Eula Locus of the home was informant.

  • John and Annie Thomas family?

Mattie Thomas was the informant for the death certificates of Nannie Thomas Miller and David Thomas. She indicated that both were born in Wilson, North Carolina, to John and Annie Thomas. Census records, however, paint an unclear picture of the Thomas’ familial relationships and birthplaces.

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In the 1900 census of Asheville, Buncombe County: widowed washerwoman Annie Thomas, 55, children Cora Coldwell, 20, and Nannie, 19, Maggie, 15, John, 10, and Sallie, 9, daughter-in-law Mary, 18, and grandson David, 1. All listed as South Carolina-born, except  Maggie, John, Sallie and David, born in North Carolina.

In the 1910 census of Asheville, Buncombe County: at 6 Brick Street, David Thomas, 27, wife Mary, 26, and daughters Mattie, 9, Annie B., 7, Madlone, 2, and Nannie M., 5 months. At 7 Brick Street, Annie Thomas, 63, and children John, 20, and Sallie Thomas, 17, and Nannie Grant, 24. All were listed as South Carolina-born.

In the 1920 census of Asheville, Buncombe County: at 54 Davidson Street, Annie Thomas, 73, sons David, 36, and John, 25, both bakers; daughter Minnie G., 29, a cook; and grandchildren Mattie, 19, a maid, Annie Belle, 17, Madalon, 11, Eddie, 5, John, 6, David, 21, a transfer company teamster, and Sallie, 7; and daughter-in-law  Hattie, 23, plus a lodger. The birth place of Annie, David and Minnie was listed as South Carolina.

In the 1940 census of Asheville, Buncombe County: at 139 Eagle Street, Mattie Thomas, 35, a hotel maid; brother David, 40, a wholesale produce delivery helper; and three lodgers.

Mr. Moore’s retirement plan.

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Raleigh Gazette, 31 July 1897.

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Raleigh Gazette, 18 September 1897.

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In the 1870 census of Wilmington, New Hanover County: brickmason Benjamin Moore, 36; wife Isabella, 42; laundress Polly Swann, 21; Henrietta, 15, Satyra, 5, Benjamin, 2, and Philip, 2 months; Harriet Quince, 23; and Alice Watson, 19.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: South Carolina-born farm worker Joseph Palmer, 20, wife Ella, 21, children Pearl, 9, and Mattie, 6, and mother Mariah Moore, 45.

On 2 December 1895, Benjamin Moore, 26, of Wilmington, son of Benjamin Moore of Wilmington, and Mattie Elizabeth Palmer, 22, of Wilmington, daughter of Joseph and Ella Palmer of Wilmington obtained a license to marry in New Hanover County.

The retirement experiment in shopkeeping. Before 1900, Benjamin and Mattie returned to Wilmington, and Benjamin rejoined the ranks of Pullman porters.

In the 1900 census of Wilmington, New Hanover: Bengamin J.W. Moore, 30, “R.R. porter,” and wife Mattie, 26. In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: South Carolina-born carpenter Joseph C. Palmer, 42, wife Estel, 41, a confectioner, and grandson Joseph C. Palmer Jr., 9.

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Wilmington Messenger, 5 April 1902.

In the 1910 census of Wilmington, New Hanover County: at 1113 Market Street, railroad cook Benjamin J.W. Moore, 39, and wife Mattie, 35. (B.J.W. reported to the census taker having been married twice. The 19 April 1894 issue of the Wilmington Messenger recorded his grant of divorce from Laura Moore.) In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Lodge Street, house carpenter Joe Palmer, 50, and wife Ella, 49.

In the 1920 census of Wilmington, New Hanover County: Ben Moore, 49, private car porter A.C.L. [Atlantic Coast Line], and wife Mattie, 40. In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 710 Lodge Street, grocery store salesman Joe Palmer, 60, and wife Ella, 61, a general merchant.

Her mother Ella Palmer died 21 September 1921 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 59 years old and born in Hyde County, North Carolina, to Mariah Moore. Within 15 months, Mattie Palmer Moore lost her closest remaining relatives.

Her husband Benjamin J.W. Moore died 28 March 1922 in Wilmington, North Carolina. Per his death certificate, he was born 12 November 1870 in Wilmington to Benjamin Moore and an unknown mother, worked as a cook for A.C.L., and lived at 1113 Market Street. He was buried at Pine Forest cemetery. M.E. Moore was informant.

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Wilmington Messenger, 14 April 1922.

Her father Joseph C. Palmer died 12 December 1923 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was a native of Columbia, South Carolina, a widower, and a store proprietor. Mrs. Mattie E. Moore was informant.

On 14 January 1924, Camillus L. Darden (with his father Charles H. Darden as surety) applied for and received at Wilson County Superior Court letters of administration to handle J.C. Palmer’s estate, which he valued at $8000. Curiously, he asserted that Palmer had no heirs.

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In fact, both Mattie Palmer Moore and her son Joseph Clifton Palmer were alive. Joseph died 21 May 1928 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 36 years old, married to Viola Palmer, lived at 614 East Green, and was the son of James Artis and Mattie Palmer. His mother Mattie Moore was informant.

Mattie Palmer Moore, it appears, died 20 May 1952 in Wilson.

North Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com