Historic Wilson in Vintage Postcards

By J. Robert Boykin III

Wilson, North Carolina was formed in 1849 when the villages of Toisnot and Hickory Grove merged together. Named for Mexican War hero Gen. Louis D. Wilson, the new town came to be known for agriculture and education. The Wilson of today holds fast to its roots, offering antique shops laden with treasures from all walks of life and nationally recognized historic districts brimming with remarkable structures, significant styles of architecture, and numerous locations to taste the famed Eastern North Carolina style of barbecue. Historic Wilson in Vintage Postcards is a priceless collection of images that depict, among other views, the Wilson Depot from the late 1800s, local businesses, street scenes, churches, cotton and tobacco, and residential areas. The volume also affords readers postcards of Nash Street when it was considered "one of the most beautiful streets in America," tobacco scenes when Wilson was "the world's largest tobacco market," and the infamous 1911 trial of the Lewis West gang.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Apr 2, 2003
• ISBN: 9781439612354

J. Robert Boykin III

Join author J. Robert Boykin III, a lifelong Wilson resident, avid postcard collector, historian. and antiques appraiser, on this unforgettable journey through Wilson's long and storied past.

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Anonymous

INTRODUCTION

The village of Wilson, North Carolina was incorporated in 1849. Six years later in 1855, the county was formed from parts of Nash, Wayne, Johnston, and Edgecombe Counties. Wilson was named for Mexican War hero Gen. Louis Dickens Wilson, who had died during the war. The town had originally been two separate villages. One was Toisnot, located around the train depot. The other was Hickory Grove, near the Toisnot Primitive Baptist Church, which is located where the city-owned parking lot is now (in front of Jimmy Womble’s W.W. Furniture and Appliances on Tarboro Street). The church was founded in 1756 and moved to the Tarboro Street site in 1802.

Native Americans lived in what is now Wilson County for generations. The Tuscarora Indians lived here in the 16th, 17th, and early 18th centuries and left in 1713 after the great battle of Fort Nooherooka, just south of Stantonsburg in Greene County. The first recorded contact with a European was John Lawson, the explorer who came through the area in 1700–1701. The local Indian village was named Tosneoc (meaning tarry not or halting place). The word is still used today with Toisnot Swamp, Toisnot Township, Toisnot Middle School, and Toisnot as the old name for Wilson and Elm City. People began moving into the area with John Thomas in 1741, Francis Rountree in the early 1740s, Arthur Dew in 1749, Benjamin Boykin in 1752, and brothers John and Capt. Jacob Barnes in 1761 and 1762. Africans also came early, the first recorded with John Thomas in 1741.

During the Revolutionary War, British troops under Gen. Charles Cornwallis traveled through the area on a trek north from Wilmington to Yorktown. He spent the night at John Eatmon’s home and left his eyeglasses and handkerchief, still belonging to the descendants of John Eatmon. In May 1781, Col. Banastre Tarleton led an advance party that met resistance at Peacock’s Bridge near Stantonsburg. There is a North Carolina Highway Historical marker for this event at the site.

There was not much fighting in the county during the Civil War in the 1860s, but many soldiers came from Wilson County families. A Confederate hospital was created at the Wilson Collegiate Institute and the railroad transferred many soldiers towards the North or South. There were dark days after the war locally.

Wilson was known for its fine educational institutions, central location, and accessible roads. The establishment of the tobacco market in 1890 gave the town the title of The World’s Largest Tobacco Market. The Civil War brought hard times for the county and the economic situation did not improve until the coming of the golden leaf. Tobacco brought money, employment, new residential areas, new businesses, hotels, and industry. During this period, the postcard was introduced to the American public. Postcards are privately printed, whereas cards printed by the government are called postal cards. The following list will help an individual to identify and date a postcard:

Pioneer cards (1893–1898) are rare. They are often labeled souvenir postcards.

Private mailing cards (1898–1901) are rare. The term private mailing card is printed on the address side, normally with Authorized by Act of Congress of May 19, 1898.

Undivided Backs are dated from 1901 to 1907. Messages were not allowed with the address, so backs were not divided.

Divided Backs are dated from 1907 to World War I. The United States postal service approved the divided backs, which allowed a message and address on the same side. These were published in England and Germany.

White borders appeared after World War I until the 1930s. During this time, many, but not all, postcards had white borders. Most of these cards were published in the United States.

Linens appeared in the 1930s and 1940s. These are generally more common cards. They have a rough finish, with a texture similar to linen, and were made using paper with high rag content.

Chromes arrived in the 1940s, and are around today. Most look like photographs and are printed in color.

Real photographic postcards (1900s–present) are printed on photographic paper, and the words postcard and stamp box are printed on the back. The earlier real photographic postcards are quite rare and sometimes one of a