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Heritage Genealogical
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Interesting Links
Suggested Reading
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Memorial
This page is
dedicated to the memory of those who have been a part of the Historical
Preservation Group May their memory live with us always
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Wil
King
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Clarence in the middle with
Sara Sparks on the left and Jackie Boykin on the right |
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Keats is
holding the Richard Caswell Book he illustrated and edited
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Eddie and wife Vickie
at the Wil King Antebellum Ball
KINSTON — Edgar Dargan Lide,
III passed away on May 7, 2011 with his family by his side. Eddie was a
loving husband, father and grandfather. He was born in Hartsville, SC, to
the late Christine Mixon and Edgar Dargan Lide, Jr. Eddie was a great
humanitarian and believed in helping others. A member and past president
of the Ram Neuse Lions Club, he was a recipient of the Melvin Jones Fellow
and the Jack Stickley Fellow. He was also a Lions' Industry Board member.
He attended Spilman Memorial Baptist Church where he sang in the choir,
was a trustee and past deacon. Eddie graduated from Hartsville High School
and attended Clemson University. He was retired from William Barnett and
Son and the North Carolina National Guard as a Chief Warrant Officer
(CW3). An avid Clemson Tiger fan and a staunch Republican, he was ready to
discuss sports or politics to whomever would listen. Eddie enjoyed
hunting, fishing and working in his yards. He also loved
history, especially Civil War history. He loved all music and had
begun violin lessons in his retirement. His grandchildren were his pride
and joy. He loved taking them on golf cart rides, swimming at the “member
pool” and shopping at Walmart. Eddie is survived by Vickie McLean Lide,
his wife of forty years and their daughter Kelly Lide Thompson and
husband, Jeff and their children, Dargan McLean and Lawton Oliver. He is
also survived by sisters, Laura Hendrix (Charles) of Hartsville and Marian
Lide of Beaufort, SC, and several nieces and nephews. Services will be
held Tuesday, May 10 at 11:00 a.m. at Spilman Memorial Baptist Church with
visitation following. Drs. Randy Outland and James E. Everette and Rev.
Toby Arnold will officiate. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to
the Lenoir County SPCA or UHS Inpatient Hospice, 920 Wellness Drive,
Greenville. Burial will take place at a later date in Hartsville, SC.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, January 16, 2011 at
Howard-Carter Funeral Home with Reverend Benji Ramsaur and Reverend Allen
Ham officiating. The family will receive friends following the service. A
private burial will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials
may be made to Grainger Baptist Church c/o Mrs. Esther Parris, 1758 Stony
Drive, Kinston, NC 28501.
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Member of
Heritage Genealogical Society
Kinston woman exploring family trees
November 15, 2004
Digging into the past is too
painful for some black people. The capture of African ancestors, the
Middle Passage, the forced labor and the horrors that went along with it
are thoughts some would like to forget.
Thelma Waters chose to face her past. She got interested in genealogy and spent 12 years researching the history of her mother's family. Her book about Homer Simmons, her slave grandfather, was her first project. "I got started because I didn't know about the background of the family in which I came from," Waters said. The first project took a long time because she had to do it while she wasn't teaching. She began putting her book together in 1986 when she retired. Filling in the branches of her family tree was, at times, a difficult process. Family members were reluctant to give information. "The wound of slavery is too intense," Waters said. "A lot of people didn't want to be bothered with. They said, 'Let the dead stay dead.' In reading the Bible, everyone in the Bible is dead, and we're still reading about them now." The Bible and "Roots" author Alex Haley inspired Waters to delve into her history. "Alex Haley inspired the whole country and the whole world when he wanted to find his lineage and his family name," Waters said. Finding Homer Simmons, her slave grandfather, was Waters' goal in the process. She was also able to find Homer's mother and her slave grandmother, Flora Simmons, who Waters believes came from East Kenya. Waters found a picture of the bill of sale for her slave grandfather and grandmother. "It was a treasure to find," she said. Waters got information from the National Archives in Washington, D.C., the Office of Archives and History in Raleigh, the Jones County Courthouse and grave sites in Kinston. Her husband's family left a lot of information that she used to compile his family tree, she said. In any genealogy project, Waters said starting with the oldest person in the family is important "because they can reach back further." Through her search, Waters found a filmmaker in her family who worked with Oprah Winfrey. On her husband's side, Waters discovered that her son's were related to Nat Turner, who led a slave revolt in 1831. Her first project was a long process, but now it takes Waters about six to nine months to complete a search. "It comes easy to me now," she said. Since genealogy comes easy to Waters, many people seek her expertise in tracing their own roots. Helping people find their history is as fulfilling as knowing her own. "The love of it is to accomplish and finish," Waters said. 'For them to come back and say, 'I didn't know this about my family.' To see one being thankful to recognize someone in their family that they don't know.' Waters hasn't stopped with family histories. In July, she started working on documenting the history of the black schools in Lenoir County. The first school for black children was Shine Street School, which was opened in the 1800s. Members of the Colored Businessman's League went before the school board in 1927 to present a plan for "larger and better equipment." The men said that 1,500 to 1,600 students were in a school with 80 to 90 students crammed in one room. "The interesting part about it was that, seemingly, it was a struggle to get schools started for blacks," Waters said. Copies of her research on the schools are available at Lenoir Community College, the Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library, the Board of Education office and city hall. Searching for her past and that of others has added blessings to Waters' life. "It's really touching and rewarding," she said. "It made my life richer. Making contact with people, being able to associate, being thankful of other rewards that one can give the other.
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Member of the Heritage Genealogical Society
CHEVY CHASE, Md. - On
Thursday, September 8, 2011, Ruth Blount Fentress died at Anne Arundel
Medical Center in Annapolis, Md. Beloved wife of the late John Simmons
Fentress, loving daughter of the late Harry Anderson Blount and Lena
Margaret Blunt; devoted sister of Mary B. Hipp (George) of Salisbury and the
late Lena Catherine Blount Arthur, Sarah Anita Blount Powell and Harry A.
Blount Jr. Also survived by nieces, Cyndy Arthur Rankin (Mike) of Shadyside,
Md., Lynne B. Berry (Michael) of Lewisville; nephews, Steven Blount (Meloney)
of Salisbury, Andy Arthur (Mary Ruth) of Salisbury, Mark Arthur (Martha) of
Carolina Beach, Alan Hipp (Cita) of Gloucester, Va., Greg Hipp (Jackie) of
Salisbury and Gerry Powell (Susie) of Luftkin, Texas. A native of
Salisbury, Mrs. Fentress graduated from Wake Forest University in 1946 after
completing her first two years at Mars Hill College. Ruth and Simmons spent
extensive time in both Raleigh and Charlotte where he was a
reporter for both the Raleigh News and Observer
and the Charlotte Observer, and then in Atlanta where Simmons was made
Bureau Chief of TIME Magazine covering politics. In 1964 they moved to Chevy
Chase where Simmons continued his career with TIME Magazine with a two year
post as TIME's bureau chief in Saigon during the Vietnam war before
returning to the Washington, DC area. Mrs. Fentress was known for her
extensive work on Genealogy. Painstakingly tracing ancestors as a member of
the First Families of North Carolina and the Jamestown Society.
Friends and relatives are
invited to call at the Cotten Funeral Home, 2201 Neuse Blvd., New Bern on
Saturday, September 17 from noon to 1:30 p.m. Graveside service will be held
on September 17, 2011, at 2 p.m. at Greenleaf Memorial Park in New Bern.
Anthony Douglas
"Tony" Kelly
Obituary
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