African-American History in Salisbury – Part 1
The history of business in Salisbury is laced with threads of the African-American presence. This history has to be extracted from many sources and much research has to be done to get a clear picture.
James F. Stewart Funeral Home
One business that goes back to 1909 is the James F. Stewart Funeral Home. This can be verified by an 8 x 10 wall thermometer that was put out in the early 1950’s. By this time, James F. Stewart was deceased and the owners were listed as Mary A. Stewart and Thornton B. Jolley. The phone number was 6461.
Although the business was established in 1909, there is no listing in either the 1913 or 1916 telephone books for such a business. The first listing I found was in the 1921 Salisbury City Directory. James F. and Mary Stewart were listed as having a funeral home at 402 E. Church St. with a phone number of 816. A postcard from 1925 shows James F. Stewart, his family, his home and the vehicles for his business. This address of 402 E. Church St. was changed to 324 E. Church St. when the City changed all the street numbers in October, 1952. The phone number was still 6461 in the 1954 phone book. At some point in time, the need for expanded numbers added a 2 or a 9 to all 4-digit numbers with the addition of the prefix Pioneer (PI or 74). The 1957 City Directory still has a listing for James F. Stewart Funeral home at the newly numbered address of 324 E. Church St. with a phone number of PI9-6461.
The block that this business was located fell to the progress of the new road when Route 50 was built. It was on the south side of Church St. between Cathell St. and N. Salisbury Blvd.
There is still a Stewart Funeral Home listed in Salisbury, but the phone number of PI9-6461 is presently assigned to the Jolley Funeral Home.
Houston Savings Bank
In the 1982 edition of Charles Truitt’s “Historic Salisbury”, under financial institutions, he makes mention of the Houston Savings Bank, Salisbury, as “established by the black community in 1911, operated only a few months.” In his original edition in 1932, he makes no mention under financial institutions of the Houston Savings Bank.
Even though Mr. Truitt stated that it opened in 1911, a savings pass book attests to the fact that one Mamie A. Birckhead did open an account on July 20, 1911 with a deposit of $1.00, the only entry in the book.
Now the mystery thickens. Even though they were reported to have operated for only a few months, there is a listing in the 1913 telephone book for the Houston Savings Bank with a phone number of 681. This same number is also assigned to John T. Ellis & Son, stone yards and shops, Camden Ave. & Dock (Market) St. The connection remains a mystery.
(Part 2 next week)
Is there a connection with Jolley and Bennie Smith?
ReplyDeleteIt must have required countless hours of research to come up with all this.I can't wait for part 2.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone who is interested, a good read is 'Round the Pond, which is a history of the Afro-American community way back when the damn broke on Humphreys Lake.I can't remember the author's name, but the library is trying to find it for me. The author is a local lady who did research with the old timers of the black community, who are all deceased now, of course.
ReplyDeleteI meant to add that'Round the Pond is really about the community of Salisbury that was known as Georgetown. I was a child of Georgetown.
ReplyDelete9:50-You must be at least 100 years old to be a child of Georgetown.Maybe you should write a book.
ReplyDelete6:05PM
ReplyDeleteActually, I am 69 years old.