Reprinted with permission of the Mt. Olive Tribune and cannot be
reproduced without permission.
"Our Heritage"
October 26, 1990
By Claude Moore
Several days ago I ran across Branson's North Carolina Business Directory
for 1884 which carries some very interesting data on Wayne County for that
year. It gave the population as 29,943 & 12,810 of whom were white &
12,133 of whom as black. The population of Goldsboro was 4,255 smaller than the
present town of Mount Olive. The population of Goldsboro had been
only 1,000 in 1860.
The post offices at that time in Wayne County were: Beston, Brogden's
Mill, Dudley, Fremont, Goldsboro, Grantham's Store, Mount Olive, Pikeville,
Seven Springs, Sleepy Creek & Walter.
The county offices in 1884 were: Clerk of the Superior Court, A. T. Grady;
Commissioners, B. F. Hooks, Chairman; J. H. Loftin, A. D. Speight, J. H.
Barnes & George C. Buchan; Coronor, Dr. Thomas Hill; Register of Deeds,
J. F. Dobson; Sheriff, D. A. Grantham; Solicitor (3rd District), Swift
Galloway; Surveyor, A. D. Swinson; Standard Keeper, M. Wood; Superintendent of
Public Schools, E. A. Wright; Treasurer, N. G. Holland; & Superintendent of
Health, Dr. M. E. Robinson.
The merchants in Mount Olive at that time were: J. D. Aaron, W. F. English
& Brothers, H. T. Ham, Hawkins & Co., R. Kornegay, H. W. NcKinney, Jesse
Lanie (also telegraph operator), Mount Olive Cooperative Association, J. F.
Oliver & R. J. Southerland (Livery stables & General Store).
The following room & boarding houses were listed for the county: Bonitz
Hotel in Goldsboro operated by William Bonitz; Gregory House, Goldsboro,
by J. F. Southerland; Broadhurst House, Seven Springs, by Thomas Whitfield;
Village Inn, Fremont, by J. K. Smith; Seawell House, Seven Springs, by
V. N. Seawell; Hotel Mount Olive, by Mrs. Chestnutt; Boarding houses in
Goldsboro were operated by Mrs. Kate Bryant, Mrs. E. Finlayson, Mrs. A. B.
Privett, Mrs. Speight, Mrs. Sue Gulick & J. W. Loftin.
In 1884 in Wayne County the following churches were listed: Six Friends
(Quaker), three Presbyterian (Goldsboro, Seven Springs, Mount Olive), 20
Methodist, nine Free Will Baptist, eight Missionary (or Southern) Baptist,
one Congregational (Dudley), six Primitive Baptist & one Episcopal (St.
Stephen's Goldsboro).
The resident ministers in Mount Olive were: the Rev. B. F. Marable
(Presbyterian), the Rev. George Sanderlin (Baptist), the Rev. P. L. Green
(Methodist) & the Rev. John T. Albritton (Baptist).
The only lawyer listed for Mount Olive in 1884 was Ira W. Hatch.
The mayor of Goldsboro at that time was J. S. Gulick.
Some of the manufacturing plants in Goldsboro at that time were W. F.
Kornegay & Company (the forerunner of Dewey Bros) which built saw mills,
engines & operated a foundry & machine shops; rice hulling, sash, doors,
blinds, planing mill operated by J. Strauss & Co.; cotton seed oil by
Goldsboro Oil Co.; candy kitchen operated by S. K. Royall; four firms made
brick; the Bottling works operated by R. E. Pipkin; two firms made coaches
& carriages, W. H. Borden & Moore & Robinson; three firms made saddles
& harnesses; & there were other small businesses.
The newspapers published in Wayne County in 1884 were: the Methodist
Advance, weekly, Goldsboro, with the Rev. W. M. Ruby, D.D., as editor &
proprietor; The Baptist Review, weekly, Goldsboro, with the Rev. B. W. Nash
as editor & proprietor; Goldsboro Messenger, semi-weekly, Goldsboro with
J. A. Bonitz as editor & proprietor; Transcript-Messenger, weekly, Goldsboro,
with J. A. Bonitz as editor & proprietor; & the Goldsboro Bulletin, weekly,
Goldsboro, with J. M. & W. G. Hollowell as editor & proprietor.
Contributed by Guy Potts of Raleigh, NC
August 2000
History of Wayne County, NC
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