On 6 May , the Times separately noted 1 the arrest of Mattie Ham on a charge of stealing meat, tobacco, and other goods from George Dew and 2 the trial of Bernice Winstead , whose identical twin brother Ernest testified for him in the trial for a similar crime, committed in December against Dew.
Four days later, a follow-up piece reconciles and clarifies the stories. Mattie Hamm lived in one room of a two-room house. Trackers later arrived at her door step. Frightened, Hamm rushed to Wilson to tell Winstead to move his stuff, then packed up all her own belongings and vacated the house. As is the case with most unisex names β think Gayle, Dana, Leslie, Ashley, Courtney β Bernice for boys soon disappeared. In the census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Finch Mill Road, laundress Martha Griswold , 50, widow; nephews Jeffrey , 20, brick moulder in brick yard, and Walter Hill , 15, odd jobs laborer; and lodgers Willie Simms , 20, brick moulder in brick yard, and Earnest Winstead, 36, widower, farm laborer.
Ernest Winstead, Edenton, was informant. Per his death certificate, he was 74 years old; was born in Nash County to Berry and Lurenda Winstead; was married; worked as a carpenter and minister; and lived in Norfolk, Virginia. He was buried in Granite Point cemetery, Wilson County. Wilson Daily Times , 6 May Wilson Daily Times , 10 May Loading Comments Email Required Name Required Website.
