Raleigh, May 22 — W.N. SNELLING, prominent citizen of Raleigh, died at his home here Sunday, aged 70 years. He was a brave Confederate soldier and a successful business man, not having been activly engaged in business, however, for a number of years. He has held a number of important offices in the city government, including a commisionership on the the commission to manage the Raleigh dispensary in the interim between open saloons in Raleigh and statewide prohibition. He was a prominent Mason. He leaves a widow and one child, the latter being Mrs. T.H. HICKS. The funeral was held at 5 o’clock this afternoon.
Miss Della LANIER, of Raleigh, who has been on a visit to her friend, Miss POOL, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C.H. POOL, in the city, left this morning to visit her sister, Mrs. PRYOR, in Newbern. Miss LANIER is probably one of the smallest ladies in American and has a brother a year or two older about the same size. She weighs less than 40 pounds, and is 32 years old. She has a fully developed grown-up person’s mind, and a very bright one, too.
St. Mary’s School, founded in 1842, by Rev. Aldert Smedes, is Raleigh’s oldest continually operating educational institution and the oldest school for girls in the State [1-3]. Many of the school’s yearbooks are now available online at the Internet Archive.
The yearbooks begin with the publication, The Muse, which ran from 1900-1924 and continue with The Stagecoach, which began in 1925. In addition to the class rosters, each yearbook contains a variety of information about the school, the faculty, the students, and their activities.
FamilySearch.org has begun adding original death certificates from the Wake County Health Department beginning with 1900. As the records are added, I will try to keep this list up to date.
The state of NC did not begin requiring death certificates until 1913, so these early records are a treat!
The NC Digital Collections website has recently added several photos of the Jolly family members of Raleigh, and their family jewelry and optometry store. The store was opened in 1881 by Benjamin Rush Jolly and closed in in 2011 – quite an established history.
Jolly Jewelers in the 1925 Raleigh directory
Photos added to the online collection vary but include pictures of Frank Moseley Jolly, Susan Jolly, and various interior and exterior shots. I particularly love this photo of the inside of the store – it just looks so peaceful.
And, wasn’t their model cute?
Visit the NC Digital Collections site to see more Jolly family & business photos. These images, and more, are part of the Albert Barden photo collection.
Frank Mosely Jolly (1880-1919), son of Benjamin Rush Jolly
Success In Many Fields Indianapolis Recorder 28 Aug 1909
Rising Young Architect Who Designed Masonic Temple at Raleigh
An example of what thorough preparation will do for those who are willing to qualify themselves for the higher duties of life along educational lines is found in the thrift and industry of G.A. EDWARDS of Raleigh, NC. Mr. Edwards after graduating from the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Greensboro, NC, spent three years at Cornell and one year at Chicago university, doing postgraduate work. His high averages in studies at these schools won for him the special prize. As instructor in natural sciences at Shaw university, where he was also superintendent of the men’s industrial department, he displayed rare ability both as teacher and manager. Because of his ability to bring things to pass himself and start others on the road to success the state board of managers of the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb at Raleigh, which is maintained for the benefit of Afro-Americans, appointed Mr. Edwards to organize a mechanical department, which has proved a great blessing to the students. Professor Edwards is now devoting his time to architecture and is meeting with splendid success.
Gaston Alonzo Edwards
He was the first Afro-American to design and superintend the construction of buildings for the American Baptist Home Mission Society. The main building of Waters Institute at Winton, N.C., which is conceded to be the prettiest Afro-American school structure in the state, was designed by Professor Edwards. He is now designing the new A.M.E. church at Raleigh. The old church was recently destroyed by fire. The new structure when completed will cost about $75,000. He has also been given a contract to design school building in Missouri that will cost $600,000. The new three story brick Masonic temple at Raleigh, the finest structure owned by Afro-American Masons in the state, was built by his design. His success is largely due to the fact that he makes a specialty of church and school architecture. Realizing that Afro-Americans must perfect commercial institutions if they are to contribute to the upward movement of this age, this young man is connected with many concerns in Raleigh that are giving Afro-Americans larger opportunities and is a director in the following corporations: Capital City Savings Bank, Pioneer Mercantile and Investment Company and Capital City Building and Loan Association.
The 1927 Hill’s city directory for Raleigh was added to the Internet Archive yesterday. The directory is more than 800 pages. A link has been added to the Directories page, but you can access it directly by clicking on the image below.
