"Our Heritage"
Mt. Olive Tribune
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.