Even a brief life can generate a wealth of family and community connections. And sometimes it only begins a journey that someone else will carry on.

At the time of his unexpected death from pneumonia at age 28, William Foushee was poised for great things.¹“Local Glimpses,” Durham Sun (Durham, North Carolina), 28 Nov 1902, p. 4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/73393986/ He’d left a large family in Roxboro, where he was the eldest son, to move to Durham.²“United States Census, 1880,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYB5-3JS?cc=1417683&wc=XHNV-JWL%3A1589411027%2C1589411888%2C1589411934%2C1589395443 : 24 December 2015), North Carolina > Person > Roxboro > ED 204 > image 38 of 40; citing NARA microfilm publication T9, (National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C., n.d.). He’d found a good job as a porter at T. J. Lambe’s clothing store on Main Street downtown.³“Local Glimpses,” Durham Sun. His wife, Nannie, was the daughter of John W. O’Daniel.⁴Wm. Foushee marriage license, “North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHK-4SGP-4?cc=1726957 : 28 November 2018), > image 1 of 1; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History. O’Daniel was a founder of Geer Cemetery, a prominent Mason, and a member and supporter of St. Joseph’s AME church.⁵Geer Cemetery: Orange County Deed Book: 45 Page: 89. https://rod.orangecountync.gov/OrangeNCNW/application.asp.

Mason and churchgoer: “Carr Family Pay Honor to a Servant,” Durham Morning Herald (Durham, North Carolina), 1 May 1917, p. 6. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38487166/john-odaniel-carr-family/: accessed 5 Nov 2019. C. C. Spaulding applied for William and Nannie’s marriage license. Guests at their St. Joseph’s wedding included successful real estate broker and builder G. W. Macklin, and entrepreneur and educator W. G. Pearson.⁶Wm. Foushee marriage license. William had recently bought land, and Nannie was pregnant with what would be their first surviving child.⁷Land: Durham County Deed Book 22: Page: 273 (https://rodweb.dconc.gov/RealEstate/SearchEntry.aspx).

Pregnancy: “United States Census, 1910,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRVY-X5F?cc=1727033&wc=QZZ4-8PF%3A133642301%2C137874101%2C137961801%2C1589088848 : 24 June 2017), North Carolina > Durham > Durham Ward 3 > ED 39 > image 13 of 54; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). A headstone in Geer Cemetery, undated, marks the grave of BABY WM. FOUSHEE, AGED 11 MOS.⁸Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), Baby Wm. Foushee headstone, photographed by Nicholas Levy, 11 May 2021.

We don’t know when William first met John H. Allen. In 1897 they were both living at 109 Mobile Avenue in Hayti, along with John’s mother Candis and a number of his other family members.⁹Mangum’s Directory of Durham and Suburbs 1897 (Durham, N.C.: D. C. Mangum, 1897) pp. 48, 49, 101, etc. (search for “109Mobile”); digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25139 : accessed 11 Jul 2021). John also had a job as a porter, at another clothier, W. A. Slater Co., just up the street from where William worked.¹⁰Durham, N.C. Directory 1903-1904 (Durham, N.C.: Hill Directory Company, 1903-1904) p. 30, Allen surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25135 : accessed 11 Jul 2021). In May of 1900, the two men bought adjacent properties and went on to live next door to each other on Pickett St. in Hayti.¹¹Durham County Deed Book 22: 308 (https://rodweb.dconc.gov/RealEstate/SearchEntry.aspx) After William’s death in late November of 1902, Nannie sold her property and moved back to her parents’ house at 1005 Fayetteville St., near the Whitted School where she was teaching.¹²Property sale: “Notice of Land Sale,” Durham Sun (Durham, North Carolina), 17 Jun 1903, p. 4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/73390077/.

Parents’ house: Durham, N.C. Directory 1905-1906 (Durham, N.C.: Hill Directory Company, 1905-1906) p. 194, O’Daniel surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25118 : accessed 12 Jul 2021).

Address/occupation:  Durham, N.C. Directory 1905-1906 p. 105, Foushee surname.

By 1905 John had established himself as a tailor, and in 1906 he got married.¹³Tailor: Durham, N.C. Directory 1905-1906, p. 32 (PDF p. 32).

Marriage: “North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHV-3G76?cc=1726957 : 28 November 2018), > image 1 of 1; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History. His bride was Nannie Foushee, William’s widow, and now the mother of a three-year-old son. (Curiously, both of Nannie’s weddings took place on 26 December.) The 1910 census lists Nannie’s son as John A. Allen; in later years he would use the name John A. Foushee. He trained as a writer and musician, attended Wilberforce University, and later worked as a journalist and editor for Raleigh’s Carolina Tribune, which is still in operation as The Carolinian.¹⁴Christine Alston, “Final Service Held for John Allen Fouchee [sic],” New Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Virginia), 11 Apr 1942, p.A20. https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/final-service-held-john-allen-fouchee/docview/567638306/se-2: accessed 6 Oct 2021.

Note that John H. Allen is not the only J. Allen in the tailoring profession in Durham in the early 20th century. By 1915, James Hubert Allen and James Albert Allen had started a tailoring and dry-cleaning business; see The Three Tailors.

By 1922, John H. Allen had hired another tailor, Samuel Leslie, to assist him—or perhaps to take over the business, as he was in questionable health.¹⁶Durham, N.C. Directory 1922 (Durham, N.C.: Hill Directory Company, 1922) p.325, Leslie surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25156 : accessed 11 Oct 2021). Nannie was widowed a second time in July of 1923 when John H. died of heart disease at the age of 48.¹⁷John A. Allen death certificate: “North Carolina Deaths, 1906-1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6M4S-GVJ?cc=1609799&wc=MJWY-T38%3A1042604001 : 3 May 2019), 004216203 > image 417 of 3224; State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh.

Nannie devoted her remaining decades to work in social services, first for the county and later for the WPA.¹⁸County: “United States Census, 1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RCJ-26X?cc=1810731&wc=QZF7-FTS%3A648806301%2C649918501%2C648842301%2C1589282443 : 8 December 2015), North Carolina > Durham > Durham > ED 9 > image 46 of 74; citing NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002).

WPA: “United States Census, 1940,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89MB-T67X?cc=2000219&wc=QZXT-KC8%3A790104901%2C793863901%2C793938201%2C793957601 : accessed 31 March 2021), North Carolina > Durham > Durham Township, Durham, Ward 3 > 32-23 Durham Township, Durham City Ward 3 (Area B – part) > image 64 of 82; citing Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 – 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012. When her widowed mother and son died in quick succession in early 1942, they were buried in Beechwood Cemetery.¹⁹Mother: Nellie O’Daniel death certificate, “North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99G8-PJPB?cc=1584959 : 31 July 2014), > image 1 of 1; State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh.

Son: “Final Service Held for John Allen Fouchee,” New Journal and Guide. Nannie joined them there less than three years later.²⁰Nannie Allen death certificate, “North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PL-8HHT-P?cc=1584959 : 2 September 2014), > image 1 of 1; State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh. Though her father was among those reinterred at the new burial ground, her two husbands remain resting across town at Geer.²¹“John Wesley O’Daniel Sr.,” Find a Grave.https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/152400573/john-wesley-o’daniel : accessed 12 Oct 2021.

WILLIAM L. FOUSHEE

BORN: 9 Jun 1872²³Geer Cemetery, Wm. Foushee headstone.

DIED: 26 Jul 1902²⁴Geer Cemetery, Wm. Foushee headstone.

BIRTH PLACE: Roxboro Township, Person County, NC²⁵“U. S. Census, 1880,” Roxboro.

DEATH PLACE: Durham, NC²⁶“Local Glimpses,” Durham Sun.

SPOUSE: Nannie O’Daniel (10 Jan 1887 – 7 Jan 1945)²⁷Nannie Allen death certificate.

PARENTS: John and Laura Foushee²⁸Wm. Foushee marriage license.

CHILDREN: Baby Wm. Foushee²⁹Died in infancy. Baby Wm. Foushee headstone.
John A. Allen (later Foushee)³⁰“U. S. Census, 1910,” Durham.

OTHER FAMILY: N/A

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: Baby Wm. Foushee³¹Geer Cemetery, Baby Wm. Foushee headstone.

OCCUPATION: Porter at T. J. Lambe’s clothing store³²“Local Glimpses,” Durham Sun.

CHURCH: St. Joseph’s A. M. E.³³“Local Glimpses,” Durham Sun.

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: Pickett St., Durham³⁴Durham County Deed Book 22: Page: 273 (https://rodweb.dconc.gov/RealEstate/SearchEntry.aspx).

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A

JOHN HUBERT ALLEN

BORN: 1876³⁵John H. Allen death certificate: “North Carolina Deaths, 1906-1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6M4S-GVJ?cc=1609799&wc=MJWY-T38%3A1042604001 : 3 May 2019), 004216203 > image 417 of 3224; State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh.

DIED: 3 Jul 1923³⁶John H. Allen death certificate.

BIRTH PLACE: Warrenton County, NC³⁷John H. Allen death certificate.

DEATH PLACE: Durham, NC³⁸John H. Allen death certificate.

SPOUSE: Nannie Foushee (see above)³⁹Nannie Allen death certificate.

PARENTS: James Y. Allen and Candis Curtis⁴⁰John H. Allen death certificate.

CHILDREN: None

OTHER FAMILY: N/A

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: Candis Allen⁴¹Geer Cemetery, Candis Allen headstone.

OCCUPATION: Tailor⁴²Durham, N.C. Directory 1905-1906, p. 32 (PDF p. 32).

CHURCH: St. Joseph’s A. M. E.⁴³Assumption based on Nannie Allen’s strong ties to the church.

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: 1005 Fayetteville⁴⁴Durham, N.C. Directory 1922 (Durham, N.C.: Hill Directory Company, 1922) p. 110, Allen surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25156 : accessed 11 Oct 2021).

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A