LEWIS, LOLA ALLEN

Lola was born the oldest daughter of ten children.¹Susan Werbicky, “Richmond Allen.” FamilySearch. Last modified 29 Apr 2020. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G78Q-26L. Her father was the prominent Durham home builder Richmond Allen, who is also buried in Geer Cemetery.²Prominent: “Mrs. Lola Allen Lewis Succumbs,” Carolina Times (Durham, North Carolina), 30 July 1938, p. 1. https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn83045120/1938-07-30/ed-1/seq-1/.

Buried: Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), Richmond Allen headstone, photographed by Nicholas Levy, 12 Mar 2021. Until she was 29, she lived with all of her brothers and sisters in the big family home at 703 Grant St.³U.S. Census 1900 Durham ED 26, “United States Census, 1900,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-68FZ-B1?cc=1325221&wc=9BWW-4WG%3A1030551601%2C1032311101%2C1032325101 : 5 August 2014), North Carolina > Durham > ED 26 Durham Township (excl. Durham city) > image 40 of 70; citing NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). From there she began a lifelong (though interrupted) career as the personal maid for the two wives of Durham tycoon George W. Watts.⁴“Morrisons’ Maid Dies; Final Rites Here Today,” Durham Sun (Durham, North Carolina), 28 July, 1938, p. 3. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A162B7317213C66AB%40WHNPX-16A5B5363B3A218B%402429108-16A572812980754F%402-16A572812980754F%40.

Watts married Laura Valinda Beall of Cumberland, MD, in 1875.⁵Nathaniel F. Magruder, “Watts, George Washington,” NCPedia (North Carolina Government & Heritage Library, 1996). https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/watts-george-washington. The earliest record we have of Lola’s profession is the 1900 U.S. Census, but it’s likely that she had already been in service for some time, and that her employer was Laura Watts. Her introduction to the Watts family probably came from her father’s connections; Edian Markham, founder of St. Joseph’s AME Church, would later be a witness at Lola’s wedding.⁶“North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHK-43MM-B?cc=1726957 : 28 November 2018), > image 1 of 1; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History. Laura Watts died on 26 Apr 1915. When George Watts married Sara Virginia Ecker of Syracuse NY in 1917, Lola became Sara’s maid. Sara outlived George Watts and went on to marry N.C. Governor Cameron A. Morrison in 1924, taking Lola with her to Charlotte when Morrison retired.⁷“Morrisons’ Maid Dies,” Durham Sun.

The interruption in her service to the Watts family came In 1902, when Lola married James E. R. Lewis, and they relocated to his native Norfolk VA. They had no children of their own, but they took in Lola’s brothers Theophilus and Marcus (a.k.a. Lafayette); Theophilus adopted James’s profession of hotel bellman.⁸U.S. Census 1910 Norfolk ED 41, “United States Census, 1910,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YYN-91RH?cc=1727033&wc=QZZH-J1T%3A133639801%2C139960401%2C139089701%2C1589088967 : 24 June 2017), Virginia > Norfolk (Independent City) > Norfolk Ward 4 > ED 41 > image 5 of 40; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). Later in life Lola was particularly close to Marcus’s daughter, Lola Lewis Allen, whose advanced education she contributed to in her will.⁹“North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9061/images/007641080_00443). It was a good investment; the younger Lola went on to be a medical researcher in Philadelphia.¹⁰Gloria Campisi, “Lois Allen McCall, 75; loved hospital lab work,” The Philadelphia Daily News, 21 Nov 1991, p. 32. https://www.newspapers.com/image/186605249/

By 1913, after James’s premature death, Lola had returned to Durham and her domestic service with the Watts family.¹¹Durham, N.C. Directory 1913-1914 (Durham, N.C.: Hill Directory Company, 1913-1914) p. 203, Lewis surname (not indexed due to illegibility); digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25165 : accessed 28 Jun 2021), PDF p. 209. She moved back into 703 Grant St. even as the rest of the family dispersed.¹²“United States Census, 1920,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RXW-P7T?cc=1488411&wc=QZJ5-KT1%3A1036474001%2C1039156401%2C1039171601%2C1589333026 : 12 September 2019), North Carolina > Durham > Durham Ward 3 > ED 54 > image 18 of 34; citing NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). When her father died in 1921, Lola—ever the responsible one—was the informant on his death certificate and the administrator of his estate.¹³Informant: “North Carolina Deaths, 1906-1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-D139-KKV?cc=1609799&wc=MJ4M-T38%3A1042593301 : 3 May 2019), 004215583 > image 10 of 3224; State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh.

Administrator: “Administratix’ Notice,” Durham Morning Herald (Durham, North Carolina), 27 Apr 1921, p. 15. https://www.newspapers.com/image/73456718/. This must have been a stressful time for her, as George Watts died just four days after her father did.¹⁴“Watts, George Washington,” NCPedia. But she continued to take responsibility for her family: When she moved to Charlotte in 1926 to continue working for Sara Morrison, she took her sister Lenora with her.¹⁵Lola Lewis death certificate: “North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FPJZ-T8Q : 10 February 2018), Lola Lewis, 26 Jul 1938; citing Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, cn222, State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 1,943,154.

On her death in July of 1938, Lola was honored with an obituary in the Carolina Times. That article praised her many years of devotion to St. Joseph’s AME church, the NAACP, and the Daughters of Dorcas Club (Durham’s first federated Black women’s club, which served people in need), among many other service organizations.¹⁶Obituary: “Mrs. Lola Allen Lewis Succumbs,” Carolina Times.

Dorcas: Angela Hornsby. “Interview with Margaret Kennedy Goodwin, September 26, 1997.” Documenting the American South (The University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, n.d.). https://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/playback.html?base_file=R-0113. The NAACP membership is most interesting in light of the fact that her final employer, Cameron Morrison, was a leader of the “Red Shirt” movement in 1898 and 1900, infamous for harassing and intimidating Black voters. Despite later campaigns against lynching and in support of charitable institutions, Morrison never repudiated his white supremacist history.¹⁷Morrison overview: Nathaniel F. Magruder,” Morrison, Cameron,” NCPedia (North Carolina Government & Heritage Library, 1991). https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/ morrison-cameron.

Details of racism: Patricia Parker, James Leloudis, et al., “Second name removal recommendation cover letter,” (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of History, 14 Apr 2021). https://historyandrace.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1091/2021/06/Second-name-removal-recommendation-package-2.pdf. Perhaps Lola’s opposition to Cameron was as quiet, and determined, as her many years of service to others.

BORN: 9 Jun 1872¹⁹Lola Lewis headstone.

DIED: 26 July 1938²⁰Lola Lewis death certificate.

BIRTH PLACE: Roxboro Township, Person County, NC²¹Lola Lewis death certificate.

DEATH PLACE: Charlotte, NC²²Lola Lewis death certificate.

SPOUSE: James E. R. Lewis (1867–1913?)²³U.S. Census 1910 Norfolk ED 41.

PARENTS: Richmond Allen (13 Mar 1845–3 Mar 1921) and Fannie Glenn Allen (10 Jun 1853–27 Feb 1898)²⁴Richmond Allen headstone.

CHILDREN: None

OTHER FAMILY: Lola Lewis Allen (niece and namesake; 1916–14 Nov 1991)²⁵“Lois Allen McCall,” The Philadelphia Daily News.

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: Richmond and Fannie Allen (father and mother)²⁶Richmond Allen headstone.

OCCUPATION: Personal maid²⁷U.S. Census 1900 Durham ED 26. Also numerous years of the Durham City Directory.

CHURCH: St. Joseph’s AME²⁸“Mrs. Lola Allen Lewis Succumbs,” Carolina Times.

AFFILIATIONS: Daughters of Dorcas Club, NAACP²⁹“Mrs. Lola Allen Lewis Succumbs,” Carolina Times.

ADDRESS: 703 Grant St. Durham, NC³⁰Brown, Inventory, 125.

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A