MEADOWS, HALLIE

Hallie May Meadows was born on 4 October 1902 in Smithfield NC to Granderson (a.k.a. “Grantham,” most commonly “Grant”) Meadows and Hattie Smith Meadows, who had been married the previous year in St. Mark’s AME church in Smithfield.¹Birthdate: Hallie Meadows headstone, Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), photographed by Nicholas Levy, 16 Nov 2019. Used by permission.

Birthplace: Grant Meadows marriage license: “North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9VV-BN97?cc=1726957&wc=QD8P-634%3A1588772759%2C1588773904 : 19 July 2016), Johnston > Marriage licenses, 1898-1902 > image 1159 of 1650; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History. Mother Hattie was also born in Smithfield around 1879, one of 14 children born to Herod and Harriett Smith.²1900 US Census Smithfield: Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/57316286:7602 : accessed 12 Nov 2022. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls. Father Grant was born around 1876, the son of John and Mary Meadows who, according to Grant’s marriage license, were living in Durham County in 1901.³Grant Meadows marriage license.

Hallie’s birth was followed a few years later by that of her sister Blanche, and a move from Smithfield to Durham.⁴Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/20480020:7884 : accessed 13 Nov 2022.Original data: Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: https://www.archives.gov/research/census. Her father first appears in Durham city directories in 1905, where he found work as a porter at the Citizens Bank on Main Street and then at a fish stall in the downtown City Market (located on the site occupied today by the Durham Armory).⁵Durham city directories 1905–1911.

“City Market/The Armory,” Open Durham (Durham NC). https://www.digitalnc.org/buildings/city-market-armory : accessed 14 Nov 2022. The family lived for a few years on Mobile Avenue in the Hayti district, and then settled on adjacent Proctor Street.⁶Durham city directories 1905–1911.

In her only census record (1910), we find Hallie attending school, likely the Whitted School.⁷1910 US Census Durham: Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/20480020:7884 : accessed 13 Nov 2022. Original data: Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: https://www.archives.gov/research/census.

Whitted School: “Colored School in Commencement,” Durham Morning Herald (Durham NC), 30 May 1919, p. 8. https://www.newspapers.com/image/787322291/ : accessed 13 Nov 2022. Although Hallie died before commencement, her name was still on the rolls for her class.  Her parents separated in 1911, with mother Hattie remaining in Durham and supporting the children as a laundress and eventually a cook.⁸Separation: “Asks Divorce,” The Herald-Sun (Durham NC), 9 Aug 1936, p. 9. https://www.newspapers.com/image/788491496/ : accessed 13 Nov 2022.

Jobs: Durham city directories 1913–1919. Grant ended up in Petersburg, VA working as a tobacco mill laborer.⁹Petersburg VA city directories.

Unfortunately, Hallie died at the age of only 16 from influenza and associated pneumonia on 18 February 1919 and was buried in Geer Cemetery, the only member of her family we know to be buried there.¹⁰Hallie Meadows death certificate: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/300842:1121 : accessed 13 Nov 2022. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. Hers was not a unique story, with over fifteen deaths from influenza recorded among those buried in Geer in the winter of 1918-1919 alone, an epidemic that took the young and old alike.¹¹Friends of Geer Cemetery, internal database.  She was still listed among the graduates of the Whitted School in May of 1919, apparently being given the honor posthumously.¹²“Colored School in Commencement.”

Grant lived in Petersburg until his death in 1942, employed as a laborer in the tobacco industry, an assistant at a funeral home, and finally as an attendant at the Central State Hospital (a.k.a. Psychiatric Hospital), where he himself spent the last year and a half of his life.¹³Jobs: Petersburg VA city directories.

Hospitalization: Grant Meadows death certificate: “Virginia, Death Certificates, 1912-1987,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVRH-S4SB : 16 August 2019), Grant Meadows, 03 Oct 1942; from “Virginia, Marriage Records, 1700-1850,” database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2012); citing , Dinwiddie, Virginia, United States, entry #, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond.  He was buried in Petersburg.¹⁴Grant Meadows death certificate. Hattie had a long career as a cook, eventually working for NC Mutual Insurance in that capacity, passing away in Durham in 1966.¹⁵Hattie Meadows death certificate.Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/300842:1121 : accessed 13 Nov 2022. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.  Sister Blanche graduated from Whitted School, got a Bachelors in Education from NC Central, and devoted 40 years to teaching, including at Durham’s East End school.¹⁶“Mrs. Blanche B. Meadows,” The Herald-Sun (Durham NC), 14 Feb 1991, p. 26. https://www.newspapers.com/image/791040978 : accessed 13 Nov 2022. She passed away in 1981, buried in Beechwood like her mother.¹⁷“North Carolina Deaths and Burials, 1898-1994”, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:H4HF-LRN2 : 14 February 2020), Blanche Meadows.

Blanche was an active member of White Rock Baptist Church, which we might guess the family attended during Hallie’s life as well, it being only a few doors away from where she spent her too short life in Hayti.¹⁸White Rock: “Mrs. Blanche B. Meadows.” Written on her headstone is a sentiment that was undoubtedly shared by those family, neighbors and church members who knew her: “Gone so soon.”

BORN: 4 October 1902.²⁰Hallie Meadows headstone.

DIED: 19 February 1919.²¹Hallie Meadows death certificate.

BIRTH PLACE: Smithfield NC.²²Grant Meadows marriage license.

DEATH PLACE: Durham NC.²³Hallie Meadows death certificate.

SPOUSE: N/A

PARENTS: Grant Meadows and Hattie Smith.²⁴1910 US Census Durham.

CHILDREN: N/A

OTHER FAMILY: Sister Blanche Meadows.²⁵“Mrs. Blanche B. Meadows.”

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: N/A

OCCUPATION: Student.²⁶“Colored School in Commencement.”

CHURCH: N/A

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: 524 E. Proctor Street.²⁷Hallie Meadows death certificate.

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A