John Wimberly Tailor

John Wimberly, tailor and dry cleaner, was listed in the Green Book as “John Wimberly—309 Highland Ave” under “Tailors” from 1950-1952. The business was listed in the Raleigh section but was actually located in Rocky Mount.¹ 

John Jameston Wimberly’s tailor and dry cleaning was located at 309 Highland Avenue. The business, which billed itself as “equal to the best, superior to the rest,” offered tailoring for men and women and dry cleaning.²

John Wimberly was born in Edgecombe County in 1900. (His father was Drew Wimberly, a state representative and senator during the Reconstruction era who was enslaved prior to the Civil War.) The Wimberly family moved from Tarboro to Rocky Mount in the 1910s. John went into the dry cleaning business in 1925 and was joined for a time by his brother, Allen. John and his wife, Marguerite, also lived at 309 Highland Avenue. Marguerite was a supervisor for the Edgecombe County school system.³

John Wimberly passed away in 1961. His brother, Allen, assumed ownership of the dry cleaning business and operated it from 507 Highland Avenue. John’s widow, Marguerite, continued to live at 509 Highland Avenue and operated the dry cleaning business after Allen’s death in 1968. She ran the business until her death in 1975.⁴

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022

Notes

1.  Victor Green, 1950 Green Book, 63; Green, 1951 Green Book, 54; Green, 1952 Green Book, 54.
2.  “John Wimberly” (ad), The Carolinian, August 26, 1950, digital image 21, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org.
3.  John Wimberly, delayed birth certificate, March 22, 1900, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, US Birth Indexes, 1800-2000, accessed from www.ancestry.com;  John Macfie, 1996, “Wimberly, Dred,” NCPedia, https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/wimberly-dred; 1900 United States Federal Census, Tarboro, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “John Wimberly,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1910 United States Federal Census, Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Johnny Wimberley,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1920 United States Federal Census, Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “John Wimbley,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Negro Tailor Stricken Here,” Rocky Mount Telegram (Rocky Mount, NC), September 27, 1961, 2, accessed from www.newspapers.com; 1940 United States Federal Census, Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “John Wimbley” or “John Wimberly,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1950 United States Federal Census, Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “John J. Wimberly,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Mrs. Marguerite P. Wimberly” (obituary), Rocky Mount Telegram (Rocky Mount, NC), November 24, 1975, 12, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
4.  “Negro Tailor Stricken Here,” Rocky Mount Telegram (Rocky Mount, NC), September 27, 1961, 2, accessed from www.newspapers.com;  “Funeral Held for Teacher,” The Nashville Graphic (Nashville, NC), December 26, 1968, 9, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Mrs. Marguerite P. Wimberly” (obituary), Rocky Mount Telegram (Rocky Mount, NC), November 24, 1975, 12, accessed from www.newspapers.com.