Johnson's Barber Shop (Castle Street)

There were two barber shops owned by members of the Johnson family advertised in the Green Book. The first, Johnson’s Barber Shop at 6 Market Street, was owned by Jacob Johnson, Jr. and was listed in the Green Book from 1947-1955 as “Johnson’s--6 Market St.” under “Barber Shops.” The second, Johnson’s Barber Shop at 902 Castle Street, was owned by Jacob Johnson’s nephews, Thomas Edward Johnson and Henry Tucker Johnson and was listed in the Green Book as “Johnson’s--903 Castle St.” under “Barber Shops. City directory records indicate the address should be 902 Castle street.”¹

Reconstruction-Era Roots
The Johnson family operated barber shops in the city of Wilmington for over a century. The first known barber in the Johnson family was Jacob Johnson Sr., born in 1849 in Wilmington, North Carolina, to Jacob Johnson and Callinder “Polly” Collins. During the Civil War, Jacob enlisted in Company F, 42nd Regiment United States Colored Troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee, at the age of 15, deserting from a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1865 (at the age of 16). He returned home to Wilmington by 1870, where he became a barber, married Mary Catherine Hooper, and had five children. By 1889 he worked from a shop at McCrae and Walnut Streets; at the time of his death, in 1920, the shop had moved to 15 Market Street. Two of Johnson’s children - Jacob and Samuel H. - followed in his footsteps in becoming barbers.² 

The First Set of Johnson Brothers: Jacob and Samuel
Jacob Johnson, Jr. was born on August 9, 1893, in Wilmington, North Carolina. Along with his brother, Samuel, he began working as a barber at an early age. Following his marriage to Ethel Neil in 1912, he moved to Manhattan, New York, and worked as a railroad porter; Samuel remained in Wilmington and operated a barber shop at 13 Dock Street.  By 1922, following his father’s death in 1920, Jacob Jr. had returned to Wilmington and opened a barber shop at 6 Market Street. Samuel H. Johnson soon joined him, and the brothers called their joint venture Johnson Brothers Barber Shop.³ 

Jacob appears to have left the shop at Market Street around 1932, moving to a space of his own at 715 N. 4th Street. Samuel was still working from 6 Market Street in 1932, but by 1934 had returned to his former location at 13 Dock Street. 6 Market Street became a vacant storefront. Samuel H. Johnson remained at the shop on Dock Street until his death in 1939.⁴ 

Jacob regained ownership of the barber shop at 6 Market Street around 1938 and continued to operate the shop on his own as Jacob Johnson’s Barber Shop. Jacob advertised the shop in the Green Book from 1947-1955 and operated the business until his death in 1960.⁵

The Second Set of Johnson Brothers: Thomas and Henry
From Jacob Johnson’s Barber Shop, a quick drive - a right onto 3rd Street, then a left onto Castle Street - led to Johnson Brothers Barber Shop at 902 Castle Street, located in the same building as Greyhound Taxi Corporation, another business advertised in the Green Book. 902 Castle Street was a five-unit commercial office building at the corner of 9th and Castle Streets built in 1947. Owned by two of Samuel H. Johnson’s sons, Thomas and Henry Johnson, the barber shop was advertised in the Green Book from 1948-1953.⁶ 

Thomas Johnson began his career as a barber in his father’s shop at 13 Dock Street. He took over the barber shop after his father’s death in 1939, and Henry began working as a barber in Thomas’s shop some time before 1942. The brothers took a brief break from the barbering business during World War II; Thomas worked in support of the war effort, as a laborer at the NC Shipbuilding Company. His father’s barber shop was purchased by a barber named Arthur Wright.⁷ 

In 1947, Henry, Thomas, and Thomas’s wife, Olivia, lived together at 410 S. 14th Street. In the mid-1940’s, Thomas and Henry reopened their barber shop, relocating it to 902 Castle Street. Thomas Johnson continued to operate the shop until his death in 1952. Records have not been found to indicate what happened to Henry T. Johnson after 1947.⁸

Today, 902 Castle Street and 6 Market Street both appear to be vacant and are leased as commercial properties.⁹

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2019

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1947 Green Book, 66; Green, 1948 Green Book, 63; Green, 1949 Green Book, 58; Green, 1950 Green Book, 64; Green, 1951 Green Book, 55; Green, 1952 Green Book, 55; Green, 1953 Green Book, 55; Green, 1954 Green Book, 54; Green, 1955 Green Book, 54; “Thomas B. Johnson” and “Henry Johnson,” Hill’s 1947 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, 1947, city directory, p. 179; “Jacob Johnson,” Hill’s 1947 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, 1947, city directory, p. 177, classified directory, p. 49, street directory, pp. 2, 29); “Thomas B. Johnson,” Hill’s 1952 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, street directory, p. 28;  “Jacob Johnson,” Hill’s 1952 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, 1952, city directory, p. 154, street directory, p. 23. 
2. Ibid.;  1870 United States Census, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, digital image s.v. "Jacob Johnson," accessed from www.ancestry.com; Jacob Johnson, Company F, 42nd USCT, Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the United States Colored Troops: Infantry Organizations, 41st through 46th, The National Archives, Washington, D.C., Microfilm Serial: M1994, Microfilm Roll: 24, accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Jacob Johnson, March 11, 1873, Registers of Signatures of Depositors in Branches of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, 1865-1874, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, Micropublication M816, 27 rolls, accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Johnson, Jacob,” Benjamin R. Sheriff, Wilmington N.C. Directory and General Advertiser for 1875-76, p. 84, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Jacob Johnson and Mary C. Hooper, May 27, 1872, Wilmington, New Hanover County,  North Carolina, Marriage Records, 1741-2011, accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Tired of Life,” The Wilmington Messenger, May 14, 1889, p. 8, accessed from www.newspapers.com. 
    
3. Jacob Johnson, U.S., Registration State: New York, Registration County: New York; Roll: 1786673, Draft Board: 140, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1920 United States Census, Assembly District 21, New York, NY, digital image s.v. "Jacob Johnson," accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1920 United States Census, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, digital image s.v. “Samuel H. Johnson,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1930 United States Census, Ward 1, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, digital images s.v. "Jacob Johnson" and “Samuel H. Johnson,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Johnson, Jacob,” Wilmington, NC City Directory, 1919-1920, Hill Directory Company, Inc.: Wilmington, NC and Richmond VA, p. 216, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Hill’s 1922 Wilmington, NC City Directory, Hill Directory Company, Inc.: Richmond, NC, pp. 231, 223; Hill’s 1930 Wilmington (North Carolina) City Directory, Hill Directory Company, Inc.: Richmond, VA, classified directory p. 643, city directory, pp. 217, 272.
4. Hill’s 1932 Wilmington (North Carolina) City Directory, Hill Directory Company, Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory pp. 226, 228, classified directory p. 349; Hill’s 1934 Wilmington (New Hanover County, NC) City Directory, Hill Directory Company, Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory pp. 222, 224, classified directory p. 545, street directory p. 477; Hill’s 1938 Wilmington (New Hanover County, NC) City Directory, Hill Directory Company, Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory pp. 237, 240, classified directory p. 634.
5. Hill’s 1938 Wilmington (New Hanover County, NC) City Directory, Hill Directory Company, Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory pp. 237, 240, classified directory p. 634; Hill’s 1960 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, 1960, city directory, p. 195, street directory, p. 127; Jacob Johnson, March 26, 1960, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, North Carolina Death Certificates, 1909-1976, North Carolina State Archives; Raleigh, North Carolina, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Samuel H. Johnson, July, 22, 1939, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina Death Certificates, 1909-1976, North Carolina State Archives; Raleigh, North Carolina, accessed from www.ancestry.com.
6. Listings for 902-910 Castle Street, accessed from www.loopnet.com and www.realtytrac.com; see essay for Greyhound Company for more information about this business.
7. Hill’s 1938 Wilmington (New Hanover County, NC) City Directory, Hill Directory Company, Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory p. 240; Samuel H. Johnson, death certificate; 1940 United States Census, Ward 1, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, digital image s.v. "Jacob Johnson," accessed from www.ancestry.com; Thomas Edward Johnson, Wilmington, NC, WWII Draft Registration Cards for North Carolina, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Henry Tucker Johnson, Wilmington, NC, WWII Draft Registration Cards for North Carolina, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Hill’s Wilmington (New Hanover County, NC) City Directory, 1940, Hill Directory Company, Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory p. 234, street directory, p. 401; Hill’s Wilmington (New Hanover County, NC) City Directory, 1942, Hill Directory Company Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory pp. 357, 361; Hill’s Wilmington (New Hanover County, NC) City Directory, 1943, Hill Directory Company, Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory, p. 361, street directory, p. 25. There are two Henry Johnsons listed in the 1943 Wilmington City Directory. Both work for the NC Shipbuilding Company, but it is unclear whether either of these men is Henry Tucker Johnson. 
8. Hill’s 1947 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory p. 179; Hill’s 1952 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, street directory, p. 28;  Hill’s 1956 Wilmington (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, street directory, p. 56; Thomas Edward Johnson, October 26, 1952, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina Death Certificates, 1909-1976, North Carolina State Archives; Raleigh, North Carolina, accessed from www.ancestry.com.
9. Based on an Internet search of Google Maps and recent real estate listings conducted on September 23, 2019.