There had been a photograph of Adam Artis, cousin Daisy told me, but it was stored with other things in an old barn, and rain ruined it. She recalled an image of a tall, brown-skinned man — or the suggestion of brown skin, anyway, in the soft sepia and charcoal tones of portraits of that day — but not what he actually looked like.
If no photograph of Adam exists, however, there is one of his youngest brother. This image, in fact, is the only one known of any of Vicey Artis and Solomon Williams‘ children.
Richard Artis was born in 1850 in Greene County, very near Wayne. He spent his youth out of sight of censustakers, but in 1873, he married Susanna Yelverton (also known as Susanna Hall,) the daughter of free woman of color Nicey (or Caroline) Hall and a white Yelverton. Their children included: Lucinda Artis Shearod, Emma Artis Reid, Ivory L. Artis, Loumiza Artis Grantham, Richard Artis Jr., Susan Artis Cooper, Jonah Artis, Charity Artis Coley, Frances Artis Newsome, John Henry Artis and Walter Clinton Artis.
Richard Artis farmed in northern Wayne County all his life. He died of apoplexy on 12 February 1923 in Great Swamp township and was buried the next day by his sister’s son, Adam Wilson.
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Photo courtesy of Teresa C. Artis.
Scuffalong: Genealogy. 
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Thank you for this website. I just attended the Artis family reunion in Goldsboro, NC and have been fascinated with my past ever since. I live in MD so it has been hard to connect the dots sometimes and this site has helped!
Hi, Shawna! Thanks! Are you descended from Richard or one of his siblings? Or one of the several other Artis lines from Wayne County?
Yes, I found out at the reunion that Richard Sr was my great, great, great grandfather. Richard had a son named Jonah Artis who married Fannie Newsome. They had 8 children, one of which was my great grandfather Brutus Lee Artis. Brutus had my grandfather who everybody called Lee but his real name was Benjamin I believe.
Ah, okay, yes. So you and I are distant cousins. Nice to “meet” you!
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I think that I may be related to the both of you as well , my great grandfather name was Walter Clinton Artis , but we only heard of him as Clinton Artis , whom I never meet because he died in the 60’s , but his leagacy and blood line lives on through us .. I’m almost positive that this is he .. he married a Madeline Sauls of Stantonsburg and they had 12 children …
Hmm. The Walter Clinton Artis who was the son of Richard and Susannah Yelverton Artis died in 1921 at age 23. He never married.
Hi Lisa, I am Angela Harris, great granddaughter of Jonah Artis. Your mom taught me, in first grade, back on 1965. The Artis Family Reunion will be held on August 13, 2016. It will be held at the Elks Lodge located at 2814 Fieldstream Drive, Wilson, NC 27893. The time is 1pm- to 5pm. I hope you will be able to attend, so you can meet a lot more of your cousins. Teresa Artis, our family historian, is supposed to be there. Maybe the two of you can share information. I look forward to seeing you.
Wow. Thanks for the information. I wish I could come, but I won’t be able to get back to NC. I went to UNC and to Harvard Law with Teresa, and we have shared info over the years. If anyone shares copies of old Artis family photos, I’d love to see them. And I’ll tell my mother I heard from you!
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