Erma Candis Stancil

Erma and Rose Annie Stancil

Family photo

Erma Candis Stancil was the youngest of all the children of Sam and Missouri Howell Stancil.

At 19, Erma married Bennett Graham Walls, 20, on January 21, 1926.

Bennett was a tenant farmer in Springhill Township, Wilson County. He was the son of Portland P. Wall and Mary Ann Ballance, and the grandson of Jarot B. Wall and Sally Hinnant, who married on September 28, 1830. Bennett was named after an uncle who was three years older than his father.

Erma and Bennett had two daughters: Mavis Irene, born October 1, 1928, and Ethel Mae, born August 9, 1930. They lived on a tenant farm.

In 1931, Erma developed nephritis while pregnant, and apparently lost the baby.

Erma was only 25 years old when she died May 14, 1933, at home. She reportedly had kidney poisoning and was pregnant.

Dr. Ben H. Hackney, a family physician from Lucama Village in Cross Roads Township, Wilson County, NC, recorded that Mrs. Bennett Wall died of uremia, which is kidney failure due to the accumulation of waste products in the body.

Grizzard’s Funeral Home in Kenly was called. Her funeral was held at home. Irene, almost 5, remembered her mother’s death and home funeral. Ethel was just 3.

Erma was buried in the Howell Cemetery in Wilson, where her parents, sister Bertie, and brothers Charlie and Davie were buried. Irene and Ethel did not attend the burial.

Erma Candis Stancil Walls' death certificate, May 14, 1933

Bennett was left to raise his two young daughters.

On June 6, 1933, Harry Lester Stancil, Erma’s first cousin and son of Josiah, wrote to first cousin Ralph, son of George Ira Stancil, who worked on Rodeo Valley Ranch in Dos Rios, CA, that Erma Stancil (Walls) had died in NC and Uncle John and Uncle Henry were low.

Dr. Ben Hall Hackney, the son of John Joe Hackney and Martha Josephine Snipes, grew up on a farm in Chatham County, NC. Ben was the sixth of seven children. Four brothers were farmers. The oldest sister, Daisy, married Charles A. Snipes, a farmer who later became a merchant. In 1930, the youngest sister, Dixie, lived with Daisy and worked as a saleswoman in a department store.

Tragically, Bennett’s sister Louise died at 31 of nephritis related to pregnancy along with arteriosclerosis. His brother George died of a cerebral hemorrhage at 59.

Rose Annie, Erma’s sister, and her husband James Hillard Boykin moved in with Bennett to look after Irene and Ethel. Rose Annie had recently suffered her own personal grief. Her firstborn, James Ray, died on the day of his birth, October 28, 1935. She understood the devastation facing this family as she too mourned Erma.

Bennett gradually adjusted to life without Erma and did his best to comfort his two young daughters. There was no denying the emptiness and loneliness he felt.

Bennett began seeing Coralia Hawley and married her in 1936 when she was 18. She was the daughter of Eddie Hawley and Maggie Ferrell Hawley. Bennett and Coralia had four sons: Edward Graham Walls, born in 1936; Bennett Leroy Walls, born in 1941; Billie Wayne Walls, born in 1946; and Luther Gene Walls, born in 1950.

Bennett continued being a tenant farmer and was also a good carpenter. He moved his family almost every year. Tenant farmers farmed on halves. Irene and Mabel worked hard. Trucking, cropping, handing, and stringing were tasks they knew well. There was little money.

Ethel Mae Walls in 1939.

Family photo

Erma’s treadle sewing machine was used by Coralia. Irene and Ethel taught themselves to sew on it.

Among the folks Bennett farmed for were Mr. Luther for 8 years, Mr. Hinnant, Mr. McKinney, Jack Watson, D.W. Rose, Mr. and Mrs. Bottom, James Wilson, and Wayne Evans.

Bennett did take time off from farming to hunt and fish. This provided extra food for his family and relaxation for him.

Bennett died on August 20, 1962, in Carolina General Hospital in Wilson. He was just 55 years old and suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. Bennett had a history of heart disease. The family was living on Route 1, Wilson, NC.

Bennett was buried in Evergreen Memorial Gardens in Wilson.

— Renn Stancil Hinton