Children born to free mulatress.
by Lisa Y. Henderson
These are names of slaves born to free mulatress ages of the children of Eliza Hall
William Henry Hall was born Feb the 11th 1844
Patrick Hall was born October the 6th 1845
Margaret Ann Hall was born Feb the 12th 1847
Louiser Hall was born April the 9th 1849
Balam Hall was born Feb 7th 1851
These entries (the first sentence in a different hand) were inscribed in the Bible of Lewis Ellis (1794-1854) of Wilson County. Ellis’ good friend, James Bullock Woodard (1793-1863), was the father of Eliza Hall’s five children. (Who were, of course, as free as their mother.) The 1850 census of Edgecombe County lists Eliza Hall, age 26, with her children Wm. (6), Patrick (4), Martha [sic] (3), and “girl” (1). In 1860, they are in Saratoga district, Wilson County. The Bible remains in the Ellis family.
Fourth Generation Inclusive 
[…] William Henry Hall. Died 23 June 1925, Saratoga, Wilson County. Black. Married, Lucy Hall. Born 15 Aug 1946, Wayne County, to unknown father and Exaline West of Wayne County. Buried Bethel cemetery. Informant, Sue Batts. […]
[…] WILLIAM H. HALL, SR. was the son of Eliza Hall and James B. Woodard, a white man. He is buried in Red Hill cemetery, near Stantonsburg, Wilson County. […]
I am interested in information on Grey Woodard Sr. my mulatto grandfather 5 generations removed. Through census records I have traced him back to Saratoga township, Wilson county, NC. During the 1870 census he was approximately 19 and listed as farm labor.
I suspect his father was Grey W. Woodard , son of James B. Woodard but I have also found the will of a Stephen Woodard, where a slave boy Grey, and a slave girl Jane were willed to his daughters but I have not been able to relocate that information. My grandfather later married a Jane woodard.
Any information you can provide would be helpful as I am more interested in his black mother and her origins. Thank you
Unfortunately, this is not a line I have researched. I am related to descendants of James B. Woodard and Eliza Hall, via their son William, but know nothing of Gray Woodard or his parentage.