Fourth Generation Inclusive

Historical Documents of Genealogical Interest to Researchers of North Carolina's Free People of Color

Category: Crime

December 17, 2012

Carrying, conveying and concealing in order that he might escape.

State v. Alfred Woodly, 47 NC 276 (1855).

This was an indictment of Alfred Woodly and Richard Wynns, free persons of color, for carrying, conveying and concealing a slave in order that he might escape.  Woodly and Wynns were accused of carrying Anthony, a slave and the property of Tristram L. Skinner, executor of Joshua Skinner, deceased, out of the state on 13 January 1855.  The appeal in the case alleged a number of insufficiencies in the indictment, and the Supreme Court ordered a new trial in Bertie Superior Court.

1 Comment
December 13, 2012

A case of kidnapping.

A CASE OF KIDNAPPING. – A few weeks ago there came to Smithville, in Brunswick county, from Moore county, three white men, whose names are Alex. McLeod, Joseph Crawley, and _____ Crawley, bringing with them a free, bright mulatto woman, named Katy Chavers, and her three children, the oldest not being over five years of age.  The woman was brought there, as she said, for the pretended purpose of keeping house for the man.  Shortly after their arrival, the men managed to get the woman drunk, and whilst she was in that state, they took the three children and put off with them for Charleston, on board one of the Steamers.  At Charleston they were arrested, having remained there until the Steamer hence of the next day carried on the intelligence of their villainy.  They got clear from the arrest, however (in what way we never understood.) when Joseph Crawley took the children and went on by the way of the Rail Road to Augusta.  Arriving there, he was confronted with a hand-bill of particulars which had been dispatched South by a gentleman of Smithville immediately upon the men’s leaving there with the children.  He was placed in jail at Augusta, and now awaits the requisition of the Governor of this State, which will be made doubtless as soon as the Grand Jury of Brunswick shall return a bill of indictment.  There will be no Court in Brunswick until the first Monday in June. The woman was sent from Smithville to Augusta, to rejoin her children, who had been kindly taken care of there. Wil. Chronicle

Carolina Watchman, 14 May 1847. NC Newspaper Digitization Project, North Carolina State Archives Historic Newspaper Archive.

Leave a comment
December 1, 2012

I was stolen from my parents.

State of Virginia, Southampton County  } SS.

On this 7 day of March 1834 personally appeared in open court before the Justices of the county court of Southampton now acting Drewry Tann (a Free man of Colour) a Resident of said county aged about seventy five years who being first duly sworn according to Law doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed June the 7th 1832.

That he enlisted under Capt. Hadley in the County of Wake in the State of North Carolina (and states the manner he came in the service as follows) that being born free in the county of Wake he was stolen from his parents when a small boy by persons unknown to him, who were carrying him of to sell him into to [sic] Slavery, and had gotten with him and other stolen property, as far as the mountains on their way, that his parents made complaint to a Mr. Tanner Alford who was then a magistrate in the county of Wake State of N. Carolina to get me back from those who had stolen me, and he did pursue the Rogues & overtook them at the mountains and took me from them & my parents agreed that I should serve him (Tanner Alford) until I was twenty one years old, when he had served Alford several years (Six years) it came Alfords time to go in the army (or he told me so) and told me if I would go in the army he would set me free on which conditions I readily listed under Capt. Hadley for eighteen months as he was told and marched to Charleston and thence to Jameses Isleand where he served out his term of enlistment that he had a discharge and was about returning home when a Capt. Benjamin Coleman (who told me he lived in Bladen County N. Carolina) took his discharge from him and tried to compel him to remain in the service & be his waitingman – his name is to be found in the Records of the State of North Carolina as he is informed by Mr. Deverieux of the City of Raleigh N. Carolina & the term of his enlistments as well as the fact of his enlisting under Capt. Hadley as state above – he cannot state at what period of the war he entered the service. General Green was the commander in chief, Col Lightly & Capt Lightly. Adjutant Ivy that he served in the N. Carolina Regiment, that he has no other documentary evidence than that refered to in the Archives in the State of N. Carolina at the City of Raileigh and knows of no person living who can testify to his service. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present & declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state.  Drewry X Tann

The said Drewry Tann states that he was born in the county of Wake N. Carolina in what year he does not know, that he has no Record of his age, that he was living in Wake County N. Carolina when he was Enlisted and that he has lived since the Revolution in the countys of Northampton N. Carolina and Southampton Virginia. That he lives in the county of Southampton at this time.  That he listed volluntarily in the army under Capt. Hadley. He since as before stated on Jameses isleand near Charleston S. Carolina when there were some English prisoners & he was sometimes stationed as a guard on them, Gen Green was the commanding officer Col and Capt Lightley & Adjutant Ivy are all the names he can at this time remember he does not know what regiments he served with – he did secure a discharge from the service & Capt. Coleman took it from him & what has become of it he cannot say. He is known to Mr. Edwin G. Hart Mr. W. Owens John Hart Col. Clements Rochelle James Maggett Davis Bryant and many others.    Drewry X Tann

Sworn to and subscribed in open court this 17 day of May 1834

From the file of Drewry Tann, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, National Archives and Records Administration.

Leave a comment
November 29, 2012

To the evil example of all others.

State of North Carolina, County of Wayne}  Superior Court of Same, Spring Term 1834. The Jurors for the State upon their oath present that Furnifold Jernigan late of the County of Wayne and David Cole late of the Same County on the first day in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty three with force and arms at and in the County aforesaid one certain free Boy of mixed blood by the name of Kilby OQuinn and the son of one Patty OQuinn a free woman then and there being found did steal take and carry away they the said Furnifold Jernigan and David Cole well knowing the said Kilby OQuinn to be free contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided to the evil example of all others in like case offending [torn] and dignity of the State.

And the Jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid as further present that Furnifold Jernigan late of the County of Wayne aforesaid and David Cole late of the Same County, aforesaid (to wit) on the day and year aforesaid with force and arms at and in the County aforesaid the other free Boy of mixed blood Kilby OQuinn the son of one Patty OQuinn a free woman by violence did convey the said Kilby OQuinn from the county of Wayne to the county of Bladen [creased] and [illegible] if the said Kilby OQuinn and appropriate the same to their own use they the said Furnifold Jernigan and David Cole well knowing the said Kilby OQuinn to be free contrary to the form of the statute in such cases made and provided to the evil example of all others in like case offending to the evil example of all others in like case offending and against the peace and dignity of the State.  S. Miller Sol.

State v. Furnifold Jernigan & David Cole, Selling Free Negroes, A True Bill.

Records of Slaves and Free People of Color, Records of Wayne County, North Carolina State Archives.

1 Comment
November 28, 2012

Coal-black negroes, no. 2.

State v. William P. Watters, 25 NC 455 (1843).

This case, arising in Ashe County, was an indictment against William P. Watters for libel: “Notice. A man called Isaac Tinsley on the first day of this month in a suit wherein the State was plaintiff and myself and wife were defendants, swear a wilful lie and I can prove it. October 15th, 1841.”  In other words, Watters was charged with falsely calling Tinsley a liar. Watters pleaded not guilty and asserted the truth of his statement as a defense.

The case was rooted in Watters and Zilpha Thompson’s earlier indictment for fornication and adultery. Watters and Thompson proved that they had been married, but the State alleged that Watters was a man of color, and his marriage to a white woman was therefore void. Watters contended that he was descended from Portuguese, not Negro or Indian, ancestors. Isaac Tinsley testified for the state that he knew Watters’ mother and grandmother, and “they were coal black negroes.” Other witnesses testified that Watters’ mother was “a bright mulatto, with coarse straight hair — that her name was Elizabeth Cullom, and that she lived with a man by the name of John P. Watters, who was a white man, but of dark complexion for a white man,” who was the reputed father of William Watters. They also testified that Elizabeth Cullom’s mother, Mary Wooten, “was not as black as some negroes they had seen, and had thin lips.” Another witness stated that Wooten “was black, with thin lips and sharp features.” Watters then proposed to prove that Wooten had stated that Cullom’s father was white. This evidence was rejected by the court.  And found Watters guilty of libel.

Upon appeal to the Supreme Court, the justices confirmed that the evidence had been properly excluded as hearsay.  Further, as “the declaration of the grandmother assigns the paternity of her child to no man in particular, but only to some white man, [it] would be the loosest proof of pedigree that ever established one.”  “And, besides, it is well known that persons, of the description of this woman, have a strong bias in their minds to induce the declaration from them, and if possible, the impression on others, that their illegitimate child is the issue of a white man: if not to gratify a personal vanity in themselves, for the reason, that it removes their offspring one degree from the humbled caste in which is placed by the law,whereby he is excluded from the elective franchise, and from competency as a witness between white persons, and prohibited from intermarrying with them.”  Judgment affirmed.

In the 1850 census of Ashe County: Wm. P. Waters, 52, mulatto, wife Zilphia, 31, and children Mary, 9, Marth, 8, John, 7, Mark, 6, Louisa, 5, Granville, 3, and Henry, 1.  The race designation for Zilphia and the children was blank, which indicates the default “white.”

2 Comments
November 11, 2012

There are many worthy of confidence.

The State v. Ephraim Lane, 30 NC 256 (1848).

Ephraim Lane, a free man of color, was indicted for keeping and carrying a pistol without a license.  Lane resided in Perquimans County, but at the time of the indictment was working for a white man named Barker “getting shingles” in Pasquotank County.  Lane carried the pistol at Barker’s behest.

Per the Supreme Court, “[d]egraded as are these individuals, as a class, by their social position, it is certain, that among them are many, worthy of all confidence, and into whose hands these weapons can be safely trusted, either for their own portection, or for the protection of the property of others confided to them.” Lane did carry a weapon, but it was not unlawfully carried.

Leave a comment
November 9, 2012

Trafficking in corn.

The State v. Nelson Cozens, 28 NC 82 (1845).

Nelson Cozens, a free negro, was indicted in Granville County Court for buying a peck of corn on 11 Feb 1837 from a slave named Lewis, the property of Fleming Beasley. He was found guilty by a Person County court and appealed to the state Supreme Court, apparently on a challenge to the wording of the indictment. Appeal denied.

In the 1850 census of Person County, Nelson Cozens, 57, is listed with wife Judy, 53, and children Robert J., 21, Willis, 14, William, 12, and Nelson, 6, plus Izarary Mitchel, 7, and Jerome Collins, 23.

Leave a comment
November 9, 2012

He sold Betsy, well knowing she was free.

State of North Carolina  }    Superior Court of Law

Wayne County             }    Spring Term 1837

The Jurors for the State upon their oath present, that Farnifold Jernigan, late of the County of Wayne, and State of North Carolina, on the first day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty six, at and in the County aforesaid, one free negro, by the name of Betsy Dinkins, unlawfully did sell to one Robert Daniel, said Jernigan knowing the said Betsy Dinkins to be free, contrary to the form of the Statute, in such case made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the State.

And the Jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid do further present, that Farnifold Jernigan, late of the County of Wayne, and State aforesaid, on the first day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty six, at and in the county aforesaid, unlawfully, did sell one Betsy Dinkins, a person of mixed blood, to one Robert Daniel, the said Betsy Dinkins, then and there being free, and the said Farnifold Jernigan, well knowing that the said Betsy Dinkins was free, contrary to the form of the Statute, in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State.

And the Jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid do further present, that Farnifold Jernigan, late of the County of Wayne, and State aforesaid, on the first day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty six, at and in the county aforesaid, unlawfully, did sell one Betsy Dinkins, a person of mixed blood, (daughter of one Sally Dinkins a white woman) to one Robert Daniel of said county, the said Farnifold Jernigan, knowing the said Betsy Dinkins to be free, contrary to the form of the Statute, in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State.

And the Jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid do further present, that Farnifold Jernigan, late of Wayne County and State aforesaid, on the first day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty six, at and in the county and state aforesaid, unlawfully, did sell one Betsy Dinkins, then and there a person of mixed blood, to one Robert Daniel, for the price of fifty dollars, the said Betsy Dinkins, then and there being free, and the said Farnifold Jernigan, knowing that the said Betsy to be free, contrary to the form of the Statute, in such case made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the State.     /s/ Edw. Banly Solicitor

In 1834, Furnifold Jernigan and David Cole were charged in Wayne County Superior Court with taking Kilby O’Quinn from Wayne to Bladen County for “their own use.” In 1837, Jernigan was indicted for selling Betsy Dinkins. In that three-year period, Jernigan and at least four co-defendants appeared on the Wayne County docket ten times on charges of selling free negroes, but never vent to trial. Despite Jernigan’s notoriety (he had fourteen other unrelated court appearances in the same period,) the state’s solicitor in the Dinkins case was compelled to complain to the judge that “the defendant by the influence of several men of standing … has …  so many of the Court yard, in his favor, that it would be amere mockery to enter upon this trial in Wayne.” The case was ordered removed to Greene County, but never appeared on the docket there. In 1850, Jernigan, still living in Wayne, owned $5000 in farmland and 43 slaves. Minutes of the Superior Court of Wayne County, Spring Term, 1834, and Minutes of the Superior Court of Wayne County, Spring Term, 1837, Records of Wayne County, NCSA; State Docket, Superior Court of Wayne County, vol. 1, 1834-1843, Records of Wayne County, NCSA;Petition from Edward Banly to Superior Court, April 6, 1837,Box 4, Records Concerning Slaves and Free Persons of Color, Records of Wayne County, NCSA.

4 Comments
October 16, 2012

Went a-hunting with white folks.

State v. John Harris, 51 NC 448 (1858)

An indictment against John Harris, a free man of color, for carrying firearms.  Harris had obtained a license from the Craven County court “to keep about his person, and carry on his own land a shot-gun.”  At the time of the alleged offense, Harris, “in company with certain white persons, went a hunting” and carried his gun off his property.  The trial judge found that Craven County had no power to limit Harris’ gun license and judged him not guilty.  On appeal, the Supreme Court disagreed.

Two free black men named John Harris appear in the 1850 census of Craven County, one born in 1785, the other in 1828.

Leave a comment