Free Women of Color | Fourth Generation Inclusive

November 10, 2012

Acount of Sale of the Property of Bethana Jones

“Acount of the Sale of the Property of Bethana Jones Dest: Sold the 28 of December 1852 on a Credit of Six months the Percher to give Note With Two Approved Suritis before the Rite Con is Changed Sold by Bengamin Simpson a Special Admin”

Bethana Jones was a prosperous farmer, matriarch of a sprawling family that knit all of southern Nash and western Wilson Counties’ major free colored families, including Joneses, Blackwells, Powells, Evanses, and Locuses. Kinsmen purchasing goods from her estate included Willis Jones, Jacob Jones, William Jones, Asberry Blackwell, Dempsey Powell, Shadrach Jones, and Joseph Jones. This is the first page of three.

Estate Records, Records of Wilson County, North Carolina State Archives.

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November 5, 2012

40 years’ acquiescence gives effect.

Augustine Cully v. Lovick Jones et al., 31 NC 168 (1848).

This was an action for false imprisonment. Plaintiff Augustine Cully‘s mother Phebe was the slave of Jane Thompson. Thompson’s will directed her executor Reuben Jones “to obtain the freedom of Phebe, if practicable, on account of her meritorious services.” In November 1806, Jones filed a petition in Carteret County court for Phebe’s freedom. Phebe and her children were thereafter permitted to act as free people. However, Jones neglected to give the required bond for the action until 1816, when he was ordered to do so, and did. Phebe’s daughter Augustine was born in 1808 and lived as a free person until just before this action commenced, when Lovick Jones seized her and claimed her as a slave.

The NC Supreme Court held that, though Augustine Cully was born before the bond was effectuated, neither Reuben Jones, who neglected his duty, nor anyone claiming for or by him could take advantage of that omission, much less a mere wrong-doer. “More than forty years have allowed to pass from the act of emancipation and [Augustine’s birth], before any claim was made to hold her as a slave; during all which time, she passed as a free person and was so treated and considered by the community, in which she lived. After so long an acquiescence, almost any thing will be presumed, in order to give effect to the act of emancipation.”

The 1850 census of New Bern, Craven County, shows a household that included Phillis Martin, 85; Augustin Cully, 35; Adam Cully, 40 and blind; Joseph Martin, 29, and Alex. Martin, 27, both sailors; Abner Cully, 14; Eliza Cully, 11; Elizabeth Cully, 9; and Adam Cully, 5. All were described as black.

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October 31, 2012

It is her wish and desire that her children should leave the state.

State of North Carolina, Onslow County }

Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, March Term 1860

To the Worshipful, the Justices of Said Court: The petition of Omar White, humbly complaining, showeth unto your Worships that she is a free woman of color: that her Mother, Elizabeth White was born a free person of color in the County of Pitt of the State of aforesaid and removed to this the county and state aforesaid when your petitioner was born, raised and has always resided. Your petitioner further showeth to your Worships that she is now about sixty years, is at present residing where she has resided with her family, which is numerous, for the last twelve years on the premises of of Basil M. Barry, Esquire, and with his permission: that she is the mother of thirteen children and has [blank] grandchildren, all of whom, under the age of twenty-one years, respectively. Your petitioner further showeth that, after her said children shall have attained the age of twenty one aforesaid and shall have fulfilled all the requirements of the law in such cases made and provided for Apprentices, it is her wish and desire that they shall remove from the state aforesaid and settle in a free state. Your petitioner further showeth unto your worships that the facts set forth in this her petition are in the knowledge of many persons now living and such knowledge is the only evidence of her freedom: that she is growing old and her witnesses are also much advanced in years: that by the time he said children shall have reached the age of twenty one aforesaid, when they shall be free to emigrate from the state aforesaid, it may not be in their power to show the facts herein set forth.

To the end therefore that such testimony may be perpetuated and become a part of the record of this Worshipful Court, your petitioner humbly prays your Worships for permission for a rule to take such depositions as may be necessary to sustain the allegations set forth in this her petition. And your petitioner humbly begs your Worships for further and such other relief as your Worships may deem necessary and proper.

And your petitioner as in duty bound shall ever humbly pray etc. L.W. Humphrey, Attorney for Pet.

Elizabeth “Betsey” Whitehurst’s children were apprenticed extensively in Onslow County — Omy [Naomi, also called Oma, and the petitioner here] in 1806, 1811, 1818, 1819; Joshua in 1806, twice in 1811, 1816, 1818 ; Elijah in 1811; Esther in 1813 and 1830; Ann, Bill and Edward in 1817 and 1827; and Morris in 1827. Their last name appeared as White, Whiters and Whitehurst. See Apprentice Records, Wayne County, North Carolina State Archives. She is probably the “Betsey Free” listed in the 1820 census of South Richlands district, Onslow County, with a household comprising four people of color. In the 1830 census of Onslow County, she is Betsey Whitehurst with a household of seven. In the 1850 census, she is listed in her son Edward White’s household in Cypress Creek, Jones County.

Omy White’s children also cycled through Onslow County Court as apprentices — Betsy Jane in 1827, 1835, 1839; Nancy in 1827; Sarah in 1834; Lindey in 1834; Elijah in 1835; Linda and Jack in 1844; Edward “Ned,” Esther and Robert “Bob” in 1844 and 1849; Naomi in 1844; and Alfred in 1849. In the 1850 census of Half Moon district, Onslow County, Omy “Ward” and four children are listed in one household (headed by B.M. Barry, a lawyer) and son Jack is in another.

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October 26, 2012

Slightly tinged.

Ann Revels, formerly Ann Chesnutt, filed claim #20191 with the Southern Claims Commission. She was 55 years old and lived near Fayetteville, where she cultivated 15 acres of land.

“I had one son that left Fayetteville about 1852. He went to Texas. I had not heard from him for 2 years before the war commenced. … I then had a letter from him in Kentucky he said he had been in the confederate army but he did not say whether by compulsion or how. I did not contribute anything for his support or military equipments.”

“I was not married during the war but I married in 1867. … I have 6 children: George Washington aged 42 years today if living. Andrew Jackson aged 40 years he was 2 1/2 years in the United States Army during the war he went in the Army from Ohio. Sophia aged 37 years. Mary Ann aged 30 years. Dallas aged 25 years. Amanda Chesnutt aged 17 years. George Washington I have not heard from for about 3 years. The balance of my children are living in and within 10 miles of Fayetteville.”

“I owned the property before I married my husband. I was born free. I made what I had by my hard work.”

Witnesses were: David A. Bryant, 50, Fayetteville farmer; Albert Hammons, 58, Fayetteville carpenter; William H. Haithcock, 46, Fayetteville carpenter (who testified that Ann “prayed the United States government might whip out the south and liberate the slaves.” Ann’s husband, Jonathan Revels, a 51 year-old farmer, testified that he and Ann were married in 1867 and stated that he was employed by Ann “pretty much all the time especially farming season from 1861 till the Army came.”

William S. Taylor, 25, painter, and Mary B. Taylor, 53 and a second cousin to Ann, who lived about 300 yards away.

“The claimant was a single woman during the war and owned the property in her own right. She has since married Revels who is a white man. She was slightly tinged with negro blood.”

Ann Chesnutt Revels was the grandmother of writer Charles W. Chesnutt.

The 1870 censustaker of Cross Creek township, Cumberland County, considered Jonathan Revels to be colored and listed him, wife Ann and stepdaughter Amanda Chesnutt as mulatto.

[Bizarre Side Note No. 1 — Amanda Chesnutt married Robert Holliday and had a son, Robert Sumner Holliday, in 1873. Robert graduated Shaw University, then medical school at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He set up practice in Statesville NC, where he met and in 1918 married Mary Charlton of West Virginia, a Hampton Institute graduate who served as Iredell County’s supervisor of colored schools. Mary Charlton Holliday became an abiding mentor to my grandmother, Margaret B. Colvert Allen (1908-2010), and encouraged her to attend her alma mater. My grandmother met my grandfather at Hampton Institute (now University) and all five of their children, plus three grandchildren, matriculated there.]

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October 24, 2012

Her mother took her away.

THREE DOLLARS REWARD. Ranaway from the subscriber on Friday night the 14th inst., an indented bright mulatto girl about 15 years old, slender made, with straight black hair, by the name of MARY ANN BOWEN. It is supposed that she is in the neighborhood of Goodwin Bowen, a free man of color in Bladen county, on the Wilmington road, about 6 miles below the Westbrook Post Office, as her mother, Polly Bowen, who took her away, declared when she was hiring a horse and Carryall for that purpose, that she was going to Goodwin Bowen’s, in Bladen county. The above reward and all reasonable charges will be paid for returning said girl to me, or putting her into any Jail in this State and giving information through the Post Office, so that I can get her again. All persons are cautioned against employing, harboring, or entertaining said girl in any way, as I shall prosecute them rigorously according to law. JOSEPH AREY March 22, 1845

Fayetteville The North Carolinian, 3 May 1845.

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October 24, 2012

Margaret Balkcum Henderson.

MARGARET BALKCUM HENDERSON, “Mag,” born 1836 in Sampson County, died 1915 near Dudley, Wayne County. She was probably the daughter of Nancy Balkcum, a white woman. She married Lewis Henderson (1836-1912) circa 1855, most likely in Sampson County.

Original tintype lost. Copy in possession of Lisa Y. Henderson.

In the 1860 census of Westbrooks, Sampson County: Lewis Henderson, 25, mulatto, turpentine laborer, wife Margaret, 26, and children Lewis T., 4, James L., 3, and Isabella J., 4 mos.

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October 20, 2012

A very respectable woman and a worthy one.

Elsie Drake filed claim #15804 with the Southern Claims Commission. She was 79 years old and lived near Fayetteville. “I lived on my own land. I have 3 acres all cultivated. Nursing was my occupation.”

“I had one grandson in the Confederate Army as a drummer. His name is Warren Drake. He is living in Montgomery Al. I did not furnish him with anything while in the Rebel servace. He was carried off against my wish. He ran away from the Army and came home. He was a boy of about 14 years old.”

“My feeling was with the union. My language was for the union.”

“I am a widow. My husband has been dead about 15 years. I have 3 children living Thos. Drake … Robt. Drake … Warren Drake. Neither of them was in the confederate servace. They were slaves.”

“I was free at the beginning of the war. My husband was a free man. He bought me about 20 years ago. … I bought some of my property and raised some. Got the money to pay for it by cooking and nursing. John H. Cook was my former owner. I am not and have not been in his employ since my husband bought me.”

Though Elsie Drake appears in neither the 1850 nor 1860 census of Cumberland County, in 1870 she is listed as “Elsey Drake,” age 77, in the household of her son Thomas in Cross Creek township.

Union soldiers took bacon, hogs, corn, flour, coffee, cooking utensils, soap, turkeys, geese, water buckets, bed quilts, tubs, blankets, a shawl and some sugar from her. Witnesses to the theft were Jenette Smith, Mollie Stephens and Ellen Simmons.

Special Commissioner John J. Minor noted: “Her husband … was always free and his wife lived with [him] since I first knew them up to his death. She was a slave belonged to John H. Cook. I presume her husband hired her time up to the time he bought her — She is a very respectable woman and a very worthy one … Her witnesses are all very respectable col’d people.”

Though she appears in neither the 1850 nor 1860 censuses, in 1870, 70 year-old “Elsey” Drake is listed in her son Thomas’ household in Cross Creek township, Cumberland County.

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October 20, 2012

She was always cold a free woman.

State of North Carolina Wayne County June 15 1853 Winney Huff after being Duly Sworn Deposith and says as follows (viz) that she has seen Fareby Simmons Mother a Colord Woman living in the County of Birtie and State aforsaid and it was stated to her in the neighborhood that she was a free person and said hir Daughter Fariby Simmons was indentured to one Sertain William Burnham and Said Burnham Emigrated from the County of Birtie to the County of Wayne and said fariby Simons lived with Burnham as an apprentice and fariby Simmons in the time of her apprenticeship had a child Bornd Named Hannah which was Bound to Betsey Burnham a Daughter of Said William Burnham and that Fariby Simons was always cold a free woman and has pased for a free woman Ever since my Recollection which would be Seventy or Seventy five years furthe the Deponant sayeth Not June the 1st 1853 then was the above Written certificate of Winney Huff sworn to Before me George Flowers J.P. Winney X Huff

This is one of three sworn statements by whites attesting to Fereby Simmons’ freedom. Their purpose is not clear. It seems likely that Fereby and Hannah Simmons were the matriarchs of the sprawling free colored Simmons clan — with branches by mid-19th century from southeast North Carolina to Canada — but relationships between the various lines remain undetermined.

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

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October 20, 2012

We believe her to be a worthy woman.

To the General Assembly of North Carolina

The undersigned, Respectfully Petition, the Legislature, to pass an act, in favour of Sucky Borden (a woman of color) vesting in her, all the rights and privileges, of a free woman. Your petitioners have long known said Suckey, and believe her to be a worthy woman, who will duly appreciate all her privileges — and your Petitioners will Ever pray &c

Wm. H. Washington, Richard Washington, N. Washington, Jno. Wright, Raiford Hooks, M.A. Borden, John Everitt, John C. Slocumb, Wton Thompson, W.C. Bryan, Woodard Howell, Wm, Hollowell, Josiah Howell, C. Hooks, Wm. Robinson, Jere. A. Green, Jno. N. Andrews, O. Coor, Thomas B. Cox, Joseph E. Kennedy, John W. Davis, Chelby Langston, Hinton J. Best, A.H. Langston

Records of Slaves of Free Persons of Color, Wayen County Miscellaneous Records, North Carolina State Archives.

[Sidenote: The petition was granted: Susan Bordan, age 70, black, is listed in the 1860 federal population census of Goldsboro, Wayne County. She worked as a baker and reported owning $500 real property and $100 personal property, placing her among the wealthiest free people of color in the county. She shared her household with 60 year-old mulatto “sewer,” Angia Capps, and 7 year-old mulatto Catharine Carroll. Borden’s petitioners were a collection of Wayne County’s most solid citizens — planters, a hotel proprietor, the local newspaper editor, two clerks of court, the sheriff and a Methodist clergyman. Nearly all were slaveowners. — LYH]

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October 17, 2012

She lived to herself and was controlled by no one.

William Brookfield v. Jonathan Stanton, 51 NC 156 (1858)

William Brookfield, whom Jonathan Stanton claimed as a slave, brought the action to try his right to freedom. Brookfield introduced evidence that for 30 years or more prior to his birth, his mother and maternal grandmother were recognized and admitted to be free people of color. They were known as the McKim negroes. His mother had moved from Carteret to Hyde County and lived as a free woman. She was reported to be the wife of a slave “but lived to herself and was controlled by no one.”

Stanton sought to prove that Brookfield’s mother and grandmother were slaves. He proffered (1) an attachment made on behalf of an Elijah Cannady against John McKim, who resided in another state, that was levied upon a negro woman named Beck and her children Fan and Olly in 1809 and (2) a bill of sale for the purchase of Bookfield. Both were rejected.

The Supreme Court noted that when a person is black, i.e. dark-skinned, a presumption arises that he is a slave. Nonetheless, where that person’s mother and grandmother have been treated as free for 30 years, there is an inference that they were lawfully manumitted. The case was remanded to Craven County court.

There are no free colored Brookfields or McKims listed in antebellum North Carolina census records.

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Category: Free Women of Color