Free Women of Color | Fourth Generation Inclusive

October 14, 2012

Show cause why the indentures of apprenticeship should not be rescinded.

North Carolina

To the Shiriff of Wayne County Greeting

You are hereby commanded to make known to Nathan Edgerton to produce into court at the next term to be held for said County at the Court House in Goldsboro on the third Monday of May next, Mary, Raeford, Louisa, Amelia, Devereux, Narcissa, Olif & Sarah Carroll, Children of Margaret Carroll, then & there to Show cause if any he has why the Indentures of Apprenticeship to him should not be recinded — herein fail not, & have you then & there this writ

Witness Benj Aycock clerk of said court at office the third Monday of Feby A.D. 1856

Issued 23rd April 1856 Benj. Aycock Clk.

Nathan Edgerton indentured nine Carroll children, aged 1 to 15, in 1855. Their mother Margaret Carroll, who lived in Johnston County, protested the indentures without apparent success: Sarah, Louisa, Amelia, Olivia and Narcissa Carroll appear in Nathan Edgerton’s household in the 1860 census of Wayne County.

Apprenticeship Records, Wayne County Records, North Carolina State Archives.

October 14, 2012

Give and grant all my right over said children.

This indenture this 16th day of August 1823 between Celia Artis of the County of Wayne and state of North Carolina of the one part, and Elias and Jesse Coleman of the other part (witnesseth) that I the said Celia Artis have for an in consideration of having four of my children raised in a becoming [illegible], by these presence indenture the said four children (to viz) Eliza, Ceatha, Zilpha, and Simon Artis to the said Elias and Jesse Coleman to be their own right and property until the said four children arives at the age of twenty one years old and I do by virtue of these presents give and grant all my right and power over said children the above term of time, unto the said Elias and Jesse Coleman their heirs and assigns, until the above-named children arives to the aforementioned etc., and I do further give unto the said Elias and Jesse Coleman all power of recovering from any person or persons all my right to said children — the [illegible] of time whatsoever in whereof I the said Celia Artis have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year above written, Celia X Artis.

Deeds, Register of Deeds Office, Wayne County Courthouse, Goldsboro.

[Sidenote: Celia Artis (1800-1879) was a prosperous free woman of color whose husband, Simon Pig, was a slave. (She purchased and eventually freed him, and he adopted her surname.) Because Celia was not legally married, her children were subject to involuntary apprenticeship. This deed records her determination to guard her children from uncertain fates by placing them under the control of men she trusted. Despite the wording of the deed, it is likely that the children continued to live with their mother after their indenture. By mid-century, Celia Artis was one of the wealthiest free women of color in Wayne County, having amassed 750 acres of land in northern Wayne County. — LYH]

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October 12, 2012

To be Eaqually divided be tween them.

State of North Carolina, Wayne County

I Roday Reed of said county as this 16th day of Sept 1863 make and declare this to be my last Will & testament in manor & form following (Viz)

I lend to my daughter Patsey Hall all my lands & all my other property of all kind my money & debts all that I may have at death after my just debts & burying Expense are paid provided the the said Patsey Hall takes her Two sisters in with her Say Bytha & Vina to be supported on the land & this property sepperate & apart from their husbands at the death of the last one of my before named daughters say Bytha & Vina & Patsey I give my mare Dobie(?) to Edmond Hall my grandson & I give all the rest of above named property to my grand children Edmund Hall & Eveline Hall to them & their heirs forever to be Eaqually divided be tween them. I also give it so my will for my husband David to be supported out of the above named property during his life. Lastly I nominate my beloved son Washington Reed to Execute this my last will & testament to all interests declaring this & no other to be my will, I or witness whereof I have unto set my hand & seal

Signed & acknowledged Roda X Reed

W Thompson

John Read

[Sidenote: Rhoda Reid was a prosperous free woman of color born about 1795, most likely in northeastern Wayne County. She and her sister Tabitha Reid married enslaved men whom they informally manumitted. Rhoda, who recorded her first deed in 1821, amassed considerable property in the Nahunta area of Wayne County. Her daughter Martha “Patsey” Reid, born about 1824, married Dempsey Hall. Edmond and Eveline Hall were Patsey’s children. Her daughters Tabitha “Bitha” and Melvina “Vina” were born 1810-1815. Rhoda’s sons Washington, Zion, John, Isaac and Benjamin Reid were well-to-do farmers as well. — LYH]

Wills, Wayne County Records, North Carolina State Archives.

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October 9, 2012

Ordered.

Indenture. Ordered that Sarah Rouse a free girl of color be bound as an apprentice to John D. Abernathy, which is done, bond filed.

Minutes, January Term 1853, Duplin County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions.

October 5, 2012

A parcell of small children not able to help them selves.

State of North Carolina Wayne County

I Zilley Hagans of the Same county having some Ennemys having Raised a Report that my Childrain is Runing about in the neighborhood for the purpose of giting Something to Eate & that they were likely to Suffer & that they are living in idleness this Report having bean Raised for the purpose of takeing my Children and having them bound out But I the sd Zilley Hagans will Certify to you By the Signature of my neighbours to the Revurse that they are Cleare from the Charge that is Reported against them I umbly Beg of the Court without Some Cause or proof of the Charge not to take my Children from me that is able to work and leave me with a parcell of Small Children not able to help them Selves this July the 25th 1824.

Jonathan Pike

Josiah Musgrave

William Garriss

Samuel Perkins

Mark Pike

Benjamin Boswell

William Musgrave

William Jackson

Nathan Pike

Isaac Cork

James Buntin

Box 3, Apprentice Bonds and Records, Wayne County Records, North Carolina State Archives.

[Sidenote: Druzilla “Zilley” Hagans was called into court to show cause why her children should be bound as apprentices. To aid her quest to keep her children, she sought support from eleven white neighbors, who averred that charges against her were untrue. Most free colored families were painfully poor. A small and prosperous few worked as artisans or farmed their own land. Others eked out tolerable livings as farmhands or tenant farmers. However, opportunities for women’s paid work were few. Free women of color competed with slave and poor white women for the little washing or sewing that took place outside households. These women depended on the contributions of all family members who could work. A mother hwose children were bound could console herself with the expectation that her children would be fed, clothed and sheltered during the terms of their indenture. However, the loss of the labor of older children could imperil a family’s survival. As Hagans’ petition poignantly illustrates, children most useful as apprentices were also those most useful to their parents. Hagans’ petition was unsuccessful. Her children Vina, 16, Eli, 18, and Sherard Hagans, 9, were bound to Robert Hooks during the court term. The indentures of successive children left Hagans’ family in worse straits. In 1833, she approached the court with an arrangement with a neighbor that worked to the advantage of each. — LYH]

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Category: Free Women of Color