Fourth Generation Inclusive

Historical Documents of Genealogical Interest to Researchers of North Carolina's Free People of Color

Category: Migration

April 3, 2013

Offerings.

A BARGAIN OFFERED.

The subscribers, (free persons of colour) being desirous of removing, offer their Houses and Lots for sale. They are situated on the edge of the East square of Salisbury, on the Bringle Ferry road, and contains one acre each, with buildings for small families. A bargain can now be had for cash. HARRIET STEELE, JEMIMA STEELE. Salisbury, July 16, 1849.

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BLANKS.

We have on hand and for sale at this Office, the following BLANKS, to wit: … For binding free negroes. … Any forms of Blanks which we may not have on hand will be printed to order without delay, if a copy be forwarded.  WATCHMAN OFFICE. May 1849.

Carolina Watchman, Salisbury, 19 July 1849.

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April 2, 2013

Register of (NC-Born) Negroes and Mulattos: Bartholomew County, Indiana, no. 5.

Catharine Hill, age 32, born Perquimans County NC; mulatto woman; 5’3”; small scar over each eye; resided Johnson County IN; witness Joshua A. Horn; registered 20 Mar 1854.

Abraham Augustus Hill, age 2, born Bartholomew County IN; negro boy; “a plump little darkie, and, if nothing happens to prevent will make a big one some day”; resided Johnson County IN; witness Joshua A. Horn; registered 20 Mar 1854.

Andrew Jackson Hill, age 8, born Bartholomew County IN; negro boy; appears sprightly; small scars over left eye and on left cheek; resided Johnson County IN; witness Joshua A. Horn; registered 20 Mar 1854.

Susan Henrietta Hill, age 4, born Bartholomew County IN; negro girl; “a rightly sprightly little girl”; resided Johnson County IN; witness Joshua A. Horn; registered 20 Mar 1854.

Alexander Leevy, age 6, born Robeson County NC; mulatto boy; bright, active and intelligent; no marks; father’s name Louis Leevy; Edward A. Herod; registered 21 Sep 1853.

In the 1860 census of Columbus, Bartholomew County, Indiana: John Blanks, 60, farmer, Milly Blanks, 75, and Eli Blanks, 21, plus Alexander Levy, 14, all born in NC except Milly, who was born in Maryland.

Priscilla Mitchell, age 45, born Halifax County NC; negro woman; hair slightly gray; widow, no children; witness William H.H. Terrell; registered 10 Nov 1853.

Jemima Newby, age 15; born Jackson County IN; negro girl; 5’5”; witness Joshua V. Horn; registered 20 Mar 1854.

Penina Newby; age 50-60; born Perquimans County NC;  5’3”; witness Joshua V. Horn; registered 20 Mar 1854.

John Newby, age 21; born Jackson County IN; negro’ 5’5”; small scar on right forehead and on knuckle of right little finger; witness Joshua V. Horn; registered 20 Mar 1854.

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April 1, 2013

To prevent him being sold into slavery.

Chap. 486.

AN ACT to remunerate James Bennett for expenses incurred and services rendered in procuring the release of Anthony Adams, a colored citizen of this State, from imprisonment in the jail of Edenton, North Carolina, to prevent him being sold into slavery.

Passed April 15, 1857, three-fifths being present.

The People of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The treasurer shall pay on the warrant of the comptroller, out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to James Bennett, the sum of two hundred and sixty-eight dollars, being four dollars per diem for eighteen days service, and for moneys expended in procuring the release of Anthony Adams, a free colored citizen of the town of Deerpark, county of Orange, state of New-York, from the jail of Edenton, state of North Carolina, where he was confined.

Sec.2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Laws of the State of New-York Passed at the Eightieth Session of the Legislature, Vol. II (1857).

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March 28, 2013

Register of (NC-Born) Negroes and Mulattos: Bartholomew County, Indiana, no. 4.

Dolly Curzy, age 26, born Robeson County NC; mulatto woman, 5’8”, light complexion, tolerably straight dingy black hair; slightly freckled; small black mole on right upper lip; wife of Edward Curzy and has three children; William Atkinson; 5 Nov 1853.

Edward Curzy, age 43, born Bladen County NC; a light mulatto, hair black and nearly straight, 5’6 ½”, left leg crooked having once been broken in knee joint; William Atkinson; registered 5 Nov 1853.

Eliza Curzy, age 3, born Bartholomew County IN, mulatto girl, very light complexion, quite bright and intelligent looking; Wm. Atkinson; registered 5 Nov 1853.

John Curzy, age 4 ½, born Jennings County IN; light mulatto, very bright and intelligent looking; no marks; Wm. Atkinson; registered 5 Nov 1853.

Dianah Galbraith, age 50, born Perquimans County NC; black negro woman, 5’5”, small white scar on left foot; very peaceable, inoffensive and respectable; wife of Edmund Galbreaith; James Hobbs; registered 1 Sept 1853.

Edmund Galbraith, age 70, born South Carolina; negro man, 5’8”m scar about two inches long on left breast caused by burn; very peaceable, inoffensive and respectable; James Hobbs; registered 1 Sept 1853.

In the 1850 census of Columbus, Bartholomew County, Indiana: Edmund Galbreath, 75, laborer, born SC, and wife Diana, 48, born NC.

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March 24, 2013

They emigrated for safety.

A company of sixty free negroes from North Carolina, arrived at Baltimore on Wednesday, who are emigrating to Ohio for safety.

The National Republican, Washington DC, 2 February 1861.

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FREE NEGROES ON THE WING. – On Wednesday last, sixty-three free negroes from Edgecourt [sic] county, North Carolina, crossed the Ohio river at Bellaire on their way to Zanesville. An old negro acted as leader of the party, holding the tickets, disbursing funds, etc.

Daily Dispatch, Richmond VA, 7 Feb 1861.

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NEWS ITEMS &C.

Sixty-three free negroes from North Carolina arrived at Zanesville on Thursday. They were from Edgecomb county, and had been ordered to leave by the whites of that section.

Fremont Journal, Fremont OH, 8 February 1861.

 

 

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March 23, 2013

Green, country-looking man and woman without papers.

SENT BEFORE THE GRAND JURY. – Oswald Wright, the person charged with bringing Eveline Mills, a free negro of North Carolina, into the state contrary to law, was, yesterday brought the Mayor, and after an examination into the case was required to find security for his appearance before the Hustings’ Court Grand Jury, to answer any indictment that might be found against him for the offence. The amount of security ($150) was not given by him, and he was committed to jail. The punishment should he tried and convicted is a fine of not more than $500, and imprisonment not exceeding six months. The jury may vote the accrued guilty, fine him one cent, and put him in jail one hour. Eveline Mills, the woman who was held as an adjunct of weight in the offence, produced her certificate of freedom and discharged from custody.

The Daily Dispatch, Richmond VA, 27 August 1857.

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SENT BACK. – Oswald Wright, who stands accused of bringing Evelyn Mills, a free negro, into this state from North Carolina, contrary to the law, was before the Mayor yesterday, but the case was not gone into, on account of the absence of witnesses. The defendant was sent back to jail. – Wright, a green country looking individual, says he came from Rockingham county, and was on his way back when arrested. The woman, Evelyn Mills was likewise sent back to answer for coming into the State without free papers. It is not known with certainty whether she is free as she asserts.

The Daily Dispatch, Richmond VA, 3 September 1857.

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HUSTINGS COURT. – This tribunal commences its regular monthly term on to-day next. Below we give a list of cases which will occupy the attention of the magistrates during the session …. The misdemeanor cases … will be found in the following list:

7. Oswald Wright. Bringing a free negro from North Carolina to this city, contrary to the laws of Virginia.

…

The Daily Dispatch, Richmond VA, 9 November 1857.

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March 19, 2013

The Cousins brothers, dark of skin.

First Residents of Boone and Vicinity. — … There was another house which stood in the orchard near the present Blackburn hotel. It was a small clapboard house, with only one room. Ben Munday and family occupied it first and afterwards Ellington Cousins and family, dark of skin, lived there till Cousins built a house up the Blackburn branch in rear of the Judge Greer house. It is still known as the Cousins place …

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John and Ellington Cousin. – The brothers came from near East Bend, Forsythe County, soon after Boone was formed, bringing white women with them. Ellington’s wife was Margaret Myers and John’s was named Lottie. Ransom Hayes sold Ellington an acre of land up the Blackburn branch, where he built a house and lived in 1857, having moved from the house in the orchard below the road near the present Blackburn hotel. He had two daughters. Sarah married Joseph Gibson and moved to Mountain City, Tenn., where he carried on a tannery for Murphy Brothers, but he afterwards returned to the state and lived at or near Lenoir, finally going West, where he remains. Ellington died at Boone and his widow and daughter, nicknamed “Tommy,” went with Gibson and wife to Mountain City, where she also married. John lived near Hodges Gap and at other places, dying at the Ed. Shipley place near Valle Crucis. He had several children.

From John Preston Arthur, A History of Watauga County, North Carolina, with Sketches of Prominent Families (1915).

In the 1850 census of Watauga, Watauga County: Johnson Cusins, 44, farmer, wife Charlotta, 41, and children Hezekiah, 18, Mary, 14, Clarkson, 11, William H., 9, Rebecca, 8, Annanias, 5, Martha, 4, W.W. and Evaline, both 3 months.  All described as mulatto, except Charlotta, white.  In the 1860 census of Boone, Watauga County: John Cuzzens, 52, farmer, wife Charlotte, 50, and children Henry, 19, Rebecca, 17, Ann, 15, Martha, 13, Wiley, 10, and Eveline, 10, all mulatto.

In the 1850 census of Northern Division, Davidson County: in jail, Francis Briant, 20, laborer, Alva Sapp, 22, laborer, and Ellington Cozzens, 41, shoemaker. Cozzens was mulatto; the others, white.  In the 1860 census of Boone, Watauga County: Ellington Cuzzens, 53, boot & shoemaker, wife Margarett, 44, and daughters Sarah, 8, and Martha J., 5; all mulatto except Margarett, was described as white.

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March 14, 2013

William Goyens.

William Goyens (or Goings), early Nacogdoches settler and businessman, was born in Moore County, North Carolina, in 1794, the son of free mulatto William Goings and a white woman. He came to Texas in 1820 and lived at Nacogdoches for the rest of his life. Although he could not write much beyond his signature, he was a good businessman. He was a blacksmith and wagonmaker and engaged in hauling freight from Natchitoches, Louisiana. On a trip to Louisiana in 1826, he was seized by William English, who sought to sell him into slavery. In return for his liberty, Goyens was induced to deliver to English his slave woman and to sign a note agreeing to peonage for himself, though reserving the right to trade on his own behalf. After his return to Nacogdoches, he successfully filed suit for annulment of these obligations.

During the Mexican Texas era, Goyens often served as conciliator in the settlement of lawsuits under the Mexican laws. He was appointed as agent to deal with the Cherokees, and on numerous occasions he negotiated treaties with the Comanches and other Indians. He also operated an inn near the site of what is now the courthouse in Nacogdoches. In 1832, he married Mary Pate Sibley, who was white. Sibley had one son, Henry Sibley, from a former marriage, but Goyens and Mary had no children together.

During the Texas Revolution, Goyens was interpreter for Gen. Sam Houston and his party in negotiations for a treaty with the Cherokee. After the revolution he purchased what was afterwards known as Goyens’ Hill, four miles west of Nacogdoches. He built a large two-story mansion with a sawmill and gristmill west of his home on Moral Creek, where he and his wife lived until their deaths. During his later life Goyens amassed considerable wealth in real estate, despite constant efforts by his white neighbors to take it away. He always employed the best lawyers in Nacogdoches, including Thomas J. Rusk and Charles S. Taylor, to defend him and was generally successful in his litigation. He died on June 20, 1856, soon after the death of his wife; they were both buried in a cemetery near the junction of Aylitos Creek with the Moral. At his grave a marker was erected by the Texas Centennial Commission in 1936. Many traditions grew up in Nacogdoches about this unusual man, and sometimes it is hard to tell just what is true and what is tradition.

Adapted from Texas State Historical Association, tshaonline.org

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March 5, 2013

He has a badly executed free pass.

$25 Dollars Reward. Ran Away from the subscriber, living in Wayne county, 12 miles north of Waynesborough, on the 8th of January last, a mulatto man by the name of EPHRAIM, who has since altered it to JOHN ARTIS. He is between 25 and 30 years of age, nearly 6 feet high, and his foreteeth are somewhat defective. He has a free pass, badly executed, and it is suspected that he will endeavor to go to Indiana with some negroes in Guilford county, who are about starting for that State. The above reward will be given for the apprehension and delivery of said fellow to me, or securing him in any jail in that State, so that I get him again.  PETER L. PEACOCK. July 27, 1827.

The State and North Carolina State Gazette, 16 August 1827.

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March 3, 2013

United States Colored Troops, no. 10.

5 U.S.C.T. Perry Wyatt. Co. H, 5 Reg’t U.S. Col’d Inf. appears on Company Descriptive Book of the organization named above. Description: age, 23 years; height, 5 feet 9 3/4 inches; complexion, black; eyes, black; hair, black; where born, Hartford [Hertford] County, NC; occupation, farmer. Enlistment: when, 16 June 1863; where, Circleville OH; term, 3 years. Remarks: Killed in front of Petersburg, Va., June 15, 1864.

In the 1850 census of Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio: Murphey Wyatt, 30, drayman, wife Rebecca, 26, and children James P., 11, William, 7, Mary J., 5, George, 4, and Julia Ann, 2. All born in NC except the youngest three children. In the 1860 census of Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio: Murphy Wyatt, 42, drayman, wife Rebecca, 40, and children James P., 20, William, 16, Mary J., 15, George, 13, Julia, 11, Jerry, 9, Amanda, 6, and Jonas, 5. Murphy, Rebecca and James were born in NC; the remaining children in Ohio.

14 H. Art’y.U.S.C.T. Lemuel Reynolds. Co. C, 14 Reg’t U.S. Col’d H. Art’y. appears on Company Descriptive Book of the organization named above. Description: age, 44 years; height, 5 feet 9 inches; complexion, dark; eyes, dark; hair, dark; where born, Hertford County, NC; occupation: mechanic. Enlistment: when, 1 March 1864; where, New Bern; by whom, Lt. Wheaton; term, 3 years.

In the 1860 census of Hertford County: Lemuel Reynolds, 30, day laborer, wife Mary, 30, and Nancy Reynolds, 16.

37 U.S.C.T. Noah Manley. Co. T, 37 Reg’t U.S. Col’d Inf. appears on Company Descriptive Book of the organization named above. Description: age, 26 years; height, 5 feet 7 inches; complexion, brown; eyes, dark; hair, dark; where born, Hartford [Hertford] County, NC; occupation, farmer. Enlistment: when, 24 January 1865; where, Fort Monroe VA; by whom, Lt. Munroe; term, 3 years. Remarks: mustered into service Feb 3 ’65 by Maj Morris Newport News, Va. credited to Rarkwright Delaware Co 19 Distr. NY.

14 H. Art’y. U.S.C.T. Boone Nickins. Co. C, 14 Reg’t U.S. Col’d H. Art’y. appears on Company Descriptive Book of the organization named above. Description: age, 44 years; height, 6 feet 0 inches; complexion, light; eyes, dark; hair, dark; where born, Hertford County, NC; occupation, farmer. Enlistment: when, 1 March 1864; where, New Bern; by whom, Lt. Wheaton; term, 3 years.

In the 1850 census of Southern District, Hertford County: Richard Wiggans, 18, laborer, Elizabeth Wiggans, 17, Sarah Wiggans, 3 months, and Boon Nickens, 24, laborer. In the 1860 census of Hertford County: Boon Nickins, 40, day laborer, wife Penny, 18, and children S.M., 4, and M.E., 3.

14 H. Art’y. U.S.C.T. Henry Kone. Co. C, 14 Reg’t U.S. Col’d H. Art’y. appears on Company Descriptive Book of the organization named above. Description: age, 30 years; height, 5 feet 6 inches; complexion, light; eyes, dark; hair, dark; where born, Hertford County, NC; occupation, laborer. Enlistment: when, 1 March 1863; where, New Bern; by whom, Lt. Wheaton; term, 3 years.

In the 1850 census of Southern District, Hertford County: Arthur Reynolds, 44, farmer, wife Matilda, 44, Henry Cone, 17, laborer, and Asa Butler, 12. In the 1860 census of Hertford County: Henry Cone,24, field laborer, Elizabeth, 45, Wm., 15, and Charlotte Reynolds, 50.

Henry Kone. Military History: enlisted March 1, 1864, Hartford County NC; Pvt.; C 14 USC Hy Art; discharged Dec 11, 1865, Fort Macon; disability, bronchitis; contracted 1893 in NC. Domestic History: born NC, age 62, height 5 7; col’d; grey eyes, grey hair; cannot read or write; Protestant; farmer; resided Winton after discharge; married to Estella Kone, Winton. Died 17 Feb 1926, Hampton VA.

Historical Register of  National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938, Records of Department of Veterans Affairs, National Archives.

2 Cav. U.S.C.T. William Bazill. Co. D, 2 Reg’t U.S. Col’d Cav. appears on Company Descriptive Book of the organization named above. Description: age, 45 years; height, 5 feet 5 inches; complexion, light; eyes, blue; hair, dark; where born, Hertford, NC; occupation, farmer. Enlistment: when, 1 January 1864; where, Fort Monroe VA; by whom, Col. Cole; term, 3 years. Remarks: engaged in action at Suffolk, Va., Mch. 9th 1864.

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