P.S. Since writing the above, we have learned that it is reported that Mr. Hinton died yesterday morning from his injuries. — Ral. Register.
Fayetteville Observer, 4 May 1857.
$10 REWARD.
RANAWAY from the subscriber, on the night of the 7th instant, a bound mulatto girl, aged between 15 and 17, named ELIZA LUNCE. Said girl is a dark mulatto, tolerably well grown for her age, and is surly when spoken to. She will no doubt take some other name than her real one. She was enticed away by her mother, Nancy Lunce, and Rowland Jones, a free man of color.
I will give ten dollars to any one who will deliver said girl to me, or five dollars for her confinement in any jail in the State so that I get her again. The subscriber resides six miles North of Raleigh, N.C. EDWARD CHAPPELL.
February 12, 1853.
A pardoned villain. A fellow named Carroll, a free negro, has been arrested and imprisoned for horse-stealing in Wake county, N.C. This is the third offence. According to law he should have been hung for the second offence, but escaped, in consequence of some technical discrepancy in the proceedings. – He runs a slim chance of escape in the present instance; and surely if the penalty is strictly agreeable to the turpitude of his crime, he deserves it, especially for the third offence; but for ourselves we never could perceive the reason, the justice or righteousness of the law in such cases. Horse-stealing we regard as a high misdemeanor, but one which can only deserve incarceration in a penitentiary. – What! Deprive a human being of life for a stealing a horse? Horrible.
The Newbernian and North Carolina Advocate, 26 August 1843.
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On Tuesday, therefore, the criminal docket was taken up, when Lewis Chavers, a free man of color, was put upon his trial for an assault and battery on Mr. Drury Kemp, a white man. Chavers was found guilty of the assault, which was of an aggravated nature, and fined one hundred dollars, and ordered to be sold for the payment of the fine. …
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On Thursday, Harriet Durham, (a free woman of color,) charged with the murder of Grace, a negro woman, the property of Mr. John Pennington, of this county, was put upon her trial, and pleaded not guilty. The evidence in this case was entirely circumstantial. It seemed, from the proofs, that the prisoner and the deceased slept together in the same log-cabin; that on the night the murder was committed several of the witnesses were in the cabin with the prisoner and the deceased, and that they observed the signs of ill will between them; that the witnesses left the cabin about midnight; that next morning, about sun-up, one of the witnesses discovered the deceased lying in the jam of the chimney outside the cabin, with her skull broken; that the prisoner was interrogated by the witness before the body was found, as to where the deceased was, and that the prisoner said she did not know, but that somebody had called upon the deceased that night in a low voice, and asked her to come out of the cabin and go to a certain place; that another witness, after the body was found, told the prisoner she might as well confess herself the murderer, for she would have it to do; that the prisoner was afterwards asked why she had killed Grace, and that she answered because Grace had threatened to kill her; that the prisoner admitted she had struck the deceased two blows with a very heavy iron pestle, which caused her death. It was further in evidence that there was no way of getting into the cabin but through the door, which was fastened inside every night with a strong pin; that the iron pestle, which had been rusty and out of use before, was found that morning bearing the marks of having been scoured in the ashes; that blood was sprinkled upon the bed-clothing, on the floor, and upon the walls and loft of the cabin; that there was blood upon the door-sill, and evidence upon the ground outside the door of some one’s having been dragged upon it; that part of the bed-clothing had been washed, and that the blood had dried upon them in circles; that they were scortched in some places, and a portion of an old rug, the property of the deceased, cut out and hid or destroyed. This was the substance of the evidence on the part of the State. The prisoner offered no evidence. The case was opened by Hugh McQueen, Esq., for the prisoner; he was replied to by the Attorney General, and as the prisoner offered no testimony, was entitled to the concluding argument. This argument was more upon the facts than his opening speech, and was consequently extended to greater length; and we believe the opinion of all who heard it was that it eminently sustained his reputation for ability and ingenuity. The verdict of the Jury was, Guilty.
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The North-Carolina Star (Raleigh), 12 April 1843.
Horse Stealing. — Washington Taborn, a free coloured man, has been committed to the jail of Moore county, charged with having stolen the horse of Mr. Isham Sims, of this county — the same that was recently advertised in this paper. Taborn having been once tried and found guilty of a similar offense, a second conviction will sibject him to the punishment of death! — Ral. Register.
Fayetteville Weekly Observer, 30 September 1830.
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Washington Taburn, a free negro, who was sentenced to be hung in Granville county, and who effected his escape last Spring, has been apprehended in Northampton county, and committed to jail.
The North-Carolina Star, 27 September 1833.
Superior Court. – On Thursday, the 7th instant. Negro Ephraim, the property of Dr. Simmons J. Baker, of Martin county, was tried before the Superior Court of this county, for killing Francis W. Anderson, a free boy of color, by throwing at, and striking him on the head with a stone, which occasioned his death, after lingering a few days. He was convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to receive 39 lashes.
On the following day, the trial of a young man, of mixed blood, though, to all appearance, a white man, & having a white woman for his wife, charged with attempting to commit a rape upon a white girl of about 12 years of age, took place. The jury retired about eight o’clock in the evening, and, in three of four minutes after, returned with a verdict of Not Guilty.
The North Carolina Star (Raleigh), 15 April 1825.
At the Superior Court of Wake county, Lockley, a free man of color, implicated in the charge of disinterring a dead body for the purpose of obtaining the teeth, was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to three months imprisonment. The principal offender has not been found.
Salisbury, a free boy of color, was convicted of grand larceny, and sentenced to receive forty lashes.
Hillsborough Recorder, 16 April 1828.
RALEIGH, May 20, 1869.
K.P. BATTLE, ESQ.:
Dear Sir: I have to state that Jeptha Horton and myself purchased of William Smith (free colored) his tract of land (less than 100 acres) lying in the vicinity of Raleigh, and not long afterwards sold it to John Hutchins, of Wake county, who paid the purchase money, and received a proper deed for the same about the year 1853.
I have conversed with Mr. Horton, and he thinks both he and I signed the deed, and that Smith’s deed to us was at the time delivered over to Mr. Hutchins. Mr. Horton was the active agent in the purchase and sale of this property, and my own recollections at this late date of the entire transaction are very meagre and imperfect. Yours, W.W. VASS
The deed from Wm. Smith, barber, to W.W. Vass and Jeptha Horton in fee, is registered and date February, 1853.
Wm. Smith bought of John Suggs in 1838 and 1826, as appears from the registry books. BATTLE & SONS.
The Daily Standard (Raleigh), 27 May 1869.
NOTICE.
The subscriber having qualified as Administrator of the Estate of John Jackson, deceased, a free man of colour; all persons indebted to the Estate are requested to make payment immediately and those having claims to present their accounts properly attested for payment. THEOPHILUS HUNTER, Adm’r.
Wake county, June 6.
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State of North-Carolina, Wake county } May Sessions, 1807.
A PAPER purporting to contain the nuncupative last Will of John Jackson, deceased, a man of colour, was exhibited to open Court, for probate and it being suggested that the relatives of John Jackson (if any) are not inhabitants of this state: It is therefore ordered, the publication be made in the Minerva for three months, notifying such relatives, that the Court will proceed at the next term to pass upon the probate of the said Will,
Copy from the minutes, WM. HILL, Clk
Raleigh Minerva, 11 June 1807.
WAS committed to Wayne County Jail, on the 31st Oct. last, a negro man who calls his name Billy Holmes, and says he is free. He is about 6 feet high, dark complexion, good teeth, and weighs about 170 lbs., his age is about 24 years. He further says that he was bound to Judge Sanders at 10 years of age, and remained with him until he was 21; after which he went to Wilmington and had a fight with one Charles Hamburg, a white man, for which he was imprisoned; that Mr. John Cowan paid the cost, that he agreed to work with Mr. Cowan until he was paid, and from whom he eventually hired his time; he then worked on the Light Boat two months; then as Fireman on the Petersburg Railroad two months; and thence came to Goldsboro’, where, after committing several acts of Larceny, he was committed to Jail. It is generally believed that he is a runaway slave. The owner is requested to come forward, prove property, pay charges, and take him away, or he will be dealt with as the law directs.
Said Billy says his mother’s name is Amy Hays, and his father is Billy Holmes (the Barber) – born and raised in Wake county. OLLIN COOR, Sheriff.
Goldsboro’, Nov. 29, 1853.
New Era, Goldsboro, 15 March 1854.
Fourth Generation Inclusive 