Wilson N.C.
Jany 5th 1865.
Col. Whittlesey
Col.
Moses Daniel (Freedman) reported to the Superintendent of Freedmen at Goldsboro that his former master Jacob Daniel a highly respectable citizen of this County refused to give to him his child Bob – whereupon the Superintendent Geo. O. Glavis ordered Mr. Daniel to give the child up and Mr. Daniel to obey the order & prevent any disturbance gave the boy up. He now appeals to you to have the boy restored to him. He is willing to have the boy bound to him and will do all in that regard that may be required. The following circumstances are the bases on which he makes his appeal. The mother of this boy Bob never had any husband and died when the boy was not over six months old. The Man Moses was the slave of Mr. Daniel and had a wife by whom had children at a neighbors (Mr. Farmers.) It may be that Moses is the father of the child but if so it is an illegitimate one. The Boy Bob has been raised by Mr. Daniels wife almost like a white child – and was esteemed highly and has never evinced any desire to leave his home. He is now about 15 years of age. The Reputed father by reason of the order aforesaid has taken the boy and hired him as common laborer to a Mr Barefoot in this County, as Mr. Daniel has been informed.
Common justice it is thought would restore the boy until he is twenty one to the one who has been at all the trouble and expense of raising him. Your Kind offices are respectfully prayed for in behalf of Mr. Daniel.
By Your Obt Servant G.W. Blount
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Farmer Jacob Daniels, 64, appears in the 1870 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County. There is no Bob or Moses Daniel in Wilson County, but in adjoining Nahunta township, Wayne County: Moses Daniel, 27, wife Clarkey, 40, plus Smith, 18, Harry, 21, and Jane Daniel, 10.
Records of Assistant Commissioner of the State of North Carolina; Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands; Record Group 105, National Archives; Freedmen Bureau Records of Field Offices, 1863-1878 [database on-line], Ancestry.com.