In addition to free people of color Wyatt and Caroline Lynch, letters transcribed in Hugh Buckner Johnston, Jr., ed., “The Confederate Letters of Ruffin Barnes of Wilson County,” North Carolina Historical Review, vol. XXI, no. 1 (January 1954), mention several enslaved people.

In a letter to wife Mary Bryant Barnes dated 21 October 1863, a reference to Cato:

In a letter to his wife dated 23 May 1864, a reference to Penny (and free man of color Wyatt Lynch):

In a letter to his wife dated 23 July 1864, a reference to Elias. Per Johnston’s annotation, “Elias is thought to have been a slave from the Black Creek community. Many trusted family retainers were sent to the scene of war to carry messages, food, or clothing to their young masters.”