When Stephen Woodard Sr. executed his last will and testament in 1858, he determined the fates of 72 enslaved African-Americans.
In Item 15th, daughter Penelope Woodard received 20 enslaved people. Woodard died in 1864, and all were likely freed before his estate was distributed. Though they presumably were in Wilson County at Emancipation, I’m able to trace forward relatively few people.
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- Asa
- James
- Ben
Benjamin Woodard has been a popular subject of my blogposts.
- George
- William
- Jacob
Perhaps: on 3 August 1867, Jacob Woodard, son of Gabriel Woodard and Rena Deans, married Anna Tyson, daughter of Jack Tyson and Diana Tyson, at A.G. Brooks’ in Wilson County.
- Gray
Grey Woodard, son of Cooper and Chacy Woodard, married Jane Edmondson, daughter of Easter Edmondson, on 6 February 1869 in Wilson County.
In the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farm laborer Gray Woodard, 19; wife Jane, 19; Cherry Edmondson, 21, farm laborer, and child Willis, 4; Jno. Woodard, 6 months; and Epps Edmondson, 6.
In the 1880 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Grey Woodard, 27; wife Jane, 25; and children Daniel, 10, Grant, 5, Handy, 4, Frank, 3, Jonah, 2, and Martha, 1. [Gray Woodard and family were close neighbors to Austin Woodard and Cooper Woodard, who were Gray’s brother and father.]
- Sam
- Old Bob
- Sarah and her children Delilah, Edwin, and Ellen
This does not appear to be Sarah Woodard who married first Warren Rountree, then her sister Harriet’s widower, Alfred Woodard.
- Rebecca and her children Isidore, Isaac, and Mary
- Rose
- Cherry
Perhaps: in 1866, Jack Woodard and Cherry Woodard registered their three-year marriage with a Wilson County justice of the peace.
In the 1870 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farmer Jack Woodard, 25; wife Cherry, 24; and daughter Martha, 2.
In the 1880 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: farm laborer Jack Woodard, 36; wife Cherry, 36; and children Martha, 13, Mattie, 8, James, 6, Mary, 4, Fannie, 3, and Nicey, 5 months.
In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: widower Jack Woodard, 59; sons Jimmy, 26, and Baylum, 14; and grandchildren Moses Atkinson, 6, and Afonsa Atkinson, 5.
- Barbery