The 1860 federal slave schedules generally did not call for the names of enslaved individuals. Rather, they were listed as anonymous tallies under their enslaver’s name, identified only by age, sex, and complexion (B for black or M for mulatto). However, as an exception, census enumerators were instructed to explicitly record the first names of enslaved people who were 100 years old or older.

Thus, in the enumeration of Wilson township, Wilson County, Mary Barnes reported Sarah, who was believed to be 100.

[Was Sarah actually 100 years old? We have no way to know. In an era of sparse documentation of births and repeatedly broken chains of ownership, Mary Barnes may have been guessing. Well into the twentieth century, the ages of black people who reached their late 70s or 80s — well past life expectancy — were regularly inflated.]