Convict leasing never took hold in Wilson County the way it did in the deeper South (or even western North Carolina), but it nevertheless was a system of forced penal labor available to those who wanted and could afford to take advantage of it.

Below, in November 1896, Paul Lee Woodard and William Woodard Jr. agreed to pay the Wilson County Commissioners six dollars per month to lease Walter Mitchell, “a prisoner in the County Jail,” for one year. If Mitchell failed to “do his duty,” he could be returned to county custody. The arrangement meant (1) the county was relieved of the expense of feeding and otherwise looking after Mitchell for a year, and (2) the Woodards gained cheap labor that they could work hard and completely control. As for Mitchell, he was possibly spared roadwork under harsh conditions, but was also removed from what nominal protections were afforded by being under the county’s “care.” Either way, he received no pay for his labor.

Hire of Prisoner (1896), Miscellaneous Records, Wilson County Records, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh.