1840s

The estate of Wright Edmundson (1861).

Wright Edmondson, who lived on 1800 acres on Toisnot Swamp, was one of the largest slaveholders in Wilson County. Like most wealthy men of his time and place, he died with lengthy lists of both debtors and creditors, and the probate of his estate was considerably complicated by his failure to make a will and his many gifts to his children of slaves and other property a decade or so before he died on Christmas Eve 1860.

This list of “Names of all the slaves of the estate of W. Edmondson at his death except the increase of such as were advanced by him” includes 96 people. The subsets of people indicated by dividing lines represent some of the groups distributed together. Were they groupings random? Did they comprise nuclear families?

The 96 were: Esther, Cassel, Mariah, James, Edmond, Sarah, Lucy, Louis, Isaac, Lucindy, Bil, Silvy, Josh, Charles, Elith, Willis, Arthur, Esther, Rose, Howel, Eliza, Henry, Pheby, and Epsy; Sarah, Frank, Ann, Levy, Isaac, Edny and child, Tom, Jesse, Liza, Byrum, Peggy, Mary, Manuel, Arthur, Lewis, Mary, Jane, Lewis, Ruben, Mary (yellow), Sherard, Gatsy, Elias, Jason, Burt, Riley, Margaret, Nancy, Anica, Laura, Sampson, Emily, Calvin, Caroline, Julia, Dick, Patrick, Kate, Beck, Allen, Luvinia, London, Henry, Dury, Sarah, Adline, Haywood, Betsey, Lizz, John, Ephraim, Aaron, Gray, Winny, Morrison, Ben, Alsy, Violet, Bob, Hilyard, Ester, Pherby and child, Levi, Mac, Samuel, Arnold, Synthia, Ellen, Fondney, and Claricy.

Rufus W. Edmundson acknowledged that in 1842 he had received three enslaved people from his father along with land, work animals, two carts, and food staples. Curiously, none of the enslaved were named. Rather, they were “1 Negro Fellow likely age about 21 years …,” “1 [Negroe] Woman” about 18 years old, and “1 [Negroe] Boye” about 12.

Redmond S. Petway acknowledged receipt, on behalf of his wife Elizabeth Jane Edmundson, of Easter, Edmon, Jim, Cassel, and Mariah in December 1843 and March 1844.

Garry Edmundson confirmed that in 1843 his “Pa” had given him Bill, age 23 (but a “boy”); Silvy, age 26 (but a “girl”); Josh, age 10; Charles, age 7; and Elitha, an infant. He took the opportunity to grade Bill as medium quality; Silvy and Josh as inferior; and the youngest children as “likely,” i.e. strong and healthy.

In 1853, William L. Quarles, on behalf of his wife Caroline Edmundson, had received Rose, about 20, likely; Howell, 8 or 9, likely; Eliza, 8 or 9, ordinary; and Henry, 23 or 24, average. In 1855, he had received Phiby, 8, diseased (“did not recover”), and Epsy, 8, likely.

John F. Sanders (husband of Martha Edmundson) affirmed that in 1848 he had received Lewis; Lucy, 14, Sary, 13, Isaac, 7, and Lucinda, 6 (plus a mule and some cash.) All except Lewis were described as “likely.”

The rest of Edmundson’s children and his widow Susan Edmundson “took charge” of certain slaves before the estate was divided. Zilly Edmundson claimed Mary, Ann, Frank, Manuel, and little Mary. Penelope Edmundson snagged Alcy, Ester, Bob, Arthur, and Violet. Susan W. Edmundson took Cate, Beck, Patrick, Allen, and Luvinia. James P. Edmundson claimed Dury, Allen, Lun, Tom, and Lear. Their mother took Sherard, Gatsey, Jason, Sampson, Elias, Burt, Riley, Aniky and child Laura, Nancy, and Margaret.

Finally, the remaining unclaimed enslaved people were divided — “Drawn for by all children after setting apart certain slaves for equalizing advancements and certain slaves taken charge of by the widow.”

James Edmundson received Henry, Sarah, and Haywood, valued at $1800. Rufus Edmundson received Lizzie, Gray, Winny, Ann, and Betsey valued at $1675. John F. Saunders received Reuben, Cintha, Ellen, Fonzy, and Claricy, valued at $1850. Redmond S. Petway received Isaac, Edny, Eliza, Jesse, and Byron, valued at $1950. William L. Quarles received Calvin, Caroline, and Julia Ann, valued at $2150. Zillah Edmundson received Mary, Jane, Lewis, and Arnold, valued at $1500. Penelope Edmundson received Levi, Feriby, Mac, and Sam, valued at $1800. Susan Edmundson received Ephraim and Emily and her child, valued at $1900. Garry Edmundson received Ben, Sarah and her child, and Hilliard, valued at $1950.

The only black person who received anything of value among the multitude of transactions needed to resolve Edmundson’s estate was Sherrod, a “servant,” i.e. enslaved man. Sherrod filed a claim against the estate, asserting that Edmundson owed him nine dollars. As an enslaved person, Sherrod was incapable of entering into a binding contract, but Rufus W. Edmundson paid him nonetheless. On Christmas Day 1861.

We recognize several of the people distributed among Wright Edmundson’s wife and children as people he obtained in a controversial series of transactions with Abner Eason circa 1830: Sampson, born about 1811; Nancy (1806) and her daughter Phereby (1825); London (1827), Henry, and Sherrod. Edmundson also owned Nancy’s later-born children Alfred, Rose, Calvin, Nanna, Ann, and Howell, and Phereby’s daughter Lucinda.

Relatively few freedpeople in Wilson County adopted the surname Edmundson after Emancipation, and it is difficult to trace forward more than a handful of the men, women, and children Wright Edmundson held.

These couples registered cohabitations with Wilson County justices of the peace in 1866: Benjamin Edmundson* and Alsa Edmundson*, 12 years; Ephraim Edmundson* and Gatsey Rodgers, 3 years; John Edmundson* and Marie Edmundson, 1 year; Safronia Edmundson and Henry Peacock; Bettie Edmundson and Arthur Barnes, 17 years; Dewey Edmundson* and Solomon Woodard, 4 years; Gatsy Edmundson* and Sherard Ham, 24 years; Kate Edmundson* and Mason Bass, 4 years; Mary Edmundson* and Amos Ellis, 18 years. I have marked with an asterisk those couples that appear to have been held by Wright Edmundson.

The families I have found:

  • Benjamin and Alsa Edmundson and daughter Violet Edmundson Pitt

In the 1870 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County, North Carolina: Ben Edmundson, 55, farm laborer; wife Alsa, 39; and Violet, 18. [Alsa and Violet went to Penelope Edmundson, above. Ben went to Garry Edmundson.]

On 24 January 1871, Violet Edmundson married William Pitts in Wayne County.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Pettigrew Street, farmer William Pitts, 34; wife Violet, 25; and children Ailsey, 10, Martha, 5, Hattie, 3; and Laura, 10 months.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Ben Edmonson, 77, drayman; wife Elsy, 71; and boarder [granddaughter] Elsy Pitt, 25, “cooking”.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Violet Pit, 50, washing, and children Martha, 24, washing, Hattie, 22, cooking, Lula, 21, cooking, Ben, 19, tobacco stemmer, Carry, 12, cooking, Rosa, 16, nurse, Meaner, 11, Jenney, 5, and Edward, 2.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: laundress Violett Pitt, 58; daughters Lula, 28, Matha, 34, and Hattie, 30; and grandchildren Mary, 10, Harvey, 8, Frank, 7, Lizzie, 6, Jonie, 18, and William, 9; and daughter Mena, 20.

On 7 November 1915, Ed Battle, 24, of Wilson, son of Allan and Mariah Battle, married Rosa Pitt, 24, of Wilson, daughter of Bill and Viola Pitt, in Wilson. Shade Hines applied for the license, and A.M.E. Zion minister B.P. Coward performed the ceremony in the presence of Frank Barnes, Leonard Kornegay, and B[illegible] Edmundson.

Rosa Pitt Battle died 26 December 1919 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 2 January 1884 in Wilson County, N.C, to William Pitt and Violet Edmundson; was married to Eddie Battle; and lived at 804 Vance. Mena Pitt was informant.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 804 Vance, widow Violet Pitt, 70, and daughters Elise, 45, Lula, 39, Mena, 29, and Elizabeth, 16.

Elsie Pitt died 19 June 1938 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born in 1875 in Wilson to William Pitt of Nash County and Violet Emerson [Edmundson] of Wilson County; was single; lived at 903 East Vance; and was buried in Wilson [probably in Vick Cemetery, but possibly the newly opened Rest Haven.] Ximena Martinez was informant.

  • Ephraim Edmundson

In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Ephram Edmundson, 25, farm laborer; wife Gatsey, 23; and children Mary, 6, and Buck, 4.

In the 1880 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Gatsey Edmundson, 35; children Buck, 14, Mattie, 12, Louise, 10, Jorden, 8, and Marcellus, 1; and Waity Barnes, 18.

On 4 February 1890, Ephram Edmundson, 45, married Harriet Ruffin, 20, in Wayne County, N.C.

In the 1900 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County, N.C.: farmer Lewis Artice, 49; wife Mattie, 46; children Loney, 21, Arthur, 18, Ida, 17, Andrew J., 14, Minnie, 11, Floyd, 8, and Ivey, 26; boarder Ephram Edmundson, 60, widower; and mother-in-law Sarah Evans, 70, widow.

In the 1910 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County, N.C.: Ephram Edmundson, 60, and daughters Sarah, 19, Sallie, 16, and Merdy, 1.

Sallie Mayo died 15 January 1943 in Nahunta township, Wayne County. Per her death certificate, she was born 10 April 1894 in Wayne County to Ephrim Edmundson and Harrett Ruffins; was single; and was buried in Lanes cemetery, Stantonsburg.

  • Drury Edmundson Woodard Randall

On 3 April 1866, Solomon Woodard and Dewey Edmundson registered their four-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace.

In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Solomon Woodard, 30, farmer; wife Dewry, 25; and Mary, 3.

Solomon Woodard died early in 1878, and Drury Woodard relinquished administration of his estate to James S. Woodard.

On 25 December 1879, George Randal, 23, married Dury Woodard, 33, in Wilson County.

In the 1880 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer George Randal, 23; wife Drewry, 34; and stepdaughter Mary, 14.

  • Kate Edmundson Bass

On 12 May 1866, Mason Bass and Kate Edmundson registered their four-year marriage with a Wilson County justice of the peace.

In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Mason Bass, 32; wife Katy, 33; children Spicy, 7, Bettie, 6, Riley, 1, and Nathaniel, 2 months; Mary, 53, Eliza, 28, and Sarah Bass, 16; and Ruffin Barnes, 18.

In the 1880 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Mason Bass, 43; wife Kate, 45; and children Isicy, 17, Bettie, 16, Amanuel, 2, and Mattie, 10 months.

In the 1900 census of Coahoma County, Mississippi: North Carolina-born Mason Bass, 63; wife Katie, 65; children Emanuel, 22, and Amelia, 18; and granddaughter Conelus, 1. Next door: Olie Henry, 45; wife Spicie, 37; and their children Amie, 14, William, 5, and Nathan, 3.

  • Mary Edmundson Ellis

Amos Ellis and Mary Edmundson registered their 18-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace on 2 July 1866.

In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: next door to Isom and Patience Ellis, farm laborer Amos P. Ellis, 47; wife Mary 40; and children Adeline, 23, Authur, 19, Learh, 17, Mary, 15, Jane, 11, and Lewis, 10; plus Authur, 65, and Betsey Barnes, 60.

  • Levi and Phenly [Phereby?] Edmundson and children Allen, Mack, Samuel, and infant

This family went to Penelope Edmundson as a partially intact group, without their oldest children. Son Allen, for example, was placed with Susan Edmundson.

In 1867, Levi Edmundson, son of Dick and Peggy Barnes, married Ferly Edmundson, daughter of Ned Amerson and Nancy Edmundson, in Wilson County. [Nancy and her daughter Phenly/Pherly/Phereby came to Wright Edmundson from Abner Eason. Phenly had a daughter Lucinda, and Nancy’s additional children included Alfred, Rose, Calvin, Nanna, Ann, and Howell.]

In the 1870 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Levi Edmondson, 55; wife Phenly, 47; and children Mack, 16, Samuel, 13, Milly, 10, Cora, 8, and Dock, 5.

In the 1880 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Pheny Edmundson, 60, and children Mack, 24, Allen, 28, Lumilar, Doctor, 15, and Albert, 10.

On 23 December 1880, Allen Edmundson, 30, son of Levi and Fearby Edmundson, married Vicy Woodard, 29, daughter of Bright Thompson and Bidie Thompson, at Benjamin Woodard‘s residence in Wilson County. D.G.W. Ward performed the ceremony.

On 3 November 1883, Mack Edmundson, 26, married Harrett Newsom, 24, in Stantonsburg, Wilson County,

In the 1900 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County: farmer Mack Edmundson, 44; wife Harriet, 38; and children Levy, 16, Annah, 13, Mack, 9, Arthur, 7, Cora, 5, and Albert, 3.

On 26 February 1907, Mack Edmundson, 50, son of Levi and P[illegible] Edmundson, married Fannie Wooten, 40, daughter of Irvin and Bedie Exum, in Wayne County.

In the 1910 census of Nahunta township, Wayne County: farmer Mack Edmundson, 54; wife Fannie, 44; and children Mack, 19, Arthur, 16, Cora, 15, Albert, 13, and Almeter, 11.

On 17 February 1915, Mack Edmondson, 22, of Wayne County, son of Mack Edmondson and Harriet [no maiden name], married Pearline Taylor, 19, of Black Creek, daughter of Arnold and Alice Taylor, at Arnold Taylor’s in Black Creek, Wilson County. Walter H. Artis, John H. Artis, and Edward Artis were witnesses.

Cora Artis died 16 October 1936 in Nahunta, Wayne County. Per his death certificate, she was born 1894 in Wayne County to Mack and Harriet Edmundson and was married to Walter Artis.

Mack Edmundson died 6 May 1961 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his death certificate, he was born 5 May 1891 in North Carolina to Mack Edmundson and was married to Pauline Edmundson.

Almeter Edmundson Dickerson died 2 August 1975 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 20 February 1902 to Mack Edmundson and Ferbie(?) Edmundson; was married to Fred Dickerson; and resided at 308 Finch Street.

Estate File of Wright Edmundson, Wilson County, N.C., U.S. Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998, http://www.ancestry.com.

Teresa Parker’s son.

The 1840 census of Black Creek district, Wayne County (which largely became Black Creek district, Wilson County, in 1855) includes a type of household that may surprise some — white women with mixed race children. Though rare in antebellum Wilson County, such households were not uncommon in neighboring counties like Wayne and Nash.

Teresa Parker was the head of a household that consisted of one white male aged 10-14, one white female aged 30-39, one white female aged 70-79, and 1 free colored male under age 10. Teresa was likely the woman in her 30s. The elder woman was probably her mother or grandmother. The younger boy was Teresa’s son Tarrel W. Parker. The elder boy probably was, too.

Teresa Parker apparently died between 1840 and 1850. Tarrel Parker is not found in 1850, but appears in the 1860 census in Black Creek township as a 23 year-old farm laborer in the household of white farmer Elias Farrell. (The other boy has not been further identified.) Tarrel Parker named his first child, Trecy, born about 1874, after his mother.

The last will and testament of Sarah Jernigan (1849).

When Sarah Jernigan drafted her will on 20 July 1849, she lived in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, but her estate entered probate in Wilson County. (I have not found the estate file.)

To daughter Penelope Anderson, she bequeathed enslaved people Olive, Larrow, Rose, Ellen, Evaline, Rody, Lucy the child of Olive, Jack, Ben, Judy, and Anaky.

To friend [actually son-in-law and Methodist circuit rider] Nathan Anderson, in trust for Jernigan’s daughter Elizabeth Whitley (so as to keep the property free from control of her husband Edwin G. Whitley), she bequeathed Dinah, Mason, Dick, Jane, Caroline, Handy, Grace, Pearce, Beck, Peg, Delpha, Turner, Lucy, Ginny, and Hester.

Nathan Anderson is listed in the 1850 slave schedule of Edgecombe County with 14 enslaved people. He died in 1859, leaving widow Penelope and four young children. His estate mentions the hiring out of enslaved people — which brought in hundreds of dollars in income per year — but does not name them.

Penelope Anderson is listed in the 1860 slave schedule of Saratoga district, Wilson County, with only four enslaved people. Her near neighbor Edwin Barnes, who was administrator of Nathan Anderson’s estate, is listed as holding 15 enslaved people as the trustee for four minors (the Anderson children).

Few African-American Andersons and no Jernigans appear in post-emancipation Wilson County records. If the people Sarah Jernigan enslaved remained in the area, they largely adopted other surnames.

——

  • Olive

In 1866, Olive Anderson and Leavie Barnes registered their 24-year cohabitation with a Wilson county justice of the peace.

In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Levi Barnes, 45; wife Olive, 50; children Samuel, 19, Charles, 10, Rachel, 18, and Celia, 15; Adeline Whitley, 23; Dinah Whitley, 70; and Dewey, 12, and Richard Whitley, 42.

  • Larrow
  • Rose
  • Ellen
  • Evaline
  • Rody

In 1869, Rhody Anderson, daughter of Lee Anderson and Olif Anderson, married Stephen Moore, son of Stephen Moore and Jinsey Moore, in Wilson County.

In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Stephen Moore, 23, farm laborer; wife Rodah, 23; and son Lazarus, 8 months.

In the 1880 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Rhoda Moore, 30, works on farm, and children Lazarus, 10, Peter, 8, and Nelly, 4.

Ida Jenkins died 29 December 1921 in Helena, Phillips County, Arkansas. Per her death certificate, she was 36 years old; was born in North Carolina to Stephen Moore and Rhoda [no maiden name] and was married. Frank Jenkins was informant.

  • Lucy, daughter of Olive
  • Jack
  • Ben

Perhaps, in the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Benjamin Anderson, 39; wife Catharine, 38; and children Robert, 13, Joseph, 10, Dink, 8, Dinah, 4, and Lucy, 1.

  • Judy
  • Anaky

In the 1870 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Anaka Anderson, 35, and children Fanny, 15, Seth, 7, Benjamin, 4, and Bettie, 2.

  • Dinah

Probably: in the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Levi Barnes, 45; wife Olive, 50; children Samuel, 19, Charles, 10, Rachel, 18, and Celia, 15; Adeline Whitley, 23; Dinah Whitley, 70; and Dewey, 12, and Richard Whitley, 42.

  • Mason

Possibly: in 1866, Mason Whitley and Marendy Bryan registered their 17-year cohabitation.

  • Dick

Probably: in the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Levi Barnes, 45; wife Olive, 50; children Samuel, 19, Charles, 10, Rachel, 18, and Celia, 15; Adeline Whitley, 23; Dinah Whitley, 70; and Dewey, 12, and Richard Whitley, 42.

In the 1880 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Richard Whitley, 54, and wife Becky, 41.

  • Jane
  • Caroline
  • Handy
  • Grace
  • Pearce
  • Beck
  • Peg
  • Delpha
  • Turner
  • Lucy
  • Ginny
  • Hester

North Carolina Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998, http://www.ancestry.com.

Professor Samuel Price Geralds.

The Ram yearbook (1947), Winston-Salem Teachers College.

In 1941, Samuel Price Geralds graduated from C.H. Darden High School, where he played football. Geralds was born in 1920 in Plymouth, Washington County, N.C., to Boyd and Viola Cooper Geralds. The family moved often in Geralds’ young life and apparently did not live in Wilson long.

Winston-Salem Journal, 25 May 1947.

Geralds’ education at Winston-Salem was interrupted by military service. He earned a Purple Heart after receiving a serious wound in Germany. He finished his undergraduate studies in 1947, then received a masters degree from the University of Iowa in 1950. He then went on to fulfill his college nickname, “Professor,” when he joined the faculty of Louisiana’s Southern University.

The TC Alumni Bulletin, October 1950.

Per his obituary in the Baton Rouge Advocate, 2 January 2009:

Samuel Price Geralds, a retired assistant professor with Southern University, died Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008, at Baton Rouge General Medical Center-Mid City. He was 88, a resident of Baton Rouge and native of Plymouth, N.C.

Visiting at Hall’s Celebration Center, 9348 Scenic Highway, until religious service, conducted by Bertell Davis, pastor of Magnolia Baptist Church. Interment in Port Hudson National Cemetery, Zachary. Arrangements by Hall Davis & Son Funeral Service.

He is survived by his best friend and former wife, Inez S. Geralds; son, David; three grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and relatives, friends and former students.
Preceded in death by his parents.

After graduating from the University of Iowa in 1950 with a master’s degree in speech pathology, he accepted a position with the Louisiana Department of Education, becoming the first African-American speech pathologist in Louisiana. He subsequently became a member of the Southern University faculty. He remained a faculty member in the profession for the next 50 years until his retirement in 2005. Among his distinctions, he was a recipient of the Purple Heart Medal for his military service during World War II in the European-African-Middle Eastern theater and served as chair of the speech pathology program. He also served as chair of the National Black Association for Speech Language Hearing Board of Directors, was awarded the Fellow member of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) and was a nominee for ASHA’s highest award, Honors of the Association. He was an avid reader and enjoyed solving crossword puzzles. He nurtured and mentored most students who passed within earshot of his voice, and, if possible, would have gone fishing every day.

Affidavits of good behavior, no. 3.

I’ve been hunting for digitized evidence of the trade of Wilson County slavers like Wyatt Moye, Robert S. Adams, Stephenton Page Jr., and Joshua Barnes in Aberdeen, Mississippi. I finally found some in a deed book dated 1847-1850. (Wilson County, of course, had not yet formed, but these and other traders lived or had lived in parts of Edgecombe, Nash, Wayne, or Johnston Counties that are now Wilson County.) These registered affidavits attest to the affiants’ personal acquaintance with an enslaved person who had been sent from North Carolina to Mississippi for further sale.

——

Deed Record 13, page 640. Chancery Clerk’s Office, Monroe County, Mississippi.

Know all men by these presents that we Jesse Simpson and Isaac Williamson Citizens and free holders of the County of Nash and State of North Carolina do hereby certify that we are acquainted with a negro man named Abram aged about twenty three years old a Stout Strong well musselled boy about five feet two inches high and darke culler and cross eied, furthermore that said Slave has not been guilty or convicted of murder arson burglary or felony within our knowledge or belief in said County nor no other County.  /s/ Jesse Simpson, Isaac Williamson

Deed Record 13, page 640. Chancery Clerk’s Office, Monroe County, Mississippi.

Know all men by these presents that we Jesse Simpson and Isaac Williamson Citizens and free holders of the County of Nash and State of North Carolina do hereby certify that we are acquainted with a negro man named Aberdeen aged about twenty three years old, a large Stout Strong Boy and of dark complection, furthermore that said Slave has not been guilty or convicted of murder arson burglary or felony within our knowledge or belief in said County of Nash or any other County.  /s/ Jesse Simpson, Isaac Williamson

——

  • Abram and Aberdeen — Abram (or Abraham) and Aberdeen appear in the 1835 will of Elisha Applewhite, who devised them to his daughter Smithey D. Applewhite. Eventually, they came into the hands of Bartley Deans, whose daughter Elizabeth had married Smithey’s brother Robert Applewhite. In 1848, Deans placed both Abram and Aberdeen with the slavetradiing firm Moye & Adams to sell or hire out in Monroe County, Mississippi, a transaction that ended in litigation.
  • Jesse Simpson — Simpson is listed in the 1850 slave schedule of Nash County, N.C., with three enslaved people — two men, aged 55 and 33, and a young woman aged 16.
  • Isaac Williamson — Williamson is listed in the 1850 slave schedule of Nash County, N.C., with two enslaved people — two women, aged 40 and 24.

Documents reproduced at www.familysearch.org.

Affidavits of good behavior, no. 2.

NOTE: I found these documents before my trip to Aberdeen. They, in fact, spurred me to go.

——

I’ve been hunting for digitized evidence of the trade of Wilson County slavers like Wyatt Moye, Robert S. Adams, Stephenton Page Jr., and Joshua Barnes in Aberdeen, Mississippi. I finally found some in a deed book dated 1847-1850. (Wilson County, of course, had not yet formed, but these traders lived or had lived in parts of Edgecombe, Nash, Wayne, or Johnston Counties that are now Wilson County.) These registered affidavits attest to the affiants’ personal acquaintance with an enslaved person who had been sent from North Carolina to Mississippi for further sale.

——

Deed Record 13, page 641. Chancery Clerk’s Office, Monroe County, Mississippi.

Know all men by these presents that we Josh. Barnes and Jas. D. Barnes, Citizens & free holders of the County of Edgecomb & State of North Carolina do hereby certify that we are acquainted with negro woman Esther a very black thick set Slave about forty or fifty years of age which Slave Larry D. Farmer sent to Aberdeen, Mississippi, by Robert S. Adams that said Slave has not been guilty or convicted of murder, arson, burglary or felony within our knowledge or belief in said state. Signed with our Seals and dated  Feby 27th 1849.    /s/ Josh. Barnes, Jas. D. Barnes

Deed Record 13, page 642. Chancery Clerk’s Office, Monroe County, Mississippi.

Know all men by these presents that we Josh. Barnes & Jas. D. Barnes Citizens & free holders of the County of Edgecomb & State of North Carolina do hereby certify that we are acquainted with negro Friday a very black fellow about twenty or twenty five years of age rather awkard and a little open mouthed weighs about one hundred & sixty pounds that William Barnes sent to Aberdeen, Mississippi, furthermore that said Slave has not been guilty or convicted of murder, arson, burglary or other felony within our knowledge or belief in said state aforesaid. Signed this 27th day of Feby 1849.    /s/ Josh. Barnes, Jas. D. Barnes

——

  • Joshua Barnes
  • James D. Barnes — James Dew Barnes. In the 1860 census of Wilson County, farmer James D. Barnes reported $62,580 in personal property. The 1860 slave schedule reveals that this property included 34 enslaved people.
  • Larry D. Farmer
  • Robert S. Adams — Adams was a partner with Wyatt Moye in the slave-trading firm Moye and Adams.
  • William Barnes — brother of Joshua Barnes.

Documents reproduced at www.familysearch.org.

Notes from Mississippi: Aberdeen and slavery.

Monroe Democrat, 12 May 1852.

Why were Robert Adams and Wyatt Moye, slave traders from Edgecombe County, North Carolina, drawn to Aberdeen, today a sleepy town of fewer than 5000 people?

Again, John Rodabough, this time from his 8 April 1971 Aberdeen Examiner column “Part I Slavery”:

“That portion of Monroe County opened to settlement by the treaty of 1816 was a mixture of sandy-loam soils and hills covered with thick forests. It was connected to the outside world by a sometimes navigable river and an almost impossible road called Gaines Trace. This was land which did not attract the large plantation owner with his multitude of slaves. … However, the Chickasaw treaty which gave up the lands west of the Tombigbee River in 1832 greatly changed the situation.

“The Black Prairie, as it is often called was ideal for the plantation system. The thick black lime — impregnated soil was fertile and seemed inexhaustible. … Scions of eastern families rushed into the area, and … the slave population [increased] from 943 in 1830 to 4083 in 1840. … It was a land which in another decade would be a small replica of the Natchez District.

“In 1836 the city of Aberdeen was founded. … During the 1840’s the Aberdeen newspapers frequently had advertisements dealing with runaway slaves and notices of sales. In general it was a decade of fulfilling the processes begun in the 1830s.

“By 1850 the slave population was 11,717, and the white population stood at only 9418. By this time Aberdeen and the western half of Monroe County had become a part of the legendary Old South of thousands of salves toiling in view of the pillared mansion. A contemporary newspaper stated the county’s condition in these words:

The prairie is now one vast cotton field, with nothing to relieve the eye but its lengthy zigzag fencing — where no sound is heard to break the dull monotony of the oppressive silence, save the harsh command of the overseer or the sharp crack of his whip as he drives the sooty negro on through mud and rain. All is dreary, gloomy, and monotonous. On a cloudy day, it forcibly reminds one of the fabulous world of gloom, which borders on the river Styx. Is it not the shore from which many will take ferriage to Pluto’s dominions?

“[By 1850, Aberdeen] was not the second largest city of Mississippi and was rapidly overtaking Natchez, which was only slightly larger. As a result of its size and wealth, the city was considered one of the three permanent slave markets in the state. There was only one regular slave auction house, but many transactions took place at commission houses, certain street corners, and on the Courthouse steps. The slave auction house was that of Robert Adams & Moses J. Wicks; it was located on the southwest corner of Commerce and Walnut Street in a brick building. M.J. Wicks & Co. began advertising in Aberdeen in 1845 as a dry good and grocery house. It appears the firm entered the slave trade in January, 1848.

“By 1850 Robert Adams was associated with the firm, and he served as a purchasing agent in the East. The firm was dissolved and reinstated several times in the late 1850s, finally evolving into a banking partnership. Others important in the trade were: L.D. Leedy’s Action House, Hester & Lancaster; Wm. H. Kidd & Company, who hoped “to be able to please the most fastidious taste: Hampton & Herndon; Saunders & Bradley; and J.B. Franklin of Lauderdale, Tennessee, who advertised in 1852 that he was bringing 100 Negroes to the market at fair prices — ‘Small profits and quick sales is my motto.’

“Most of the Negroes brought in by outside speculators, or ‘speckled ladies’ as the Negroes called them, were sold at Clarke’s Corner, which is now the southeast corner of Commerce and Chestnut Streets. These transient vendors of slaves had to pay $1 for each slave exhibited and $5 for each slave sold in the city of Aberdeen.”

Notes from Mississippi: Wyatt Moye.

Among the documents I perused at Aberdeen’s Evans Memorial Library were local historian John Rodabough’s newspaper columns from the 1970s. Densely detailed and wide-ranging, Rodabaugh’s articles did not shy away from chronicling Monroe County’s roots as a center of Mississippi’s slave trade.

Let me remind you: Wyatt Moye (1793-1862) lived in Greene and Edgecombe Counties in the general vicinity of Stantonsburg. He served as Greene County sheriff for a while, then as an Edgecombe County legislator, where he sponsored legislation to create Wilson County. He was also a slave dealer. Working with other men from Edgecombe County, Moye was a trader and factor, moving “excess” or troublesome Black people from the Upper South to the Lower, where vast cotton fields awaited them.

The photograph of Wyatt Moye’s house, above, makes plain the abundant wages of human trafficking. In his 14 March 1972 “Port of Aberdeen” column, Rodabough described the house as “[t]he finest raised cottage of antebellum Aberdeen.” “The first floor was brick. The main floor above it was frame with a hipped roof. Brick piers supported the gallery of the main floor. A staircase rose from the walkway to that level. The floor of the lower porch was brick. Inside center halls bisected four rooms on each floor.”

As to Moye himself, Rodabough wrote, “Wyatt Moye was a partner in the banking firm of Cunningham, Moye & Co., which flourished in Aberdeen in the 1850’s. After his first wife’s death, he remarried in 1858 “and put his house up for sale. He moved to Memphis.”

Moye was also a director of Mississippi Mutual Insurance Company, which was incorporated in 1850. Among the lives it insured were those of enslaved people — to the benefit of their enslavers. Per Rodabough’s 31 August 1972 column: “In 1855 this firm was two doors from the northwest corner of Commerce and Locust Streets. On September 20, 1858, they purchased the building of Cunningham, Moye & Co., located [at] the present site of the western third of the First National Bank.” “Cunningham, Moye & Company was formed January 11, 1854, with a cash capital of $200,000. The firm was comprised of William R. Cunningham, Wyatt Moye, Robert S. Adams, and Moses J. Wicks.”

The Yazoo Democrat, 2 February 1853.

The I. Y. Johnson Home (Moye-Johnson) on the corner of Canal and Hickory Street in Aberdeen, Mississippi, built in 1855 by Wyatt Moye; Rodabough (John E.) papers, Special Collections Department, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State University Libraries (electronic version).

Eason vs. Edmundson: a dispute over the sale of seven enslaved people.

I have read hundreds, maybe thousands, of records documenting the lives of enslaved African Americans, many in my own family. I am fairly inured to the trauma that reading these documents inflicts — but not always to the trauma they record. The court pleadings I received from The Race and Slavery Petitions Project got under my skin in an unexpected way. They are a rich source for those seeking to reconstruct family history — names, ages, and family relationships, labor assignments. But they also reek of the casual odiousness of chattel slavery — enslavers squabbling over the sale of human beings, speculating on the monetary value of “this species of property,” splitting families.

Below, a summary of the dispute detailed in files 21284116 and 21284312. Read with care.

In 1830, Abner Eason was struggling with debt and feared that his property—specifically, seven enslaved people—would be seized to pay what he owed. In February of that year, he borrowed $500 from Wright Edmundson, signing a promissory note to repay that amount.

In May 1830, according to Eason, Edmundson requested further security for the loan. He proposed that Eason mortgage several enslaved individuals and, in exchange for this lien, Edmundson offered Eason an additional $300, with a twenty percent discount on the repayment. Eason agreed.

In early August 1830, per Eason, Edmundson asked for direct custody and control over the enslaved individuals to allow them to work and pay off the interest on the loan.

On 27 August 1830, Eason executed a deed of sale to Edmundson, transferring five enslaved people for $975.

Received of Wright Edmundson nine hundred dollars and seventy five dollars as payment in full for the following Negroes, slaves, to wit, Sampson a man aged nineteen, Nancy a woman ages twenty four years and her three children to wit Phereby a girl aged five years, Chainey aged four years, Lonon a boy aged three years, and I do by these presents warrant and defend the right and title of the said Negros unto the said Edmondson, his heirs and assigns against the claim or claims of all others, and I do also warrant the said negros to be sound and healthy and slaves for life. I[illegible] which I have here unto set my hand and seal, August 27th, 1830 A. Eason Witness M. Thomas Jas. B. Tartt

Later that month, Edmundson reported that Nancy feared her two other sons, Henry and Sherrod, might be sold to a slave speculator. Edmundson offered to take Henry and Sherrod in exchange for one of his own enslaved women, Milly, and to pay Eason $240 to compensate for the difference in value. At that time, Henry and Sherrod were valued at approximately $500, while Milly was valued at $260. Eason accepted the offer.

Over the next eleven years, Nancy gave birth to six more children. Eason repeatedly tried to repay the debt—with interest—and get all the people back, including Nancy and her children. Edmundson refused to return them, insisting the deal had been a permanent sale.

In 1841, Eason petitioned the court to enforce his original understanding of his arrangement with Edmundson — that this was a mortgage, not a sale. He asked the court to require Edmundson to return Sampson, Nancy, and her children to him once he repaid the money and to account for any profits Edmundson may have made from their forced labor over the years. Wyatt Moye and A. Speight signed as sureties to pay court costs and judgments if Eason lost his suit.

In the answer filed in court, Wright Edmundson outlined a very different story. He claimed that he purchased the five enslaved people from Eason for $1375, which “in truth was twenty five dollars more than the value of said negroes as valued by a negro speculator James Tart,” then a resident of Alabama, who wanted to purchase them but would not pay more than $1300. The sale, Edmundson claimed, was never meant to be conditional. Rather, it was “absolute and bona fide and intended to convey to [Edmundson] the absolute property in said slaves without any reservation.” There was no agreement that Eason could “redeem” the five upon payment of the purchase price with interest.

Edmundson further countered that several months before his purchase, Eason had borrowed “five or six hundred dollars” and, to secure payment, had conveyed to Edmundson Samson and Sherrod (or Sherrod and Henry.) A few months later, Eason, “of his own accord,” offered to sell Edmundson Samson, Nancy, and her three children. The sale price was offset by the loan amount — $975.

Three days later, Eason told Edmundson that Eason’s wife “wanted a negro girl to wait in the house.” Eason agreed to trade Sherwood [Sherrod],  age 9, and Henry, age 8, to Edmundson for Milly, age 13, plus cash. (The values of the children were assessed by Abner Eason’s “father-in-law” [actually, stepfather] James Scarborough, who had since died.)

In the eleven years since, Edmundson had been “in the peaceable adverse possession of said slaves claiming & using them as his own….” He denied any fraud or deceit.

A postscript on Edmundson’s answer, written in a different hand, further states: “Girl Milly in the valuation was estimated at $175 which price this defendant [Edmundson] had given a few days before at public auction. She was 12 years old & very likely & is now the mother of some children & belongs to J.C. Knight.”

In 1843, in response to an amended pleading filed by Eason, Edmundson answered with additional details. Eason, Edmundson asserted, had been “exceedingly troubled by the idea of a public sale where the slaves might be bought by several persons & separated from each other and carried away by speculators.” Edmundson had agreed to pay a fair price for five people, three of whom were children, and the oldest of them only 5.

Jesse C. Knight bought Milly for about $200 not long after she was swapped for the two boys. Knight still owned her, and she had had several children.

Since 1830, Nancy had given birth to five more children — Alfred, Rose, Calvin, Nanna, Ann, and Howell. Fereby had had a daughter Lucinda, and Chainey, a son Arnold.

Edmundson was not sure Eason had been honest about the ages of the enslaved people. If Sherwood and Henry were actually 9 and 8, “they were very badly grown.” Further, the ages of Fereby and Chainy were “utterly inconsistent with both nature and fact.” Nancy had Fereby, Chainy, and London “after the common and usual intervals of birth,” i.e. every 1-2 years. Before Fereby, Nancy had given birth to Sherwood and Henry, and before them, she had two other children, one then in Asa Daniels’ possession and the other in Garry Simms’. If Fereby were 10 (in 1830) and Nancy were 25, Nancy must have had her first child at age 9 or 10. [Except the bill of sale stated Fereby was 5. Per stated ages in the documents, Sherrod/Sherwood was born about 1821; Henry, about 1822; Fereby, about 1825; Chainy, about 1826; and London, about 1828. The “usual intervals” would place the births of Nancy’s eldest two children circa 1817-1820. This is still terribly young if Nancy were born circa 1805. Note also that Nancy bore at least 10 children who survived into at least early childhood. Neither Eason nor Edmundson mentioned their father or fathers.]

——

I have not been able to identify Samson, Nancy, or any of Nancy’s children and grandchildren after Emancipation.

I can identify, however, the men who exercised control over their lives.

  • Abner Eason — Abner Isaac Eason was born about 1808 to Abner Eason and Martha Tartt Eason. He inherited two enslaved men (or boys), Abraham and Samson, from his father, who died in 1819. (The will also provided that young Abner would receive Nance and her child Venus after Martha Eason’s death. Nance is possibly the Nancy above.) Martha Tartt Eason married James Scarborough after her husband’s death. Abner I. Eason lived and operated a store in extreme southeastern Edgecombe County, in the vicinity of today’s Saratoga. He appears in the 1850 slave schedule of Edgecombe County with one enslaved person, a 35 year-old woman.
  • Wright Edmundson — Edmundson owned a plantation on what is now Highway 58 between Wilson and Stantonsburg. His house is still standing. More to come on his tangled estate proceedings.
  • Wyatt Moye — A former Edgecombe County sheriff, Moye sponsored the legislation that created Wilson County in 1855. He was partner in the slave-trading firm Moye & Adams and appears in the 1850 slave schedule of Edgecombe County with 16 enslaved people.
  • A. Speight — Arthur Speight appears in the 1840 census of Greene County, N.C., with 49 enslaved people. After his death in 1848, his sons Abner and Arthur D. Speight sued their kinsman Abner Eason for debts owed their father.
  • James Tartt — James B. Tartt, a relative of Eason’s mother, migrated to Alabama in the late 1820s, though he continued to conduct business in lower Edgecombe County for at least a decade — including speculative purchase of enslaved people to sell in the booming markets of the lower South.
  • James Scarborough — James Scarborough’s plantation lay just west of Saratoga, and his house, too, stands. He is known to have enslaved at least twenty people.
  • J.C. Knight — Jesse Cooper Knight lived near Tarboro in an area that remained Edgecombe County after the creation of Wilson County. He is listed in the 1850 slave schedule of Edgecombe County with 42 enslaved people. His 1856 will distributed among his wife, children, and grandchildren dozens of enslaved people: Little Ned, Hannah, Peter, Dick, Siah, Yellow Jerry, Ralf, Rachel, Handy, Rose, Betsey, Harriett, Winny, Big Henry, Harry, Nat, Glasgow, Little Jerry, Matt, Ann, Jack, George, John, Cato, Toney, Alfred, Bob, Big Ned, Daniel, Dave, Hilliard, Adeline, Milly, Luke, Tom, Alice, Margaret, Little Henry, Cherry, Amanda, and an unnamed and unnumbered group purchased from the estate of Bennet B. Lawrence in Nash County.
  • Asa Daniels — probably the Asa Daniel listed in the 1830 census of Greene County with 6 enslaved people.
  • Garry Simms — Geraldus Simms, known as Garry. He is listed in the 1830 census of Edgecombe County with 2 enslaved people (and 5 unnamed free people of color in his household); in the 1840 census of Edgecombe with 7; and in the 1850 with 11. He was killed in 1857 at his home in Wilson County by drunk acquaintances.

The court file in Eason vs. Edmundson runs more than 125 pages and includes dozens of depositions and statements from witnesses. These documents suggest that there had already been a judgment executed against Eason’s enslaved people, and Eason struck a deal to “sell” them to Edmundson — at an inflated price — in order to buy them back when his finances improved. They also offer a glimpse of the workings of slavery in what would soon be Wilson County. More to come.

Edmundson claims ownership.

“Underwritten by a ‘We the People’ grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Race and Slavery Petitions Project was a cooperative venture between the Dr. Loren Schweninger’s Race and Slavery Petitions Project and the Electronic Resources and Information Technology Department of University Libraries at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The Project offers a searchable database of detailed personal information about slaves, slaveholders, and free people of color. Designed as a tool for scholars, historians, teachers, students, genealogists, and interested citizens, the site provides access to information gathered and analyzed over an eighteen-year period from petitions to southern legislatures and country courts filed between 1775 and 1867 in the fifteen slaveholding states in the United States and the District of Columbia.

“The Race and Slavery Petitions Project contains detailed information on about 150,000 individuals, including slaves, free people of color, and whites, extracted from 2,975 legislative petitions and 14,512 county court petitions, as well as from a wide range of related documents, including wills, inventories, deeds, bills of sale, depositions, court proceedings, amended petitions, among others. Buried in these documents are the names and other data on roughly 80,000 slaves, 8,000 free people of color, and 62,000 whites, both slave owners and non-slave owners.”

Here’s document set 0686 (Accession #21284312): “Edgecombe County, North Carolina. In February 1830, Abner Eason borrowed $500 from Wright Edmondson,” signing a note for payment. In May 1830, Eason recalls, Edmondson asked him to put a lien on ‘Certain negroes,’ including Sampson, Nancy and her three children Fereby [Phereby], China [Chainy], and London to secure the note, offering him an additional $300 discounted at 20 percent. In early August 1830, Eason recalls, Edmondson told him to give him a ‘right to his negroes & let him have them to work & pay the interest on the money.’ In late August 1830, Eason recalls, Edmondson said that Nancy was afraid that her two children, Henry and Sherrod, would be sold to a speculator, and Edmondson proposed that the boys be exchanged for his slave Milly and he would pay Eason $240, the boys being worth about $500 and Milly $260. To all this Eason agreed. More than a decade later, Eason seeks to pay his debt and retrieve his slaves but Edmondson claims ownership. Eason brings suit.”

I immediately recognized Abner Eason and Wright Edmondson as slaveholding men who lived in the Saratoga-Stantonsburg area and requested a copy of the file. Many thanks to Project Director Richard Cox, who responded quickly with this file and a related one. More to come!