1850s

The estate of Mary Howell Bardin.

The first in a series documenting enslaved people held by the Bardin/Barden family, who lived in the Black Creek area in what was once Wayne County but is now Wilson County.

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Mary Howell Bardin, widow of Arthur Bardin, died about 1854. Mary Bardin’s estate file contains a document recording the 14 December 1854 division of enslaved people among her six surviving children:

  • James H. Barnes and wife Susan A. Bardin Barnes received Axey and her unnamed child.
  • John P. Bardin received Sarah and her child Wright.
  • William H. Bardin received Handy and Queen.
  • Benjamin H. Bardin received Mourning.
  • Mary B. Bardin received Caroline and Winny.
  • Jesse J. Bardin received Mariah and Jane.

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  • Axey and child

In a post about Jeremiah Barden (Jerry Borden)’s Freedmen’s Bank accounts, I wrote: “When Jeremiah Barden opened his first account, he reported that he was living up the Trent River in Jones County, working on Colonel Whitford’s land for himself (i.e. as a tenant farmer.) Barden is frustratingly elusive in census records. His birth family, however, remained back in Wilson County and appear in the 1870 census of Black Creek township: farm laborer Washington Simms, 57, and wife Exy, 47, plus Henry, 32, Gatsey, 27, Nathan, 10, Grant, 4, and Harrit Simms, 5; Waity Nelson, 18; Joseph, 14, Samuel, 12, Mary, 10, and Della Simms, 8; Ellen Barden, 1; and William Nelson, 26. They are listed in close proximity to white farmers Arthur Barden, 54, and Benjamin Barden, 42. It is a reasonable conjecture that Exy Simms and her children (but not her husband Washington) belonged to one of these Bardens prior to Emancipation, and Jeremiah adopted “Barden” as a surname as a result.”

My hunch was right. In 1866, Washington Simms and Axey Barnes registered their 30-year marriage with a Wilson County justice of the peace. Axey, who had been enslaved by Mary Barden, was allotted to James and Susan Barnes in 1854 and adopted the Barnes surname. Her son Jerry, born about 1840, had a different owner, and adopted Barden (which became Borden) as his surname. (Their husband and father, Washington Simms, had been enslaved by Benjamin Simms II. More to come on that.)

  • Sarah and child Wright

In the 1870 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Alford Barden, 28; wife Mourning, 25; and children Harriss, 3, and Sarah, 1; plus Wright, 15, and Caroline Barden, 21, and Thoms Harrison, 28.

  • Handy
  • Queen

In 1866, Ben Barden and Quince Barden registered their 40-year cohabitation in Wilson County.

In the 1880 federal mortality schedule of Wilson County: Queene Barden, 74, widow, died August 1879 at home.

  • Mourning

In the 1870 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Alford Barden, 28; wife Mourning, 25; and children Harriss, 3, and Sarah, 1; plus Wright, 15, and Caroline Barden, 21, and Thoms Harrison, 28.

  • Caroline

In the 1870 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Alford Barden, 28; wife Mourning, 25; and children Harriss, 3, and Sarah, 1; plus Wright, 15, and Caroline Barden, 21, and Thoms Harrison, 28.

Also, in the 1870 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Caroline Barden, 21, farm laborer, and daughter Georgian, 1.

  • Winny
  • Mariah
  • Jane

In the 1870 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Alford Barden, 28; wife Mourning, 25; and children Harriss, 3, and Sarah, 1; plus Wright, 15, and Caroline Barden, 21, and Thoms Harrison, 28.

Estate File of Mary Barden (1852), Wayne County, North Carolina Estate Files 1663-1979, http://www.familysearch.org.

AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEMBERS OF LOWER BLACK CREEK P.B. CHURCH, PART 9.

Lower Black Creek Primitive Baptist Church, founded in 1783, was the second church organized in what is now Wilson County. (It closed its doors in 2010.) The church’s nineteenth and early twentieth-century records includes names of enslaved and freed African-American members, who worshipped with the congregation as second-class Christians even after Emancipation.

This page is entitled “at a Conference held at Black Creek church the 3rd Sunday before the second Sunday in April 1853 Apointed Wm Lewis Clerk of the church.” Seven (13?) “servants,” i.e., enslaved people, appear in the list.

  • Seal, a servant of “B. Br.”, died 1853
  • Jim, a servant
  • Mariar, a servant
  • Mike, a servant
  • Fany, a servant of James Newsom
  • Hester, a servant of Johnathan Barnes
  • Zilpha, a servant of H. [illegible] D. Reson, “Turned out for fornication”
  • James, a servant [same as above?]
  • Fanney, a servant, “excommunicated charged with fornication” [same as above?]
  • Hester, a servant [same as above?]
  • Seal, a servant [same as above?]
  • Mariah, a servant [same as above?]
  • Mike, a servant [same as above?]

African-American members of Lower Black Creek P.B. Church, part 8.

Lower Black Creek Primitive Baptist Church, founded in 1783, was the second church organized in what is now Wilson County. (It closed its doors in 2010.) The church’s nineteenth and early twentieth-century records includes names of enslaved and freed African-American members, who worshipped with the congregation as second-class Christians even after Emancipation.

This page is entitled “A list of Names & members belonging to the church at Black Creek Meeting House Wayne County.” It is not dated, but the left margin contains baptism dates (and suggests the page was compile from earlier data.) Additional info appears for a few members in the right-hand column. Four “servants,” i.e., enslaved people, appear in the list.

  • Choe, a servant of John Barnes, baptized in 1827
  • Joe, a [servant of] of William Horne, baptized in 1828, “dead”
  • Jim, a servant of John Hooks, baptized in 1828
  • Mary, a [servant] belonging [to] T. Wasson, baptized in August 1852

 

The estate of Joel Eatmon.

Eatmons (also “Eatman”) settled in what is now the Rock Ridge area of Wilson County by the mid-1700s. They are thought to descend from brothers John and Thomas Eatmon, but exact relationships between various Eatmon lines, which often intermarried, are murky.

This post is the first in a series featuring documents from Eatmon/Eatman family estate files.

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Joel Eatmon, son of John and Ruth Ruffin Eatmon, was born about 1780 in Nash County, N.C., and died 7 July 1851 in Nash County, N.C. Eatmon’s estate opened shortly after. Pending inventory and distribution of his assets, several of the enslaved people he had held were hired out to neighbors:

“The acount of the higher of the neroes of Joel Eatmans discease highered the 3 of March 1852”

Nathan Williams hired Reddick for a year for $56.50; Cornelius Jordan Sr. hired Sewel for $56.25 and Clary for $37.50; and Alexander Baker hired Haywood for $36.75.

Eatmon’s estate paid Alexander Eatmon $85.00 for “maintainance” of Charity and her four children, and Bertley Well $46.25 to care for Easter and her four children.

On 8 July 1851, the court approved the distribution of Eatmon’s enslaved property. Daughter Sally Eatmon drew Sowell, valued at $800; son Peter Eatmon drew Reddick, valued at $750; son Alexander Eatmon drew Haywood, $675; son-in-law John Eatmon, on behalf of his wife Elizabeth Eatmon Eatmon, drew Clary and Zilla, $912.50; son Amos Eatmon drew Easter, Ben, and Vilet, $837.50; son-in-law Barney B. Person, on behalf of wife Piety Eatmon Person, Charity, Delpha, Hawkins, and Wester, $825; and the heirs of Amy Eatmon Williams, Dolly, Barbary, and Milbry, $900.

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In the 1850 slave schedule of Nash County, North Carolina, Joel Eatmon reported nine enslaved people — a 52 year-old man, a 41 year-old woman, a 35 year-old woman, a 19 year-old young man, a 14 year-old boy, a 13 year-old girl, a 10 year-old boy, and 5 and 8 year-old girls.

  • Reddick and Charity

In the 1870 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: farmer Redick Eatmon, 40, and wife Charity, 39.

In the 1880 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: farmer Reddic Eatmon, 49; wife Charity, 48; and hireling Casana Wiggins, 14.

Estate File of Joel Eatmon, North Carolina Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998, http://www.ancestry.com.

The last will and testament of Jonathan Bailey.

In the name of God Amen. I Jonathan Bailey of the County of Edgecombe and State of North Carolina do this 6th day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty One, being of sound disposing mind and memory do make and publish this my last will and testament in the form and manner following.

1st. I give and bequeath unto my daughter, Lucy Braswell, one Negro boy by the name of Jacob to her and her heirs forever.

2nd I give and bequeath unto the heirs of my daughter, Polly Taylor one Negro girl by the name of Amy

3rd I lend unto my daughter, Sally Jordan, the land whereon she now lives and after her death to be equally divided betwixt her children. I also lend unto my daughter, Sally Jordan, one Negro girl named Sucky, and after her death the said Sucky with all her increas to be divided betwixt the children of the said Sally Jordan.

4th I lend unto my daughter, Nancy Ruffin, the land whereon she now lives during her natural life and after her death to be equally divided betwixt her children. Also I lend unto Nancy Ruffin one Negro girl named Ellen and after her death the said Negro girl Ellen with all her increased to be equally divided betwixt the heirs of the said Nancy Ruffin

5th I give unto the heirs of my son, Berry Bailey, lawfully begotten of his body all my land lying on the north side of the road adjoining the land of Mathew Whitehead, Jeremiah Batts, and others. I also give unto the heirs of Berry Bailey as above one negro boy named Lewis.

6th I give unto my grandchildren, David Lawrence Williams and Elizabeth Williams one Negro girl named Mary and one hundred and twenty dollars in cash to be equally divided betwixt them, but should either of them die without having a lawful heir, the living one to have the others part, and should both die the said property to return to the Baily family.

7th I lend unto my daughter, Rebecca May, one Negro girl named Esther, during her natural life, together with her increase and after her death to be equally divided betwixt the children of the said Rebecca May lawfully begotten of her body. I also give unto my daughter, Rebecca May, one hundred and twenty dollars in cash.

8th I give unto my son, Bert Bailey all my tract of land whereon I now live also one Negro boy by the name of Petter.

9th I lend unto my daughter, Martha Amason, one Negro woman named Mariah, one Negro girl named Betty, one Negro child named Chaney, one Negro girl named Patience, and one girl named Cherry together with all their increase and I further give the said Martha Amason, the right to dispose of any part of said Negroes as she may think proper.

10th My will and desire is that all my property which is not disposed of above be sold and all my just debts be paid and the balance remaining to be queally divided betwixt my children as follows: Lucy Braswell, Polly Taylor, Sally Jordan, Nancy Ruffin, Dilly’s two children, viz David Lawrence and Elizabeth, being Bailey heirs, Rebecca May and Nancy Ruffin.

11th I hereby appoint my son, Bert Bailey, Thomas Amason, and Jeremiah Batts Executors to this my last will and testament.

Signed sealed and acknowledged in presence of: D. Williams Thomas Fly

Jonathan Bailey

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Jonathan Bailey lived in an area of Edgecombe County that became southeast Wilson County in 1855. His will entered probate in 1852.

Will of Jonathan Bailey (1851), Edgecombe County, North Carolina Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 [database on-line], http://www.ancestry.com.

The estate of Lemon P. Stanton.

On 12 October 1844, Lemon P. Stanton of the Stantonsburg area drafted a will that, among other things, bequeathed a man named Larry to his nephew George W. Stanton and an enslaved family to his niece and nephew, Louisa and Lemuel DeBerry.

The will entered probate in February 1846, and six years later, the court received this  petition to partition Negroes:

The takeaways:

  • Stanton’s will left the DeBerry siblings an enslaved woman named Phillis, her children Alford and Curtis, and any future children.
  • As the time of the petition in early 1852, Phillis had four children — Alford, Curtis, Romulus, and Laura. Another child, Haywood, had died.
  • Phillis and her children were in the care of Lemuel DeBerry Senior, guardian of Louisa and Lemuel DeBerry.
  • In November 1850, Louisa DeBerry had married Ferdinand H. Whitaker, the petitioner.
  • Whitaker sought the partition of Phillis and her children so that his wife could get the half owed her under her uncle’s will.
  • Lemuel DeBerry chimed in that he was “equally desirous” of partition. However, he later filed a memorandum with the court explaining that he was not certain, but Stanton’s will might have directed payout to the DeBerrys only when they reached age 21 — Louisa was 20 and Lemuel Jr., 18.

The digitized file contains no order in response to Whitaker’s petition. Inevitably, though, dividing the group in half would have meant that Phillis and one or more of her children were separated.

Will Book F, page 334, Edgecombe County Register of Deeds Office, Tarboro, North Carolina; Estate of Leeman P. Stanton, Edgecombe County, North Carolina Estate Files, http://www.familysearch.org.

Nelson Eatmon fosters a small boy.

From Nash County, North Carolina, Minutes of Wardens of the Poor, 1844-1869:

367 — Nov 20th 1851 Nelson Eatman To an order $20.00 By allowance for keeping a small child by the name of Cage Locust.

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Nelson Eatmon lived in far western Wilson County, an area once part of Nash County. Micajah, or Cage, Locust is not listed in his household in census records.

  • Cage Locust

In the 1880 census of Jackson township, Nash County: Ruffin Grice, 44, carpenter, and wife Mary, 51, with Cage Locus, 26, works on farm.

The Wyatt Moye house, built with blood money.

Slave-trading was good money.

In the area that became Wilson County, Wyatt Moye and Robert S. Adams were perhaps the major players in the domestic slave trade, moving humans from eastern North Carolina into the Deep South, where prices were high and demand insatiable.

It was a lucrative business, and both men eventually settled in Aberdeen, Monroe County, Mississippi. An 1852 newspaper ad touts Adams and his business partners’ arrangements: “They will keep at their depot in Aberdeen, during the coming fall and winter, a large lot of choice Negroes, which they will sell low for cash, or for bills on Mobile.”

Both Adams and Moye moved into large homes in town to signal their wealth. We’ve seen R.S. Adams’ grand Greek Revival mansion (which checks every antebellum architecture box); Moye’s more modest house was close enough that they’re in the same historic district, North Aberdeen. (Descriptions of the houses’ history describe Adams and Moye as “bankers.” It is true that they formed a money-lending concern in Aberdeen. Their wealth, however, was built on buying and selling enslaved people.)

Built circa 1855 and now known as the I.Y. Johnson House, Moye’s house was recently purchased for restoration after decades of deterioration.

I.Y. Johnson House, 108 West Canal Street, Aberdeen, Mississippi. Front and side facades. March 11, 2010, W. White, photographer.

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Wyatt Moye wore a lot of hats, including “general” (of what?), sheriff of Greene County, North Carolina state legislator (he introduced the bill to incorporate the Town of Wilson), and, as we’ve seen slave trader and money lender. He seems to have been in Mississippi full time shortly after 1850, but spent his last decade between Monroe County and business concerns in Saint Mary Parish, Louisiana. He is listed in both Mississippi and Louisiana in the 1860 census.

In the 1830 census of Greene County, N.C., Wyatt Moye reported owning 27 enslaved people.

In the 1850 census of Edgecombe County, N.C.: Wyatt Moye, 55, no occupation listed; [second] wife Louisa, 37; and daughter Louisa V., 17. [Judging by their neighbors, the Moyes appear to have lived in the Saratoga area of what is now Wilson County.]

In the 1850 slave schedule of Lowndes County, Mississippi, Wyatt Moye reported 27 enslaved people.

In the 1860 census of Western Division, Monroe County, Mississippi: trader Wyatt Moye, 66; [third] wife M.M., 44; W.A. Rover, 33, lumber dealer; and D. Farmer, 25, laborer. Moye reported owning $5500 in real property and $7500 in personal property (which would have included enslaved people).

In the 1860 slave schedule of Western Division, Monroe County, Mississippi, Wyatt Moye reported 8 enslaved people.

But also: in the 1860 census of Western Division, Saint Mary Parish, Louisiana: Yatt Moye, 50, planter; wife Mary, 32; Margaret Fisher, 21; and W.J. Deson, 42, agent. Moye reported a whopping $100,000 in real property and another $100,000 in personal property. [One hundred thousand dollars in 1860 is roughly $3.5 million today.]

In the 1860 slave schedule of Western Division, Saint Mary Parish, Louisiana, Wyatt Moye & Company is listed with 119 enslaved people.

Wyatt Moye died in 1862 in Saint Mary Parish. His body was returned to North Carolina for burial in Calvary Church cemetery, Tarboro.

The estate of Henry Applewhite.

Henry Applewhite died intestate in 1850. The federal slave schedule recorded that year shows his widow Orpha Pike Applewhite in possession of eight enslaved people.

At November Term, 1851, Orpha Pike Applewhite, widow of Henry Applewhite, petitioned the Edgecombe County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions to partition the enslaved people she and her six children, Sarah, Elizabeth, Jonathan, Celia, William, and Polly, had jointly inherited. Bob, Enos, Wealthy, Mary, Sherard, Patrick, Maria, Pharba, and Penny and child Laura were to be sold if necessary to achieve equal division. Washington M. Stanton and William Barnes were appointed for this purpose.

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In an unsourced post at afrigeneas.com: “Among the surviving papers of Henry and Orpha Pike Applewhite of the Stantonsburg area of Wilson Co., NC are the names and ages [sic] of the following negroes: Sherod, born 16 July 1838; Patrick, born 1 May 1840; Mariah, born 27 September 1844; Penny, born August 1834; Mary, born spring 1832; Enos, born 1 January 1829.”

On 31 August 1866, Patrick Applewhite and Lovenia Peacock formalized their marriage by registering their three-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace.

In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Patrick Applewhite, 25; wife Lavenia, 21; son George, 6; plus Lucinda Taylor, 18, and Sarah Taylor, 1.

In the 1880 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Patrick Applewhite, 38; wife Luvenia, 27; and children George, 16, and Mattie, 5; plus Riley Barnes, 34, farm laborer, and Virgil Deans, 38.

I have not been able to identify any others of the community of enslaved people held by Henry and Orpha Applewhite.

Estate File of Henry Applewhite, Edgecombe County, North Carolina Wills and Estates, 1665-1998 [database on-line], http://www.ancestry.com.

The sale of Sampson at auction.


When Wilson Simpson died in 1854, ownership of an enslaved man named Sampson passed to his heirs as tenants in common. In other words, each owned an equal share of his value. Led by Lovett Atkinson, administrator of the estate of Amanda Simpson (who died after Wilson Simpson), the heirs sought to divide their interests in a petition filed in October Term, 1857, of Wilson County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions.

Clerk of court T.C. Davis issued an order “to sell said slave to the highest bidder at public auction” and appointed Hardy H. Williamson to carry out the task.

A few months later, Williamson reported that W.W. Barnes had bought “Boy Sampson” for $605.00.

Estate of Amanda Simpson (1857), Wilson County, North Carolina Estate Files, 1663-1979, familysearch.org.