Far fewer men escaped Wilson County to join the U.S. Colored Troops, but the close ties between southeastern Wilson County and western Greene County will make this talk by my friend Trisha Blount especially interesting to Wilson County researchers.
Register here From Enslavement to Reconstruction: Lives of the Greene County USCT before June 30.
Tuesday evening, my father’s classmate L. Paul Sherrod Jr. will present and discuss family papers passed down from his great-grandparents Jack Sherrod (who served in the United States Colored Troops) and Cassie Exum Sherrod at a program sponsored by Wilson County Genealogical Society. I’ve had a sneak peek at some of the documents and am amazed by the family’s legacy!
Congress established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen’s Bureau) in 1865 to assist millions of formerly enslaved black people (and impoverished whites) in the aftermath of the Civil War. The Bureau provided immediate relief in the form of food, clothing, and fuel; managed confiscated or abandoned land; established schools for African Americans; legalized marriages; negotiated labor contracts; and investigated and adjudicated disputes involving freed people.
Millions of Bureau records, including invaluable correspondence by and about freed men, women and children; labor arrangements; marriage records; and various reports are available for genealogical research via Familysearch.org, Ancestry.com, the National Archives, and the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. Many records have been digitized and indexed; many have not.
Researching Wilson County residents in Freedmen’s Bureau is complicated by geography. There was no Bureau office in Wilson, so those who sought the Bureau’s services had to apply to offices nearby. Wilson was officially under the jurisdiction of the Goldsboro Bureau office, and most relevant documents are found there. However, people who lived north of the town of Wilson, especially in the area of what is now Elm City, often looked to the Rocky Mount office.
The map above shows the locations of the five offices closest to Wilson County. A thorough search for documents of genealogical interest should touch Goldsboro, Rocky Mount, Kinston, Smithfield, and Raleigh.
Kudos to the Sherrod family for caring for and sharing their incredible legacy.
Wilson Daily Times, 11 November 2025.
Read more about the 135th Regiment here.
Harry Renfrow enlisted in Company K, 14th Regiment, United States Colored Heavy Artillery, at the very end of the Civil War. He was 33 years old and tall for the time — 5’11”. He enlisted in Kinston, about 40 miles southeast of Wilson. Though he signed up for a three-year stint, he likely mustered out at the end of the year.
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In the 1870 mortality schedule of Wilson township, Wilson County: Harry Renfrow, 46, farm laborer, died in October 1869. He lived in household #73.
In the 1870 population census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Sarah Renfrow, 45, Isaac Renfrow, 16, Rosa Renfrow, 30, domestic servant, and Dennis Renfrow, 4; plus Lewis Kelly, 23, farm laborer. [This is the household #73, that of the man who died in 1869. I do not believe he is the same man as the soldier.]
In the 1870 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: Penelope Renfrow, 29, farm laborer, and sons Jacob, 16, Esaw, 13, and Isaac, 10, all farm laborers. [This is more likely the family of soldier Renfrow, and it seems he died also before 1870.]
In the 1880 Springhill township, Wilson County: Esaur Rentfrow, 22, farmer; mother Penny, 47; and brother Isaac, 19.
Isaac Renfrow died 6 March 1915 in Springhill township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born about 1856 to Harry Renfrow and Pennie Renfrow; was married; and worked as a farmer.
Many thanks to Louretha Renfrow Johnson for the tip!
Indianapolis News, 5 November 1922.
James “Wilson” was from Wilson, but his last name was Miller. Oddly, I have found no trace of Miller’s 40 years in Indianapolis — or of his Civil War service. He apparently left his wife Priscilla and daughters Sarah, Louisa, and Prudence in Wilson when he migrated just before 1880. He came back periodically, and he and Priscilla had a son John in 1885.
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In the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farm laborer James M. Miller, 27, and wife Priscilla, 18.
In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Prissilla Miller, 28, servant, and children Sarah E., 8, Louisa, 4, and Prudence, 1.
On 23 June 1892, Amos Hines, 23, married Sarah Eliza Miller, 20, at “Pender Street Methodist Church,” Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister J.F. Jordan performed the ceremony in the presence of W.J. Moore, S.H. Vick, and A.F. Moore.
In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: house mover Frank Barnes, 25; wife Prudence, 21; mother Priscilla Miller, 45; and son John Miller, 14.
Priscilla Miller died in late 1908. W.A. Finch applied for letters of administration for Prissy Miller on 30 November 1908. Her heirs were John Miller and Sarah Eliza Hines, and her estate was valued at $750.
In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Amos Hines, 32; wife Sarah, 28; and sons Ashley, 7, Branch, 4, and George D., 1.
In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Suggs Street, Allen Hines, 60; wife Sarah, 39; children Ashley, 16, Branch, 14, George D., 11, Allie M., 9, Priscilla, 6, Amos Jr. , 3, and John O., 1; and brother Amos, 40, widower [sic].
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Suggs Street, gardener Amos Hines, 53; wife Sarah, 47, laundress; and children Ashley, 23, lumber company wagoner, George, 21, grocery delivery boy, Allie, 18, Pricilla, 15, Amos Jr., 12, John, 10, Etta, 7, and Margret, 5.
James Miller died 22 October 1927 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 4 March 1842 in Wake County, N.C., to Doretha Miller; was a widower; lived at 631 Suggs Street; and was buried in Wilson [most likely, Vick Cemetery.] Sarah Hines, 631 Suggs Street, was informant.
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 631 East Suggs Street, owned and valued at $1200, widow Sarah Hines, 58, and children Harvey, 25, Pricilla, 22, Amos, 20, John O., 18, Etta, 17, and Marguerite, 15.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 631 Suggs, owned and valued at $500, widow Sarah Hines, 69, and son Amos, 38, tobacco factory laborer.
John Henry Miller died 16 June 1957 at his home at 616 Maury Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 17 July 1885 in Wilson County to James Miller and Priscilla [maiden name unknown]; was a laborer; and was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery. Mary Miller was informant.
Sarah Hines died 13 September 1961 at 1306 Marlowe Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 5 September 1873 in Wilson County to James Miller and Pricilla Bass and was a widower. Informant was Margaret Hines, 1306 Marlowe Street.
Also this week, a rally in downtown Wilson to demand removal of the Confederate monument on the grounds of the county courthouse. For more about the structure, see here, here, here, here and here.
Wilson Daily Times, 3 May 2024.
[Update, 11 May 2024: days after this protest, the Confederate battle flag on the monument was defaced with dark spray paint. The police quickly identified and arrested a 58 year-old white man on misdemeanor property damage charges. Per the Wilson Times: “When asked if the county will clean the monument, Wilson County Manager Ron Hunt said no plans have been made as commissioners continue their research regarding the memorial.” (I’m here for this unbothered response.) Photo below courtesy of the Times‘ 7 May 2024 edition.
Philip Fort did not live in Wilson County, but his daughter Hannah Forte Artis and her husband Walter S. Artis owned property in and around Stantonsburg, and that’s enough of a hook for me.
Stantonsburg Fort: Phillip Fort and the 135th Regiment of the U.S. Colored Troops, a children’s book, is a fictionalized account of the life of Phillip Fort, an enslaved man who joined the Union Army during the Civil War. Fort was born in far northeast Wayne County, near Eureka. (An area that now has a Stantonsburg zip code.) It is not the book I would write (but, then, I haven’t written a book, have I?), but it is an appealing introduction for young people to the role of the U.S. Colored Troops and an intriguing example of what can be done to bring historical material to a broader audience.
Last week, Wilson County Genealogical Society presented a program on the 135th Regiment of the United States Colored Troops featuring local descendants of Jack Sherrod, whose farm lay just across the Wayne County line and whose family had close Wilson County ties.
Wilson Times, 5 March 2024.
Thank you, Leonard P. Sherrod Jr., for bringing this event to my attention.
Wilson Daily Times, 16 February 1949.
In 1949 (in February, coincidentally, I’m sure), National Bank of Wilson’s Public Service program sponsored an exhibition of a reproduction of the Emancipation Proclamation in its bank lobby.