apprentice

The apprenticeship of Jesse Ellis.

On 20 January 1870, a Wilson County Superior Court judge ordered 14 year-old Jesse Ellis bound as an apprentice to Guilford Ellis until he reached 21 years of age.

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In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Guilford Ellis, 40; wife Pleasance, 29; and Ned, 16, Cherry, 14, Jesse, 12, Arabella, 11, and Sarah, 4.

In the 1880 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: common laborer Guilford Ellis, 55; wife Penny, 55; and children Sarah E., 16, Mary E., 10, and Layfaytte, 8.

United States Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939, database at https://familysearch.org.

The apprenticeship of Alonzo Finch.

On 3 June 1899, a Wilson County Superior Court judge ordered 14 year-old Alonzo Finch bound as an apprentice to Zealous Howard until he reached 21 years of age.

In the 1900 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: farmer Zealous Howard, 69, wife Roda, 64, daughter Anna, 24, and two bound boys Lonza, 15, and Jack Howard, 5.

United States Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939, database at https://familysearch.org.

Three children, whose mother is dead.

The Goldsboro field office of the Freedmen’s Bureau also received a recommendation that three newly freed African-American children be bound to Stephen Privette, who was probably their former enslaver.

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Wilson N.C. Dec 5th 1865

Commissioner of the Freedmen at Goldsboro

Sir. Mr. Stephen Privette of the County have three children whose mother are dead, they have no legal father, Mr. Privette is a good man & would treat them, kindly, and I would recommend him as being a sutable man to have them bound to.    W.J. Bullock Capt. G.P.Y.

North Carolina Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1863-1872, Goldsboro (Subassistant Commissioner), Roll 17 Applications for Relief, Mar 1865-Aug 1867.

The apprenticeship of George Vick.

On 7 January 1870, a Wilson County Probate Court judge ordered 28 month-old George Vick bound as an apprentice to John D. Wells until he reached 21 years of age.

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George Vick is not listed in John D. Wells’ household in the 1870 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County.

Possibly, in the 1880 federal mortality schedule of Toisnot township, Wilson County: George Vick, 11, black, died in November 1879 of typhoid fever.

United States Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939, database at https://familysearch.org.

The apprenticeship of Isaac Bynum.

On 11 January 1870, a Wilson County Probate Court judge ordered 14 year-old Isaac Bynum bound as an apprentice to Jolly Bynum until he reached 21 years of age.

  • Jolly Bynum and Isaac Bynum

In the 1870 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: Jolly Bynum, 60, farm laborer; wife Amy, 54; and Isaac, 15. [Was Isaac the grandson of Jolly and Amy Bynum?]

Perhaps, in the 1880 census of Garders township, Wilson County: Isaac Bynum, 27, farm laborer, living alone.

United States Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939, database at https://familysearch.org.

The apprenticeship of Sovid Applewhite.

On 20 October 1869, a Wilson County Probate Court judge ordered three year-old Sovid Applewhite bound as an apprentice to Lewis Ellis until he reached 21 years of age.

[The spelling of this unusual name is difficult to decipher. Though “Lovid,” as in Lovett, seems more logical, the capital letter does not match the consistently double-looped L in “Lewis.”]

Sovid Applewhite (or no one with any approximation of his name) is not listed in the household of Lewis and Milly Ellis in the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County.

United States Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939, database at https://familysearch.org.

The apprenticeship of John Ellis (1871).

On 6 January 1871, a Wilson County Probate Court judge ordered 14 year-old John Ellis bound as an apprentice to Francis R. Ellis until he reached 21 years of age.

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In the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County, 14 year-old John Ellis is listed as a “farmer’s apprentice” in the household of William and Rebecca F. Ellis.

United States Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939, database at https://familysearch.org.

The apprenticeship of Cassanda Locust, alias Cassanda Wiggins (1870).

On 19 February 1870, a Wilson County Probate Court judge ordered five year-old Cassanda Locust bound as an apprentice to Redick Eatmon until she reached 21 years of age.

  • Cassanda Locust

Cassanda Locust’s surname suggests that she was freeborn, as does the name under which she is found in the 1880 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: farmer Reddic Eatmon, 49; wife Charity, 48; and hireling Casana Wiggins, 14.

The apprenticeships of William Ann and Richard Blount.

On 21 August 1869, a Wilson County Probate Court judge ordered 14 year-old William Ann Blount and 11 year-old Richard Blount bound as apprentices to Calvin Blount until they reached 21 years of age.

Neither William Ann nor Richard Blount appears in the 1870 census with Calvin Blount and family. However, William Ann was possibly the Ann Blount, 19, who married Parry Farmer, 24, in Wilson on 18 February 1874.

United States Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939, database at https://familysearch.org.

The apprenticeship of Ashley Jordan (1870).

On 22 January 1870, a Wilson County Probate Court judge ordered Ashley Jordan bound as an apprentice to Jacob H. Barnes until he reached 21 years of age. At the end of his term, Jordan was to receive “six dollars in cash, a new suit of clothes and a new Bible.”

  • Ashley Jordan — Jordan is not listed in the household of Jacob H. Barnes in the 1870 census, and I have found no further information about him.

United States Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939, database at https://familysearch.org.