Borden

Jerry Borden, Co. C., 14th United States Colored Heavy Artillery.

We met Jerry Borden here and here and here. A veteran of the Civil War, Borden filed repeatedly for a pension, claiming disability stemming from being “mashed by a bale of hay which affected his side and leg.” Finally, in 1906, he was awarded eight dollars a month for a partial disability.

Documents in Borden’s pension file firmly establish his Wilson County roots. In the document below, he attested that he was born in “Wilson county Black creek Depot N.C.” and lived in Black Creek before he enlisted. (Another document set out his birthdate as 10 May 1841.) Borden confirmed he had been enslaved and said his owner at the time of his enlistment was “Arter Borden [Arthur Barden] and at the date of Enlistment John Borden [Barden] (his son).”

In an earlier document, Jerry Borden identified his wife, Mary Eliza Mumford Borden, and children, Christaner (1869), Marria (1870), Sarah (1872), Ester (1875), Isaiah (1877), Henry (1879), John (1881), Willie (1883), and George (1886). With no formal record of his marriage, Borden needed to provide several witnesses to establish its validity.

Borden’s pension payment increased over several years, reaching $27 dollars per month in 1912.

Jerry Borden died 20 August 1914 and was buried in New Bern National Cemetery.

His widow, Mary Mumford Borden, applied for and was awarded a widow’s pension. She died in 1927.

File #506587, Application of Jerry Borden for Pension; File #1097940, Application of Mary Borden for Widow’s Pension, National Archives and Records Administration.

Military histories of soldiers of Company C.

“This description, or extract from the official records, is to be considered strictly confidential, and is furnished to the disbursing officer to enable him to detect frauds. He should question each claimant fully as to military history, and, in cases of deceased soldiers, the heirs should be questioned as to the military history of husband, father, brother, or son, as the case may be.

“Before making disbursements the disbursing officer should be fully satisfied that the parties claiming the money are the persons they represent themselves to be. In case of doubt as to the identity of the soldier, payment will be refused, and the disbursing officer will reduce to writing the questions and answers, and at once transmit the same to the Adjutant General of the Army, with a full report.”

  • Isaac Acot [Aycock]

Isaac Aycock named Wilson County natives Jerry Borden and Henry Borden as men who had enlisted at the same time and served in Company C of the 14th Regiment, United States Colored Heavy Artillery.

  • Henry Borden [Barden]

Wilson County native Henry Borden named Wilson County natives Edward Borden and Dennis Borden. The kinship relationships between Jerry, Edward, Henry and Dennis Borden is not known, but all likely had been enslaved by Arthur Bardin or his kin.

Confidential Lists for the Identification of Claimants, U.S. Freedmen’s Bureau Records of Field Offices 1863-1878, http://www.ancestry.com.

Jerry Borden, Co. C, 14th Heavy Artillery, U.S.C.T.

We met Jerry Borden here and here. At the time of that post, I had not been able to locate him in post-Reconstruction records. However, thanks to a tip from a descendant, I found Borden’s death certificate, which reports that he died in New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, on 20 August 1914; was born 10 May 1840 to Axell Symns and an unknown mother [sic]; was a “U.S. retired soldier”; and was buried in a national cemetery.

Borden, of course, had been a private in the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. He was born in what is now Wilson County to Washington Simms and Exie Barnes Simms and enlisted in U.S.C.T. in 1864 in Morehead City, North Carolina.

In the 1890 veterans schedule of Pamlico County: Jerry Borden; private; Company C; date of enlistment 25 April 1864; date of discharge 11 December 1865.

On 24 December 1895, Marshel Faison, 25, of No. 5 township, Pamlico County, son of Rufus Faison and Barbara York, married Sarah Borden, 23, of No. 5 township, daughter of Jerah and Mary Borden, at Oriental, North Carolina.

In the 1900 census of Township 5, Pamlico County: farmer Jerry B. Borden, 57; wife Mary E., 50; and sons John H., 18, Willie, 16, and George E., 13.

On 28 October 1907, George Borden, 22, of No. 5 township, son of Jerry and Mary Borden, married Annie Allen, 19, of No. 5 township, daughter of John and Adeline Allen, in Oriental, No. 5 township, Pamlico County.

In the 1910 census of Township 5, Pamlico County: odd jobs laborer Jury B. Borden, 67; wife Mary L., 51; son George, 23; daughter-in-law Annie, 21; and grandchildren  Hugh, 1, and Audrey, 4 months.

Jerry Borden died 20 August 1914.

U.S. Burial Registers, Military Posts and National Cemeteries, 1862-1960, www.ancestry.com.

Jerry Borden, New Bern National Cemetery. Photo courtesy of Findagrave.com.

On 20 September 1925, John Borden, 37, of Nahunta township, Wayne County, N.C., son of Jerry and Mary Borden of Craven County, N.C., married Alicy Lane, 45, of Nahunta township, daughter of Wright and Sindia Lane, in Goldsboro, N.C. Presbyterian minister Clarence Dillard performed the ceremony.

Willie Amos Burden died 22 May 1929 in Township 5, Pamlico County. Per his death certificate, he was born in 1884 in Mattoxville, N.C., to Jerry Borden of Wilson County and Mary Mumford of Onslow County, N.C.; was married to Olivia Borden; was a laborer. M.H. Borden, Oriental, N.C., was informant.

Sarah A. Faison died 29 October 1948 in New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina. Per her death certificate, she was born 5 June 1886 in Pamlico County, N.C., to Jerry Borden of Wilson County and Mary Mumford of Onslow County; lived at 1023 Broad Street, New Bern; was married to Marshall Faison; and was buried in Saint Stephens, Pamlico County.

William Henry Borden died 31 October 1960 in Oriental, Pamlico County. Per his death certificate, he was born 28 May 1892 in Oriental to Jerry Borden and Mary Mattocks; was married to Gertrude Borden; and worked as a grocery merchant.

Henry Borden, disabled Civil War veteran.

The National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers were established following the Civil War to provide living space for disabled American soldiers and sailors. Henry Borden, born in Wilson County, entered the home at Hampton, Virginia, a few months before his death in 1911.

The hospital’s registry shows that Borden had enlisted on 25 April 1864 at New Bern, North Carolina, and served as a private in Company C, 14th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery. [Three other Bordens from Wilson County — Dennis, Edward and Jerry — enlisted the same day. Their relationship is unclear.] He was discharged 11 December 1865 in New Bern. His disability: “old injury to right foot, arterio sclerosis, &c.”

Borden was born in Wilson County, N.C.; was 85 years old; was five foot three inches tall; had a black complexion, black eyes, and gray hair; had worked as a laborer; had lived in Bertie County, N.C., after his discharge; was married; and his nearest relative was his wife Cora Borden of Winton, Bertie County.

Borden’s rate of pension was 15 [dollars per …?], and he was admitted to the hospital on 26 April 1911. He died 19 August 1911.

Henry Borden was buried in Hampton National Cemetery, Hampton, Virginia. Per the cemetery’s burial registry, he was buried in row 10117; had been a member of Company C, 14th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery; died August 19; and was from Windsor, N.C.

Cora Borden applied for a widow’s pension on 19 September 1911.

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On 24 December 1874, Henry Barreden, 36, black, married Cora Johnson, 17, “light black,” in Windsor, Bertie County, North Carolina.

In the 1880 census of Whites township, Bertie County: farmer Henry Bartly, 28; wife Cora, 26; and daughters Leah, 3, and Cora, 1.

In the 1900 census of Windsor township, Bertie County: farmer Henry Bardin, 64; wife Cora, 48; and children Leoha, 22, Ida, 20, Minnie, 17, Lazarus, 11, and Henry, 7.

Cora Burden died 14 February 1917 in Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina. Per her death certificate, she was a widow; was 59 years old; and was born in Washington County to Cora Johnson. Lazarus Borden was informant.

National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938, http://www.ancestry.com; original data: Historical Register of National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15, National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Burial Register, Military Posts & National Cemeteries, 1862-1960, http://www.ancestry.com; Civil War Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, http://www.ancestry.com.

The Borden “brothers” enlist.

On 25 April 1864, four Wilson County men — Dennis, Edward, Henry and Jerry Borden — presented themselves in New Bern, North Carolina, to enlist in Company C, 1st Regiment, North Carolina Colored Heavy Artillery of the United States Colored Troops (which was later known as Company C, 14th Regiment, Heavy Artillery). All bore the same surname, which was likely a mishearing of “Bardin” or “Barden,” and may have escaped from the same owner, but they were not brothers.

Here is Jerry Bardin‘s volunteer enlistment record:

And a muster record for Dennis Borden:

In 1872, Lydia Borden opened an account with the Freedmen’s Bank branch in New Bern. Per her account card, her husband was “Edward Borden (soldier) — d. of smallpox (1865?)” If this is the same Edward, freedom was short-lived.

Henry Borden was admitted to a military hospital in Hampton, Virginia, in April 1911. He was described as 85 years old; a resident of Bertie County, N.C.; and married to Cora Borden. He died 19 August 1911 in Windsor, Bertie County.

14th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Service Records Who served with the United States Colored Troops, http://www.fold3.com; U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1863-1865, http://www.ancestry.com; Freedmen’s Bank Records, 1865-1871, http://www.ancestry.com; Register no. 19392-20891, Hampton, Virginia, United States National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938, http://www.familysearch.org.

Sukey’s journey, part 2.

To the General Assembly of North Carolina

The undersigned, Respectfully Petition, the Legislature, to pass an act, in favor of Sucky Borden (a woman of colour) vesting in her, all the rights, and privileges, of a free woman Your Petitioners have long known said Suckey, and believe her to be a worthy woman, who will duly appreciate all her privileges and your Petitioners will ever pray, etc.

….

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Twenty-six white Wayne County residents presented this petition to the state General Assembly in 1852. The only woman among them? M.A. Borden.

Maria Ann Brownrigg Borden,  proprietor of the Goldsboro Hotel, was the daughter of George and Obedience Brownrigg. In the 1850 census, she reported $20,000 in real property and 67 slaves. She and her sister Eliza Obedience Brownrigg Wright (whose husband John Wright also signed the petition) had inherited all but one of their mother’s slaves in 1841. That one person was Suckey, who went to Alfred Brownrigg. As noted earlier, Alfred Brownrigg quickly sold Suckey to their brother Edwin Brownrigg. Edwin, however, had begun registering large land grants in Sumter County, Alabama, in 1837 and died there, without heirs, in 1843. It’s not too much of a stretch to conjecture that Suckey never left North Carolina, and her ownership passed to Edwin’s sister Maria Borden after his death.

The 1852 petition to manumit Suckey Borden was successful, and the 1860 census of Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina shows baker Susan Borden, 70, with Angia Capps, 60, sewer, and Catharine Carrol, 7. Borden reported owning $500 in real estate and $100 in personal estate. She is not listed in 1870 and presumably died in the intervening years. Had Susan Borden spent most of her life on a lower Edgecombe (Wilson) County plantation, enslaved by successive Brownrigg family members until one felt moved to seek her freedom?

Petition of W.H. Washington et al. to General Assembly of North Carolina, 1852; Petitions; Papers of the North Carolina General Assembly, North Carolina State Archives.