freedmen

Stephen Woodard’s enslaved, part 2.

When Stephen Woodard Sr. executed his last will and testament in 1858, he determined the fates of 72 enslaved African-Americans.

In Item 8th, son Willie Woodard received 11 enslaved people. Woodard died in 1864, and all were likely freed before his estate was distributed. Though they presumably were in Wilson County at Emancipation, I’m able to trace forward relatively few people.

  • Barden

In the 1870 census of Snow Hill township, Greene County, North Carolina: farm laborer Badan Woodard, 49; wife Serenia, 40; and children Jesse, 16, Smithy, 14, Amos, 18, Mitchel, 13, Ollin, 10, May, 3, Mike, 6, and John, 1.

On 6 December 1877, Jesse Woodard, 20, of Greene County, son of Barden and Seney Woodard, married Lucy Swinson, 17, of Greene County, daughter of John and Hannah Swinson, in Bull Doze township, Greene County.

In the 1880 census of Bull Head township, Greene County: farmer Barton Woodard, 59; wife Smithy, 54; children Rena, 30, Amos, 25, Marshal, 17, Zacharias, 15, and Sarah, 12; and grandchildren Amos Jr., 10, Mary, 6, and Charles, 5.

On 20 March 1884, Robert Manuel, 24, of Greene County, married Smitha Woodard, 30 of Greene County, daughter of Barden and Seney Woodard, at Barden Woodard’s in Snow Hill.

On 20 May 1905, Oliver Woodard, 43, of Greene County, son of Barton and Sena Woodard, married Annie Sutton, 45, of Wayne County, in Wayne County.

Martha Woodard died 8 November 1927 in Bull Head township, Greene County, North Carolina. Per her death certificate, she was 69 years old; was born in Wilson County to Barden Woodard and Silva Woodard; was single; and was buried in Lindell. Charley Woodard was informant.

Jessie Woodard died 12 February 1930 in Goldsboro, Wayne County. Per his death certificate, he was 63 years old; was the son of Bardan Woodard and Senie Woodard; was married; worked as a laborer; and was buried in Greene County. Jessie Woodard Jr. was informant.

  •  Sy

Perhaps: Simon Woodard, who  registered his 12-year marriage to Charity Woodard with a Wilson County justice of the peace in 1866.

  • Reddic
  • Jonas

On 17 November 1866, Jonas Woodard and Lucy Daniel were married in Wilson County.

In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Cooper Woodard, 56; wife Candiss, 56; and Austin, 21, Jonas, 24, Handy, 17, and Esther Woodard, 21. Cooper claimed $225 in personal property. [Austin and Handy, and perhaps Jonas, were Cooper Woodard’s sons by previous relationships, and Esther was Austin’s wife.]

  • Sena and her four children Smithy, Amos, Jesse, and Michel

Sena was the first wife of Barden Woodard, above. She apparently died between 1870 and 1880.

On 5 October 1886, Amos Woodard, 38, of Greene County, son of Borden and Conia Woodard, married Venus Lynch, 30, of Greene County, daughter of Peter and Hannah Dawson, at Bull Head township, Greene County.

Amos Woodard died 15 January 1916 in Speights Bridge township, Greene County. Per his death certificate, he was born about 1850 in Wilson County to Bart Woodard and Senie Woodard; was married; worked in farming; and was buried on the Edmundson Place.

  • Maram and her child Bedy

Stephen Woodard’s enslaved, part 1.

When Stephen Woodard Sr. executed his last will and testament in 1858, he determined the fates of 72 enslaved African-Americans.

In Item 2nd, Woodard bequeathed to his son Stephen Woodard Jr. 26 enslaved people. Woodard died in 1864, and all were likely freed before his estate was distributed. Though they presumably were in Wilson County at Emancipation, I’m able to trace forward relatively few people.

  • Lazarus

In 1866, Lazarus Woodard and Pennina Woodard registered their 12-year marriage with a Wilson County justice of the peace. [Pennina presumably was enslaved by a different Woodard, as she is not among the 72 people Stephen Woodard named.]

I have not found Lazarus Woodard in census records. [In the 1870 census of Gardners township, Wilson County, George, 45, and Katie Woodard, 47, are listed with a 2 year-old boy named Lazarus. Was the child a close relative of Lazarus the elder?]

Louella Woodard died 23 October 1960 in Stantonsburg township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 25 August 1869 in Wilson County to Lazarus Woodard and Penina Woodard; was a widow; and worked as a domestic. Lee Woodard was informant. [This appears to Paul Lee Woodard, son of Stephen Woodard Jr., suggesting a very long relationship between enslaved and former enslaver.]

  • Randol
  • Henry

Possibly, in the 1870 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: Henry Woodard, 35, and Caroline, 18, Isom, 13, Harriet, 12, Geneva, 11, John, 7, Louisa, 3, and Daton Woodard, 1 month; and Nathan Horn, 15.

  • Harry

Perhaps: in 1866, Harry Woodard and Hannah Ward registered their 31-year marriage with a Wilson County justice of the peace.

Or: in an unspecified date in 1867, a marriage license issued for Harry Woodard, son of Lewis Shallington and Pleasant Woodard, and Dellah Woodard, daughter of Ben Woodard and Phereba Woodard. The license was not returned.

  • Little Bob
  • Jack
  • Arch

In the 1880 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: common laborer Arch Woodard, 45; wife Sarah, 42; children Sallie, 12, Cooper, 8, Richmond, 5, and Liddia, 1; daughter-in-law Chany, 17; and stepson Joseph, 16.

  • Solomon

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 presumably died before 1879, when his wife Dewry Woodard remarried.

  • Cooper

On 31 August 1866, Cooper Woodard and Candis Barnes registered their 7-year marriage with a Wilson County justice of the peace.

On 21 November 1868, Cezar Woodard, son of Cooper Woodard and Amy Taylor, married Jane Brooks, daughter of Maj. Martin and Rena Brooks, in Wilson County. [Was this the same Cooper Woodard?]

In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Cooper Woodard, 56; wife Candiss, 56; and Austin, 21, Jonas, 24, Handy, 17, and Esther Woodard, 21. Cooper claimed $225 in personal property. [The young adults in the household appear to be Cooper’s (but not Candis’, sons, plus a daughter-in-law. See Chacy, below.]

In the 1880 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Cooper Woodard, 65, and wife Candis, 64.

Cooper Woodard died in 1883.

  • Mintus

See Mintus Woodard, here. There were at least three freedmen in Wilson County known as Mintus Woodard, two of whom had been enslaved by William Woodard.

  • Chacy and her child Handy

On 6 February 1869, Grey Woodard, son of Cooper Woodard and Chacey Woodard, married Jane Edmondson, daughter of Ester Edmondson, in Wilson County. [Was this the same Chacy? Was Gray’s father the Cooper Woodard above?]

On 1 January 1870, Austin Woodard, son of Cooper Woodard and Chacey Woodard, married Easter Newsome, daughter of Cezar Newsome and Jane Simms, in Wilson County. [This appears to be the Austin Woodard and Easter Woodard in Cooper Woodard’s household above.]

On 25 February 1875, Handy Woodard, 21, married Hennetta Barnes, 19, at the residence of justice of the peace G.W. Stanton in Wilson County. [This appears to be the Handy Woodard above in Cooper Woodard’s household in 1870 and thus another son of Cooper and Chacey.]

  • Jackan and her children Julia and Silvia
  • Rachel and her children Lawrence and Jim
  • Charity and her children Minger and Anzy

In 1866, Charity Woodard and Simon Woodard registered their 12-year marriage with a Wilson County justice of the peace.

  • Little Peggy 

Perhaps: on 13 March 1870, Ebonezer McGowan married Peggy Woodard, daughter of Easter Woodard, at Warren Woodard’s in Wilson County.

  • Dianna
  • Nicey
  • Old Peggy
  • Darkus

The David Williams house.

David Williams is best known for his work in the state legislature with General Joshua Barnes create Wilson County from parts of Edgecombe, Nash, Johnston, and Wayne Counties. Williams’ house was in Edgecombe County during his lifetime, but a boundary adjustment in 1883 shifted it into Wilson. His enormous plantation sprawled into both counties, however.

The David Williams house, 1980. It has since been demolished.

Per the National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form for Upper Town Creek Rural Historic District, prepared by Kate Ohno in 1982, the house was built between 1845 and 1860. “This square two-story double-pile Greek Revival house is typical of the kind of plantation house popular with the prosperous planters of this area during the fifteen years before the Civil War.

Detail of ceiling medallion, 1980. “The most outstanding feature of the interior is, however, the elaborate plaster ceiling medallions and cornices. The hall boasts the most elaborate round medallion, while the parlor has a simpler round one and an elaborate plaster cornice.”

Despite the dozens and dozens of number of people David Williams enslaved, I have only been able to identify a handful by name. The 1830 will of Drewry Williams, which entered probate in 1831, included bequests to son David of a “Negro girl by the name of Rose one Negro boy by the name of Amos and one Negro man by the name of George.” David Williams was also bequeathed a one-third interest in three enslaved people — Pink, Nan, and Peter — after the death of his mother.

In the 1850 federal slave schedule of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, David Williams is listed with 17 enslaved people.

In the 1860 federal slave schedule of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Williams reported an astonishing 128 enslaved people, making him one of the largest slaveholders in the area. The quarters on his plantation included 20 houses, none of which was standing at the time the house was nominated for the historic register.

On 13 August 1866, Preston Williams and Betty Petteway registered their 15-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace. W.D. Petway was a close neighbor of David Williams, and the couple may have been enslaved on their adjoining plantations.

In the 1870 census of Joyners township, Wilson County: farmer Preston Williams, 46; wife Bettie, 34; and children Samuel, 17, Warren, 14, Rose, 11, William, 6, and Virginia, 2. On 18 August 1870, Dicey Petway, daughter of Bettie Williams, married Red[mond] Braswell, son of Preston Wilson, at Joyners township. [Braswell was the surname of another slaveholder who lived near Williams and Petway.]

A Google Maps aerial showing the former site of the David Williams house at A. (William D. Petway’s house was located at B. The Edgecombe County line runs parallel to and a couple of hundred feet east of Orchard Road.

Harper’s Weekly: cotton team.

Cotton Team in North Carolina. [Drawn by Edwin Forbes.]

Harper’s Weekly was famed for its lithographs. Though none are known to depict Wilson County scenes, several feature tableaux that would have been typical of the area. This engraving, published 12 May 1866, shows two African-American men traveling with a wagon loaded with cotton bales. A barn and cotton press stand in the background.

Thanks to J. Robert Boykin III for sharing this image.

The last will and testament of London Woodard.

Acclaimed Primitive Baptist preacher London Woodard made out his last will and testament on 14 November 1870.

After directing a “decent burial,” Woodard itemized the household goods and farm implements left to his “beloved wife,” Penelope Lassiter Woodard.

His three sons, William, Hardy, and Haywood Woodard, were to divide his land equally and receive one beehive and one axe each.

Daughter Treasy Woodard received the late nineteenth-century equivalent of a bedroom set.

The rest of his property was to be divided among his children Howell, Elvin, Rose, Pharibee, Sarah, Amos, Harriet, London, Treasy, and Penina Woodard.

 

The estate of Prince Daniel (1889).

When Prince Daniel died about 1889, his modest estate reflected a life painstakingly built since the end of slavery.

Daniel died without a will, and a white farmer named Perry Renfrow, with whom he had a close relationship, was appointed administrator of the estate. On 29 February 1889, Daniel’s belongings went up for sale at auction. Among the family, friends, and neighbors that purchased farm implements, furniture, and utensils were David Rowe and his son Ruffin Rowe; husband and wife Gaston and Waity Barnes; Alford Jordan; Raiford Daniel; Mason Bass; and Condary Barnes.

——

On 31 August 1866, Prince Daniel and Absley Simms registered their cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace.

In the 1870 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farm laborer Prince Daniel, 55; wife Absley, 40; and Isaac, 13. Daniel reported owning $100 in personal property.

In the 1880 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Prince Daniel, 67, and wife Absley, 44. [Next door: farm laborer Isaac Daniel, 23; wife Zilla, 24; and daughters Virginia, 5, Ella Jane, 3, and Mobelia, 3 months.]

On 9 June 1883, a Wilson County Probate Court judge ordered Jennie Daniel, 9, and Ella Daniel, 7, bound as apprentices to Prince Daniel until they each reached 21 years of age. Perry Renfrow was witness to the transaction. [These were Isaac and Zilla Daniel’s daughters. Why were they bound to Prince?]

Prince Daniel Estate File, Wilson County, North Carolina Estate Files 1663-1979, http://www.familysearch.org; United States Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939, database at https://familysearch.org.

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.

——

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 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.

——

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.