- Solomon Andrews and Mary Woodard
- Solomon Andrews and Emily Woodard
Solomon Andrews was a free man of color. Andrews was a carpenter who lived and worked on the farm of slaveowner Dr. Stephen Woodard. The death certificate of Benjamin Woodard, who was born about 1838, lists Solomon Anders and Mary Woodard as his parents. Benjamin, and presumably his mother Mary, were enslaved by Stephen Woodard. In 1866, Solomon Anders [sic] and Emly Woodard registered their eight-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace. It is reasonable to assume that Emily Woodard was also enslaved by Stephen Woodard.
Arch Artis was a free man of color. Rose and their children, who included Tamar, Jesse, John, Gray and Ned, were enslaved by William Woodard’s family in the White Oak area of Gardners township. All of the children used the surname Artis after Emancipation.
Jesse Artis was a free man of color. Several Jesse Artises lived in southeast Wilson/northeast Wayne Counties during the late antebellum period, but he was most likely the Jesse H. Artis listed in the 1850 census of the Town of Wilson. He may have died prior to 1870. In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Rebecca Rountree, 50, and children and grandchildren Henry, 20, butcher, John, 23, barber, Dempsy, 26, farm laborer, Charles, 15, Benjamin, 24, butcher, Mary, 30, domestic servant, Joseph, 9, Willie, 8, Lucy, 20, domestic servant, Worden, 2, and Charles, 1. Henry Rountree was Jesse Artis’ son.
- Mahala Artis and Aaron Barnes
Mahala Artis was a free woman of color. She is listed in the 1860 census of the town of Wilson, with her daughter Sarah, who was not likely not Aaron Barnes’ child. In 1866, Mahala Artist and Aron Barnes registered their five-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace.
- Wilson Artis, alias Hagans, and Obedience Applewhite
Wilson Artis, also known as Wilson Hagans, was a free man of color. In 1866, Wilson Hagan and Beady Applewhite registered their nineteen-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace. Hagans and Applewhite are listed in different households in the 1870 census of Wilson County. They had at least two children — Sarah Jane Artis, whose 1930 death certificate lists her parents as Wilson Artis and Beedie Artis, and Rosetta Artis, whose 1869 marriage license lists her parents as Wilson Artice and Beedy Artice.
- Toney Eatmon and Annie [Eatmon? Barnes?]
- Toney Eatmon and Hester Williamson
Toney Eatmon was a free man of color. In the 1850 census of Nash County, North Carolina, Tony Eatmon, 55, farmer, in the household of white farmer Theophilus Eatmon, 70. Whether he married is unknown, but he is listed as father on the marriage license of Jack Williamson, born about 1835 to Hester Williamson, an enslaved woman, and the death certificate of Willis Barnes, born about 1841, to Annie Eatmon (or, perhaps, Barnes), an enslaved woman.
Penny Lassiter was a free woman of color. She worked for James B. Woodard and married London Woodard, whom Woodard enslaved. In 1856, Penny Lassiter purchased her husband from J.B. Woodard. As Penny was free, all her and London Woodard’s children were also free-born.
Delaney Locus was a free woman of color. Alex Taylor was enslaved by Henry Flowers and William Taylor. In 1866, Alex Taylor and Laney Locus registered their seven-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace. In the 1870 census of Taylor township, Wilson County: Ellic Taylor, 34, farm laborer, and wife Lainy, 45; Nathanel Locust, 33; and Malvina, 11, and Duncan Locust, 4.
- Gaines Locus and Zana Williams
Gaines Locus was a free man of color. On 9 August 1866, Ganes Locus and Zana Williams registered their seventeen-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace. In the 1870 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: Ganes Locust, 40; wife Zana, 35; and children Penny, 15, Hasty, 12, James, 9, Julius, 5, Sarah, 4, and Amanda, 1.
- Patsey Locus and Harry Taylor
On the basis of her surname, Patsey Locus likely was a free woman of color. Harry Taylor was the brother of Alex Taylor above. In 1866, Harry Taylor and Patsey Locus registered their eighteen-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace. In the 1880 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: Harry Taylor, 51; wife Martha T., 45; and hireling Margrett Locus, 21, “working out.”
- John Pettiford and Catherine Hinnant
On the basis of his surname, John Pettiford likely was a free man of color. In 1866, John Pettiford and Catherine Hinnant registered their ten-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace.
Henrietta Thomas, daughter of Jordan Thomas below, was born free. She and Warren Rountree had at least one child, Charity Thomas.
- Jordan Thomas and Rosa Woodard
Jordan Thomas was a free man of color. Rosa Woodard, daughter of London Woodard, above, and his first wife Venus, was enslaved by James B. Woodard. They had at least one child together, Peter Thomas.
