Pamlico County NC

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.

Lewis Bass, Co. C, 14th United States Colored Heavy Artillery.

“Birthplace, Wilson, N.C.; age, 66 years; height 5 ft. 11 in; weight 175 pounds; complexion, dark; color of eyes, Black; color of hair, Black; occupation, farmer.”

Relationships forged during slavery complicated the pension claims of Lewis Bass and his widow Frances Hassell Wiggins Bass.

Lewis Bass was born enslaved in Wilson County around 1835. Prior to the Civil War, he married a woman (who is not named in his pension file) and had a daughter named Benzona (whom I have not been able to identify in records). Bass never returned to Wilson County after the war, settling instead in Pamlico County, North Carolina. As Frances Bass told it in her pension application: “Lewis Bass told me that he had a woman in slave days. He did not tell me her name but told me he had a child by her; said his child’s name was Benzona. Lewis Bass said he never saw his slave wife after he left for the army as he never went back to that locality; said as soon as he was discharged he came right down here ….”

About 1866, Lewis Bass married Martin County, N.C., native Frances Hassel Wiggins, who had been married to Isaac Wiggins during slavery. Like Bass, Wiggins enlisted in the United States Colored Troops — Company F, 1st U.S.C.T., in his case — and never returned home. (“We were married so long before the war that we had a son who was large enough to go in the army. His name was Daniel Wiggins and he was a flag bearer in his father’s company so I heard. I have never laid eyes on either my husband or son since they left me to join the army.”) Frances assumed he was dead and went on with her life. She initially applied for Wiggins’ widow’s pension and swore — per lawyers’ advice, she said — that she had never remarried. applied for Bass’ widow’s pension, however, the question had to be settled — was she Bass’ widow or Wiggins’?

File #728893, Application of Lewis Bass for Pension, File #766477, Application of Frances Wiggins for Widow’s Pension, National Archives and Records Administration.