Wayne County NC

Lucy Hall’s children.

We’ve met Nicey Caroline Hall Lynch, the free woman of color whose refusal to kowtow to his wife so irked Confederate soldier Ruffin Barnes. What of her siblings though?

In the 1850 census of North Side of Neuse, Wayne County, Lucy Hall, 45, appears with her children Sarah, 16, George, 15, Nathan, 13, Nicy, 10, Samuel, 3, and Esther Hall, 6, plus Alford, 15, John, 14,  Rhoda, 13, Julia, 12, and Rheuben Artis, 10, and Rufus Lane, 22. (Read here of Lucy Hall’s legal battle to have her children apprenticed as she saw fit.)

Lucy Hall apparently died before 1860. I have not been able to trace Sarah, George, or Nathan Hall. However,

  • Samuel Hall

In the 1860 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farm laborer Noah Walker, 25; wife Polly, 21; and Samuel Hall, 13. [Samuel had likely been apprenticed to the Walkers by a Wilson County judge.]

In the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: brick maker Samuel Hall, 22; wife Caroline, 20; and children Donas, 3, and John, 2 months [next door to Wyatt and Niecy Lynch.]

In the 1880 census of Speights Bridge township, Greene County, N.C.: laborer Sam Hall, 32; wife Caroline, 32; and children John W., 10, Jane E., 8, Sam, 6, and Baby, 1.

In the 1900 census of Bulloch County, Georgia: woodcutter Sam Hall, 50; wife Caroline, 50, washerwoman; children Sam Jr., 24, George, 21, Emma, 19, and Minnie, 10; and daughter-in-law Fannie, 23, washerwoman. All but Fannie were born in North Carolina.

In the 1910 census of Bulloch County, Georgia: farmer Sam Hall, 65; wife Caroline, 63; son-in-law John Kennedey, 31; daughter Maria, 19; and their children Pearl, 2, and John, 3 months.

  • Esther Hall

In the 1860 census of Davis district, Wayne County, James Yelverton [Jr.], 40, shared a household with Hester Hall, 20, and her children Fanny, 7, and Puss, 5. [Yelverton was the father of Esther’s sister Nicey Caroline’s first child, Susianna Frances Hall, alias Yelverton.]

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As to the children Lucy Hall sheltered other than her own, Alford, John, Rhoda, Julia, and Reuben were the children of Julia Artis and Reuben Pettiford. The couple apparently did not marry until after they had had about ten children together, exposing the children to involuntary apprenticeship as “baseborn,” i.e. born out of wedlock. In 1850, they, like Lucy Hall’s children the following year, were apprenticed to William J. Exum, the white man on whose farm they lived. Curiously, in the 1850 census, the children are also listed with their parents and siblings 70 miles away in Warren County, North Carolina: stonemason Reuben Pettiford, 30; wife Judy A., 37; children Eliza, 21, Alfred, 15, Jack, 13, Rhody, 12, Reuben Jr., 10, Julian, 9, and Mary Artis, 7, and Elizabeth J., 5, and Virginia Pettiford, 3; [Julia’s mother] Middy Artis, 60; and Isah Artis, 4 months.

In 1860, the family — by then all using the surname Pettiford — was intact in Halifax County. Per Freedmen’s Bureau records, Alfred and Jack Pettiford were in Plymouth, Washington County, during the Civil War, and other family members followed.

Note that the Alford Artis who appears in Wilson County records by 1880 is not the same man as Alford Artis alias Pettiford:

  • Alford [Alfred] Artis

In the 1880 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm worker Alford Artis, 45; wife Eliza, 40; and children Luvinia, 18, John, 16, Edwin, 14, Lee, 10, George, 9, Lila, 8, Frank, 5, Delia, 2, Marcellus, 10 months, and Annie, 2.

In the 1900 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Alfred Artis, 69; wife Liza, 68; son Patrick, 16; and grandchildren Jennie E. Artis, 14, and Luther Best, 13.

In the 1910 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: laborer Alfred Artis, 80, widower.

William Frank Artis died 27 November 1949 in Black Creek township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 10 May 1876 in Wilson County to Alfred Artis and Eliza Artis; was married; and was a farmer. [Note that his Social Security application listed his parents as Alford Artis and Eliza Felton.]

Lila Reid died 22 April 1953 in Fremont, Wayne County, N.C. Per her death certificate, she was born 25 March 1870 in Greene County, N.C., to Alfred Artis and Liza Artis; was the widow of Frank Reid; and was buried in Hooks Grove Cemetery.

Of Rufus Lane, we know only that he was bound out multiple times in Wayne County — to James Forehand in 1837, to Joel Lane in 1836, and to William Exum in 1837.

The sale of Jack.

Jacob Rentfrow lived in the Black Creek area, in what was then Wayne County, North Carolina. Kedar Rountree, who had obtained a fifty-acre land grant in 1801, lived in the same area.

Rentfrow died in 1815. At Rentfrow’s estate sale on 2 January 1816, Rountree bought Jack, the sole enslaved person listed among Rentfrow’s assets.

North Carolina Land Grant Files 1693-1960, http://www.ancestry.com; North Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998, http://www.ancestry.com.

The obituary of Lillian Fields of Fremont.

Goldsboro News-Argus, 27 September 1950.

Though this obituary states Lillian Fields was buried in 1950 in “Rountree” Cemetery, her death certificate lists Hooks Grove Cemetery in Wayne County, which seems more likely as she lived all but a few years in Wayne County. (A reminder to always cross-check references.)

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In the 1940 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Ormond Fields, 50; wife Lillian, 38; daughter Eva M., 15; son George, 13; son-in-law Zebedee Coley, 32; daughter Henrietta, 22; and grandchildren Yvonne, 3, Vaillie D., 2, and Rudolph, 6 months.

 

Cemeteries, no. 40: Red Hill Cemetery.

I’ve been seeing (and puzzling over) Red Hill Cemetery for years. Death certificates and obituaries site it near Stantonsburg, but that post office serves both Wayne and Wilson County residents, and the cemetery’s precise location was not clear.

Detail of death certificate of Richard Artis of Stantonsburg, Wilson County, who died 29 November 1932. 

Detail of death certificate of Phill Hines of Stantonsburg, Wilson County, who died 15 March 1946.

However, thanks to Portia Newman and her amazing grandfather, Donald L. Woodard Sr., I now know Red Hill is a few hundred feet beyond the Wilson County toward Eureka in Wayne County. It sits on a parcel of land owned by Bethel A.M.E. Zion Church of Stantonsburg.

I went on a chilly, dark, drizzly morning to have a look.

Though active as late as the 1970s, there is no obvious entry into Red Hill Cemetery.

I finally struggled in via a deer path, but could not advance very far through snarls of greenbrier. An estimated 250 graves lie here, but I did not see any headstones or other markers.

Photographs by Lisa Y. Henderson, February 2026.

Teresa Parker’s son.

The 1840 census of Black Creek district, Wayne County (which largely became Black Creek district, Wilson County, in 1855) includes a type of household that may surprise some — white women with mixed race children. Though rare in antebellum Wilson County, such households were not uncommon in neighboring counties like Wayne and Nash.

Teresa Parker was the head of a household that consisted of one white male aged 10-14, one white female aged 30-39, one white female aged 70-79, and 1 free colored male under age 10. Teresa was likely the woman in her 30s. The elder woman was probably her mother or grandmother. The younger boy was Teresa’s son Tarrel W. Parker. The elder boy probably was, too.

Teresa Parker apparently died between 1840 and 1850. Tarrel Parker is not found in 1850, but appears in the 1860 census in Black Creek township as a 23 year-old farm laborer in the household of white farmer Elias Farrell. (The other boy has not been further identified.) Tarrel Parker named his first child, Trecy, born about 1874, after his mother.

The last will and testament of Charity Pope (1858).

William Pope died intestate in about 1857. He lived on the south side of Contentnea Creek, in the Black Creek area, in either Wayne or Wilson County. He left a widow and six children (and grandchildren of a seventh) and a complicated estate. Records indicate that Pope died possessed of ten enslaved people — Isaac, Mary, Nancy, Green, Zilpha, Rachel, Bryant, Patsy, Maria, and Ellis.

On 6 November 1858, William’s widow Charity Pope, who lived in Wilson County, executed a last will and testament that included this provision:

“[T]o my esteemed friend William Thompson one third part of my right and title & interest as one of the distributees of my late husband William Pope in and to Negroes Isaac, Patsy, Zilpha, Mary, Nancy, Green, Rachel, Bryant [and] Ellis ….” The remaining two-thirds interest was to go to her daughters Martha and Elizabeth Pope.

 

In 1 December 1859, well before Charity Pope’s death, all the people WilliamPope had enslaved were sold at court-ordered auction. They went to seven different purchasers, most of whom — Benjamin H. Bardin, Edwin G. Clark, James Newsome, James D. Barnes, and Charity Pope — lived in Wilson County.

Charity Pope purchased Patsy and her children Ellis and Maria, the newborn, for $1205.00. On credit.

In the meantime, in January 1860, estate administrator Simon Hooks paid Charity Pope for “keeping” Patsy for the year 1857. (The other enslaved people were hired out.) Per their agreement, Pope was to receive fifty dollars for her service, plus an additional ten dollars “if the negro woman brought a child during [the] year.” In other words, Pope was to be rewarded if the pregnant Patsy safely delivered (and thereby increased the value of her husband’s estate.)

Estate of William Pope (1856), Will of Charity Pope (1858), North Carolina Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998, http://www.ancestry.com

The roots of many Wilson County Artises, no. 7: Celia Artis.

Before Wilson County was founded in 1855, the area around Black Creek was part of Wayne County. Celia Artis, a free woman of color, is listed as a head of household in the 1840 census of Black Creek district of Wayne County. Though it’s not certain that she lived in what is now Wilson County, her listing in proximity to white planters Stephen Woodard and Bunyan Barnes, who definitely lived in Wilson County territory, suggests so.

1840 federal census of Wayne County, North Carolina.

Celia’s family and Adam T. Artis’ family were among several sets of Artises living in or adjacent to northeastern Wayne County in the antebellum era, and members both intermarried and otherwise interacted with each other regularly. At least eight sets of Celia Artis’ descendants were living in Wilson County by the early 1900s, so I include a summary of her life here.

Celia Artis was born just before 1800, probably in northeastern Wayne County or what is now southern Wilson County. Nothing is known of her parentage or early life. She gave birth to at least six children and married an enslaved man called Simon Pig, who was the father of some or all of them.

In 1823, she gave control over her oldest children to two white neighbors, brothers (or father and son) Elias and Jesse Coleman, in a dangerously worded deed that exceeded the scope of typical apprenticeship indentures:

This indenture this 16th day of August 1823 between Celia Artis of the County of Wayne and state of North Carolina of the one part, and Elias and Jesse Coleman of the other part (witnesseth) that I the said Celia Artis have for an in consideration of having four of my children raised in a becoming [illegible], by these presence indenture the said four children (to viz) Eliza, Ceatha, Zilpha, and Simon Artis to the said Elias and Jesse Coleman to be their own right and property until the said four children arives at the age of twenty one years old and I do by virtue of these presents give and grant all my right and power over said children the above term of time, unto the said Elias and Jesse Coleman their heirs and assigns, until the above-named children arives to the aforementioned etc., and I do further give unto the said Elias and Jesse Coleman all power of recovering from any person or persons all my right to said children — the [illegible] of time whatsoever in whereof I the said Celia Artis have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year above written,    Celia X Artis.

Despite the “own right and property” language, Celia did not exactly sell her children, but what drove her to this extreme measure? Celia was not legally married and, as a result, her children were subject to involuntary apprenticeship until age 21. This strongly worded deed records her determination to guard her children from uncertain fates by placing them under the control of men she trusted, rather than those selected by a court. Despite the deed’s verbiage, it is possible that the children continued to live with their mother during their indenture. Certainly, Celia, unlike many free women of color, had the wherewithal to care for them, as evidenced by her purchase of 10 acres in Wayne County from Spias Ward in 1833. Wayne County deeds further show purchases of 124 acres and 24 acres from William Thompson in 1850 and 1855.

By 1840, Celia Artis was head of a household of eight free people of color in Black Creek district, Wayne County, comprising one woman aged 36-54 [Celia]; three girls aged 10-23 [Eliza, Leatha, Zilpha]; one girl under 10 [unknown]; two boys aged 10-23 [Calvin and Simon]; and one boy under 10 [Thomas].

In the 1850 census, she was enumerated on the North Side of the Neuse, Wayne County, as a 50 year-old with children Eliza, 34, Zilpha, 28, Thomas, 15, and Calvin, 20, plus 6 year-old Lumiser, who was Eliza’s daughter. Celia is credited with owning $600 of real property (deeds for most of which went unrecorded), and the agricultural schedule for that year details her wealth:

  • Celia Artis.  50 improved acres, 700 unimproved acres, value $600. Implements valued at $25. 2 horses. 1 ass or mule. 1 ox. 21 other cattle. 40 sheep. 500 swine. 500 bushels of Indian corn. 100 lbs. of rice. 2 lbs. of tobacco. 100 lbs. of wool. 100 bushels of peas and beans. 200 bushels of sweet potatoes.

Celia Artis also appears in the 1850 Wayne County slave schedule, which records her ownership of her husband:

1850 slave schedule of Wayne County, North Carolina.

In 1860, surprisingly, the census taker named that husband, Simon Pig Artis, as the head of household. However, if he’d been freed formally, there’s no record of it. Simon is also listed as the 70 year-old owner of $800 of real property and $430 of personal property — all undoubtedly purchased by Celia. Their household included son Thomas, daughter Zilpha, and granddaughters Lumizah, 17, and Penninah, 11.

1860 federal census of Wayne County, North Carolina.

A 1863 Confederate field map shows “C. Artis” just off the roads that are now NC-222 and Watery Branch Church Road.

The family’s cemetery remains on that land, as seen in the Google Street View below. A Primitive Baptist church, Diggs Chapel, and an early African-American school, Diggs School, once stood nearby.

Neither Celia nor Simon appears in the 1870 census. However, it seems likely that Celia was alive for at least a few more years, as her estate was not opened until 1879. It was surprisingly small, suggesting that she had distributed most her land and valuables (or otherwise lost them) before her death. Son Thomas is listed as the sole heir to her $200 estate.

Known Wilson County descendants of Celia Artis (and the child from whom they descend) include Edgar H. Diggs and children (Eliza); Rommie Diggs Sr. and descendants (Eliza); Sallie Artis Shackleford and descendants (Eliza); brothers Kemmy A. Sherrod and O. Royal Sherrod (Eliza); Rommie Newsome (Eliza); siblings Beulah Artis Exum Best, Francis Artis Edmundson, and Adam H. Artis (Eliza); Daisy Baker Hobbs (Leatha Ann); and Haywood W. Baker and descendants (including son John H.W. Baker) (Leatha Ann).

“Map of a part of eastern North Carolina from a map in progress compiled from surveys and reconnaissances” (1863), Jeremy Francis Gilmer Papers #276, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Diggs leases farmland in home county.

Edgar H. Diggs, a long-time barber in Wilson, was born into a family with deep roots in northern Wayne County, N.C., just across the county line from  Stantonsburg (in Wilson County). In September 1934, Diggs entered into a ten-year lease with his uncle, Willie Diggs, for the farm Willie Diggs had inherited from his mother Frances Diggs.

Deed book 226, page 297, Wayne County Register of Deeds Office, Goldsboro, N.C.

Under the terms of the lease, Edgar Diggs was permitted to use all the wood he needed to run the farm and to cut as much timber as needed for maintenance of buildings and fences. He was also permitted the sublet the property provided he gave his uncle notice and paid his $100 yearly rent in advance.