BERTIE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
LARGEST SLAVEHOLDERS FROM 1860 SLAVE CENSUS SCHEDULES
and
SURNAME MATCHES FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS ON 1870 CENSUS
Transcribed by Tom Blake, June 2003
PURPOSE. Published information giving names of slaveholders and numbers of slaves held is almost non-existent. It is possible to locate an ancestor on a U.S. census for 1860 or earlier and not realize that ancestor was also listed as a slaveholder on the slave schedules, because published indexes almost always do not include the slave census. The last U.S. census slave schedules were enumerated by County in 1860 and included 393,975 named persons holding 3,950,546 unnamed slaves, or an average of about ten slaves per holder. The actual number of slaveholders may be slightly lower because some large holders held slaves in more than one County and would have been counted in each County. Excluding slaves, the 1860 U.S. population was 27,167,529, with about 1 in 70 being a slaveholder. It is estimated by this transcriber that in 1860, slaveholders of 200 or more slaves, while constituting less than 1 % of the total number of U.S. slaveholders, or 1 out of 7,000 free persons, held 20-30% of the total number of slaves in the U.S. The process of publication of slaveholder names beginning with the largest holders will enable naming of the holders of the most slaves with the least amount of transcription work. Surname matching of slaveholders with 1870 African Americans is intended merely as suggesting another possibility for further research by those seeking to make connections between slaves and holders.
SOURCES. The 1860 U.S. Census Slave Schedules for Bertie County, North Carolina (NARA microfilm series M653, Roll 920) reportedly includes a total of 8,185 slaves. This transcription includes 115 slaveholders who held 20 or more slaves in Bertie County, accounting for 5,850 slaves, or about 71.5% of the County total. The rest of the slaves in the County were held by a total of 468 slaveholders, and those slaveholders have not been included here. Due to variable film quality, handwriting interpretation questions and inconsistent counting and page numbering methods used by the census enumerators, interested researchers should view the source film personally to verify or modify the information in this transcription for their own purposes. Census data for 1860 was obtained from the Historical United States Census Data Browser, which is a very detailed, searchable and highly recommended database that can found at http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census/ . Census data on African Americans in the 1870 census was obtained using Heritage Quest’s CD “African-Americans in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census”, available through Heritage Quest at http://www.heritagequest.com/ .
FORMAT. This transcription lists the names of those largest slaveholders in the Bertie County, the number of slaves they held in the County and the first page number on which they were listed. There were no subdivisions listed within the County. The page numbers used are the numbers rubber stamped in the upper right corner of every other page of the census, with the intervening pages being reported here with a B added to the number of the preceding page. Following the holder list is a separate list of the surnames of the holders with information on numbers of African Americans on the 1870 census who were enumerated with the same surname.
TERMINOLOGY. Though the census schedules speak in terms of “slave owners”, the transcriber has chosen to use the term “slaveholder” rather than “slave owner”, so that questions of justice and legality of claims of ownership need not be addressed in this transcription. Racially related terms such as African American, black, mulatto and colored are used as in the source or at the time of the source, with African American being used otherwise.
PLANTATION NAMES. Plantation names were not shown on the census. Using plantation names to locate ancestors can be difficult because the name of a plantation may have been changed through the years and because the sizeable number of large farms must have resulted in lots of duplication of plantation names. In North Carolina in 1860 there were 311 farms of 1,000 acres or more, the largest size category enumerated in the census, and another 1,184 farms of 500-999 acres. Linking names of plantations in this County with the names of the large holders on this list is beyond the scope of this transcription.
FORMER SLAVES. The 1860 U.S. Census was the last U.S. census showing slaves and slaveholders. Slaves were enumerated in 1860 without giving their names, only their sex and age and indication of any handicaps, such as deaf or blind Slaves 100 years of age or older were supposed to be named on the 1860 slave schedule, but there were only 1,570 slaves of such age enumerated, out of a total of 3,950,546 slaves, and the transcriber, though not specifically looking for such named slaves, did not notice any such information while doing this transcription, except for the following: 100 year old female black Basly(?), held by W. D. Wynns on page 121B; 110 female black Betty, held by J. H. Etheridge on page 131B; 103 male black Simon, held by Jno. Coward on page 160B; and 102 male black Jacob, held by Wilie J. Gilliam on page 163. Freed slaves, if listed in the next census, in 1870, would have been reported with their full name, including surname. Some of these former slaves may have been using the surname of their 1860 slaveholder at the time of the 1870 census and they may have still been living in the same State or County. Before presuming an African American was a slave on the 1860 census, the free census for 1860 should be checked, as almost 11% of African Americans were enumerated as free in 1860, with about half of those living in the southern States. Estimates of the number of former slaves who used the surname of a former owner in 1870, vary widely and from region to region. If an African American ancestor with one of these surnames is found on the 1870 census, then making the link to finding that ancestor as a slave requires advanced research techniques involving all obtainable records of the holder.
MIGRATION OF FORMER SLAVES: According to U.S. Census data, the 1860 Bertie County population included 5,806 whites, 319 “free colored” and 8,185 slaves. By the 1870 census, the white population had decreased about 5% to 5,513, while the “colored” population had decreased about 12.5 % to 7,437. (As a side note, by 1960, 100 years later, the County was listed as having 9,897 whites, about a 1.7 times increase, while the 1960 total of 14,447 “Negroes”was also about 1.7 times more than what the colored population had been 100 years before.) In comparing census data for different years, the transcriber was not aware of any relevant changes to County boundaries. Where did the freed slaves go if they did not stay in the same County? Charleston County, South Carolina saw an increase in colored population of about 24,000 between 1860 and 1870, so possibly that is where some went, even though the overall colored population in South Carolina remained about the same in 1870 as it was in 1860. Between 1860 and 1870, the North Carolina colored population increased by about 31,000, to approximately 392,000, an 8% increase, with these Counties being some that showed significant increases (from around 10% to 50%): Craven; Edgecombe; Granville, Mecklenberg; New Hanover, Wake, Warren and Wayne. States that saw significant increases in colored population during that time, and were therefore possible places of relocation for colored persons from Bertie County, included the following: Georgia, up 80,000 (17%); Texas, up 70,000 (38%); Alabama, up 37,000 (8%); Florida, up 29,000 (46%); Ohio, up 26,000 (70%); Indiana, up 25,000 (127%); and Kansas up from 265 to 17,000 (6,400%).
SLAVEHOLDER LIST:
ANTONY (see Hill & Antony)
ASKEW, Aaron O., 45 slaves, page 152B
ASKEW, Andrew J., 444 slaves, page 153
ASKEW, Wilie, 42 slaves, page 115
ASKEW?, George O., 31 slaves, page 148
ASKIN, John O., 27 slaves, page 157
BAZEMORE, Henry, 28 slaves, page 148B
BENBURY, Jno., 37 slaves, page 164
BIGGS, Kader?. By Elisha Bryant overseer, 45 slaves, page 157
BISHOP, Wm., 29 slaves, page 154
BOND, James, 45 slaves, page 119
BOND, L. T., Guardian, 86 slaves, page 120B
BOND, Lewis T., 70 slaves, page 120
BOND, Lewis, 68 slaves, page 119B
BRITTON, John L., 32 slaves, page 135
BUNCH, Jeremiah Sen., 25 slaves, page 118
BURDEN, Abram, 27 slaves, page 138B
BUSH, Jos.? P., 22 slaves, page 154
CAPEHART, Cullen, 258 slaves, page 123B
CAPEHART, G. W., 40 slaves, page 125
CHERRY, Aaron, 34 slaves, page 137B
CHERRY, Jos.? B., 43 slaves, page 118B
CHERRY, Sol., 25 slaves, page 162
CHERRY, Thos., 39 slaves, page 149
CLARK, David C. Owner, Thos. Smith manager, 66 slaves, page 143
CLARK, Gavin, 71 slaves, page 144
COOPER, John, 39 slaves, page 125B
COOPER, Jos., 86 slaves, page 150
COTTON, Lewis, 43 slaves, page 165B
EASON, Alfred Estate, by J. W. Lessoms, 36 slaves, page 159B
ETHERIDGE, Jos.? H., 246 slaves, page 131B
ETHERIDGE, Wm. D., 40 slaves, page 133B
FLOYD, Samuel, 26 slaves, page 150B
FOLK, Wm. K., 28 slaves, page 115B
FREEMAN, Isaac P., 68 slaves, page 160
GASKINS, David, 32 slaves, page 127
GILLAM, Thos., 28 slaves, page 119B
GILLIAM, Wilie J., 87 slaves, page 163
GRIFFIN, John B., 68 slaves, page 150B
HARDY, Ellinor, by H. H. Hardy Guard., 39 slaves, page 158B
HARDY, H. H., 79 slaves, page 157B
HARDY, Jas.? H., 33 slaves, page 154
HECKSTALL, Elizabeth, 22 slaves, page 122
HILL, A. B., & ANTONY, owners, Willis E. G. Burnell manager, 56 slaves, page 142B
HILL, Wilie R., by H. H. Hartdy Guard., 43 slaves, page 158B
HOGGARD, Wm., 33 slaves, page 117B
HOLLY, Augustus, 173 slaves, page 128
HOLLY, Thos., 47 slaves, page 135B
HURQUHART?, A. B., by overseer, 58 slaves, page 140B
JORDAN, Jos., 35 slaves, page 121B
LANE, George, 25 slaves, page 130B
LEARY, Jos.?, 27 slaves, page 129B
LEE, Jos., 33 slaves, page 146B
LEE, William H., 28 slaves, page 159
MEBANE, A. W., 30 slaves, page 117
MILLER, F. C., 57 slaves, page 138B
MITCHELL, James S.?, 30 slaves, page 152B
MITCHELL, Wm. D., 29 slaves, page 134
MIZELL, Josiah, 43 slaves, page 130
MORING, Wm., 141 slaves, page 116B
NORFLEET, Stephen A., 115 slaves, page 154B
OUTLAW, David, 91 slaves, page 162
OUTLAW, E. Estate of, 29 slaves, page 164
POOL, Jno., 41 slaves, page 161B
POWELL, Jessee, 39 slaves, page 155B
PUGH, J. J., 52 slaves, page 145
PUGH, Thos. J., 46 slaves, page 145B
PUGH, Whitonell S.?, 32 slaves, page 147
PUGH, William A., 67 slaves, page 149B
RASCOE, John P., 87 slaves, page 139B
RAYNOR?, Marcus J., 22 slaves, page 159B
REDDICK, Thos. W., 48 slaves, page 115B
ROUHAL?, Fannie, 47 slaves, page 162B
RUFFIN, Rachel, 58 slaves, page 161
RYAN, Emily, 41 slaves, page 164
SHARROCK, W. T., 37 slaves, page 148
SIMONS, E. P., 26 slaves, page 136
SMALLWOOD, Charles, 55 slaves, page 147
SMALLWOOD, T. J. P., 87 slaves, page 140
SMALLWOOD, T.? J. P. Guardian to son, 52 slaves, page 164B
SMITH, Crecy? E., 25 slaves, page 145
SMITHWICK, Saml. W., 36 slaves, page 114B
SPELLER, Thos. H., 103 slaves, page 126B
SPIVEY, Wm., 24 slaves, page 160B
SPRUELL, L.? B., 63 slaves, page 148B
SUTTON, Wm. T.?, 168 slaves, page 122B
SUTTON?, Stark A., 28 slaves, page 163
SWAIN, Wm. R., 83 slaves, page 129
TAYLOE, Wm. H., 48 slaves, page 152
TAYLOR, J. S., 25 slaves, page 118
THOMPSON, John owner, Hill Spivey manager, 43 slaves, page 143B
THOMPSON, Lewis owner, W. A. Pierce manager, 47 slaves, page 142B
THOMPSON, Lewis, 104 slaves, page 146
TYLER, Parry C., 35 slaves, page 153B
URQUHART, Richard A. Estate of, by B. Hines overseer, 39 slaves, page 157B
URQUHART, W. H. & J. B. Owners, Benjn. Brister manager, 81 slaves, page 143B
WARD, Jhames H., 20 slaves, page 121
WARD, Sarah & child, 33 slaves, page 151B
WATSON, Thos. C., 43 slaves, page 137
WATSON, Wineford, 24 slaves, page 144B
WATTON, William, 23 slaves, page 150
WEBB, John N., 25 slaves, page 126
WEST, Elizabeth, 26 slaves, page 116
WHITE, heirs, John Wilson Guardian, 61 slaves, page 131
WHITE, Isaac, 21 slaves, page 134
WHITE, Josiah, 33 slaves, page 133
WILLIAMS, John P. Owner, R. Powell manager
WILLIAMS, Jos. Owner, J. Brown manager, 23 slaves, page 144B
WILLIAMS, Mary W. Owner, David W. Hamell manager, 33 slaves, page 141B
WILLIAMS, T. L. Owner, W. Edmonson manager, 26 slaves, page 142
WILLIAMS, W. K. A. Owner, by John P. Hamell manager, 74 slaves, page 141
WILSON, Etherton, 30 slaves, page 133B
WILSON, John, 27 slaves, page 130B
WINSTON, P. H., 31 slaves, page 114
WINSTON, Turner, 32 slaves, page 114
WYNNS, Wm. D., 21 slaves, page 121B
SURNAME MATCHES AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS ON 1870 CENSUS:
(exact surname spellings only are reported, no spelling variations or soundex)
SURNAME, # in US, in State, in County, born in State, born and living in State, born in State and living in County)
ANTONY, 197, 1, 0, 7, 1, 0
ASKEW, 227, 91, 46, 120, 91, 46
ASKIN, 13, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0
BAZEMORE, 19, 13, 8, 13, 13, 8
BENBURY, 26, 26, 0, 26, 26, 0
BIGGS, 197, 45, 12, 55, 44, 12
BISHOP, 605, 46, 9, 55, 43, 9
BOND, 825, 106, 53, 172, 105, 53
BRITTON, 273, 17, 3, 33, 15, 2
BUNCH, 203, 46, 25, 62, 46, 25
BURDEN, 122, 8, 2, 21, 8, 2
BUSH, 1228, 18, 4, 41, 17, 4
CAPEHART, 26, 21, 11, 21, 21, 11
CHERRY, 425, 156, 46, 189, 156, 46
CLARK, 5807, 382, 26, 549, 358, 2 6
COOPER, 3459, 261, 27, 342, 247, 27
COTTON, 590, 82, 4, 114, 81, 4
EASON, 203, 69, 11, 84, 68, 11
ETHERIDGE, 65, 22, 5, 33, 22, 5
FLOYD, 870, 78, 3, 98, 66, 3
FOLK, 49, 6, 1, 6, 6, 1
FREEMAN, 2493, 271, 36, 341, 262, 36
GASKINS, 304, 42, 14, 45, 41, 14
GILLAM, 116, 6, 0, 9, 5, 0
GILLIAM, 311, 72, 28, 73, 71, 28
GRIFFIN, 2464, 167, 12, 244, 159, 12
HARDY, 1078, 124, 34, 165, 121, 34
HECKSTALL, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12
HILL, 6675, 635, 13, 867, 613, 13
HOGGARD, 23, 17, 15, 17, 17, 15
HOLLY, 387, 56, 15, 78, 56, 15
HURQUHART?, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
JORDAN, 2359, 196, 7, 270, 189, 7
LANE, 1402, 194, 7, 265, 191, 7
LEARY, 64, 27, 7, 31, 26, 7
LEE, 6357, 267, 23, 435, 253, 23
MEBANE, 119, 74, 13, 85, 73, 13
MILLER, 6577, 400, 14, 576, 376, 14
MITCHELL, 4089, 304, 13, 449, 294, 13
MIZELL, 27, 16, 10, 16, 16, 10
MORING, 21, 13, 11, 13, 13, 11
NORFLEET, 130, 49, 12, 65, 48, 12
OUTLAW, 173, 91, 30, 112, 91, 30
POOL, 572, 110, 3, 130, 104, 3
POWELL, 2420, 362, 21, 474, 355, 21
PUGH, 343, 101, 55, 139, 100, 55
RASCOE, 30, 24, 21, 25, 24, 21
RAYNOR?, 20, 5, 0, 6, 5, 0
REDDICK, 270, 59, 5, 92, 56, 5
ROUHAL?, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
RUFFIN, 591, 133, 44, 185, 130, 44
RYAN, 285, 14, 6, 25, 14, 6
SHARROCK, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
SIMONS, 851, 69, 4, 93, 67, 4
SMALLWOOD, 359, 63, 33, 73, 62, 33
SMITH, 29087, 1805, 24, 2939, 1722, 23
SMITHWICK, 17, 13, 6, 14, 13, 6
SPELLER, 39, 28, 27, 29, 28, 27
SPIVEY, 119, 25, 9, 29, 25, 9
SPRUELL, 38, 29, 4, 32, 29, 4
SUTTON, 713, 155, 14, 192, 151, 14
SWAIN, 183, 34, 8, 42, 34, 8
TAYLOE, 12, 8, 8, 10, 8, 8
TAYLOR, 11696, 678, 18, 1003, 637, 18
THOMPSON, 8826, 495, 51, 752, 475, 51
TYLER, 1134, 31, 5, 53, 29, 5
URQUHART, 50, 17, 13, 17, 14, 12
WARD, 2525, 273, 16, 387, 269, 16
WATSON, 3567, 312, 27, 428, 304, 27
WEBB, 1752, 159, 4, 248, 151, 4
WEST, 2298, 90, 9, 135, 85, 9
WHITE, 8567, 574, 38, 870, 546, 38
WILLIAMS, 28865, 2061, 61, 2969, 1967, 61
WILSON, 10819, 560, 17, 836, 524, 17
WINSTON, 853, 41, 6, 61, 41, 6
WYNNS, 20, 12, 10, 12, 12, 10
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