EDGECOMBE 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 Edgecombe County, North Carolina (NARA microfilm series M653, Roll 922) reportedly includes a total of 10,108 slaves. This transcription includes 143 slaveholders who held 20 or more slaves in Edgecombe County, accounting for 6,255 slaves, or about 62% of the County total. The rest of the slaves in the County were held by a total of 529 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 Edgecombe 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: 110 year old male black Jess, about whom is written, “was cook in American Army and was put oout at Larkston”, held by John Oates on page 133B; 103 male black Billie, held by Sam P. Jenkins, page 139B; 110 female black Susan, held by Wm. R. Cox of Wake County, at page 152B; and 100 male black Raborn, held by Jesse, Ruth, Peter, Joseph and Melvina Hines, at page 159B. 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 Edgecombe County population included 6,879 whites, 389 “free colored” and 10,108 slaves. By the 1870 census, the white population had increased about 14% to 7,858, while the “colored” population had increased about 44 % to 15, 112. (As a side note, by 1960, 100 years later, the County was listed as having 26,092 whites, about a 3.8 times increase, while the 1960 total of 28,095 “Negroes”was also about 2.7 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; 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 Edgecombe 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:
ALLEN, Mason, 25 slaves, page 119
ARMSTRONG, Gray, 54 slaves, page 136B
BAKER, Clony?, 20 slaves, page 41B
BAKER, Wm. S., 26 slaves, page 123
BARLOW, David, 61 slaves, page 125
BARRON, B. B., 66 slaves, page 163
BATTLE, George, Mary & Martha, 38 slaves, page 128B
BATTLE, Henry L., 20 slaves, page 118
BATTLE, J. J., 25 slaves, page 129
BATTLE, Jas. L., 55 slaves, page 126
BATTLE, Kemp P., 41 slaves, page 153B
BATTLE, Turner W., 130 slaves, page 128
BATTLE, William S., 232 slaves, page 158
BATTS, Lucy, 38 slaves, page 164B
BELCHER, Martha A., Mary and Martha A., 30 slaves, page 140
BELLAMY, Jo F., 27 slaves, page 118
BELLAMY, John T., 102 slaves, page 162B
BEST, William, 30 slaves, page 106B
BISSETT & BURCHETT, 126 slaves, page 164
BRADLEY, Willis, 24 slaves, page 129B
BRASWELL, Archibald, 40 slaves, page 114B
BRIDGERS, John L., 101 slaves, page 156
BRIDGERS, Robert R., 110 slaves, page 102
BRYAN, H. Blair, 26 slaves, page 126B
BRYAN, Henry, 37 slaves, page 154B
BRYAN, Penina, 23 slaves, page 131
BULLOCK, David W., 86 slaves, page 124
BULLOCK, Joshua K., 50 slaves, page 142B
BULLOCK, Orrin, 45 slaves, page 142
BURCHETT (see Bissett & Burchett)
BYNUM, Turner, 44 slaves, page 160
CARR, Elias, 75 slaves, page 109B
CHERRY, L. R., 28 slaves, page 118B
CHERRY, Will R., 27 slaves, page 145B
CLARK, Henry T., 25 slaves, page 162
COLLINS, James S., 24 slaves, page 139
CONEWELL, Epintus?, 24 slaves, page 123B
COTTON, A. J., 24 slaves, page 140
COX, Wm. R., of Wake Co., 103 slaves, page 152B
CROMWELL, Elisha, 54 slaves, page 144B
CUTCHIN, Joseph, 33 slaves, page 115
DANCEY, John S., 80 slaves, page 149
DANCEY, L. L., 39 slaves, page 148
DANIEL, John H., 27 slaves, page 108
DEMPSEY, Wm. F.?, Estate of (wife & 3 children), 133 slaves, page 121B
DICKEN, K. H., 32 slaves, page 103
DOZIER, Will L., 34 slaves, page 122B
DRURYHORN?, Wells, 38 slaves, page 147
DUNN, Lemon? S., 21 slaves, page 146
DUPREE, Red R., 37 slaves, page 141
EDGE, James, 21 slaves, page 124
FOXHALL, L. E.?, 44 slaves, page 157B
GARRETT (see Jenkins & Garrett),
GLOVER, Wm. H., 21 slaves, page 143
GRAY, Martha, 34 slaves, page 136B
GRIMES, Thomas, 26 slaves, page 106
HARRELL, John, 20 slaves, page 133
HART, Spencer, 36 slaves, page 145B
HINES, Jesse, Ruth H., Peter, Joseph & Melvina, 23 slaves, page 159B
HINTON, David, of Wake Co., 74 slaves, page 152
HORN, J. L., 51 slaves, page 140B
HOWARD, Robert, 29 slaves, page 104B
HOWELL, Brittain, 35 slaves, page 107B
HUNTER, 22 slaves, page 129B (succeeding page missing - may be more slaves)*
HYMAN, Hyman, M. S., John Norfleet for, 21 slaves, page 161B
HYMAN, James H., 23 slaves, page 150B
JENKINS & GARRETT, 26 slaves, page 156B
JENKINS, Fred, 32 slaves, page 111
JENKINS, J. M., 24 slaves, page 108B
JENKINS, J. D., 36 slaves, page 156B
JENKINS, Jas. F., 27 slaves, page 156B
JENKINS, Joab, 22 slaves, page 110
JENKINS, Sam P., 51 slaves, page 139
JOHNSON, John W., 63 slaves, page 113
JONES, Calvin, 30 slaves, page 110
KEA, John, 29 slaves, page 114B
KILLIBREW, C. B., 31 slaves, page 154
KILLIBREW, Geo. W., 44 slaves, page 154
KING, Coffeld, 20 slaves, page 113
KNIGHT, Henry, 34 slaves, page 160B
KNIGHT, John, 28 slaves, page 150
KNIGHT, Jordan, 26 slaves, page 132B
KNIGHT, Peter E., 26 slaves, page 143B
KNIGHT, Wm. H. And Edy, 32 slaves, page 139B
LAURENCE, John, 33 slaves, page 143
LAURENCE, Josiah, 27 slaves, page 126
LAWRENCE, Joshua, 22 slaves, page 107
LEWIS, K. H., 60 slaves, page 117B
LEWIS, Wm. S.?, 42 slaves, page 119B
LOYD, Loyd, H. S., Executors of, John Norfleet for, 115 slaves, page 161B
LYON, Benoit? T., 37 slaves, page 116
LYON, Joshua L., 52 slaves, page 102
MABREY, Baker W., 61 slaves, page 127B
MAYO, B. C., 30 slaves, page 107
MAYO, James H., St. B., Mary D., Martha D., Wm. T., Laura V., Dempsey V., Otho L., 26 slaves, page 119
MAYO, Ruben, 22 slaves, page 111
MERCER, Jessee, 28 slaves, page 159
MERCER, John R., 47 slaves, page 159B
MERCER, John, 38 slaves, page 140
MERCER, Wm. T., 36 slaves, page 146B
MODERICA?, Henry, of Wakre Co., 96 slaves, page 153
MOORE, Will Y., 27 slaves, page 131B
NETTLE, John, 33 slaves, page 138B
NORFLEET, Robt., 47 slaves, page 150
NORFLEET, Thos., 30 slaves, page 148B
NORVID, James, 23 slaves, page 138
PARKER, Wm. W., 28 slaves, page 125B
PENDER, R. H., 27 slaves, page 127
PETWAY, R. S., 30 slaves, page 157
PETWAY, Will L., 21 slaves, page 103
PHILLIPS, Jas. J., 80 slaves, page 151
PITMAN, N. J., 65 slaves, page 147B
PITT, Benoit? P., 60 slaves, page 134B
PITT, F. G., 20 slaves, page 132
PITTMAN, Beverly T., 35 slaves, page 115B
PITTMAN, Dempsey, 36 slaves, page 131
PITTMAN, Redden, 32 slaves, page 115B
PLATOW?, Will A., 39 slaves, page 105B
PORTER, J. J., 46 slaves, page 124B
POWELL, J. J. W., 106 slaves, page 149B
POWELL, Jessee H., 105 slaves, page 120B
POWELL, Wm. H., 21 slaves, page 150B
SAVAGE, Britt, 25 slaves, page 105
SAVAGE, James D., 24 slaves, page 113B
SELLANOR?, Thos., 22 slaves, page 129
SHARPE, E. P., 34 slaves, page 134
SHIRLEY, Elizabeth, 23 slaves, page 125
SLATEN, Baker, 9o slaves, page 160
SLATEN, H. L., 25 slaves, page 126B
SLATEN, Witt? J., 25 slaves, page 123B
SLATON, Celia, 20 slaves, page 110B
SPEIGHT, John F., 41 slaves, page 119B
SUGG, Sugg, Josiah, Phe? P. S., Lucy, Lizzie, Wm., Peter, Anna, John Norfleet for, 43 slaves, page 161
THIGPEN, Jas. R., 38 slaves, page 146 (“includes 4 owned by others”)
THORN, Elizabeth, 22 slaves, page 124
TRAVATHAN, Dempsey, 25 slaves, page 117B
VINES, John A., 65 slaves, page 137B
WHITEHEAD, A. J. M., 44 slaves, page 131
WHITEHURST, James, 30 slaves, page 108
WHITFIELD, John, 55 slaves, page 116
WILLIAMS, David, 128 slaves, page 155
WILLIAMS, Mrs. E. C., 25 slaves, page 123
WIMBERLY, Geo. L., 30 slaves, page 121
WIMBERLY, Robt. D., 52 slaves, page 117
WORSLEY, Wayne, 37 slaves, page 147
*missing page 130 (at Ancestry.com) also apparently contains the name of a slaveholder who had 75 slaves continued on page 130B
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)
ALLEN6198, 435, 13, 628, 420, 9
ARMSTRONG, 1600, 103, 19, 158, 102, 18
BAKER, 3314, 233, 17, 334, 226, 16
BARLOW, 203, 18, 16, 20, 15, 13
BARRON, 141, 14, 9, 18, 13, 8
BATTLE, 900, 255, 141, 316, 248, 136
BATTS, 129, 35, 21, 32, 32, 18
BELCHER, 147, 16, 6, 20, 16, 6
BELLAMY, 145, 46, 38, 57, 45, 38
BEST, 248, 149, 4, 155, 149, 4
BISSETT, 2, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0
BRADLEY, 1305, 65, 9, 99, 64, 9
BRASWELL, 98, 44, 25, 47, 44, 25
BRIDGERS, 64, 54, 31, 54, 53, 30
BRYAN, 1098, 279, 27, 324, 270, 25
BULLOCK, 531, 270, 60, 289, 263, 56
BURCHETT, 16, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
BYNUM, 251, 130, 21, 147, 125, 16
CARR, 1316, 124, 14, 187, 123, 14
CHERRY, 425, 156, 44, 189, 156, 44
CLARK, 5807, 382, 25, 549, 358, 22
COLLINS, 3004, 112, 4, 212, 106, 3
CONEWELL, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
COTTON, 590, 82, 22, 114, 81, 22
COX, 2288, 239, 3, 336, 234, 3
CROMWELL, 206, 14, 12, 24, 11, 9
CUTCHIN, 24, 15, 15, 14, 14, 14
DANCEY, 32, 20, 19, 20, 20, 19
DANIEL, 1765, 229, 15, 287, 219, 14
DEMPSEY, 84, 16, 1, 36, 16, 1
DICKEN, 42, 28, 28, 28, 28, 28
DOZIER, 327, 42, 13, 72, 41, 13
DRURYHORN?, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
DUNN, 994, 167, 22, 208, 162, 22
DUPREE, 171, 49, 9, 53, 49, 9
EDGE, 67, 8, 4, 12, 8, 4,
FOXHALL, 20, 12, 11, 14, 12, 11,
GARRETT, 1025, 87, 33, 119, 86, 33
GLOVER, 1147, 36, 1, 69, 35, 1
GRAY, 3207, 190, 36, 273, 181, 35
GRIMES, 618, 74, 7, 95, 70, 7
HARRELL, 350, 126, 13, 140, 123, 13
HART, 1129, 89, 25, 122, 86, 24
HINES, 929, 174, 44, 211, 168, 44
HINTON, 615, 212, 19, 299, 209, 19
HORN, 379, 56, 2, 76, 53, 2
HOWARD, 3850, 205, 16, 324, 200, 15
HOWELL, 883, 151, 13, 183, 149, 13
HUNTER, 2838, 245, 21, 364, 235, 21
HYMAN, 103, 79, 27, 82, 78, 26
JENKINS, 3848, 225, 47, 301, 211, 46
JOHNSON, 33402, 1230, 47, 1962, 1144, 39
JONES, 27193, 1868, 88, 2779, 1760, 76
KEA, 21, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11
KILLIBREW, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
KING, 4979, 328, 15, 533, 316, 15
KNIGHT, 834, 129, 78, 168, 123, 77
LAURENCE, 142, 7, 0, 8, 6, 0
LAWRENCE, 950, 105, 47, 142, 102, 46
LEWIS, 8707, 414, 51, 579, 385, 49
LOYD, 355, 31, 9, 45, 29, 8
LYON, 307, 85, 20, 90, 84, 20
MABREY, 24, 11, 10, 15, 11, 10
MAYO, 403, 54, 17, 61, 51, 17
MERCER, 239, 46, 26, 50, 44, 25
MODERICA?, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
MOORE, 8698. 953, 31, 1342, 934, 30
NETTLE, 21,11, 9, 11, 11, 9
NORFLEET, 130, 49, 28, 65, 48, 27
NORVID, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
PARKER, 4448, 438, 36, 582, 426, 36
PENDER, 101, 61, 31, 72, 58, 30
PETWAY, 86, 5, 3, 31, 4, 3
PHILLIPS, 1974, 124, 5, 179, 117, 5
PITMAN, 250, 13, 1, 37, 13, 1
PITT, 136, 57, 38, 57, 57, 38
PITTMAN, 268, 103, 52, 113, 102, 51
PLATOW?, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
PORTER, 2334, 71, 15, 134, 62, 15
POWELL, 2420, 362, 50, 474, 355, 45
SAVAGE, 484, 84, 34, 98, 81, 32
SELLANOR?, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
SHARPE, 146, 35, 12, 36, 34, 12
SHIRLEY, 89, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1,
SLATEN, 12, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
SLATON, 70, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0
SPEIGHT, 105, 64, 14, 86, 64, 14
SUGG, 135, 55, 11, 64, 55, 11
THIGPEN, 72, 32, 24, 35, 32, 24
THORN, 137, 22, 1, 27, 20, 1
TRAVATHAN, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
VINES, 71, 39, 18, 41, 39, 18
WHITEHEAD, 614, 76, 19, 104, 73, 19
WHITEHURST, 117, 36, 3, 42, 35, 3
WHITFIELD, 689, 127, 11, 219, 124, 11
WILLIAMS, 28865, 2061, 113, 2969, 1967, 109
WIMBERLY, 14, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
WORSLEY, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12
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