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Free children of color and the apprentice law, 1786–1864

How the county court bound out the children of free families of color, kept some with their mothers or released them from masters, and hired out a boy held in jail to pay his own fees.

In briefFree families of color could lose their children to the county court, which bound them out as apprentices until they came of age. Some orders kept children with their families, as when the court ordered Jethro Pettiford, a free boy who had been offered for sale, returned to his mother in 1797. After an act of 1826–27 let courts bind out children of free people of color whose parents were not habitually at work, Mark Chilton counted their share of the court's apprentices rising from 12 to 44 percent. Through the 1840s and 1850s the court called in whole families, binding children as young as fifteen months, and its orders ran into 1864.

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The full story

The county court bound out the children of free families of color as apprentices until they came of age, the boys to learn farming or a trade and the girls spinning. In 1794 the court twice ordered Laban Taban, a free boy of color held in jail, hired out to pay his prison charges. In 1797 the minutes record that Adam Marley had offered Jethro Pettiford, a free boy, for sale "as a Slave"; the court ordered him returned to his mother in Nash County. It bound Moses, sixteen, to the potter John Bullock in 1798, James Revill to Benjamin Kinchen, a man of color, in 1801, and four Revill boys to William Cain in 1803.

Some orders kept children with their families: in 1804 the court bound Edy Weaver's five children to their mother, and in 1806 it released Fanny Smith from John Taylor Jr. and bound her to her mother, Lucy Smith. It bound Penny Weaver's seven children to several masters, Simon to Duncan Cameron, in 1808, and Peter, six, to John Redmond to learn hatting in 1814. Later orders released Isaac Weaver from Edward Harris in 1815, called James Forsyth to bring in John Whittaker, a boy bound to him, under a £250 bond in 1817, and cancelled Nancy Whitaker's indenture in 1818.

An act of the General Assembly of 1826–27 let county courts bind out the children of free people of color whose parents were not habitually at work, and Mark Chilton counted that such children rose from 12 to 44 percent of the apprentices the Orange court bound; in the 1830s and 1840s the court used a separate printed form for them with no space for a trade. Through the 1840s and 1850s it called in the children of whole free families of color to be bound, six families at one term in 1845, had Keziah Huckabee arrested and bound out at seventeen in 1850, and bound children as young as fifteen months. In November 1864 it ordered Harrison Parker's executors to produce two Day children it had bound to him.

In the chronology

Episodes in this history, in date order. Each has its own page.

The Revill family and the county court, 1790–18331790–1833 · 14 events · Across three generations the county court bound out the children of the Revill family, a free family of color, to masters as apprentices. Between 1790 and 1803 it bound Revill children to Robert Neil, Andrew Brooks, William F. Strudwick, Jesse Rice and William Cain; Charity was bound before she was three. In 1812 it bound Charity's daughter Susannah, fifteen months old, to Robert Eaton. When Eaton sold his claim on her in 1826, she won a writ of habeas corpus, and Judge Thomas Ruffin ruled the sale void, holding that an apprentice could not be sold without the court's leave. The bindings went on into 1833. Zedekiah Husbands, from bound boy to master, 1813–18371813–1837 · 6 events · Bound out as an apprentice by the county court, Zedekiah Husbands became a millwright and had to fight that court for his nephew. The court bound him to Joseph Woody in 1813 and, now calling him a boy of color, to John Crawford in 1817. In 1833 it bound his nephew Daniel Burnett to John Jones; Husbands petitioned the Superior Court, Judge William Norwood halted the binding, and in 1834 the court bound Daniel to him. Jones later swore he had been told the court refused Husbands the boy because he was a man of color. Mark Chilton found Husbands one of very few people of color to own land in the county before the Civil War. The Mayo children and the county court, 1828–18531828–1853 · 7 events · Again and again the county court bound out the children of the Mayo family, a free family of color, as apprentices, moving them from master to master. In 1835 it bound four Mayho children to three men, then in February 1836 rescinded those orders and bound all four to their mother, Elizabeth Mayho. It bound William Mayho to a cabinetmaker in 1843 and moved Samuel Mayhoe to Josiah Turner Sr. in 1850, and in 1851 it bound James and William Mayo to Dr. Edmund Strudwick, who was to hire them out to support their blind grandfather, Manuel. In 1853, with Strudwick and Henry Crabtree both claiming James's services, the court found him 21 and discharged him from his indentures.

Other events in this storyline, in date order. See these 102 dated events in the chronology →

  1. The court binds Frank, a five-year-old child of color, to William Ackles The court bound a boy the minutes call Frank, a child of color aged five, to William Ackles until he came of age. The order gives him no surname, no parent and no trade.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  2. The court binds Vincey Wade, an eight-year-old girl of color, to James Noey The court bound Vincey Wade, a child of color aged eight, to James Noey to learn spinning until she came of age.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  3. The court binds Ezekiel and Chia Revill, two children of color, to Robert Neil The court bound two children of color, Ezekiel Revill, aged 3, and Chia Revill, aged 12, to Robert Neil, who was to give each of them a year of schooling. Their bonds, dated 23 and 24 November 1790, bound both boys to learn husbandry.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  4. The court orders Laban Taban, a free boy of color held in jail, hired out for his jail fees The court ordered that Laban Taban, a free boy of color in the jailer's custody, be hired out to the highest bidder until Christmas to pay his prison charges, subject to being called back by the court.Search the index · Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: February Term 1794
  5. The court sends Laban Taborn, a free apprentice of color held in jail, back to the Granville court The court found that Laban Taborn, held in the Orange jail as a runaway, was a free person of color bound by the Granville County court to David Bradford, who had since moved to Rowan County, and that Bradford was alleged to have used him ill. It ordered him delivered to anyone who gave security before Absalom Tatom or John Hogg for his appearance at the next Granville county court, once his prison fees were paid. People: Absalom Tatom, John HoggMark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  6. The court orders a boy named Laban Taban, held in jail, hired out until the next court The court ordered the sheriff to hire out a boy named Laban Taban, then in jail, to the highest bidder until the next court.Search the index · Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: November Term 1794
  7. The court binds Charity Revill, not yet three, daughter of Peggy Revill, to Andrew Brooks The court bound Charity Revill, daughter of Peggy Revill, who would be three on 1 March, to Andrew Brooks until she came of age, under the act of Assembly. Her bond, dated 13 November 1796, bound her to learn spinning.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  8. The court orders Jethro Pettiford, a free boy of color offered for sale as though enslaved, returned to his mother The court found that Jethro Pettiford, a free boy of color about seventeen years old, had been brought into the county and offered for sale by Adam Marley "as a Slave" (the minutes' words) and had been for some time in the care of William Partin. It ordered Partin to deliver the boy to his mother, Patience Pettiford of Nash County.Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: May Term 1797
  9. The court binds Moses, a free Black boy, to potter John Bullock The county court bound a free Black boy known as Moses, sixteen years old that month, to John Bullock until he came of age, to learn the trade of a potter.Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: August Term 1798
  10. The court binds James and John, sons of a woman called Free Mary, to learn carpentry The court bound two sons of the woman the minutes call Free Mary: James, nearly eight, to Andrew Brooks, and John, nearly twelve, to William Horton, each until he came of age to learn the carpenter's trade. The minutes give the boys no surname and do not state their color.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  11. The court places James Revill, a youth of color said to have been sold by his master, with Robert Eaton The court found James Revill, a youth of color about nineteen, wandering in the county, and was told that the Wake County court had bound him to David Malone and that Malone had sold him. With Robert Eaton's consent the court left James in Eaton's care until the next term, when he might be bound or not, unless Malone came forward first with good indentures. In February 1801 the court bound James to Benjamin Kinchen, a man of color.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  12. Three daughters of Nelly Revill, a free woman of color, are bound to William F. Strudwick Bonds on one page of the apprentice bonds bound three daughters of Nelly Revill, whom the bond calls a free woman of color, to William F. Strudwick to learn spinning: Nancy, about six, Peggy, about four, and a girl about three months old.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
Show all 102 dated events
  1. The court binds James Revill, a boy of color, to Benjamin Kinchen, a man of color The county court bound James Revill, whom the minutes call a boy of color about twenty years old, to Benjamin Kinchen, whom they call a man of color, to learn farming until he came of age.Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: February Term 1801
  2. The court binds three children of Barbary Revill to Jesse Rice After ordering the sheriff in August to bring them in, the court bound three children of Barbary Revill to Jesse Rice: Nathaniel, 6, and Maclin, 4, to learn farming, and Cary, 2. Their bonds are dated 12 January 1802. Two years later the court bound Nathaniel and Maclin, with Hubbard Revill, to William Cain.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  3. The court binds Johney Revill, a free boy of color, and three other Revill boys to William Cain The county court bound Johney Revill, a free boy of color who would be thirteen in January, to William Cain to learn farming, and in the next order bound Hubbard, Natt and Macklin Revill to Cain as well, leaving their ages blank. At November Term 1801 the court had bound Nathaniel and MacLin Revill, sons of Barbary Revill, to Jesse Rice.Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: November Term 1803
  4. The court binds Edy Weaver's five children to their mother, a free woman of color The county court bound Tabitha, Major, David, Sally and William Weaver to their mother, Edy Weaver, until they came of age, the girls to learn spinning and the boys farming. At the previous term the court had ordered Sterling Harris to bring Tabitha, Salley and Major Weaver, children of Edy Weaver, a free woman of color, to court to be bound out as apprentices.Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: February Term 1804
  5. The court frees Fanny Smith, a free girl of color, from her master and binds her to her mother On application the court released John Taylor Jr. from his covenant for Fanny Smith, a free girl of color it had bound to him some time before, and bound her instead to her mother, Lucy Smith, until she came of age, to learn spinning.Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: August Term 1806
  6. The court binds out seven children of Penny Weaver, a free woman of color The county court bound seven children of Penny Weaver, a free woman of color, to serve until they turned twenty-one: Nancy, born in 1792, to a Roberts whose first name the transcription leaves unread; Lucy to William Roberts; Edith to James Latta; Elizabeth, or Betty, to John Latta; Franky to Edward Harris; Penny to Robert Harris; and Simon, born in 1800, to Duncan Cameron. The six girls were to learn spinning and Simon farming. People: Duncan CameronMark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: February Term 1808
  7. The court takes Franky Weaver, a girl of color, from Edward Harris and binds her to Nathaniel Carrington On notice and cause shown, the court removed Frances (Franky) Weaver, a girl of color, from the authority and service of Edward Harris, to whom it had bound her in February 1808, and ordered her bound to Nathaniel Carrington until she came of age. She was among the children of Penny Weaver, a free woman of color, that the court bound out in 1808.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  8. The court binds Hannah Hutson, daughter of Cresy Hutson, a free woman of color The court bound Hannah Hutson, five, daughter of Cresy Hutson, a free woman of color, to Hall Garrison until she came of age to learn spinning, once he gave bond under the act of assembly for such cases.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  9. The court binds Susannah Revill, fifteen months old, daughter of a free woman of color, to Robert Eaton The court ordered Susannah Revill, aged fifteen months, daughter of Charity Revill, a free woman of color, bound to Robert Eaton until she came of age, to learn the work of a spinster.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  10. The court has the sheriff take two Whittaker children of color from James Thompson The court ordered the sheriff to take into his possession two children of color named Whittaker, then held by James Thompson (son of Thomas), to keep them safely, and to bring them to the next term.Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: November Term 1812
  11. The court binds Alexander, Zedekiah and Patsy Husbands, children of William Husbands, to three masters The court bound three children of William Husbands to separate masters: Alexander, nearly fourteen, to John Whithed; Zedekiah, nearly eleven, to Joseph Woody, both to learn farming; and Patsy, about nine, to William Johnston to learn spinning.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  12. The court binds John and Nancy Whittaker, children of color, to James Forsyth and Polley Comb The court bound John Whittaker, a boy of color about five, to James Forsyth to learn farming, and Nancy Whittaker, a girl of color about eight, to Polley Comb to learn spinning, each until coming of age.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  13. The court binds Peter, a boy of color, to John Redmond and requires a bond for his delivery at the end of the term The court bound Peter, a six-year-old boy of color whose mother, Polley Copley, was a white woman, to John Redmond until he came of age, to learn hatting. Redmond had to give bond and security that he would deliver the boy at the end of his apprenticeship.Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: May Term 1814
  14. The court releases Isaac Weaver, a boy of color, from his binding to Edward Harris On motion and cause shown, the court removed Isaac Weaver, a boy of color about eighteen whom it had earlier bound to Edward Harris, from Harris's power and authority and released him from further service to Harris.Search the index · Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: August Term 1815
  15. The court summons James Forsyth to produce John Whittaker, a boy of color bound to him The court ordered a summons to James Forsyth to bring into the next court John Whittaker, a boy of color bound to him, and to show cause why the indenture should not be cancelled. The sheriff was to take a bond of £250 from Forsyth, void if he produced the boy.Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: February Term 1817
  16. The court rebinds Zedekiah and Alexander Husbands, boys of color, after their masters leave the county Finding that the masters of two sons of William Husbands had moved out of the county, the court had both boys produced and bound them anew: Zedekiah, called a boy of color, to John Crawford, and Alexander, about eighteen, to James O'Daniel, each to learn farming. Both had been bound in 1813, to Joseph Woody and John Whithed.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  17. The court cancels Nancy Whitaker's indenture to Polly Comb and binds her to Henry Thompson Jr. The court cancelled the indenture binding Nancy Whitaker, a free girl of color about thirteen, to Polly Comb, and bound her instead to Henry Thompson Jr. until she came of age, to learn spinning.Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: February Term 1818
  18. The grand jury presents John Little, a child of color living south of the Haw River The county grand jury presented a child of color called John Little, living on the south side of the Haw River on the waters of Cane Creek, near John Newlin's. By 1830 the court had bound him to Joseph Clendenin; that August, Clendenin having died, his son Alexander brought John into court and the court bound him to Alexander to learn farming.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  19. The court takes Elizabeth Revill, a free girl of color, from Simon Davis The court had the sheriff bring in Elizabeth Revill, a free girl of color bound to Simon Davis in February 1817, and ordered Davis to show cause at once. Finding that he did not manage her in a proper way, the court cancelled the indenture and bound her to Col. William Shepperd. The deputy was paid for bringing in Elizabeth and a bound boy, Jesse Hainey, whom Davis also held.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  20. The court calls Robert Eaton to show why Susanna Revill, a girl of color, should not be taken from him The court ordered notice to Robert Eaton to appear at the next term and show cause why Susanna Revill, a girl of color bound to him in 1812, should not be removed from him. The minute gives no reason and no outcome is recorded; she was still living in his household in 1826.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  21. The court binds John Evans, a boy of color whose late mother was white, to carpenter Isaac Jackson The court bound John Evans, ten, a boy of color and son of Polly Evans, whom the order calls a white woman, now dead, to Isaac Jackson, carpenter, until he came of age. Jackson was to teach him carpentry, reading, writing and arithmetic to the rule of three, and give him a set of carpenter's tools when his service ended.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  22. The court calls in four children of Creesa Rowland, a woman of color on Stoney Creek, to be bound out The court ordered the sheriff to produce at the next court, to be bound out or otherwise disposed of, four children of Creesa Rowland, a woman of color living on Stoney Creek, together with Liviny Perry, Purnel Lingo, three children of Polly Sharp and others. In August 1826 it ordered the sheriff to bring in, to be bound to trades, Jane, Fanny and Domesia Rowland, children of Lucretia Rowland.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  23. The court binds Green Cordle, a six-year-old boy of color, to John Holden The court bound Green Cordle, son of the late Rebeckah Cordle and a boy of color six years old, to John Holden until he came of age to learn farming.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  24. Judge Thomas Ruffin frees Susan Revels from a sale that would have taken her out of the county Superior Court judge Thomas Ruffin, hearing a writ of habeas corpus at his office in Orange County, ruled void Robert Eaton's sale of his claim on Susan (Suky) Revels, a free girl of color about sixteen, to Shadrack Lambert of Guilford County, and ordered Shadrack and his brother Lovick Lambert to release her. Her petition of 24 November, brought through her next friend Thomas J. Faddis, said she had lived with Eaton since infancy under a claimed indenture that was not valid, that he had sold her on the night of 23 November, and that the Lamberts held her and meant to carry her to Guilford and perhaps into slavery. The Lamberts answered that Eaton owed Shadrack a debt and that John Taylor, a Hillsborough lawyer, had told them the transfer was lawful and then drew up the assignment. Ruffin found no lawful indenture shown and held that a master could not sell or assign an apprentice without the county court's leave, least of all to send a free person of color out of the county; she remained subject to being bound out according to law. People: Thomas RuffinMark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  25. The court binds Susan Revill, a free girl of color, to Moses S. Pratt Under a November term order for the sheriff to bring in Susan Revill, a free girl of color earlier bound to Robert Eaton, the court apprenticed her, then about sixteen, to Moses S. Pratt on 28 November, the day after Judge Thomas Ruffin freed her from the Lamberts.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  26. The General Assembly lets county courts bind out children of free people of color whose parents are not habitually at work The General Assembly that met from December 25, 1826 passed "An act to prevent free persons of colour from migrating into this State, for the good government of such persons resident in the State, and for other purposes." Besides barring free people of color from moving into the state and letting courts hire out those found idle, its seventh section empowered the county courts to bind out the children of free people of color when the parent they lived with did not habitually follow an honest occupation, and its eighth required masters to feed, clothe and humanely treat such apprentices, teach them a trade or useful employment, and keep them in the county. Chilton counted that children of color made up 12 percent of the apprentices the Orange County court bound in the fifty years before the act and 44 percent in the 34 years from the act to the Civil War, and he describes the court as stepping up its binding of children of color after it.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (book edition, 20 September 2021; Durham County Library) · Also: Internet Archive
  27. Lucy Morgan, a free woman of color, asks the court to bind her children to William Chamblee Lucy Morgan, unable to come to court herself, sent a signed statement saying that William Chamblee had taken her as a free girl, that she had stayed with him after coming of age and wished to live with him, and that she wanted her children Gabriel and Esther bound to him. That term the court bound Gabriel, four, and Esther, two, both called free children of color, to William Shambly.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  28. The court calls in children to be bound out, among them two boys of color The court ordered the sheriff to bring to the next court, to be bound out, a long list of children: four children of Elizabeth Mayhoe and two other Mayhoe girls, three children of the widow Rebecca Baldwin, three of the widow Jemima Barton, the children of Frankey Rhodes, Green O'Daniel, and two boys the order calls colored, Sewel Goodson and Ruffin Chavers, son of Polly Chavers. In May 1830 the court bound Ruffin Chavers, then nearly 12, to Gray Huccabee to learn farming and to read, write and cipher.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  29. The court releases Alfred Shambley from Litha Mayho's indenture and binds her to Joseph Laycock On Alfred Shambley's motion the court rescinded the indenture binding Litha Mayho, a child of color, to him and released him from it, and bound her, aged fourteen, to Joseph Laycock to learn spinning. The court had bound her to Shambley the previous November as the daughter of the wife of Jonathan Due.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  30. The court binds Henry Valentine, a free boy of color, to bricklayer Samuel Hancock for six years The court bound Henry Valentine, a free boy of color, to Samuel Hancock for a fixed term of six years to learn bricklaying, with Hancock to have him taught to read and write and to give bond under the act of assembly for such cases. Most orders in the minutes ran until the child came of age.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  31. The court binds Washington Revill, a free boy of color, to John Taylor The court bound Washington Revill, son of Peggy Revill, a free boy of color of thirteen, to John Taylor to learn farming until twenty-one.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  32. At a parent's request, the court binds Harrison and Robert Taburn, boys of color, to John Roberts The court bound the brothers Harrison Taburn, about six, and Robert Taburn, about four, to John Roberts to learn farming; the bonds of 26 May call each a boy of color. In January a parent had written out the boys' ages for the court as the two children the writer wished bound to Roberts. That paper is unsigned.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  33. The county court binds children on separate printed forms for white children and children of color In the 1830s and 1840s the Orange County court bound children on pre-printed fill-in forms, and it had two kinds printed, one for white children and one for children of color. Chilton found that the form for children of color had no space for the trade the child was to learn, and he reads this as a deliberate choice; he also found that the court seldom set out the schooling, pay, tools or clothing due to children of color at the end of their terms.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (book edition, 20 September 2021; Durham County Library)
  34. The court binds Lawrence Dollarhide, son of a free woman of color, at nearly eighteen The court bound Laurence Dollarhide, son of Betsy Dollarhide, a free woman of color, to Gray Huckabee until he came of age to learn farming, though he would turn eighteen the following January. Huckabee entered bond as the law required.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  35. The court binds Andrew Suits, a two-year-old boy of color, to Josiah Turner as a warden of the poor The court bound Andrew Suits, a boy of color aged two, to Josiah Turner in his office as a warden of the poor and to his successors, to learn farming. The binding ran to the wardens rather than to a private master. People: Josiah Turner Sr.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  36. The court releases John R. McDaniel from Stanford Haithcock's indenture and binds the boy to James Moore After ordering John R. McDaniel at the August term to show why his indenture for Stanford Haithcock, a boy of color bound in 1827, should not be cancelled, the court heard McDaniel ask to be released and rescinded the indenture. It then bound Stanford to James Moore to learn farming, with McDaniel among Moore's securities.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  37. The court takes Mary Revill, a child of color, from Thomas D. Watts and binds her to Mary Palmer The court rescinded its order binding Mary Revill, a young child of color, to Thomas D. Watts and bound her to Mary Palmer. In November 1834 it rescinded that binding too and bound Mary, nearly six and named as the daughter of Suckey Revill, to George Albright to learn spinning. People: Thomas D. WattsSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  38. Zedekiah Husbands petitions the Superior Court to stop his nephew Daniel Burnett's binding to John Jones Zedekiah Husbands, a millwright and machine builder, petitioned the Superior Court that his nephew Daniel Burnett, a free boy of color, had been bound by the county court at May Term to John Jones without his knowledge, after Daniel's master Thomas Woody left the state and placed the boy with him. Judge William Norwood issued writs the same day ordering Jones, the sheriff and the county officers to take no further action under the binding until the Superior Court ruled. People: William NorwoodSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  39. Zedekiah Husbands, a free man of color and former apprentice, buys 48 acres on the Eno River Mark Chilton found that Zedekiah Husbands, a free man of color who had been bound out as a boy and later became a millwright, bought 48 acres on the Eno River sometime in 1834 or 1835, making him one of very few people of color to own land in Orange County before the Civil War. Chilton notes the deed was apparently never recorded.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (book edition, 20 September 2021; Durham County Library)
  40. The court binds Daniel Burnett to his uncle Zedekiah Husbands, a free millwright of color The county court bound Daniel Burnett, son of Jinny Burnett and 13 the next March, to Zedekiah Husbands to learn the millwright's trade, with Husbands giving bond of $1000 with James Webb as security. Affidavits filed in 1837 describe Husbands as a man of color and a millwright living about three miles from Hillsborough. People: James WebbSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  41. The court cancels Richard Mayho's indenture to Samuel Child and binds him to Josiah Turner Samuel Child produced in court Richard Mayho, a free boy of color bound to him in 1832, and the court rescinded the indenture and bound Richard to Josiah Turner to learn farming. At the same term it bound Polly and Thaddeus Mayho to William Riley and Green Mayho to Catlet Campbell. People: Josiah Turner Sr., Samuel ChildSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  42. The court cancels four Mayho children's bindings and binds them to their mother, Elizabeth Mayho The court rescinded its orders binding Richard Mayho to Josiah Turner, Molly and Faddis Mayho to William Riley, and Green Mayho to Catlet Campbell, and bound all four to their mother, Elizabeth Mayho, with William and Sanders Riley as her sureties. Bonds of February and May 1836 describe the children as of color and bind each to their mother.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  43. Jemima Mitchell arranges for her son William Barton, a boy of color, to be bound to Aquilla Compton In a signed agreement with Aquilla Compton, Jemima Mitchell said her son William Barton, a boy of color aged nine, had been living with Compton for some time and that she was not prepared to raise him properly, and she proposed that the court bind him to Compton if Compton would treat and clothe him well and pay him forty dollars at 21. Compton agreed, and at May Term 1836 the court bound William to him on those terms, with a bond as the law required.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  44. John Jones swears the county court had refused to bind Daniel Burnett to Zedekiah Husbands because Husbands was a man of color In the Superior Court suit Husbands v. Jones, John Jones swore he had been told that the county court, at February Term 1833, refused Husbands's application for Daniel Burnett on the ground that Husbands was a man of color, and that Jones then offered to take the boy and had him bound at May Term. He swore that Daniel left that day to fetch his clothes from Husbands's house and never came back, and that Husbands hid him. On 15 March Husbands swore that the county court had bound the boy to him in August 1834, that he had taught him millwrighting for five years, and that taking him away would harm the boy and wrong his master.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  45. The court binds John Weaver, a boy of color whose father had left the family, to Henry McDaniel The court bound John Weaver, a boy of color aged nine, son of James Weaver, who the court found had abandoned his family, to Henry McDaniel to learn farming, with John Stafford and Handy Woody as sureties.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  46. The court binds the Corn children under bonds not to take them out of the county The court bound Eliza Corn, about 10, and William Corn, about 2, to Willis Rhodes, and James Corn, about 6, to Hampton Dollar. Each master gave bond with two sureties not to remove the children from the county and promised a freedom suit and a few dollars when they came of age. In February 1842 the court rescinded Eliza's binding, calling her a colored girl about 14, and bound her to King Barbee.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  47. The court binds Washington and William Day, boys of color, to two masters The court bound two sons of Vicey Day, boys of color, to separate masters: Washington, about seven, to John J. Freeland and William, about nine, to Jacob Jackson, each to learn farming and receive a good suit of clothes when free. In November 1844 the court bound William to Mary Jackson. People: John J. FreelandSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  48. The court has two children of Patsy Huckabee, a woman of color, brought in and binds them to John Taylor The court ordered the sheriff to bring in James, twelve, son of Patsy Huckabee, a woman of color, and her daughter Kesiah, along with other children, to be bound out. At the same term it bound James to John Taylor to learn farming and Kesiah, about eight, to John Taylor to learn spinning.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  49. The court binds William Mayho, a boy of color, to Henry Evans to learn cabinetmaking A year after ordering the sheriff to bring him in, the court bound William Mayho, a boy of color about eight, son of Malinda Mayho, to Henry Evans to learn the cabinetmaker's trade, with James Palmer as security for producing the boy. People: Henry EvansSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  50. The court orders all children of Dicey Hays, a free woman of color, over five brought in to be bound out The court ordered the sheriff to bring to the next term every child of Dicey Hays, a free woman of color, older than five, so that they could be bound out. The order names none of the children.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  51. The court binds three Haithcock children of color to three masters in one term In one term the court bound Mary Ann, five, and Vincy, eight, free girls of color and daughters of Salley Haithcock, to Joseph Steel and Robert Hunter Jr. to learn spinning, and Calvin, about four, son of Peggy Haithcock, to Robert Thompson to learn farming.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  52. The court calls in the children of six free families of color to be bound out and tells the parents they may object The court ordered the sheriff to bring in the elder children of Ephraim Haithcock, Peggy Haithcock, Patsy Carter, Abby Bowden, Aron Wilson and Stephen Bass, all free people of color, and to notify the parents so they could appear and object. The same term the court bound out Harriet Bowden, daughter of Abbey Bowden, and Ingram Bowden, a boy of color; Ruth Adaline Carter, daughter of Salley Haithcock; William Gaston Carter, son of Betsy Carter; and Eliza, John and Mariah Bass, children of Mariah Bass.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  53. James Jackson Jr. conveys the services of William Carter, a free bound boy, in a deed of trust with two enslaved men In a deed of trust to James Jackson Sr. as trustee, James Jackson Jr. conveyed two enslaved men, Jack and Ransom, his livestock, grain, provisions and household goods, a still and a set of blacksmith tools, and his right in the services of William Carter, a free Black boy bound to him, whose service the deed puts at about three years.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  54. The court binds Stephen Wilson, a boy of color, to his late master's widow, Nancy Pratt The court bound Stephen Wilson, a boy of color, son of Ruth Carter, to Nancy Pratt, widow of Loftin K. Pratt, to whom he had been bound in May 1845 at twelve to learn blacksmithing; under Nancy Pratt he was to learn farming. William N. Pratt was her security.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  55. The court orders all the children of Charity Phillips, a free woman of color, brought in to be bound out The court ordered the sheriff to bring to the next court, to be bound out, all the minor children five years and older of Charity Phillips, a free woman of color. It had made a like order for her children in August 1842.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  56. The court orders the children of Sally Heath brought in to be bound out The court ordered the children of Sally Heath brought to the next term, in the minutes' words to be 'bound out of Sally Heath'; the clerk's writ to the sheriff issued December 2. In February 1847 the court bound Nancy, about six, a girl of color and daughter of Sarah Heath, to Henry Malone, and in 1849 the county paid Spivey Henslie for bringing the children to court.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  57. The court binds Andrew Jackson, a boy of color raised at the poorhouse, to Charles Cox In November 1846 the court rescinded an order binding Andrew Jackson, a boy of color, to the wardens of the poor and bound him to Charles Cox. At the February 1847 term it bound him to Cox again as seventeen, on certificates that he had first been entered as a pauper at the poorhouse on October 1, 1833, when a woman living there thought him two or three, and that he was no older than seventeen. In November 1849 the court moved him to Bedford Hurdle to learn wagonmaking. People: Nathaniel D. BainSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  58. The court has Harrison Parker give the bonds it failed to take when it bound two free children of color in 1843 The court found that at February Term 1843 it had bound Adolphus Day, 5 or 6, and Caroline Day, about 3, free children of color, to Harrison Parker without taking the bonds, and ordered Parker to give them now, with William Nelson as security, as of the 1843 term. People: William Nelson, Harrison ParkerSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  59. The court grants Jehu Hall indentures for Charlotte Weldon and James Taburn, children of color The court found that Charlotte Weldon, daughter of Lydia Weldon, and James Taburn, son of Lucinda Taburn, both free women of color, had been bound to Jehu Hall in May 1839 and May 1842 without indentures ever being issued, and ordered indentures granted. In February 1846 Hall had written to Joseph Allison that he had paid for the indentures of two children of color bound to him, that the clerk Taylor kept putting off writing them, and asked Allison to send them by the bearer. People: Joseph AllisonSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  60. The court binds James and Prince Shaw, sons of Cassander Shaw, a free woman of color, to Benton Utley The court bound James Shaw, eight, and Prince Shaw, five, sons of Cassander Shaw, a free woman of color, to Benton Utley until they reached twenty-one, with Spencer Durham and William McCauley as his sureties.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  61. The court binds three children of Jinney Chaves, a free woman of color, to Stephen Moore The court bound Lucy, 9, Nancy, 6, and Ruffin, 3, children of Jinney Chaves, a free woman of color, to Stephen Moore until 21, with bonds as the act of assembly required and Josiah Turner as surety. In November 1853 the court bound a free girl of color named Lucy, 13, to John U. Kirkland, and a free boy of color named Ruffin Chavers, 7, to Thomas Webb to learn carpentry, with $37.50 in tools at 21. People: John U. Kirkland, Thomas WebbSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  62. The court binds Henry Mitchell, son of Eliza Mitchell, to William Barton The court bound Henry Mitchell, seven, son of Eliza Mitchell, to William Barton until he reached 21; the order describes him as a free person of color. It bound her daughter Ellen, five, to Ann L. Watson that November and her son George, seven, to Thomas R. Loder in February 1852.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  63. The court has Keziah Huckabee, a free girl of color, arrested and bound out at seventeen After the sheriff reported in November 1849 that Keziah Huckabee could not be found, the court renewed its order, and at the May 1850 term had her brought in as a free orphan of color, daughter of Patsey Huckabee of Chapel Hill. It bound her, at seventeen, to Benton Utley to learn spinning, and ordered the county to pay Nathaniel King for arresting her and bringing her to court.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  64. The court takes Samuel Mayhoe from John Watson and binds him to Josiah Turner Sr. The court ordered John Watson to show cause why his apprentice Samuel Mayhoe should not be taken from him and bound to another, and at the same term bound Samuel to Josiah Turner Sr. to learn farming. In 1845 the court had bound Samuel Child Mayo, a boy of color and son of Mahala Mayo, to Watson to learn tailoring. People: Josiah Turner Sr.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  65. The court has Chapel Hill children of color brought in and binds Jack Evans to John Turner The court ordered Nathaniel King to bring before it, at no cost to the county, the children of Polly Mitchell of Chapel Hill (Siphra, also called Cicero, Ann and Elijah) and Jack, son of Rilly Evans of the same place. Letters to the court said the boy's mother, given as Lilly Evans, had arranged to bind her son John to Thomas C. Davis and wished it done. The minutes show the court bound Jack Evans, about seven, son of Rilly Evans, a free woman of color, to John Turner.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  66. The court binds James Stewart, three-year-old son of Martha Stewart, a free woman of color, to Lytle McCadams The court bound James Stewart, born 31 August 1847, son of Martha Stewart, a free woman of color, to Lytle McCadams to learn farming, with Caleb Wilson as surety.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  67. The court binds James and William Mayo to Dr. Edmund Strudwick, to be hired out for their blind grandfather After ordering Henry Crabtree and William Hobbs to produce the two boys of color and show cause, the court rescinded its bindings of James Mayo to Crabtree and William Mayo to Hobbs and bound both to Dr. Edmund Strudwick, who was to hire them out for the support of their grandfather Manuel, who was blind. On 2 June 1851 Strudwick wrote to Crabtree demanding that he deliver James to the sheriff. People: Edmund StrudwickSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  68. The court binds William Mitchell, son of Adaline Mitchell, a free woman of color, to cabinetmaker Henry Evans The court bound William Mitchell, nearly fourteen, son of Adaline Mitchell, a free woman of color, to Henry Evans to learn cabinetmaking; if he served out his time he was to receive a set of bench tools and a good suit of clothes. People: Henry EvansSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  69. The court binds Sarah Morgan, a free girl of color of about eighteen, to B. L. Durham The court bound Sarah Morgan, a free girl of color aged about eighteen, to B. L. Durham. In 1843 the court had bound her, then ten and named as the daughter of Lucy Morgan, to John Redmond to learn spinning.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  70. The court binds Currie Chavers, a youth of color, to carriage maker Merrill Utley The court bound Currie Chavers, about 15 and son of Jenny Chavers, to Merrill Utley to learn coach and carriage making, with $50 worth of carriage maker's tools at the end, their value to be judged by competent workmen, and a $500 bond as the law required. In May 1855 it bound him, then a free boy of color about 18, to John Cheek to learn the same trade, and in November 1855 it rescinded that order.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  71. The court finds James Mayo of age and frees him from his indentures as two men claim his services The sheriff brought James Mayo, a young man of color, into court. With notice given to Henry Crabtree and Dr. Edmund Strudwick, who both claimed his services, the court heard evidence and argument of counsel, declared that he had reached 21 and discharged him from his indentures. People: Edmund StrudwickSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  72. The court binds John D. Carter, a free boy of color, to Josiah Turner Sr. over a carriage maker's offer to teach him Two men applied for John D. Carter, a free orphan boy of color aged 12 and son of Elizabeth Carter: Andrew C. Murdock, who ran a carriage-making shop in Hillsborough and offered to teach him the trade, and Josiah Turner Sr., who offered to teach him none. The court found nothing against either man's character, bound the boy to Turner as the most suitable person, to learn farming, and allowed Murdock an appeal to the Superior Court. The same term it bound William Gaston Carter, 14, also a son of Elizabeth Carter, to William S. Cheek. People: A. C. Murdock, Josiah Turner Sr.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  73. The court binds William, the four-year-old son of Sarah Morgan, to Bartlett L. Durham The court bound William, a child of color and son of Sarah Morgan, who would be four in July 1854, to Bartlett L. Durham to learn farming, with Thomas W. Gooch as security.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  74. The court orders Robert Laws to take Sam and Mary Mills, children of color, to be bound to him The court ordered Robert Laws to take Sam and Mary Mills, minor children of color, into his possession and bring them to the next term, when they would be bound to him.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  75. The court upholds Turner Hayes's binding to Williamson Parrish over Robert Laws's challenge In February 1854 the court bound Turner Hayes, a boy of color in his seventeenth year, to Williamson Parrish to learn farming, then ordered that he stay with Robert Laws until the next term and that notice issue to show cause why the binding should not be rescinded. In May, hearing the case Robert Laws brought, the court affirmed the binding and ordered Parrish to take possession of the boy.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  76. The court weighs undoing Fanny Chavis's binding to Dr. Thomas H. Turner and confirms it At February Term 1854 the court bound Fanny, a free girl of color about 12 or 13 and daughter of Eliza Chavis, to Dr. Thomas H. Turner until 21, then ordered him to bring her to May Term for further action. At May Term, on a notice to show cause why the binding should not be rescinded, the court considered the matter and confirmed the binding.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  77. The court binds Mary Mitchell, a free girl of color, to Thomas Webb The court bound Mary, a free girl of color aged nine and daughter of Adeline Mitchell, to Thomas Webb, who was to give her money and a fine suit of clothes at 21. A note beside the order says the binding was rescinded at the May term of 1861. People: Thomas WebbSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  78. The court binds Eliza Taburn, a free girl of color not yet three, to Thomas Faucett Three months after a jury found Faddis Mayho her father, the court bound Eliza Tabourn, a free girl of color who would be three on 1 September, to Thomas Faucett to learn spinning; Faucett gave bond of $500 with George Laws as security and was to give her $25 at twenty-one.Mark Chilton, Natural Child: Legitimacy, Sexuality and Shame in the Court Records of Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  79. The court lets Alice Tate take her apprentice Eliza Jones, a girl of color, to Alamance County The court gave Alice Tate leave to remove her apprentice Eliza Jones to Alamance County. Eliza, a minor of color, had been bound to Tate at thirteen in August 1849, and in August 1854 the court had that binding entered in its minutes after the fact.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  80. The court binds Charles Day, a free boy of color, to Dr. B. L. Durham The court rescinded the indentures and bond Andrew Turner had entered into at November Term 1845 for Charles Day, a free boy of color, and bound Charles to Dr. B. L. Durham until 21, with Zachariah Lyon and Andrew Turner as securities on a $500 bond. The apprentice bond names the master as Bartlett L. Durham.Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  81. The court binds three Chavis children, the youngest 15 months old, to Farthing Garrard The court bound William H. Chavis, about 4, Laura Chavis, about 6, and George Chavis, about 15 months, all free minors of color, to Farthing Garrard, who was to give each $25 and a suit of clothes if they served their time. The same term it bound Henderson Chavis, about 11, and Susan M. Chavis, about 9, free persons of color, to Jethro D. Umsted. In February 1861 the court bound Hinton Chavis, 8, and Sarah Chavers, 12, to Candis Garrard, and a bond of 1 March 1861 shows Laura apprenticed to Candis Garrard as well.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  82. The court binds four Harris children of color, the youngest under two, to Lambert W. Hall On motion, the court bound four free children of color named Harris to Lambert W. Hall until each reached twenty-one: Thomas N., seven; Betsy A., nearly five; Doctor W., four; and Nancy H., who would be two in September. Hall gave a separate bond for each child.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  83. The court binds Dudley Page, a free boy of color, to John Strayhorn to learn blacksmithing The court bound Dudley Page, a free boy of color aged six, to John Strayhorn to learn the blacksmith's trade; Strayhorn was to give him a new set of blacksmith's tools and money when he reached 21.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  84. The court cancels William Stowers's binding to Daniel D. Phillips and binds him to Samuel P. Moore The court rescinded its 1856 order binding William Stowers, a free boy of color now seven, to Daniel D. Phillips, who was to teach him his branch of business and give him tools at the end of the term, and bound him instead to Samuel P. Moore, who had been Phillips's surety. The minute gives no reason.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  85. George Laws, an orphan of color aged seven, is apprenticed to John Chavers A bond of 31 May 1861 apprenticed George Laws, an orphan of color who had turned seven on 15 May, to John Chavers.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  86. The court binds Fanny Taborn, a free girl of color, to Julia Minor The court bound Fanny Taborn, a free girl of color aged eight, to Julia Minor until she reached twenty-one, with James S. Amis as Minor's security. A year earlier it had ordered the sheriff to bring in Fanny, daughter of Eliza Taborn, to be bound out.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  87. The court binds Craton and Frank Steward, minors of color, to James D. Rice The court bound Craton Steward, eight, and Frank Steward, six, both described as minors of color, to James D. Rice until they reached twenty-one, with Rice to give each money and a good suit of clothes at the end of the term and to give bond with Moses L. Rice and W. W. Pickett as securities. Craton's bond calls him an orphan of color.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  88. The court calls David Weaver Sr. to show why David Weaver Jr.'s binding to him should stand The court ordered the sheriff to bring in David Weaver Jr. and notified David Weaver Sr. to show cause why its earlier order binding the younger David to him should not be rescinded. At the February 1865 term it ordered the sheriff to bring in David Weaver, a minor of color, to be bound out.Search the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  89. The court orders Harrison Parker's executors to produce Nancy and John Day, free children of color The court ordered the executors of Harrison Parker, deceased, to bring into court at its next term Nancy Day and John Day, free children of color who had been bound to Parker, and allowed the clerk to issue a capias to Person County for them if the parties wished. The court had bound Day children to Parker since 1845. People: Harrison ParkerSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  90. The court binds Nancy Day, twelve, a girl of color, to John W. Roberts Three months after ordering Harrison Parker's executors to produce her, the court bound Nancy Day, a minor of color aged twelve, to John W. Roberts until she reached twenty-one, with Jesse W. Parker and E. M. Holt as his securities. People: Harrison ParkerSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)

Places in this history

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows them all.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

All places and the county map →

Background on Black Life & Civil Rights

Background reading on Black Life & Civil Rights. These works cover the broader subject and may not discuss this storyline. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.

Widely held

Cross & Sampson

Patterson, James · 2026 · Little, Brown and Company / Hachette Book Group

An Alex Cross thriller by James Patterson with Chapel Hill among its settings alongside Washington, D.C. Bombings, a kidnapping, a missing-persons investigation, terrorism and fathers and sons are its subjects; the Sampson of the title is Cross's longtime partner John Sampson. Published by Little, Brown in 2026.

✓ Held at OCPL · F PATTERSO NC Cardinal Durham Chapel Hill PL Library of Congress

Brazen: Race, Gentrification, and the Path of My Own Life

Parrish, Theodore · 2025 · Chapel Hill Historical Society

Theodore Parrish's memoir of a Black life in Chapel Hill and of gentrification in the town, subtitled race, gentrification, and the path of my own life. Published by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in August 2025, 243 pages with illustrations. Subjects include African Americans in Chapel Hill, race relations and gentrification in North Carolina.

UNC

Wagging tongues and tittle tattle : gossip, rumor, and reputation in a small Southern town

Hoffert, Sylvia D. · 2025 · University of Georgia Press

Sylvia D. Hoffert's study of gossip, rumor and reputation in nineteenth-century Hillsborough, using the town as a case study of how talk shaped social standing and race relations in a small Southern place. Chapters take up the workings of idle chatter, people living on the edge of freedom under slavery, schooling, daily labor, and a period of fear over madness in the community. Published 2025 by the University of Georgia Press.

UNC NC State Library of Congress Wake Forest

Sheer Resilience : An Untold Story of A Free Community of Color in Orange County, N.C

Scarlett, Beverly A. · 2024

Beverly A. Scarlett's 2024 study of a free community of color in nineteenth-century Orange County, drawing on apprenticeship and freedmen's records among other county sources.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 306.363 SCARLETT

Hidden History of Chapel Hill

Burns, Brian · 2023 · The History Press

Brian Burns's collection of lesser-known episodes from Chapel Hill's past, published by The History Press of Charleston, South Carolina, in 2023. Topics include the town's history, its buildings and structures, and the history of civil rights in Chapel Hill. 158 pages with illustrations and portraits.

UNC NC Cardinal Library of Congress CH Historical Society

Bloodmarked

Deonn, Tracy · 2022 · Simon & Schuster BFYR

Tracy Deonn's young adult fantasy novel set around the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Bree, an African American teenager with newly awakened powers she cannot yet control, learns that the leaders of the secret Order mean to hide the coming demon war, and she and her friends flee so that she can find her own training. Subjects include magic, secret societies, imaginary wars and psychic trauma. Published by Simon & Schuster in 2022, 561 pages.

Reviewed in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books./Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (2022).

UNC NC State Wake Forest Davidson
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Minnie finds a home

Smith, Courtney Soling · 2022 · Orange County Historical Museum

Picture book by Courtney Soling Smith, published by the Orange County Historical Museum in Hillsborough in 2022, about a collie named Minnie and an African American family in Cedar Grove Township. Twenty-nine unnumbered pages, chiefly color illustrations, with portraits that point to a real family behind the story.

UNC CH Historical Society

Minnie tries to be useful

Smith, Courtney Soling · 2022 · Orange County Historical Museum

Companion picture book about Minnie the collie by Courtney Soling Smith, again from the Orange County Historical Museum in 2022, following an African American farm family in Cedar Grove Township. Thirty-seven unnumbered pages, chiefly color illustrations, with a facsimile. Written for children, with the museum's local history interest behind it.

UNC CH Historical Society

Together: The Amazing Story of Carolina Basketball's 2021-2022 Season

Lucas, Adam · 2022 · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Athletics

Adam Lucas's account of the 2021-2022 Carolina men's basketball season, Hubert Davis's first as head coach. Davis, appointed in April 2021, was the first Black head coach in the program's history, and the season ended at the NCAA tournament in New Orleans. Published 2022 by the UNC Department of Athletics, 155 pages with color illustrations. Topics include the Tar Heels, Davis, and college basketball in Chapel Hill in the twenty-first century.

NC Cardinal UNC Library of Congress

Histories of home : a walk with Northside neighbors

Jackson Center for Saving & Making History · 2021 · Marian Cheek Jackson Center

A folded walking tour map of Northside, the historically African American neighborhood near downtown Chapel Hill, produced by Alexander Stephens for the Marian Cheek Jackson Center for Saving and Making History in 2021. One illustrated sheet, 43 by 28 centimeters, folded to pocket size. The walk introduces the neighborhood through its residents' own histories of home.

UNC

Ribbons of Color Along the Eno River

2021

Collected first-hand and second-hand stories from the Eno River valley as told from the standpoint of African Americans and Native people who have lived along the river in Orange and Durham counties, from prehistory to the present day. Issued by the Eno River Association in Durham as volume 10, number 2 of the Eno Journal, 2021, 106 pages with illustrations.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 975.656 RIBBONS NC Cardinal UNC Duke Durham Chapel Hill PL CH Historical Society

To Drink from the Well: The Struggle for Racial Equality at the Nation’s Oldest University

Kapur, Geeta · 2021

Geeta Kapur's history of race at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from the enslaved labor that built the campus through desegregation and the Black student protests that followed. Twelve chapters, with a foreword by William Barber II, move from the founding era and the Great Depression controversies to the state's response to integration and the turmoil of later decades; North Carolina Central University also figures. Published 2021 by Blair in Durham.

NC Cardinal UNC NC State NCCU Durham Chapel Hill PL Library of Congress UNCSA

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this storyline. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled. Books marked Wider context cover the broader subject rather than this storyline itself.

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  • Foundational · NC 342.756 BYRD North Carolina General Assembly Sessions Records: Slaves and Free Persons of Color, 1709-1789 Byrd, William L. · 2011

    Enslaved people and free people of color as they appear in the session papers of North Carolina's General Assembly from 1709 to 1789, the years of the colonial assembly and the first state legislatures, gathered by William L. Byrd III. Heritage Books first issued the compilation in 2001; this 2011 reprint has 225 pages with a bibliography and an index.

  • Wider context · NC 929.308 HEI Free African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina From the Colonial Period to About 1820 Heinegg, Paul · 2001

    Paul Heinegg's family-by-family histories of free African Americans in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina, traced from colonial times to about 1820 through county court minutes, tax lists, wills, deeds, marriage bonds, registers of free people of color and Revolutionary War pension files. This fourth edition of 2001 adds South Carolina to the 1997 third edition, which covered North Carolina and Virginia; two volumes, 1,042 pages, with a bibliography and index.

  • Wider context · NC 929.375 GUI Guilford County, North Carolina: Apprentice Bonds & Papers, 1817-1870 1996

    Guilford County apprentice bonds and related papers from 1817 to 1870, edited by Lawrence E. Jarrell and published by the Guilford County Genealogical Society in 1996; 96 pages with an index. Such bonds recorded the county court's binding out of orphans and other children as apprentices.

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