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Storyline

The Revill family and the county court, 1790–1833

A free family of color whose children the Orange County court bound out across three generations, often to prominent men: the bindings, a youth said to have been sold, a girl taken from a master who mistreated her, and Susan Revill’s 1826 habeas corpus before Judge Thomas Ruffin.

In briefAcross 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.

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The full story

The Orange County court bound out the children of the Revill family, a free family of color, across three generations, indenturing them as apprentices. In 1790 it bound Ezekiel and Chia Revill to Robert Neil; in 1796 it bound Charity, daughter of Peggy Revill, to Andrew Brooks before she was three; and in 1801 it bound three daughters of Nelly Revill to William F. Strudwick and three sons of Barbary Revill to Jesse Rice, two of whom it bound with other Revill boys to William Cain in 1803. In 1800 the court was told that James Revill, bound in Wake County, had been sold by his master, and in 1801 it bound him to Benjamin Kinchen, a man of color. In 1812 it bound Charity's daughter Susannah, fifteen months old, to Robert Eaton, and in 1818 it took Elizabeth Revill from Simon Davis, who it found did not manage her properly. When Eaton sold his claim on Susan in November 1826 to a Guilford County man, she won a writ of habeas corpus, and Judge Thomas Ruffin ruled the sale void, holding that no lawful indenture had been shown and that an apprentice could not be sold without the court's leave; the county court bound her the next day to Moses S. Pratt. It bound Washington Revill to John Taylor in 1828 and in 1833 moved Mary Revill from Thomas D. Watts to Mary Palmer.

In the chronology

Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 14 dated events in the chronology →

  1. 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)
  2. 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)
  3. 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)
  4. 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)
  5. 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
  6. 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)
  7. 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
  8. 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)
  9. 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)
  10. 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)
  11. 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)
  12. 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)
Show all 14 dated events
  1. 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)
  2. 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)

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