The resources here at East Carolina Roots relating to enslaved and what was once referred to as "Other Free" or "Colored" populations are limited, but I do hope to see the categories expand in the near future.
I thought it might be helpful to include links to some of the existing resources on the site, as well as some other helpful resources that I've used from time to time.
Also, a new forum member, @Riah, has other resources available and will hopefully share them soon!
- Apprentice Bonds for Free People of Color in Craven County, North Carolina (1769-1820)
- Researching Apprentice Records
- Free People of Color – by County – 1790 Federal Census
- North Carolina Slave Narratives
- Indians and mixed-race people named in court records of Carteret County
- William S. Morris of New Bern’s will provides instructions to emancipate “my negro woman and three mulatto children”
- Update on the William S. Morris family of New Bern
- Will of Willoughby MOORE – Beaufort County (Feb 1824)
Below are items relating to the John HOLMES family of Beaufort County. Quite mysteriously, John HOLMES Sr. and his wife, Esther, and their children all appear on the census as "Other Free" in 1790 and 1800, but by 1810, John Sr. is dead and his wife and children are now all listed as "White." I'm unsure of the HOLMES family origins, but they definitely deserve a spot on this page.
I do know that John HOLMES, Jr. and his family were members of Union Chapel FWB Church, which was a pro-Union church during the Civil War. (Linked church minutes talk about Elder James. W. Hunnicutt coming and speaking to the church about his Union cause.)
- John Holmes sells wife’s interest in slaves to Church Chapman (1833)
- John Holmes & wife Esther to John Grist (Beaufort County, 1797)
- Will of John Holmes of Beaufort County, NC (Probate 1873)
- The Holmes – Fisher Connection
Finally, this is an interesting and highly informative site called Free African Americans of North Carolina and Virginia that has biographical information on many free families of color in those states, as well as South Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware: http://www.freeafricanamericans.com
The site is the digitized version of Paul Heinegg's book of the same name.
