A comprehensive survey of primary records documenting enslaved people and slaveholding families in North Carolina. By 1860, North Carolina had 331,059 enslaved people — roughly one-third of the state's total population. Nineteen counties had more enslaved residents than free white residents. When the Civil War ended in 1865, more than 360,000 formerly enslaved African Americans entered freedom in North Carolina.
Largest enslaved population of any NC county. Major cotton and tobacco plantations along the Tar River.
One of the highest free Black populations in NC (2,452). Tobacco, cotton, and corn production.
Tobacco-producing county on the Virginia border. Extensively abstracted slave schedule.
Home of Raleigh. Named in WPA narratives and deed records extensively. Wake County Enslaved Persons Project.
Among highest per-capita enslaved counties. Fully transcribed slave schedule available — 115 slaveholders with 20+ enslaved.
Home of Somerset Place — largest single plantation in NC (328 enslaved in 1860).
Though the federal slave schedules did not record names, a small number of enslaved individuals were named due to extreme age (100+), and many more appear in deed records, plantation inventories, and estate documents. Below are named individuals documented in primary sources.
| Name | Age | Sex | Slaveholder | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jess | 110 | Male | John Oates | Was cook in American Army and "put out at Larkston" — remarkable biographical detail |
| Billie | 103 | Male | Sam P. Jenkins | — |
| Susan | 110 | Female | Wm. R. Cox | Wake County record |
| Raborn | 100 | Male | Jesse, Ruth, Peter, Joseph & Melvina Hines | — |
| Name | Born | Enslaved by | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sherod | July 16, 1838 | Henry & Orpha Applewhite | Applewhite Family Papers / afrigeneas.com |
| Patrick | May 1, 1840 | Henry & Orpha Applewhite | Applewhite Family Papers |
| Mariah | Sept. 27, 1844 | Henry & Orpha Applewhite | Applewhite Family Papers |
| Penny | August 1834 | Henry & Orpha Applewhite | Applewhite Family Papers |
| Mary | Spring 1832 | Henry & Orpha Applewhite | Applewhite Family Papers |
| Enos | Jan. 1, 1829 | Henry & Orpha Applewhite | Applewhite Family Papers |
Founded in 1784–1785 by Josiah Collins Sr. The plantation dispatched a ship — the brig Camden — directly to West Africa in 1785, returning with 80 enslaved Africans who hand-dug a six-mile canal through malaria-infested swamp. Over 80 years, more than 861 enslaved people lived and worked at Somerset Place. In 1860, under Josiah Collins III, it held 328 enslaved people on 14,500 acres — one of only four NC plantations with 300+ enslaved on one property.
In 1843, an estate division produced a household-by-household inventory of 285 enslaved people living in 26 dwellings — one of the most complete records of a named enslaved community in the South.
| Name on Record | True / Full Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Moses Phelps | Moses Phelps | Listed as #1 in plantation name inventory |
| Peter Marsh | Peter Littlejohn Sr. | Born on Littlejohn plantation; sold through multiple owners to Collins |
| Peter Elsy | Peter Littlejohn Jr. | Son of Peter and Elsy Littlejohn |
| Peter Gaskins | Peter Dickinson | Son of Lydia Gaskins; originally held by Dr. Samuel Dickinson |
| John Trotter | John (born Dave) | Named Dave at birth; renamed John after father John Trotter died 1829 |
| Guinea Jack | Jack Collins | One of the original 80 Africans from West Africa, 1786. Wife named Fanny. |
| Quaminy | — | One of the original 80 West Africans. Name means "born on Saturday" — African day-name. |
| Old Aunt Sally | — | One of last two surviving native Africans at Somerset. Died February 1850. |
| Old Alfred | — | The other surviving native African; influenced plantation foodways and spiritual traditions until death c.1850. |
| Fred Blacksmith | Fred [surname unrecorded] | Blacksmith by trade; wife Chloe Payne, son Jack Kit also listed |
The Cameron family's Fairntosh Plantation in Orange County and the associated Bennehan Papers (held at UNC-Chapel Hill) are among the richest plantation records in NC, covering multiple generations and naming hundreds of enslaved individuals. Other major sources include the DeRosset family papers (New Hanover County), the Pettigrew family records (Washington/Tyrrell Counties), and the A.H. Arrington papers (Nash County).