Source: Schweninger, Loren, Marguerite Ross Howell, and Nicole Marcon Mazgaj. The Southern Debate Over Slavery / Edited by Loren Schweninger. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001.
In the above-mentioned book appears a petition of Ned Hyman, a slave who was at that time living in Williamston, Martin County, filed in 1833. The petition is a great source of genealogical information, giving details of Ned’s life:
- he was born 44 or 45 years prior
- he was a slave of Jno. Hyman of Bertie County, NC
- when John Hyman died (Ned was about 14), Ned became the property of Samuel Hyman
- Samuel Hyman died in 1828
- when Ned was about 27 he married Elizabeth Hagans, a free woman of color
- Ned & Elizabeth had 3 children, Penny, Sarah and Ned Jr.
The petition was filed to try to obtain their emancipation. It’s an interesting read! Check it out at Google Books.