Looking for evidence of CSA service of Robert Davison Eborn (1824-1903)....

Bruce Vail

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Jul 8, 2015
Looking for help in finding any evidence of Confederate service by Robert Davison Eborn, born Oct. 6, 1824 in Beaufort County, NC, and died Jan. 23, 1900, also in Beaufort County.

He was a little old to be an army volunteer in 1861, but not too old for conscription in the latter half of the war. He apparently was a prosperous farmer, so he may have hired a substitute, or may have held a civil post that exempted him from army service.

He lived in the area of eastern North Carolina that was partially occupied by Federal troops in 1862, so there is some possibility that he was a Unionist and/or fought on the Union side.
 
Was he related to Sylvester G Eborn who enlisted in the 2nd NC Vols (US) and was then transferred to Company G 1st NC Infantry (US) Sylvester was listed as 41 years old in 1863. Born in Rockingham.
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Was he related to Sylvester G Eborn who enlisted in the 2nd NC Vols (US) and was then transferred to Company G 1st NC Infantry (US) Sylvester was listed as 41 years old in 1863. Born in Rockingham.
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Jeez, you are always so quick with interesting new info!!

Sylvester and Robert were distant cousins, it appears. Both were natives of the area around Washington, NC (Little Washington), which was occupied by Union troops for much of the war. I've read that Union forces recruited many men in the area, black and white.

Edit Add: They were both descended from Henry and Elizabeth Eborn, who emigrated to the area around 1700. The family grew rapidly in the early 1700s, and there are many branches and sub-branches. My wife, Carol Eborn Taylor, is named for her grandmother Ruth Vernon Eborn (Taylor). Ruth, or "Granny" as she was always known to Carol and I, was born in Little Washington in 1899 and grew up there. As a kid, Civil War veterans would have been her relatives and neighbors.
 
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Looking for help in finding any evidence of Confederate service by Robert Davison Eborn, born Oct. 6, 1824 in Beaufort County, NC, and died Jan. 23, 1900, also in Beaufort County.

He was a little old to be an army volunteer in 1861, but not too old for conscription in the latter half of the war. He apparently was a prosperous farmer, so he may have hired a substitute, or may have held a civil post that exempted him from army service.

He lived in the area of eastern North Carolina that was partially occupied by Federal troops in 1862, so there is some possibility that he was a Unionist and/or fought on the Union side.
Do you know of any other family?
 
Are you sure the birth date in not 1828 rather than '24?

You are very quick on the draw too!!

You are right, the correct birthyear is 1828, not 1824. Was my mistake (tired old eyes) in transcribing from the pages of geneaology book The Eborns of Matchapungo, by Betty Hicks Cutting (1987).

The Eborn family was huge in that area at the time of Civil War. Henry and Elizabeth Eborn had migrated to the area from Virginia (probably about 1700) and had prospered. There were many, many children in the first couple of generations, and family members acquired significant landholding and other property, including many slaves. Some of the Eborns were rich, some less so.
 
Robert Davison Eborn was a wealthy landowner with slaves. He was a 32-year-old man with an 18-year-old wife and had three children between 1860 and 1866... He lived in the North Creek district of Beaufort County...

https://www.ourfamtree.org/browse.php/Julia-Frances-Archbell/p18362
https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LHK2-NRS/robert-davison-eborn-1828-1900

Here is the link to 1860 census: http://www.ncgenweb.us/beaufort/census_tax/1860/1860461b.htm

Here is the link to 1860 slave census: 33 slaves he owned...
http://www.ncgenweb.us/beaufort/census_tax/1860/1860s93a.htm
http://www.ncgenweb.us/beaufort/census_tax/1860/1860s93b.htm
 
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Robert Davison Eborn was a wealthy landowner with slaves. He was a 32-year-old man with an 18-year-old wife and had three children between 1860 and 1866... He lived in the North Creek district of Beaufort County...

https://www.ourfamtree.org/browse.php/Julia-Frances-Archbell/p18362
https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LHK2-NRS/robert-davison-eborn-1828-1900

Here is the link to 1860 census: http://www.ncgenweb.us/beaufort/census_tax/1860/1860461b.htm

Here is the link to 1860 slave census: 33 slaves he owned...
http://www.ncgenweb.us/beaufort/census_tax/1860/1860s93a.htm
http://www.ncgenweb.us/beaufort/census_tax/1860/1860s93b.htm

Thanks for this!

I guess I don't know how to read this web site. Where do you get the number of 33?

Edit/Add -- Oh, I see now. You add the numbers from the two different pages. Thanks so much! This is new and interesting info for my dive into hidden family history.
 
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Thanks for this!

I guess I don't know how to read this web site. Where do you get the number of 33?
15 listed on the first page
+18 on the second page
33 total

13 individuals <10 years of age
4 individuals 10-18 years of age
9 individuals 19-30 years of age
2 individual 31-50 years of age
3 individuals 51-60 years of age
2 individuals 60-64 years of age
33 total
 
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any evidence of Confederate service by Robert Davison Eborn,
I've looked at many possible spellings (Eborn, Ebourne, Eburn, etc) and combinations (Robert D, R D, Robert, etc) in Union and Confederate records at Fold 3. I even looked for "R D E Burn" and "R E Burn"and "R D Elam" etc. thinking "Eburn" might have been mistranscribed --but no luck finding any records that seem to relate to your Robert D Eburn - Union or Confederate.
 
15 listed on the first page
+18 on the second page
33 total

13 individuals <10 years of age
4 individuals 10-18 years of age
9 individuals 19-30 years of age
2 individual 31-50 years of age
3 individuals 51-60 years of age
2 individuals 60-64 years of age
33 total

Yes, thanks. At first, I didn't quite realize that you had to add the separate numbers from the separate pages.

Wow, 33 slaves. That's a lot. I'm a little stunned.

Was that cotton country at that time, or was tobacco the cash crop?
 
IN 1860, only 27.6% of NC households headed by a free white person owned any slaves.
70% of those who did own slaves, owned fewer than 10 enslaved individuals.
https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/distribution-land-and-slaves
Do you know the size of the farm that Eburn owned? It's hard to guess whether they were growing cotton, tobacco, rice or some combination of those.
 
I've looked at many possible spellings (Eborn, Ebourne, Eburn, etc) and combinations (Robert D, R D, Robert, etc) in Union and Confederate records at Fold 3. I even looked for "R D E Burn" and "R E Burn"and "R D Elam" etc. thinking "Eburn" might have been mistranscribed --but no luck finding any records that seem to relate to your Robert D Eburn - Union or Confederate.

Thanks, darling.

Looks like Robert Davison Eborn had one foot in either side of the war. Can you blame him?
 
Thanks for sharing this interesting story and the awesome information related to it.

This offers some fresh perspective for me. This branch of the Eborns were higher up on the economic food chain than I had ever imagined.

As the owner of more than 20 slaves he would have been exempt from conscription, even if the Confederates had been able to enforce the draft law in that part of NC, which appears very doubtful anyway.

Robert Eborn would have had high social standing as well. His father, Zachariah Foreman Eborn (1772-1842), was also rich and bequeathed some 50 slaves to his children in his will. The family had been established in the area for over 150 years at the time the War began, and Eborn ancestors included a "hero" of the Revolutionary War.

Thanks to all for your help!
 
Have you tried the Agricultural Schedules of the 1860 census? They cover every farm of more than 3 acres, listing such things as
  • Name of the owner, agent, or manager
  • Number of acres and cash value of the farm
  • Crops and other items produced
  • Number and value of livestock (horses, cattle, sheep, and swine)
  • Value of homemade manufactures
I believe they are available through familyseearch.org.
 
IN 1860, only 27.6% of NC households headed by a free white person owned any slaves.
70% of those who did own slaves, owned fewer than 10 enslaved individuals.
https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/distribution-land-and-slaves
Do you know the size of the farm that Eburn owned? It's hard to guess whether they were growing cotton, tobacco, rice or some combination of those.

So if he was head of household in that situation he'd have been exempt from service, right?
 
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