In antebellum New Bern, many artisans in the building trades were men of color, some enslaved and some free. They worked as bricklayers, plasterers, carpenters, and joiners. Typically these men learned their skills through apprenticeships to black or white master artisans.

New Bern's justly famed Federal period architecture was accomplished by teams of black and white artisans working in established craft traditions—essential to an architecture whose quality depended on handcrafted work in every detail.

Donum Montford was a well-known plasterer and bricklayer. Born in 1771, he spent the first half of his life as a slave belonging to the Cogdell family. After he was emancipated in 1804, he operated a large workshop of free and enslaved workers, including his son Nelson, whom Montford emancipated in 1827. Montford's large work force enabled him to take on some of the largest construction projects in town. Among the New Bern buildings Montford helped build were the John Donnell House and the Craven County Jail. One of the artisans in his shop was Isaac T. Rue, a slave freed by Montford's will of 1838. Rue worked for many years as a free plasterer and bricklayer, and died in 1880 at age 93.

Questions: Who were Donum Montford's parents and other relatives? Are there any descendants? What happened to the family Bible mentioned in his estate? Who were Isaac Rue's parents and other relatives?

William H. Hancock, a skilled house carpenter, was apprenticed as a free black youth of 14 to Uriah Sandy in 1817. Because Sandy was chief contractor for the elegantly detailed First Presbyterian Church (1819-1822), Hancock surely worked on the project, perhaps carving some of the intricate cable moldings and shaping the graceful modillions, as well as planing boards and fashioning door and window frames. After completing his apprenticeship, Hancock married and had children, acquired property, and sent his son Richard Mason Hancock to school before training him in the carpenter's trade.

In the mid-1850s, like other leading New Bernians of color, the Hancock family left the South to escape increasing restrictions on free blacks. They settled in New Haven, Connecticut. Richard moved to Chicago, where he was a successful manager in a large factory, and in the 1880s William joined him there.

Questions: Who were William H. Hancock's parents? Are there descendants in Chicago or elsewhere or any surviving family records or photographs?

If you have further information about Donum Montford, William H. Hancock, or other African American artisans in New Bern, please This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

Catherine W. Bishir is Senior Architectural Historian with Preservation North Carolina. She is author of numerous books, including North Carolina Architecture and Southern Built. Research on African American artisans for Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens' "Many Stories/One History" is funded with a grant from the Wachovia Foundation for ongoing African-American programming and in preparation for North Carolina History Education Center exhibits.