Reuben Callaway first appears on the record in June 1805, by which time he was already a grown man and was being given his freedom from slavery by his master, Elijah Calloway.
On June 10, 1805, Elijah Calloway petitioned the Craven County Court “to reward the faithful & meritorious Services of a negro slave of his named Reuben and humbly solicits the leave & Consent of Your Worships therefore.” [William L. Byrd, In Full Force and Virtue: North Carolina Emancipation Records, 1713-1860. Westminster, Md.: Heritage Books, 2007, p. 51.] At the same time, eighteen “inhabitants of that part of the County of Craven, in which Reuben, the slave named in the annexed Petition was born & brought up, & has ever since resided beg leave to recommend him to the Worshipful Court of the County, as a proper object of the attention of their Worships. They are able from long acquaintance to bear testimony to his honest decent behaviour, & his industry and attention in honest pursuits: and his quiet deportment towards all parsons.” [Byrd, In Full Force and Virtue, p. 51-52.]
The Court granted Reuben his freedom and he posted a two hundred pound bond guaranteeing his good conduct, signing the document with his full signature (not with a mark) indicating he had some education while he was a slave. [Byrd, In Full Force and Virtue, p. 52.]
Two months after his freedom was granted, Reuben Callaway purchased 120 acres of land from Joseph Willis for 50 pounds on August 8, 1805. On March 23, 1807, he sold half of the property to David Whitford for 50 dollars. On March 6, 1808, he purchased half of 200 acres that once belonged to Zebulon Rice. When Zebulon died, he willed the property to his sons Benjamin and John. Benjamin died without children, so the property descended to his surviving siblings, and thy sold the property to Reuben. [Craven County Deed Book 36, page 718; Book 37, page 438; and Book 38, pages 210-211.]
On April 6, 1814, Reuben sold “a Negro boy named Dick about ten years old” to Betsey, Sally, Nancy, Stephen, and Farnifold Pearce, heirs of David Pearce. [Craven County Deed Book 39, page 209.]
The next we hear from Reuben in the records is in March 1815. Reuben petitioned Craven County Court for the freedom of Ruth, his wife. Nineteen men from the county signed an acknowledgement stating “The Subscribers have been many years acquainted with Reuben Callaway, a free man of color and his wife Ruth. They are industrious, honest and sober people. Reuben has a freehold and considerable other property. His wife is his slave, and he is desirous to have her emancipated. We recommend her as a deserving woman and believe no injury will result to the public from her emancipation. Ruth has no child by Reuben & has not had a child for twenty years.” [Byrd, In Full Force and Virtue, p. 68-69.]
The Court granted the freedom to Reuben’s wife, Ruth. Two years later, Reuben again appeared before the Court petitioning the freedom of his slave Judey, and the Court assented to the petition.
On February 8, 1833, the New Bern Spectator newspaper published an advertisement: NOTICE. Came into the enclosure of the subscriber, on Sunday last, TWO HORSES, a sorrel and a dark bay, each about sixteen hands high. The sorrel has a flaxen coloured main and tail, a white spot on his under lip, two white spots on the right side of his backs and a wart on one of his ears. The bay has white hind feet, and one white spot on the left side of his back. The owner is requested to come forward, prove his property, pay charges and take them away.
REUBEN CALLAWAY, Little Swift Creek, 12 miles from Newbern, Feb. 5.”
The Spectator on January 9, 1835, published an article: “Outrage.–At Swift Creek, in this county, a few days ago, a most shocking and murderous attempt was made by some inhuman wretch, as yet undetected, to destroy the lives and property of a free man of colour and his family. It appears that the man had offended some one of his neighbors, who, in order to be revenged, placed a keg of gunpowder under the poor fellow’s house, set fire to it, and blew it up, while its unsuspecting inmates were wrapped in sleep! The hut was blown to fragments, and the unfortunate man, his wife and child, were seriously injured. We sincerely hope that the miscreant who perpetuated this horrid deed will be discovered and punished.”
A few days later the paper reported, “The unfortunate coloured man who was recently injured by the blowing up of his house on Swift Creek, died on Saturday last.” [Spectator, January 16, 1835] A jury’s inquest was held on January 12, before Justice of the Peace Charles Kelley. The jury of twelve men from the neighborhood “upon their oaths do say that on the 31st day of December in the year of our Lord 1834 …Some unknown person did…conseal a certain quantity of powder under the house of the said Callaway & by some means convey fire to the said powder which exploded & wounded the said Callaway so that on the 10th of January 1835 the said Callaway died & that Brice F. Ernul of the County aforesaid did say that if said Callaway prosecuted a suit in court against his father (which said Callaway did) that he the said Brice F. Ernul would kill him…” Callaway did sue Moses Ernul at the October 1834 term of Court for trespass. The jury found in favor of Callaway and awarded him forty dollars. [Craven County Inquests, State Archives, Raleigh; Craven County Court Minutes, October 1834.]
The Grand Jury indicted Brice F. Ernul for murder and an arrest warrant was issued, but Ernul had fled the county and the warrant was returned “Not to be found.” Brice Ernul may have died in Texas. [Craven County Criminal Action Papers, State Archives, Raleigh; John A. Clark Papers, East Carolina Manuscript Collection, Joyner Library, ECU, Greenville.]
Reuben Callaway evidently left one child, Anertaney, who married Daniel Kees. On October 14, 1831, Callaway “for and in consideration of the natural love and affection which he hath and beareth unto the said Anertaney Kees as his daughter…” three hundred acres of land. One condition to the transaction was stated in the deed, though, the land was given “to the only proper use and behoof of her the said Anertaney Kees…and not for her husband Daniel Kees to have any management of the above named lands and tenaments nor of the above named goods and chattles nor for it to go to pay any of his debts…” [Craven County Deed Book 51, pages 64-65.]