‘Freedom Hill’ the freed slaves called it. (After slavery was ended) the white men saw this land as not being valuable so they offered it to the slaves for a place to live. Looking at a swamp of nothing, the black men began to make something. The black men chopped down trees to make homes, and the freed slaves continued to come.
“Slaves crossed the river to come here. Slaves came from all over Edgecombe County,” said Adkins.
One freed slave who found his way to Freedom Hill was Turner Prince. A Pitt County native, he was a talented carpenter who assisted in the building of homes as well as the Town of Tarboro’s courthouse at the time. Twenty years removed from slavery, the freed slaves went to Congress to ask for a charter for the town.
In 1885, Freedom Hill became incorporated as Princeville, having been named after Turner Prince. Though Prince continued to play an important role in the Town of Princeville, he remains a mystery.The details of his life are lost. It is rumored he built a house and lived on Main Street in the largest home in town. Floods have long ago destroyed what could have been this historical home. More so, the details of his death and even his body are missing.
“We have looked and searched for decades, but we can’t find his grave. Which is disappointing,” said Adkins.
One of the town’s most esteemed residents seems to have vanished. A grave marker? Maybe a wood marker? There isn’t even a photograph of him.
for full story, vist https://nsjonline.com/article/2017/02/the-story-of-princeville/