If you get the chance to visit the Norris Baum Cemetery (Off of Ocean Acres Drive in Nag Head, there are no marked trails leading directly to the cemetery.) you’ll notice David Baum’s headstone. The ncgenweb page says he was probably a black slave and local stories confirm it. His tombstone is set several feet from the rest of the family. A possible reason for this is that slaves weren’t considered a true part of the family. In this case they shared with him their family plot, but at the same time he wasn’t buried immediately next to anybody. Laws regarding racial segregation at the time would not have allowed him to be buried “with” the family if they were white or passed for white, even in a graveyard on their own land.
I can’t help but wonder about the life this man led. He was born during slavery and his mother was a slave according to his death certificate. Slavery was abolished while he was in his 20s (slavery was abolished in 1865 but it didn’t happen overnight) and records show that in 1900 he was a servant in the home of Isaac E. Tillett, and later lived in the home of Jesse E. and Penelope (Tillett) Baum around 1910 and 1920. He was considered freed after the Civil War but decided to stay on with the family. Mobility for an ex-slave on an island with no bridges was hard back then, so he probably stuck with what he was familiar with.
Despite the times, they must have loved this man and it seems he was a big part of the family. So much so they gave him a spot in the family graveyard, complete with headstone. Still, he wasn’t buried directly next to any family members. Most slaves were buried with simple, if any, markers and in a separate cemetery.
After posting a similar story on the Facebook Group, Outer Banks Vintage Scrapbook, I found there to be many stories about this man which were passed down orally through extended family. It was told that he was the person who dug the canal (their called ditches on the Outer Banks) in Baum Bay that cuts in to Colington. One person told a story that a little girl from the Baum family would grow vegetables and David Baum would take her and the vegetables by horse drawn cart to sell by the sound side, south of Jockeys Ridge.
He lived to be around 78 years-old (records are inconsistent to his birth year), which seems to be a ripe, old age for the times. His story has faded over time, but it’s a reminder of what used to be.
Side note: Legend has it that people would put shells on top of the headstones so the departed could listen to the ocean as they rested.
Second side note: Notice the death certificate, below, where "Neighbors" are listed as the "Undertaker". Nags Head Woods was a tight community in the early 1900's and everyone took care of each other.
Third side note: The date of his death on the tombstone does not match the date written on the death certificate.
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