Abel Spence
(Pasquotank County)
Featured Character – 1861-1862
Abel Spence Furlough Document
Courtesy of the Museum of the Albemarle
Abel Spence was a private under the command of Colonel Henry Shaw of the 8th Regiment North Carolina Troops. He was born in Pasquotank County and lived there as a farmer until he enlisted in the Confederate army on July 24, 1861 at the age of 50. He was captured at the Battle of Roanoke Island on February 8, 1862 by Union General Ambrose E. Burnside’s forces and paroled thirteen days later. In August of that year, Spence was exchanged and discharged later, though there is no date or reason for his discharge recorded. After the war he moved to Camden County and worked at a sawmill near South Mills. He died in 1884.