Wilson Caldwell

Who was Wilson Caldwell?

Wilson Swain Caldwell was a distinguished Civil War-era African American. Born into slavery on February 27, 1841, his mother was Rosa Burgess, a slave of the University of North Carolina President David Swain. His father was November 'Doctor' Caldwell, a slave of Joseph Caldwell. Children born to slave mothers were the property of the mother's master, so that Wilson Caldwell was owned by Swain at birth, and was named Wilson Swain until Emancipation, at which point he took his father's last name.

Wilson Caldwell grew up alongside the son of David Swain, Richard Caswell Swain, whereby Caldwell received some education—a rare opportunity for slaves at that time. Caldwell was not treated as a slave but as playmate and part of the family.

Wilson Caldwell was for many years head janitor at the University. He was a key member of a delegation that persuaded Union armies to spare the University during the Civil War, a time when many Southern cities were being burned to the ground. Fleeing the approach of Union troops, a small detachment of Confederate cavalry entered Chapel Hill on April 14, 1865. They intended to protect the University but continued to retreat after a two-day pause. Lacking further defenses, Chapel Hill citizens resolved to save the town by surrendering peacefully. Wilson Caldwell walked out with University President Swain, Judge W. H. Battle and others to the "foot of Piney Prospect to meet the incoming detachment of [General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick's] cavalry, in order to claim protection for the town and the University." The presence of a leader from Chapel Hill's Black community was an important factor, and their request for protection "was promptly granted".²