This ledger is a good resource for those looking for family members who were raised here.

Image description: Ledger of African American children admitted into the Grant Colored Asylum, which was established by the NC legislature in 1883.

The name was changed to the "Colored Orphanage Asylum of North Carolina" in 1887.
Today it is known as the Central Children's Home of Oxford, North Carolina.

Information recorded includes child's name, town and county where the child came from, date of admittance into the orphanage, date of birth, physical description and observations about the child's character.
Other information documented includes, parent's name(s) and the church they belonged to, also notes if the parent(s) are dead and the cause of death.
Information about who recommended the orphanage and who actually filed the application for admittance.
There are histories of the children's stay at the orphanage ranging in depth and breath.

Image and narrative source: DigitalNC - (Link to this ledger below in sources)
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A BRIEF HISTORY of The Central Children's Home of Oxford, North Carolina

The Central Children's Home of North Carolina, officially the Central Children's Home of North Carolina, Inc., and historically known as Grant Colored Asylum, was founded in Oxford, North Carolina, in 1883.
The home is a residential group environment for children up to young adults.
A state historical marker was placed in front of the building by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources Historical Marker Program.

Mission
The Central Children's Home cares for disadvantaged, orphaned, and troubled children. Admission is accepted from social services organizations that includes the North Carolina Department of Social Services for applicants between the ages of nine to twenty-one with an IQ of 70 or above. The Robert L. Shepard Scholarship Fund was established in 1943, to aid children seeking a college education or vocational training.

History
The Orphanage was established as a segregated orphanage with Congressional funding in 1883, through the Colored Orphanage Association (formed in 1882), that was supported by Congressman Henry P. Cheatham.

A twenty-three-acre farm was purchased for $1,565.00 just outside Oxford. The city has grown and the home is now inside the area known as Southern Oxford.
The orphanage building was built in 1915, and is a two-story brick building with a 3+1⁄2-story tower and Italianate style design elements.

Other early buildings are a small, square, brick building that was erected in 1934 as Cheatham's office and an "L"-shaped brick building originally built as a smokehouse.
Originally chartered as the Grant Colored Asylum the name was changed to the "Colored Orphanage Asylum of North Carolina" in 1887, the "Colored Orphanage of North Carolina" in 1927, the "Central Orphanage of North Carolina” in 1965, and finally receiving the current name "Central Children’s Home of North Carolina" in 1986.

The first director was superintendent, Robert L. Shepard and he directed the Home until Cheatham took over and ran it for 28 years. The building that the Children's home was originally located in was entered on the list of the National Register of Historic Places August 31, 1988.

Source: Wikipedia
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Central Orphanage of North Carolina
Written by Adrienne Dunn

Segregated orphanages in North Carolina necessitated the creation of an orphanage for dependent and neglected African American children. An idea for such an orphanage in Henderson, North Carolina was born, when Rev. Augustus Shepard, father of James Shepard the founder of North Carolina Central University, felt burdened when observing the squalid, living conditions of homeless African American children.

To meet this need, the Colored Orphanage Association formed in 1882 and planned to establish an orphanage. A year later, the Association purchased a twenty-three-acre farm in Oxford.

Central Orphanage of North Carolina first operated under the name “Grant Colored Asylum.” It was reincorporated in 1887 and renamed The Colored Orphanage Asylum of North Carolina. Chartered as a nondenominational institution, the orphanage included religious, moral, and industrial training. The orphanage was renamed in 1927 as “The Colored Orphanage of North Carolina and once more in 1965 as “The Central Orphanage of North Carolina.” In 1986, the orphanage’s name changed yet again — Central Children’s Home of North Carolina.

Through the use of donations from churches, fraternal orders, and religious associations and from appropriations from the state legislature, the home served African American children in North Carolina.

The orphanage’s first superintendent, Robert L. Shepard directed the orphanage until U.S. Congressman Henry P. Cheatham succeeded him. Named in the honor of Robert L. Shepard, a scholarship fund was established in 1943 to aid children pursuing a college or vocational education.

Noted as the pioneering institution among African American orphanages, the home still serves youth from aged nine to twenty-one through applications from county Department of Social Services and other recognized social agencies. In 1988, the Home was entered into the National Register of Historic Places.


Sources:
Nancy C. Curtis, Black Heritage Sites: An African American Odyssey and Finder’s Guide (Chicago, 1996); http://www.ncmarkers.com/Results.aspx?k=Search&ct=btn (accessed July 12, 2010);

http://www.centralchildrenshome.org/aboutus.html (accessed July 12, 2010).

Link source to article: https://northcarolinahistory.org/.../central-orphanage.../

DigitalNC link: https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/242322?ln=en...

DigitalNC link: https://www.digitalnc.org/.../central-childrens-home-of.../