"William B.Gould" (1837-May 25,1923)

William Gould & his six,sons;Standing behind him are from left to right;Lawrence Wheeler Gould,James Edward Gould,William Benjamin Gould,William Benjamin Gould,Jr.,Ernest Moore Gould,Herbert Richardson Gould,and                                             Frederick Crawford Gould. He was born a slave,that did not define him or confine him.By the end of his life,he would leave legacy of service for which any American would leave a legacy of service for which any American would be proud.And it seems his sons learned from his example.
William grew up in the North Carolina port city of Wilmington North Carolina.On September 21,1862,William and seven other men liberated themselves from captivity by navigating a boat down the Cape Fear River.William and the others were picked up by the USS  Cambridge,and he became a member of the Ship's crew.His great grandson,William B.IV,served as chair of the National Labor Union Relations Board from 1994-1998 and edited his great grand-daddy's diary into a book titled Diary of Contraband:The Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor.