John, an African American man residing in New Hanover County, North Carolina, had experience as a barber. John became enslaved to Samuel Bridgen sometime prior to May 1740. On May 1, 1740, John and another enslaved man named Will left Bridgen's property. Whether John and Will left of their own accord or were abducted was not recorded. On May 2, 1740, John and Will came into the possession of James Campbell, an innkeeper, who sold the two men to an unnamed enslaver, profiting the proceeds of the sale for himself. Any further information about John, or Bridgen's attempts to obtain compensation for the loss of John's labor, have not been located. If the enslaved people were ever located, Bridgen was no longer in possession of them by the time of his death in New Hanover in about 1758.