Yourk , an African American man residing in Johnston County, North Carolina, was enslaved by Needham Bryan Sr. Sometime in 1769, Yourk came before the local freeholders court to testify in a case involving three enslaved men who were accused of poisoning a planter named Isaac Williams. According to another enslaved individual named Patience, Yourk was a believer in conjuring, or local folk magic. Yourk supposedly took some medicinal substance from another enslaved man and secretly gave it to his enslaver, hoping it would made Bryan sell him to James Stallings. By the time of the trial, Yourk was still enslaved by Bryan. Any further records regarding this individual have not been located.