Hi Alice,
No I am not related, I just saw your post and thought I would try to help.

If Essex and Bessie married before 1865, which is likely looking at their ages, if they were African American, their marriage unfortuately may not have been recognized as legal.

Many court records for Duplin County are missing for an unknown reason, however, they do have what they call Record of Cohabitation, 1866; 1 reel. on microfilm at the North Carolina State Archives located:

Phone: (919) 807-7310
Fax: (919) 733-1354
Email: archives@ncmail.net

Mail should be addressed to:

North Carolina State Archives
4614 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, N.C. 27699-4614

Physical address:
109 E. Jones St.
Raleigh, N.C. 27601

Cohabitation records were generated just after 1865 and listed former slave couples. The ones in Virginia provide the name of former slave owner, births, and other great details. I have not seen one generated in NC yet, but Duplin has, like I said 1 microfilm roll. Perhaps it will contain information about Bessie and Essex.

Another option would be to try these other resources for Duplin, keeping in mind that African American slaves most likely would not have recognized marriages before 1865.

Marriage Licenses, 1893-1961; 9 reels.
Record of Marriages, 1866-1868; 1 reel.
Marriage Registers, 1867-1938; 1 reel.

The following records have not been microfilmed:

Marriage Bonds, 1755-1869; 5 Fibredex boxes.
Marriage Registers, 1867-1928; 4 volumes.
Divorce Records, 1869-1952; 4 Fibredex boxes.

I included below a link to a resource in the Family History Library for Missing original marriage records, Duplin County, North Carolina, 1851- 1872 : abstract of marriages.

It is only available at the library, but perhaps if you post a request at forums.familysearch.org someone can look it up for you or call (866) 406-1830, FamilySearch Support.

Let us know how you come out,

Robin