Quick Guide to African American Records: Difference between revisions

Keep in mind that only about 15 percent of former slaves took their last slave owner’s surname. Some took the surname of people they admired, such as Lincoln or Washington, and some took a surname they had been using for many years without the knowledge of the slave owner.  

[[United States Colored Troops in the Civil War|United States Colored Troops (USCT) in Civil War service]] and pension records. These records list the date and place of birth of the soldier and may name the last slave owner.  

:*Wiki [[United States#States|Pages for the states]] where your ancestors lived.

Registers of Signatures of Depositors in Branches of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, 1865–1874. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M0816. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1969. {{FHL| 0928571}}  

:*Note: Do not confuse records of the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company with records of the Freedmen's Bureau listed below. When the trust company closed, the Freedmen’s Bureau tried to recover the money. Freedmen’s Bureau records are part of National Archives Record Group 105.

There are two sets in Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen's and Abandond Land (Freedmen’s Bureau) collection: commissioner’s records and field office records. The field office records are the most useful, but can be searched only at the National Archives.  

More information on the [[United States Freedmen’s Bureau Letters (FamilySearch Historical Records)|Freedmen's Bureau]] is available at the wiki.  

United States. House of Representatives. Commissioners of Claims. Records of the [[Southern Claims Commission|Commissioners of Claims ]]1871–1880. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M0087. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1945. {{FHL| 1463963}}  

Mills, Gary B. Southern Loyalists in the Civil War: The Southern Claims Commission. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1994. {{FHL| 975 M2s}} Gives the name of the claimant, his or her county and state, the commission number, office and report numbers, and the year and status of the claim.  

In the 1930s the WPA Writers Project compiled over 3,500 typescript interviews of former American slaves. Access and indexes are available through:  

:*University of North Carolina's free site ''[http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/ North American Slave Narratives]''.

See both Freedmen’s Bureau and county court records for information on guardianship and apprentices. Former slave owners often became the legal guardians of infants and small children. Orphans old enough to work were also apprenticed to the former slave owner.  

*University of North Carolina - Greensboro's [http://library.uncg.edu/slavery/pSearch.aspx?s=2 Digital Library on American Slavery] has digitized details about American slaves from thousands of court and legislative petitions filed between 1775 and 1867 in 15 different states.  Search by name, search by petition or browse subjects.

:*[[United States Freedmen’s Bureau Letters (FamilySearch Historical Records)]]