Quick Guide to African American Records: Difference between revisions

ancestors in various periods of history:

** Beginning Your Search

** Searching Recent Records

=== BEGINNING YOUR SEARCH ===

** Write down what your family knows about your ancestors.

** Record names, dates, and places on family group record forms and pedigree charts.

For step-by-step instructions for finding African-American families in recent U.S. records, see Finding

'''General U. S. Records'''

1. Search United States records, as described in the United States Research Outline (30972) such as:

You can see more information about these topics by clicking on them.

2. Search records from the state where your ancestor lived.

* City directories

* Court records

* Land records

Taylor, Marie. Family History Library Bibliography of African American Sources. Salt Lake City: Family History Library, 2000. (FHL book 973 F23tm; fiche 6002568.) This bibliography:

** Has citations for about 3,320 African American sources.

** Includes Canadian records.

This bibliography has two sections:

** Search the "Bibliography Arranged by Subject" section for general types of records, such as church, court, slavery and bondage, or vital records.

** Search the "Bibliography Arranged by Locality" section for records from the U.S. state or Canadian province where your ancestor lived. Each state or province has a subject section, followed by a section for each county.

The following records can help you determine if an ancestor was born free or freed by a slave owner.

** Federal censuses, 1790–1860. Any ancestor listed in the federal population schedule was free.

** Local government registers of free persons of color. Freed slaves had to register with the local government to prove their freedom.

Other useful military records:

** Buffalo Soldiers (Indian wars)

** Philippine Insurrection (1898)

For information on the above records, see:

** Research outlines for the states where your ancestors lived - available on this site.

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 films 0928571–91.)

** Information includes birthplace, place brought up, residence, age, complexion, name of employer or occupation, spouse, children, father, mother, brothers and sisters, remarks, and signature.

** Early books give the name of the former master or mistress and the name of the plantation.

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.

The records are divided as follows:

** Part 1, Alabama–Louisiana

** Part 2, Maryland–South Carolina

** Part 3, Tennessee–Virginia and Records of the Field Offices of the Freedmen's Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1872–78

'''Southern Claims Commission Records'''

United States. House of Representatives. Commissioners of Claims. Records of the Commissioners of Claims 1871–1880. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M0087. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1945. (FHL film 1463963–76.)

** Nearly 22,300 cases are filed by individuals, family groups, churches, and businesses.

** Case files include items such as family letters and Bibles, wills, probate records, personal accounts, property inventories, and other genealogical data.

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.

If the sources listed above do not help you identify a slave owner, try the following technique:

African American Cemeteries Online

African American Census Schedules Online