African American Resources for Delaware: Difference between revisions

Delaware: Enslaved and Free Persons, and Slaveholders is a database of enslaved and free persons extracted from Sussex County, Delaware will books from 1836-1851, with ongoing updates. Slaveholders occasionally provided surnames or exact birthdates in their wills.

Reconstruction Records[edit | edit source]

Freedman’s Bank[edit | edit source]

An excellent source is the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company (visit the African American Freedman's Savings and Trust Company Records page to learn more). This company was created to assist African American soldiers of the Civil War and Freedmen. Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company signature cards or registers from 3 March 1865 to 25 July 1874 may list the name of the depositor, date of entry, age, birthplace, residence, complexion, name of employer or occupation, wife or husband’s name, death information, children’s names, name of father and mother, brothers’ and sisters’ names, remarks, and signature. Early books sometimes contained the name of the former slaveholder and the name of the plantation. Copies of death certificates were sometimes attached to the entries. The collection is organized alphabetically by state, then city where the bank was located, then date the account was established, then account number.

Online collections of Freedman's Bank records:

United States, Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
U.S., Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1871 at Ancestry ($)

Freedmen's Bureau[edit | edit source]

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was created by the US government in 1865 until 1872 to assist formerly enslaved persons in the southern United States. The Bureau created a wide variety of records extremely valuable to genealogists. Such documents include censuses, marriage records, and medical records. These records often include full names, former slaveholders and plantations, and current residences.^[1] For 1865 and 1866, the section on abandoned and confiscated lands includes the names of the owners of the plantations or homes that were abandoned, confiscated, or leased. It gives the county and location, a description of the house, the number of acres owned, and the number of cabins of enslaved persons. These films do not appear to contain the names of the enslaved.

To find Freedmen's Bureau records:

DiscoverFreedmen - the search on this site will utilize all of the Freedmen's Bureau records on FamilySearch, including:
- United States, Freedmen's Bureau Claim Records,1865-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
- United States, Freedmen's Bureau Hospital and Medical Records, 1865-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
- United States, Freedmen's Bureau Labor Contracts, Indenture and Apprenticeship Records, 1865-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
- United States, Freedmen's Bureau Marriages, 1861-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
- United States, Freedmen's Bureau Ration Records,1865-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
- United States, Freedmen's Bureau Records of Persons and Articles Hired, 1865-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
- United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Freedmen's Court Records, 1865-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
- United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Land and Property Records, 1865-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
- United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of Freedmen's Complaints, 1865-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
- United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Superintendent of Education and of the Division of Education, 1865-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection

Other FamilySearch collections not included:

United States Freedmen's Bureau Miscellaneous Records,1865-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
United States Freedmen's Bureau, Records of Freedmen, 1865-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
Maryland and Delaware, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872 at FamilySearch; Images — How to Use this Collection
United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Assistant Commissioner, 1865-1872 at FamilySearch; Images — How to Use this Collection

School Records[edit | edit source]

Slavery Records[edit | edit source]

Enslaved persons in Delaware are sometimes mentioned in deeds (see Land and Property), in wills (see Probate Records), in tax records (see Taxation), and in court order books (see the Court Records pages of these Delaware Wiki pages). A few parish registers list enslaved persons who attended church with their slaveholders (see Church Records).

For more information about enslaved persons, see the Place Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under:

DELAWARE - MINORITIES

DELAWARE - COLONIZATION

DELAWARE - EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION

Vital Records[edit | edit source]

Birth[edit | edit source]

Delaware, Birth Records, 1800-1932 at Ancestry ($) - information usually includes name; birth date and place; gender; race; father's name, age, occupation, and birth place; mother's name, age, and birthplace; and child's number in the family

Marriage[edit | edit source]

Delaware Marriage Records, 1913-1954 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection

The Freedmen's Bureau (1865-1872) was created by the US government to assist formerly enslaved persons in the southern United States. One of their responsibilities was to record the marriages (past and present) of the formerly enslaved. These records can be found in the collections below and include the lists of marriages that occurred previously, marriage certificates, and marriage licenses. The information contained on the records may include the name of the husband and wife/groom and bride, age, occupation, residence, year or date of marriage, by whom, number of children, and remarks.

Death[edit | edit source]

Delaware Deaths and Burials, 1815-1955 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection

Divorce[edit | edit source]

Voting Records[edit | edit source]

Archives and Libraries[edit | edit source]

Societies[edit | edit source]

Jane and Littleton Mitchell Center for African American Heritage
Delaware Historical Society
504 N. Market Street
Wilmington, Delaware, 19801
Phone: (302)656-0637
Website: Center for African American Heritage Slavery Collection, 1749-1929

References[edit | edit source]

↑ "African American Records: Freedmen's Bureau," "African American Heritage," National Archives, accessed 11 May 2018.

[1] "African American Records: Freedmen's Bureau," "African American Heritage," National Archives, accessed 11 May 2018.

[1]

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 *[https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1126 Selected African Americans in Delaware, 1890 U.S. Census] - lists name, occupation, enumeration district, and residence. Ancestry
-*{{FSC|1211469|item|disp=List of selected African Americans from the 1890 and 1900 Federal population censuses of Delaware and related census publications; agriculture in the state of Delaware (1901) and Negroes in the United States (1904) : M1919; Record Group (RG) 29; Record Group (RG) 287}} FamilySearch Catalog
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1211469 List of selected African Americans from the 1890 and 1900 Federal population censuses of Delaware and related census publications; agriculture in the state of Delaware (1901) and Negroes in the United States (1904) : M1919; Record Group (RG) 29; Record Group (RG) 287] FamilySearch Catalog
 ===Church Records===
@@ Line 54: / Line 54: @@
 === Law and Legislation ===
-*{{FSC|723107|item|disp=State slavery statutes:Delaware, ca. 1790-1865 (13 fiche) FS Library 6118904}}
+*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/723107 State slavery statutes:Delaware, ca. 1790-1865 (13 fiche) FS Library 6118904]
 ===Obituaries===