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The most important resource an African American Researcher needs is slave schedules for the county they are researching. If anyone has transcribed slave schedules, or would like to...please let me know. There are some online... but many more are needed. Free People of Color had to be registered.. you would only find these records at the courthouse or on microfilm somewhere. Here's a link to my website for Slave Schedules and other resources:
==Online Resources==
*'''1775-1867''' [https://dlas.uncg.edu/petitions/ Race and Slavery Petitions] at Digital Library on American Slavery - index; court records regarding enslaved peoples; covers 15 slaveholding states
*[https://enslaved.org/ Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade] - includes records of those enslaved, including court records, and links to relevant databases and projects documenting individuals
*[https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/lantern/ The Lantern Project (Legal Records Documenting Enslaved Persons)] at Mississippi State University Libraries — index & images


*http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/topic/afro-amer/slaveinfo.html
==Introduction==
For the most part, besides being counted as chattel on tax records, land deeds, and census slave schedules, African Americans were not counted as people until the 1870 census. Other records of interest would be church records, which notes people of color being allowed or dispelled from the church, etc., but they were not always given a surname. Sometimes they were noted by their first name and "as belonging to 'X' slaveholder." Therefore, African American researchers are very dependent upon getting information from the slaveholding family's documentation.


For the most part, besides being counted as chattel on tax, land deed, and slave schedules, African Americans were not counted as people until the 1870 census. Other records of interest would be church records, which notes people of color being allowed or dispelled from the church, etc., but they are not always given a surname. Sometimes they are noted by their first name and "as belonging to "X" slaveowner." Therefore, African American researchers are very dependent upon getting information from the slaveowning family's documentation.  
*''Gleaning Information About Enslaved Ancestors from Probate Files,'' by LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, NGS Magazine 48 #3 (April-June 2022): 23-27. {{FSC|4469739|item|disp=FS Catalog book 973 D25ngs v.48 no.2}}


=== Resources for Marriage, Census, and Cemetery Data ===
===Resources for Marriage, Census, and Cemetery Data===


*http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/topic/afro-amer/Document.html
=== 1850 Slave Schedules ===


The following site provides an example of what Church Records can show:
*'''1850'''  {{RecordSearch|1420440|United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850}} at FamilySearch - [[United States Census, Slave Schedule, 1850 - FamilySearch Historical Records|How to Use this Collection]]; index & images


*http://www.missouri-slave-data.org/mtnebo.html
* '''1850''' [https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8055/ U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules] at Ancestry - index & images ($)


=== Wills  ===
=== 1860 Slave Schedules ===


*http://www.missouri-slave-data.org/jchism.jpg
* '''1860''' [https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7668/ U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules] at Ancestry - index & images ($)


Public Auction notices for slaves can be found in probate records:
*'''1860''' {{RecordSearch|3161105|United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860}} at FamilySearch - [[United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860 - FamilySearch Historical Records|How to Use this Collection]]; — index & images


*http://www.missouri-slave-data.org/mwalkerslaves.jpg
===Wills===


Many people in conducting research in their families run across slave related information. It is both painful, embarrassing and confusing all at once. It is my hope that when anyone runs across Missouri slave-related data that they would post it to my website at:
Public Auction notices for enslaved persons can be found in probate records.


*http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/topic/afro-amer/indexusg.html
Documentation of names of African Americans are mentioned in the 1790-1865 wills of white slaveholders in Liberty County, Georgia.


=== Missouri State Archives  ===
*See the FamilySearch Catalog for Liberty County, Georgia, Probate Records.


*http://mosl.sos.state.mo.us/rec-man/arch.html
===Missouri State Archives===


Roll-by-roll listing County Record on microfilm by county:
*[https://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/curriculum/africanamerican/guide Guide to African American History at the Missouri State Archives]
*[https://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/curriculum/africanamerican Missouri's African American History]
'''Description of Records on Film'''


*http://mosl.sos.state.mo.us/rec-man/archives/resources/county/croll.html
Roll-by-roll listing of Missouri [https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/county/croll County Records on microfilm] by county:


'''Description of Records on Film'''
For African American researchers, the items below are of interest. If a family enslaved individuals, records of purchase, sale, rent, mortgage, gift, lawsuits, etc., can be found under the various listings related to probate. Of particular interest are books and other resources that transcribe or are abstracts of Wills, Administrations, and Probate. The following websites are helpful.


*http://mosl.sos.state.mo.us/rec-man/archives/resources/county/croll2.html#Probate
===Land Deed Records===


For African American Researchers; the items below are of interest. If a family owned slaves, records of purchase, sale, rent, mortgage, gift, lawsuits, etc., can be found under the various listings related to probate. Of particular interests are books and other resources that transcribe or are abstracts of Wills, Administrations, and Probate. The following websites are helpful.
'''Final Settlement and Inventory Records'''
 
FRANKLIN COUNTY BLACK MARRIAGES
 
*http://www.missouri-slave-data.org/franklincomar.htm


WASHINGTON COUNTY BLACK MARRIAGES
These records show the final disposition of an estate, including who the enslaved persons in a household were sold to or given to and for how much. Land Deed records are equally important. Tax records will note how many people a slaveholder had enslaved.


*http://www.missouri-slave-data.org/wasmarriage2.html
'''Registers of Enslaved Persons, Registers of Freedmen, and Manumission Papers.''' From the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, about ten percent of African Americans were free. Most free African Americans carried their own papers, but these could be stolen. In order to distinguish between the enslaved, runaways, and free African Americans, many counties or states in the upper South, and border states kept one or more sets of registers or papers. Some had registers of enslaved persons. Some kept registers of Blacks, Freedmen, Free Men of Color, or "free Negroes." Some kept copies of manumission papers of people freed from slavery. To find these kinds of registers or papers look in county courthouse records. They are most likely found in the court papers, among the land and property deeds, or occasionally in probate or tax records. Sometimes these kinds of records are found at state libraries, archives, or historical societies. 


=== Land Deed Records  ===
For more information about registers of enslaved persons, see the article ''[https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/slavery-or-slave-owners/ How to look for records of Enslaved people and slave owners]'', from the National Archives - UK.


'''Final Settlement and Inventory Records'''
===Websites===


These records show the final disposition of an estate, including who the slaves in the family were sold to or given to and for how much. Land Deed records are equally important. Tax records will note how many slaves a person owned.  
*[https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ilissdsa/text_files/database_intro2.htm Slave Archival Collection]
*[https://www.exploregenealogy.co.uk/USAfricanAmericanRecords.html#google_vignette Using U.S. African- American Records to Trace Ancestors Abroad]. - ExploreGenealogy


=== External Links  ===


*http://www.afrigeneas.com/drdb/
*http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilissdsa/text_files/database_intro2.htm
*http://www.exploregenealogy.co.uk/USAfricanAmericanRecords.html


[[Category:African_Americans]]
[[Category:African_American Records]]

Latest revision as of 19:41, 15 July 2025

African American Genealogy Wiki Topics
African American Image 5.jpg
Beginning Research
Original Records
Compiled Sources
Background Information
Finding Aids


Online Resources

Introduction

For the most part, besides being counted as chattel on tax records, land deeds, and census slave schedules, African Americans were not counted as people until the 1870 census. Other records of interest would be church records, which notes people of color being allowed or dispelled from the church, etc., but they were not always given a surname. Sometimes they were noted by their first name and "as belonging to 'X' slaveholder." Therefore, African American researchers are very dependent upon getting information from the slaveholding family's documentation.

Resources for Marriage, Census, and Cemetery Data

1850 Slave Schedules

1860 Slave Schedules

Wills

Public Auction notices for enslaved persons can be found in probate records.

Documentation of names of African Americans are mentioned in the 1790-1865 wills of white slaveholders in Liberty County, Georgia.

  • See the FamilySearch Catalog for Liberty County, Georgia, Probate Records.

Missouri State Archives

Description of Records on Film

Roll-by-roll listing of Missouri County Records on microfilm by county:

For African American researchers, the items below are of interest. If a family enslaved individuals, records of purchase, sale, rent, mortgage, gift, lawsuits, etc., can be found under the various listings related to probate. Of particular interest are books and other resources that transcribe or are abstracts of Wills, Administrations, and Probate. The following websites are helpful.

Land Deed Records

Final Settlement and Inventory Records

These records show the final disposition of an estate, including who the enslaved persons in a household were sold to or given to and for how much. Land Deed records are equally important. Tax records will note how many people a slaveholder had enslaved.

Registers of Enslaved Persons, Registers of Freedmen, and Manumission Papers. From the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, about ten percent of African Americans were free. Most free African Americans carried their own papers, but these could be stolen. In order to distinguish between the enslaved, runaways, and free African Americans, many counties or states in the upper South, and border states kept one or more sets of registers or papers. Some had registers of enslaved persons. Some kept registers of Blacks, Freedmen, Free Men of Color, or "free Negroes." Some kept copies of manumission papers of people freed from slavery. To find these kinds of registers or papers look in county courthouse records. They are most likely found in the court papers, among the land and property deeds, or occasionally in probate or tax records. Sometimes these kinds of records are found at state libraries, archives, or historical societies.

For more information about registers of enslaved persons, see the article How to look for records of Enslaved people and slave owners, from the National Archives - UK.

Websites

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