m (Text replacement - "([\s\[\(\=])FHL" to "$1FS Library") |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
| [[Image:{{SlaveList}}]][[Image:Register of free negroes.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Example page from "Register of free negroes" of Nelson County, Virginia.]] | | [[Image:{{SlaveList}}]][[Image:Register of free negroes.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Example page from "Register of free negroes" of Nelson County, Virginia.]] | ||
== Online Records == | |||
*'''1780-1939:''' {{RecordSearch|3460246|United States, Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939}} at FamilySearch - [[United States, Indenture and Manumission Records - FamilySearch Historicl Records|How to Use this Collection]]; index and images | *'''1780-1939:''' {{RecordSearch|3460246|United States, Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939}} at FamilySearch - [[United States, Indenture and Manumission Records - FamilySearch Historicl Records|How to Use this Collection]]; index and images | ||
*'''1865-1872''' {{RecordSearch|2515867|United States Freedmen's Bureau Land and Property Records 1865-1872}} at FamilySearch - [[United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Land and Property Records - FamilySearch Historical Records|How to Use this Collection]]; index and images | *'''1865-1872''' {{RecordSearch|2515867|United States Freedmen's Bureau Land and Property Records 1865-1872}} at FamilySearch - [[United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Land and Property Records - FamilySearch Historical Records|How to Use this Collection]]; index and images | ||
== Record Types == | |||
===Freedmen's Bureau Land=== | |||
After the Civil War former slaves were promised free land and a mule. They rarely received the land and were lucky to receive a mule. For more information about records of this type of land see the [[African American Freedmen's Bureau Records|Freedman's Bureau]] Wiki page. | |||
===Homestead Land=== | |||
After the Civil War many African Americans took advantage of the Homestead Act to obtain almost free federal land in return for occupying and improving it. The application papers for this federal farm, mining, or timber land contain genealogical information and clues. Only about 40 percent of people who applied for homestead land finished the process and received the land patent. Those that finished have been indexed. The homestead index is available on the Internet. For more details see the Wiki article [[Land Patent Search|Land Patent Search]]. | |||
*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/608108 Michael L. Lanza, ''Agrarianism and reconstruction politics : the Southern Homestead Act'' Baton Rouge, Louisiana : Louisiana State University Press, c1990 FS Library 973 R2lm] Public lands in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, and Florida. | |||
Homestead applications for the 60 percent who never finished are available at the National Archives, but a researcher will need to find the legal description of the land they started to homestead in order to find the application papers. There is no index to homestead applications that were not completed. | |||
===Records Regarding Enslaved Individuals=== | |||
====Deeds==== | ====Deeds==== | ||
Enslaved people were treated as chattel (property) and thus any transaction involving them may be listed as a deed in land and property records of the county or state. This could include bills of sale, deeds of gift, chattel mortgages (when the enslaved person was used as collateral for a promissory note), marriage contracts (when the wife was bringing enslaved persons into the marriage), estate settlements, quit claim deeds, etc. Sometimes slaves were bequeathed or sold as part of the probate of an estate and this transfer or sale may be listed as a deed mixed in with probate records. | Enslaved people were treated as chattel (property) and thus any transaction involving them may be listed as a deed in land and property records of the county or state. This could include bills of sale, deeds of gift, chattel mortgages (when the enslaved person was used as collateral for a promissory note), marriage contracts (when the wife was bringing enslaved persons into the marriage), estate settlements, quit claim deeds, etc. Sometimes slaves were bequeathed or sold as part of the probate of an estate and this transfer or sale may be listed as a deed mixed in with probate records. | ||
| Line 29: | Line 41: | ||
The Constitution allowed the outlawing of the importation of slaves to the United States after 1808. Between then and the Civil War the internal slave trade became an important business in the Southern United States. Most states regulated the slave trade. A few kept records of slave traders and their businesses. Look for such business registers at state libraries, archives, historical societies, or county courthouses. | The Constitution allowed the outlawing of the importation of slaves to the United States after 1808. Between then and the Civil War the internal slave trade became an important business in the Southern United States. Most states regulated the slave trade. A few kept records of slave traders and their businesses. Look for such business registers at state libraries, archives, historical societies, or county courthouses. | ||
{{African American|African American}} {{U.S. Land and Property}} | {{African American|African American}} {{U.S. Land and Property}} | ||
edits