African American Introduction: Difference between revisions

To make a slave connection, you must first identify the slave owner, and then study the owner’s records for clues to family information. About 15 percent of former slaves took their last slave owner’s surname. Sources for identifying the slave owner include Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations From the Revolution Through the Civil War: Series A through N {{FHL|Film nos. 1,534,196 through 1,534,236}}, and military records at:  

The Freedman’s Savings and Trust Records include birthplace, place brought up, residence, age, complexion, name of employer or occupation, spouse, children, father, mother, brothers and sisters, remarks, and signature. These records are found in Registers of Signatures of Depositors in Branches of the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company, 1865—1874 {{FHL|Film nos. 928,571 through 928,591}}. An additional guide for Freedmen’s Bureau field office records is Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Field Offices of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands: Record Group 105 by Elaine Everly and Willna Pacheli {{FHL|Book: 973 F23ea}}. Part 1 includes Alabama and Louisiana, Part 2 includes Maryland and South Carolina, and Part 3 includes Tennessee and Virginia. Some of the Freedmen’s Bureau records are available online at:  

Another helpful source of information for locating African-American ancestors is the Records of the Commissioners of Claims 1871—1880 {{FHL|Film nos. 1,463,963 through 1,463,987}}. Nearly 22,300 cases are filed by individual names, family groups, churches, and businesses. Records include testimony of neighbors, relatives, and former slaves to support a claimant’s assertions, taken during the Civil War because of loyalty to the Union. A master index to these case files is found in Southern Loyalists in the Civil War: The Southern Claims Commission by Gary B. Mills {{FHL|Book: 975 M2s}}.