United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Assistant Commissioner - FamilySearch Historical Records

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United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Assistant Commissioner, 1865-1872 and North Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Assistant Commissioner Records, 1862-1870 CID2427901 CID1803698 {{{CID3}}} {{{CID4}}} {{{CID5}}} {{{CID6}}} {{{CID7}}} {{{CID8}}} {{{CID9}}}
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Location of the United States of America
Record Description
Record Type	Freedmen and Refugee Records
Record Group	RG 105: Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands
Collection years	1865-1872
National Archives Identifier	434
FamilySearch Resources
Records of the Commissioner
Superintendent of Education and the Division of Education Records
Freedmen’s Bank
Florida Voter Registrations, 1867-1868
African American Freedmen's Bureau Records
Quick Guide to African American Records
African American Research











Related Websites
NARA Freedmen's Bureau Records: An Overview
NARA A Genealogical Finding Aid
Publications of the Freedmen and Southern Society Project
The Freedmen's Bureau Online. Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands.
Suffolk University, Boston
Early Hernando County History Freedmen's Bureau
Jefferson County, Florida Labor Contracts








Archive
National Archives and Records Administration

What is in the Collection?[edit | edit source]

The collection consists of images of records of the Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (often called the Freedmen’s Bureau). The bureau was created in 1865 at the end of the American Civil War to supervise relief efforts including education, health care, food and clothing, refugee camps, legalization of marriages, employment, labor contracts, and securing back pay, bounty payments and pensions.

These records include letters and endorsements sent and received, account books, applications for rations, applications for relief, court records, labor contracts, registers of bounty claimants, registers of complaints, registers of contracts, registers of disbursements, registers of freedmen issued rations, registers of patients, reports, rosters of officers and employees, special and general orders and circulars received, special orders and circulars issued, records relating to claims, court trials, property restoration, and homesteads.

This collection corresponds with the following NARA microfilm publications, Alabama, M809; Arkansas, M979; District of Columbia, M1055; Florida, M1869; Georgia, M798; Louisiana, M1027; Mississippi, M826; North Carolina M843; South Carolina, M869; Tennessee, M999; Texas, M821; Virginia, M1048.

To Browse This Collection[edit | edit source]

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Assistant Commissioner, 1865-1872.

OR

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for North Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Assistant Commissioner Records, 1862-1870.

Collection Content[edit | edit source]

Sample Images[edit | edit source]

United States, Freedmen's Bureau Records of Assistant Commissioner
Will (page 1)
Will (page 2)
Oath of Amnesty
Stores (Supplies) Received
Letter
Account Statement

National Archives Pamphlets

Alabama M809
Arkansas M979
District of Columbia M1055
Florida M1869 The field office records were filmed with those the Assistant Commissioner
Georgia M798
Louisiana M1027
Mississippi M826
North Carolina M843
South Carolina M869
Tennessee M999
Texas M821
Virginia M1048

Florida, Field Office Records
Records with Freedmen and Refugee Names
Reports: Roll 9, Monthly Reports of Abandoned or Confiscated Lands
Reports: Roll 10, Unregistered Monthly Reports of Homesteads Located by Bureau Agents
Other Records, Rolls Records Relating to Restoration of Property
Other Records, Roll 11, Applications of Freedmen for Rations, Acre-Owens
Other Records, Roll 12, Applications of Freedmen for Rations, Page-Young
Claims Agent, Roll 14, Register of Bounty Claimants
Jacksonville, Roll 14, Register of Freedmen Issued Rations
Quincy, Roll 15, Register of Freedmen Issued Rations
Tallahassee, Roll 15, Records Relating to Court Trials; Register of Freedmen Issued Rations

What Can this Collection Tell Me?[edit | edit source]

The records usually include:

Name of the freedman
Name of the freedman’s former owner
Date of the record
Birthplace
Residence
Age
Document dates

How Do I Search the Collection?[edit | edit source]

To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:

The name of your ancestor.
The approximate age of your ancestor.
The place where your ancestor lived.
The name of the former slave owner.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then select the appropriate "NARA Roll Number-Contents".

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?[edit | edit source]

Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?[edit | edit source]

Use the age to calculate a birth date and to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
Use the information to find additional family members. Witnesses or bondsmen were usually relatives.
Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?[edit | edit source]

Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
Former slaves may have had used multiple names or changed their names until they decided upon one particular name. Search all possible names along with variations or spellings of their known names.
Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
Search the indexes and records of United States Genealogy.
Search in the United States Archives and Libraries.

General Information About Freedmen's Bureau Records[edit | edit source]

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was established in the War Department in March of 1865. It was commonly called the Freedman’s Bureau and was responsible for the management and supervision of matters relating to refuges, freedmen, and abandoned lands. The Bureau assisted disenfranchised Americans, primarily African Americans, with temporal, legal and financial matters, with the intent of helping people to become self-sufficient. Matters handled included the distributing of food and clothing; operating temporary medical facilities; acquiring back pay, bounty payments, and pensions; facilitating the creation of schools, including the founding of Howard University; reuniting family members; handling marriages; and providing banking services. Banking services were provided by the establishment of the Freedman’s Saving and Trust Company, or Freedman’s Bank.

The Bureau functioned as an agency of the War Department from approximately June 1865 until December 1868. In 1872, the functions of the Bureau were transferred to the Freedmen’s Branch of the Adjutant General’s Office.

The Bureau assisted over one million African Americans, including many of the nearly four million emancipated slaves, which was over 25% of the population of former slaves in America.

The records identify those who sought help from the Bureau at the end of the Civil War. Most supplicants were freed slaves, some of which were military veterans. In addition, a few veterans who were not African Americans also sought help from the Bureau. Freedmen’s Bureau records are usually reliable, because the records were supplied through first-person correspondence or the recording of a marriage.

Citing this Collection[edit | edit source]

Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection citation:

Collection Citation:
The citation for this collection can be found on the Collection Details Page in the section Cite This Collection.

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

When looking at a record, the citation is found below the record. You can search records in this collection by visiting the search page for United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Assistant Commissioner, 1865-1872.

Image citation:
This template has been deprecated and is no longer used.

When looking at an image, the citation is found on the Information tab at the bottom left of the screen. You can browse through images in this collection by visiting the browse page for United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Assistant Commissioner, 1865-1872.