United States, Freedmen's Bureau Labor Contracts, Indenture and Apprenticeship Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

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United States, Freedmen's Bureau Labor Contracts, Indenture and Apprenticeship Records, 1865-1872
CID2475025
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This article describes a collection of records at FamilySearch.org.

United States
Flag of the United States of America
Flag of the United States of America
US Flag 1863-1865 (35 stars)
US Flag 1863-1865 (35 stars)
National Archives and Records Administration Logo
National Archives and Records Administration Logo
Location of the United States of America
Location of the United States of America
Record Description
Record Group RG 105: Records of the Bureau of Refugees Freedmen and Abandoned Lands
Collection years 1865-1872
National Archives Identifier 434
FamilySearch Resources
Content Resources
Related Websites
Archive
National Archives and Records Administration


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

The collection contains employment-related records for the years 1865 to 1872. It includes labor contracts, indentures and apprenticeship records from the following field offices:

  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • District of Columbia
  • Georgia
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Mississippi
  • North Carolina
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia

This collection is from multiple NARA microfilm publications. The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (often called the Freedmen’s 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.

Related National Archives Collections[edit | edit source]

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.

National Museum of African American History & Culture[edit | edit source]

The museum is working with the Smithsonian Transcription Center and volunteers to transcribe the records of the Bureau.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Index and Image Visibility[edit | edit source]

FamilySearch provides images and indexes subject to contractual limitations and changes. Access to images and indexes may vary. Some collections may only have partial indexes without images. See Restrictions for Viewing Images for details.

What Can These Records Tell Me?[edit | edit source]

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
  • homesteads

These records may contain the following information:

  • Given and Surname
  • Age and/or Birth Date
  • Death Date
  • Residence
  • Spouse Name and Birth
  • Race or Color
  • Occupation
  • Marriage Date
  • Military Unit

Collection Content[edit | edit source]

Sample Images[edit | edit source]

  • 1867 Bill of Lading

    1867 Bill of Lading

  • 1866 Court Case

    1866 Court Case

  • 1866 Labor Contract

    1866 Labor Contract

Digital Folder Number List[edit | edit source]

This collection was published as a DGS browse collection. The list does not contain any description of the DGS folder's content. A table listing each DGS number and its contents can be found at United States, Freedmen's Bureau Labor Contracts, Indenture and Apprenticeship Records Digital Folder Number List.

See also United States, National Archives, Department of the Treasury. Division of Captured Property, Claims and Lands

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

Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:

  • The name of your ancestor
  • The approximate age of your ancestor
  • The place where your ancestor lived
  • The name of the former slave owner
  • Locate your ancestor in the 1870 Census. Most local Bureau activities ended (except from claims and education) in December 1868.
  • Check the records of the local field office in the area(s) where you believe your ancestor lived between June 1865 and December 1868.
  • Determine, if possible, the name of the former owner. The 1860 Slave Schedule may be helpful. Also consider searching the 1860 and 1870 Agriculture Schedules.
  • The Bureau created many different types of records. Review the record types in the Collection Content section in this article.
  • While searching Bureau records remember to search other records of the local government, including marriage and court records and especially the 1867 or later voter registrations.
  • Consider ancestors who may have been employed as a civilian agent or served as local agent while still in the military. Look for statewide rosters of bureau personnel in the records of Assistant Commissioners and the Field Office Personnel table for the state. Others may have worked with aid associations or taught school supported by aid associations in the north.
  • Freedmen would have determined what their name would be and may have changed it multiple times.

Search the Index[edit | edit source]

Search by name on the Collection Details Page.
  1. Enter the information in the fields in the Search Collection section or click More Options to see additional fields
  2. Click Search to show possible matches

View the Images[edit | edit source]

To view images in this collection:
  1. Look at the Digital Folder Number List article to determine the folder/film number for the images you want to see
  2. Go to the Browse Page
  3. Select the Film number to view the images

How Do I Analyze the Results?[edit | edit source]

Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

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

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details such as a title, an occupation, or land ownership. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?[edit | edit source]

  • Use the information found to search for the family in census records, church records, land and probate records, and in additional state and county records

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?[edit | edit source]

  • There may be more than one person in the records with the same name
  • Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names
  • Look for another index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records
  • Search the indexes and records of nearby counties
  • Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor
  • 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

Research Helps[edit | edit source]

The following articles will help you research your family in the United States.

Other FamilySearch Collections[edit | edit source]

These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

FamilySearch Catalog[edit | edit source]

  • Paula K. Byers, ed. African American genealogical sourcebook. New York, New York : Gale Research, c1995 FS Library 973 F27afg See pages 68-98 The Freedmen's Bureau
  • Dee Parmer Woodtor, Finding a place called home : a guide to African-American genealogy and historical identity, New York, New York : Random House, c1999 FS Library 973 F2wd See chapter 8
  • George R. Bentley, A history of the Freedmen's Bureau. Reprint. Philadelphia, PA : University of Pennsylvania, 1955. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : University of Pennsylvania, 2016 FS Library Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : University of Pennsylvania, 2016. FS Library 973.714 F875b
  • edited by Richard Zuczek, Encyclopedia of the Reconstruction Era. 2 volumes. Westport, Connecticut : Greenwood Press, ©2006 FS Library 973 N26z
  • Mississippi Labor Contract Index: Freedmen Listing Index. Mississippi Archives and History FS Library fiche 6334622-25
  • Mabel Green Crushshon, comp., An index to Hinds County, Mississippi Freedmen's Bureau labor contracts. Carrollton, Mississippi : Pioneer Pub. Co., c1999. FS Library 976.251 F22c
  • Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith. Freedmen's labor contracts, Madison County, Tennessee, 1866-1867. Jackson, Tennessee : J.K.T. Smith, c1996. FS Library 976.827 H6s
  • Ira Berlin, ed. The war time genesis of free labor : the upper south. New York, New York : Cambridge University Press, c1993. FS Library 973 B4fr ser. 1 v. 2
  • Ira Berlin, ed. The war time genesis of free labor : the lower South. New York, New York : Cambridge University Press, c1990, 1991. FS Library 973 B4fr ser. 1 v. 3
  • edited by Steven Hahn ... et al., Land and labor, 1865. 2 volumes. Chapel Hill, North Carolina : University of North Carolina Press, c2008 FS Library 973 B4fr Series: Freedom : a documentary history of emancipation, 1861-1867 : selected from the holdings of the National Archives of the United States; ser. 3

FamilySearch Historical Records[edit | edit source]

FamilySearch Digital Library[edit | edit source]

Citing This Collection[edit | edit source]

Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

Collection Citation:
The citation for this collection can be found on the Collection Details Page in the section Cite This Collection.
Record Citation:
When looking at a record, the citation can be viewed by clicking the drop-down arrow next to Document Information.
Image Citation:
When looking at an image, the citation is found on the Information tab at the bottom left of the screen.

To access available information, first log into FamilySearch.

DGS stands for Digital Genealogical Society also known as an Image Group Number. Each set of digital images is assigned a DGS number for identification purposes.

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