Editor's Note: This article is the second in a three-part series. Read Part 1 and Part 3.
While the Emancipation Proclamation became effective 1 January 1863, it was not until 18 December 1865, that the thirteenth amendment officially ended slavery in the United States.
Civil War Migrations and Aftermath
Slavery and racism continued, however, resulting in further denial of the rights of African Americans. For example, after the Civil War, Kentucky refused to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, to nullify the slave code, to provide for destitute freedmen, or to protect African Americans against white supremacists such as the Regulators.
Mass migrations of African Americans from rural areas of the country were a result of two major trends. First, families often needed to escape harassment, threats, and continued violence in unsympathetic communities. Second, the lack of employment in the declining agricultural-based economy and the hope of jobs in the growing industrial sector resulted in large numbers of African Americans leaving their homes to seek opportunities elsewhere. As a result, African American families during this time were mobile and often without assets to buy property or leave wills and other records. In other words, difficult—but not impossible—to track.
Apprenticeship Bonds for Freedmen
These records, which may have been created before or after the Civil War, were indentures of apprenticeship by which African American children were bound to masters until they reached a specified age. The child and master, date, trade to which apprenticed, terms of indenture, and signatures of parties are shown on the bond.
Employment Agreements
Owners who had many slaves sometimes hired them out. For example, in Kentucky, the first day of January was the traditional day for hiring slaves. Large crowds of slaveholders, prospective employers, and bystanders congregated at the county seat to make such arrangements. The slave could sometimes veto the deal, but this was usually not part of the agreement.
These contracts were typically for a year at a time, although some contracts were for a specific task. This practice seems to have been particularly common when the original owner died and was an especially attractive option for large rural slaveowners. Slaves were sent into towns to work in the ropewalks, mills, and factories. These African Americans worked and lived on their own. For example, until Kentucky law prohibited it, African Americans could and did negotiate their own contracts and paid their master on a monthly basis.
Employment agreements can be found in the county order books under the name of the slaveowner. The orders usually give the mane, age, amount of wages, type of work, and the length of service.
Post-Civil War Records
A number of post-Civil War court records were maintained separately for African Americans and whites. Records which are sometimes maintained separately include marriage records, tax records, and vital statistics. Separate school census lists kept for African American schools may also exist. The practice of separating the records persisted only briefly in some areas. In other cases, records may have been maintained separately until as late as the 1960s. The separation of these records is often useful to African American searches. If a record is not found where anticipated, however, both African American and white families should explore the documents in both categories.
Marriage Indexes and Records
Beginning in 1866, African Americans were allowed to register existing marriages; often a fee was required for such registration. Sometimes these records are called Declarations of Freedmen, Declarations of Marriages, or Negro Cohabitation Certificates. Many existing marriages may not have been recorded because of the fee involved. Marriages were also reported to the Freedmen’s Bureau. In some areas, beginning after the Civil War and continuing until well into the 1960s, marriage records for African Americans and whites were maintained in separate volumes.
Vital Statistics
Separate lists sometimes exist for African American births and deaths. Some researchers have noted that compliance with vital statistics registration laws may actually have been greater among African Americans than among whites. These records will often list the owner’s name and the mother’s name if a slave, although records of free African Americans may include the names of both parents.
Deeds and Other Records
Some clerks unfailingly indicated the race of a person in each transaction, whether it involved the sale of a piece of property or a marriage. Other clerks did not. Some clerks maintained African American records in separate volumes for a time and then changed their practices. Some counties even placed African American transactions at the back of the book or in a separate section of the record book. Therefore, if a record cannot be found, it is wise to scan the entire document to ensure that African American records are not tucked away in a segregated compartment. It is often the case that only certain local courts were empowered to make decisions on cases which involved free African Americans. These same courts were usually also responsible for cases related to slaves.
Military Records
African Americans have served in all U.S. wars. More than five thousand African Americans fought in the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War; another thousand fought for the British and were known as King of England Soldiers. Many of these eventually escaped to Nova Scotia. When the British left after the war, fourteen hundred former slaves went to London, Halifiax or the West Indies with them. The Book of Negroes, available in the National Archives, includes the names of these British sympathizers (Blockson 1977:50-51).
African Americans were also active in the War of 1812, but by 1842, army regulations excluded them. During the Spanish American War, African Americans served in the Ninth and Tenth U.S. Cavalry. More than 350,000 African Americans fought in World War I; and almost a million fought in World War II (Blockson 1977:52-4).
The Archives has produced a special publication, List of Black Servicemen Compiled from the War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records. The list includes all soldiers known or presumed to African American. The names are listed alphabetically and include a reference to the complete source where more information can be found. It is available from the Publications Sales Branch of the National Archives in Washington, D.C. 20408. The Negro in the Military Service of the United States 1639-1886 is available on microfilm in the National Archives. The Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers who Served with United States Colored Troops is a microfilm publication available at the National Archives which gives the name of the soldier, his rank, and unit.
School Records
Some states maintained a separate school system, including a high school system for African Americans. In Kentucky, for example, one African American high school drew students from across the state. The Lincoln Institute was a residential school and so its records will include families from throughout the state even though it was located in central Kentucky.
Freedman’s Bureau Records
The Freedman’s Bureau was established just before the end of the Civil War to assist newly emancipated slaves to adjust to their freedom. The Bureau was the government’s first attempt at a large-scale welfare program.
The Bureau aided in certifying slave marriages, assisted with labor contracts, issued rations and clothing to new freedmen’s camps, and provided transportation to refugees and freedmen returning to their homes or relocating to another part of the country. It also helped African American soldiers and sailors file and collect claims for bounties and paid pensions. Unfortunately, the Bureau only operated for a short time. By 1869, it had nearly stopped functioning and was totally discontinued by 1872.
Records in the Freedman’s Bureau can be categorized into two major groups; the Washington Office and the state office. Records in both groups consist of letters, school reports, administrative reports, and a variety of orders. Individual level information is available, but difficult to locate (Blockson 1977:100). While not oriented specifically to genealogy, there are some records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands which include valuable information for African American genealogy: marriage certificates of freed slaves, registers, and other records containing information about slave families.
Freedman Hospitals, Aid, Refugee Camps, and Veteran Aid offices were set up by the Bureau in the states in which they were active. The Bureau helped African American soldiers to receive bounties through the Bureau during 1868. Many more were eligible than received aid and bounties, but it was difficult to locate claimants since a large number of freedmen were constantly on the move. Sharp lawyers and bounty brokers sometimes swindled the freedmen out of their claims.
Refugee camps were established and as a result, some counties in the state will have a larger number of records for former slave families. Find out where these camps are located in areas of interest to your family.
Records for the Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company, for the period after the Civil War until the mid-1870s have been microfilmed and are available through the National Archives (group M816 and M817). These records show depositors’ names and sometimes other personal information.
African American schools after the Civil War were coordinated by the Freedmen’s Bureau. These schools for African American children were separately financed by taxes on property owned by African American. School attendance was compulsory for all, but the average daily attendance in Kentucky was still only about fifty-five percent for white students and about thirty-one percent for African American students. Many, if not most, records for the Freedman’s Bureau schools consist of statistical school reports. Individual names of pupils are not usually listed. The names of the schools and the numbers of pupils studying various courses by school neighborhood is, however, given.
The manuscript records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands are in custody of the National Archives in Washington, D. C. Many of them have been microfilmed are available at the each of the thirteen regional National Archives. These core holdings are listed in the table above.
Secondary Sources
Church and cemetery records are an important source of information on African American families as the African American church has served as a focal point of African American family life. Where the records survive, they can provide valuable information about African American ancestors. Many of the larger cities have exclusively African American churches and cemeteries. Even early pioneer church records include in their minutes lists of their African American members. Finally, the deeds for African American cemeteries can be found in county deed books in the same manner as those for whites.
Newspapers are an often overlooked source of material for African American families. There are newspapers exclusively for an African American readers. And mainstream papers often have society columns which cover activities of churches, voluntary associations and clubs as well as philanthropic groups. Many local libraries have indexed vital events such as births, marriages, and deaths. But check to ensure that the news items and columns covering African American activities are included in the index.
Roseann Reinemuth Hogan, Ph.D., has been researching her family since 1978. Her special interests include oral histories and social history.
Ancestry Magazine
