A short history lesson may shed some light on the importance of this information. The Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company was established by an act of Congress in 1865 as a banking institution in Washington, DC, for the benefit of freed slaves and former African American military personnel. While based in Washington, it opened 37 branches throughout the South, as well as in New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington. At its peak, the Freedman’s Bank had 72,000 clients. It is estimated that 8 to 10 million African Americans living today have ancestors that may be traced on the Freedman's Bank records. The Freedman’s Bank records reportedly were one of the major record groups Alex Haley used to find his ancestors, as documented in Roots.

Most of the records of the Freedman’s Bank have been preserved. The Registers of Signatures of Depositors, 1865-1874 contains the records of 29 branches of the Freedman’s Bank and can be found in the National Archives Microfilm Publication M816, Record Group 101. This microfilm is the source of information found on the CD-ROM.

These registers are an excellent source of genealogical information. They contain the application forms that were filled out to open a new account at the bank. The original account records are handwritten on preprinted forms and ask for the following information about a depositor: name, the date the account was opened, age, place of birth, where brought up, complexion (occasionally height is also included), residence, occupation, employer, spouse, children, father, mother, siblings, remarks, and a signature or mark. You might also find the wife’s maiden name or the name of a former spouse as well as any military units the depositor served in during the Civil War. The bank records sometimes mention a physical deformity, such as a scar or missing limb. However, some of the information was left blank on individual forms.

Depositors frequently named nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, grandparents, in-laws, and sometimes the location of these individuals and whether they were living or dead. Some of the earlier forms also requested the name of the former slave owner and the plantation where the person lived. Sometimes children and multiple family members opened accounts, providing additional data about a family.

In addition to individuals, the Freedman’s Bank also maintained accounts for African American churches, private businesses, and beneficial societies. The information on these accounts usually gives the names of the leaders, owners, or officials of these institutions.

The problem with using the records on microfilm is that the records are not in alphabetical order. Instead, they are arranged by the state and city where the branch was located and then organized by the date the account was opened and the account number. Searching the microfilms for a particular person is often a "needle in a haystack" frustration. However, with the Freedman’s Bank Records now transcribed to CD-ROM, the software allows for instant searches by name.

I noticed that the CD-ROM’s help file has the following thank-you note: "Our sincere thanks go to the men at the Utah State prison who worked to extract and organize these records. Without their help this valuable resource would not exist."

Installation of the Freedman's Bank Records CD-ROM was quick and easy: I inserted the disk in my CD-ROM drive, opened it with Windows Explorer, and then double-clicked on SETUP.EXE. About 30 seconds later, all the required software was installed. I then double-clicked on the newly installed icon on my Windows desktop and was looking at records a few seconds later.

The Freedman's Bank Records CD-ROM uses Progeny Software’s Family Explorer search engine—an excellent choice in my opinion. I have used this same software on other CD-ROM disks and have found it to be reliable and intuitive.

I spent some time searching for names. The following is one of the entries I found, showing the type of information available:

Name: Aaron WASHINGTON #229562
Sex: Male
Ref Number: 351
Spouse: Rosanna (---)
Children: Isaac (---) and Edward (---)
Father: Unknown
Mother:
Events: Birth Charleston, SC
Notes:

FREEDMAN BANK RECORDS PROJECTS
FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY FILM: 0928582
BANK LOCATION: Shreveport LA
APPLICATION DATE: 31 Jul 1871
AGE: 30
PLACE RAISED: Charleston, SC
HEIGHT/COMPLEXION: Black
CURRENT RESIDENCE: 1 miles out on Austin Place
MILITARY INFORMATION:
WORKS FOR: Austin
OCCUPATION: Farmer
DEATH NOTES:
PLANTATION:
MASTER:
MISTRESS:
REMARKS: Draws by himself and wife Wills to her
82874.GED (Personal Ancestral File). Date 13 Dec 1999.

While the records came from the Shreveport, Louisiana branch of the bank, the current residence of "1 miles out on Austin Place" wasn’t very descriptive. One mile from Shreveport? Or one mile from some other town? Aaron’s common last name of Washington doesn’t help much if I want to look in other records. However, I also found another hint that I will describe in a minute.

I was able to print this data as a family group sheet with Aaron and Rosanna shown as parents and Isaac and Edward shown as children. I also was able to create a small GEDCOM file containing the same information.

Most of the records I looked at named only two or three individuals. The above record listed four individuals. However, some records will also list nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, grandparents or in-laws. If there had been other relatives shown on the original record, they too would have been on the family group sheet and in the GEDCOM file. The GEDCOM files then can be imported into any other modern genealogy program.

One feature I liked is that, for any subject, you can click on menu option "Find Relatives." On the above record, I used "Find Relatives," and it listed Dinah Haskins as the sister of Aaron. When I clicked on her name, I found that she, too, had applied at Shreveport, but her current residence was listed as Arkansas. Of course, there is no guarantee that her brother lived nearby, but it did give me a hint of where to look for him: "1 miles out on Austin Place" could be in southern Arkansas or in Louisiana. I might also look in the later 1870 U.S. Census records for Arkansas to see if I could find someone named Aaron Washington living near Dinah Haskins.

The "Find Relatives" feature provides a composite view of the extended family that may facilitate research. Many other genealogy CD-ROMs will list the names of individuals found in original records, but not put them together in a lineage-linked database. Most data extraction CD-ROM disks I have used do not have a "Find Relatives" feature at all. This one feature can save many hours of searching when looking at records for common surnames.

All of the data was entered into the Freedman’s Bank Records database in the same format in which it appeared in the original records. This means that some of the children were entered with no surnames, as the original records would list the full name of an adult or two and then only the first names of the children. To facilitate searching, these children were indexed under their parents' surnames, where available. However, the child’s name will still display as having no surname. For example, if you perform a search on Becky Jones, you will find an entry that says "Becky (---)", and her father is shown as Isaac Jones. The data displayed on the screen and on printouts always reflects the information shown on the original record.

The help files on the CD-ROM say that, in most cases (up to 85 percent), former slaves did not take the surnames of their masters. Instead, they chose their own surnames. While some children took the same surname as their parents, others chose the name of someone they admired, like Washington or Lincoln. Still others picked a surname they liked. It was not uncommon for brothers, sisters, and parents to all have a different surname. Many African Americans also tried several different surnames before deciding on which one to keep. Therefore, when you see a child listed with an unknown last name, do not always assume that he or she has the same last name as the parent. The Family Explorer software on the Freedman’s Bank Records CD-ROM will display the correct child as listed on the original records, regardless of the surnames involved.

I also found that I could search not only on names, but also on places and on any words in the Notes. I did a search on the word "Shreveport" in the notes section to see how many records were recorded at the Shreveport branch. The software found 6,107 such records.

Of course, keep in mind that these are extracted records, not the original records. Once you find an ancestor listed on the Freedman's Bank Records CD-ROM, you will want to rent National Archives Microfilm number M816. There you can look at the original record in handwriting, which may be your ancestor’s or that of a bank employee. You may even find additional notes that were not transcribed to the CD-ROM database. You can rent the microfilm directly from the National Archives or from any local Family History Center. In addition, many larger libraries will also have it available.

Almost any modern Windows computer can use the Freedman’s Bank Records CD-ROM. The minimum requirements are:

• Pentium processor (or higher)
• Windows 95/98/NT 4.0+
• 8 MB RAM minimum (16 MB recommended)
• CD-ROM drive (4X minimum recommended)
• VGA monitor with 256-color-capable video card
• 8 MB hard-disk space

I noticed that Windows 2000 and Windows ME were not listed as approved operating systems. However, I installed it on my Windows 2000 system, and it performed perfectly. I suspect it will do the same on Windows ME.

OK, so this valuable African American genealogy CD-ROM contains 480,000 names, is easy to use, links families together, and generates GEDCOM files and a variety of reports. How much does it cost? $6.50. Yes, that’s six and a half bucks, and that even includes the postage!

If you believe that you have African American ancestry in the South, or in New York City, Philadelphia, or Washington in the years 1865 through 1874, you will want this CD-ROM disk. There is an excellent chance that you can find information about your ancestors in this database. And at only $6.50, you probably can afford to take a chance to find out. If it doesn’t work out, donate the disk to a local library or genealogy society.

To learn more about the Freedman's Bank Records on CD-ROM, or to safely order it online via a secure server, visit FamilySearch.org and click on "Order/Download Products." Next, click on "Software Products" and then on "Immigration and Freedman’s Records."