A Strategy for Researching Freedmens Bureau Records

Freedmen’s Bureau records are a good example of “needle in a haystack” records for those doing African-American genealogical research. They are voluminous and rich, but they are notoriously difficult to approach. Most aren’t indexed; heck, most aren’t even paginated. That they were governed by the military, and arranged as such— is itself another obstacle. The National Archives won a congressional grant years ago to microfilm the originals, which was long overdue, but they still remain an uphill challenge to navigate.

Because of this, I usually recommend to my students that these be one of the last record types to search. They are an important resource, but most of the time you will be forced to read each page of the microfilm and that is not for the feint of heart. If you find something, it’s usually something really worthwhile. I myself have never found anything about my ancestors directly, although I’ve searched hundreds of pages in many different states. I offer here a process for those of you just starting to tiptoe into the murky waters of Freedmens Bureau records.

1. Start with the Field office records. You can download a copy of the descriptive pamphlet for your state on the lower right hand column of this page at the National Archives website.  Each pamphlet will tell you exactly what each roll of film contains. These booklets also provide excellent condensed histories about the Freedmen’s Bureau operations in that state and they also contain great pointers to other relevant books and articles. Pay close attention to the descriptions of what happened in that state. This period of time is very important in the lives of our ancestors, so we want to mine this resource for as much information as possible.

2. Next, print a copy of a map of your research state—you’ll need to find one online that has major cities identified. Using the Freedmen’s Bureau pamphlet for your state, find the sections that identify the locations of the field offices. On the map you printed out, mark each city that had a field office. For example, I’ve marked field office sites for Alabama on the image below.

AL Freedmens Bureau

The tricky part is finding those cities that no longer exist today; Google searches enabled me to find locations for those former cities that are now ghost towns. Also, realize that the closest office to your ancestor might be in the next state over if they lived close to the border. My ancestors from Hardin County, TN often got married in Corinth, MS, because it was closest to where they lived.

3. Now you can start with the place where your ancestor lived, and start looking at records in the nearest field offices. For example, my ancestors lived in Lawrence and Colbert Counties, Alabama—so I have focused first on field office records in Tuscumbia, Athens and Huntsville.

4. Every field office had a different set of records. Use the descriptive pamphlet and read the descriptions of the type of records available for those field offices. Look first for any labor contracts. You can see examples of these at the wonderful Freedmens Bureau online website. Former slaves often had contracts with former slaveowners. Beware that there was no “standard” contract, so some were clear and detailed, identifying entire families, while others looked more like chickenscratch on a napkin.

4. After labor contracts, check to see if there are any local marriage records. Many of those were sent to the headquarters office in Washington D.C. Read this article to find out more details about Freedmens Bureau marriages. Many of those are starting to pop up online, like this one indexing marriages in Mississippi, and here’s an index that I transcribed for freedmen in Wayne County, TN:

5. I next check letters received and/or sent, but only *if* they are indexed by surname. If not, I save them for last and instead like to look for any rations or provisions issued to freedmen or transportation or employment records. After these, look for any hospital records, school records, or census records taken. For example, the Huntsville office took a census of blacks there in 1865, that includes their name, age, sex, former residence and former slaveowner!

6. After researching these types of records, look through the murders and outrages. Reading of the horror that the freedmen experienced really humbles me. Some areas were worse than others, but imagine having to feel the wrath of the Southerners who had just lost this war. There were so many stories of freedmen who were killed, whipped, raped, those who worked until the crop came in and then were kicked off the farm without pay, those who couldn’t get their children out of the slaveowner’s house…just on and on. I read  story once in an Arkansas record that told of a slave having his penis cut off by the owner—in fact he made another slave actually do it! Horrendous stuff. I read these records to get a feel for the level of violence in the local area. The Freedmen’s Bureau tried to do what they could to adjudicate, but many times the crimes were committed by “persons unknown”. The Freedmens Bureau online site contains some of what you can expect to find in outrages. Put this together with the zeal of the freedmen for education and land ownership, and I believe I can make a case that these former slaves were truly the Greatest Generation.

7. If my head is not spinning yet and my eyes crossed, I may go back and search more diligently through the letters. I rarely check the general or special orders, and/ or circulars.

8. Once I thoroughly examine all the field office records, I work my way up and check any of interest at the State Level (i.e., the Office of the Assistant Commissioners, Quartermaster, Disbursement Officer, etc.), and then lastly I check the Commissioner records at the Washington Headquarters for that state.

Its all an exercise in extreme patience. Some of these records are starting to get transcribed and indexed, but it’s going to be some time before their accessibility is improved to any great extent. I do believe Virginia has their entire series of Freedmens Bureau Field Office records online at Ancestry. I also want to point you to the terrific Powerpoint slides that David Paterson created about searching through Freedmens Bureau records. You can download it at Afrigeneas, under the heading “Resource Guides”.

One final point–don’t neglect to read some of the monthly reports about the local area from the local leadership. Although they are summaries and don’t often list individuals, they are invaluable in helping us better understand the climate in terms of education, violence, and finding work.

I continue my search through these records and dream about the day I find something for my family directly. Tell me—what kinds of genealogical discoveries have you made in Freedmens Bureau records?

Using Land Records Effectively, Part 2

Deed Text

This is part 2 of a series of posts I’m doing on land records. I created a new lecture on this topic last year and I’m pretty excited about sharing what I’ve learned. You can read the first post if you missed it before.

My goals are to outline general types of deeds, show examples, and point you to some other resources for further study. There are lots of other sites and other blog posts that cover deeds more extensively, but my current interest in them made them a “must-post” anyway. Of course as with anything in genealogy, there are differences that will exist depending on the state involved.

Land records contain dense and wordy legal language that can be difficult to weed through. I’m going to cut out a lot of the legalese in the examples and just quote the relevant language. Although sometimes complex, they are a rich record set and the patient and diligent researcher can be rewarded with evidence possibly not available anywhere else.

A few basic concepts first: a deed is defined as a formal document that transfers property from one party to another. The seller is referred to as the “grantor” and the buyer is referred to as the “grantee”. Most land records are indexed by both grantor and grantee and when researching, you’ll need to check both indexes. Deeds are also sometimes referred to as indentures.

Deeds will typically contain:

• the names of the buyer and seller
• the date it was written and recorded
• the consideration (fee) paid
• a description of the land, possibly adjacent landowners or history
• signature or mark of the grantor and if required, any witnesses, acknowledgement or proof, and
• a dower release (if required)

I’ll talk about the dower release in a later post.

Some of the most common types of deeds are:

1. Warranty deeds:  This deed warrants (i.e., guarantees) clear title to the land. Look for words/phrases like warrant title or guarantee title. Most deeds will be of this type.

“This indenture made…between A. Gammel and A.S. Brooks…hath sold…all that parcel or tract of land…and the said A Gammel…will warrant and forever defend the right and title thereof.

Of particular interest to African-Americans, try to find the first deed where your ancestor purchased land. Research the person who sold them the land–many times, former slaves purchased land from their former slaveowner. In 1882, in Montgomery County, MD, Isabella Smith purchased land from Margeret Beall, who turned out to be her former owner. Even still, always trace the origins of the land your family owned. If not former slaveowners, you may find other relatives.

2. Deed of Trust (or Trust Deeds): This type of deed secures a debt. Property is usually transferred to a third party called a trustee. If the debt is not repaid, then the property can be sold. These are important for African-Americans; sharecropping agreements can be found in these types of deeds. They also provide a close look  of what life was like for the average farmer. Look for phrases referring to a trustee or third party, and also discussion of a debt and when it is to be repaid (Note: Church deeds were often sold by and to the trustees of the church, and they are usually named in the deed. This is a different use of the word. Thanks Renate!) For many of my Tennessee sharecropping ancestors, the debt was repaid in November, which was when the crop was harvested and sold:

“We, George Holt and wife Leonia…do hereby transfer to Douglas Shull, trustee, the following tracts of land…we are indebted to J.S. Dickey…for $275.40 due November 12, 1928…and this conveyance is made to secure the payment.”

These records will also name the property being used as security, and you’ll see descriptions of animals and crops, as here:

“ I am indebted to KW Welsh by note $106.10 made June 1, 1909 and J.W. Holt as security, also for merchandise and supplies furnished…I have sold unto trustee JH Joyce, 7 acres of cotton and 1 mare named Roxie.”

3. Deed of Gift: This deed conveys property often without a normal purchase price. You’ll often find fathers and sometimes mothers conveying land and/or slaves as gifts to their children using this instrument. You will often find the phrase “for love and affection I do hereby give…” or similar language.  These are very important for researching enslaved ancestors and finding this kind of deed (or a bill of sale) could be the key to breaking down a brick wall.

“Alex English Sr….for love and affection have this day given to my son John’s oldest son James, 1 negro man named Peter, to his second son, Alexander, I give 1 negro woman named Betsey….”

Look for some of the phrases I mentioned above when unsure about what type of deed you are viewing. Like anything else, the more deeds you examine, the easier it will become to recognize the language more quickly. Using a deed extract form when you’re just beginning will be of a great help.

In these posts, I’m only scratching at the surface on deeds. The premier book that every genealogist should have is “Locating Your Roots: Discover Your Ancestors Using Land Records” by Patricia Law Hatcher.

Take a look at any deeds you’ve collected on your family thus far, and see if you can determine their type. In Part 3, we’ll look at more deed types & examples, tips and some related concepts.

Preserving Local History: Caroline County, Virginia

My good friend Marion has completed her book about the segregated Union High School of Caroline County, VA. I was lucky enough to share in many of the ups and downs of her two-plus year research journey, and I know what a labor of love this book is. As soon as I got my copy, I read it from cover to cover. It is a wonderful, wonderful book. Marion’s enslaved ancestors were from Caroline County and it was during her genealogy research that she became enamored of the story of this high school and its central role in the lives of African-Americans.

This book captures the essence of genealogy: it is not about a single family or lineage, but rather about a community and a snapshot of a certain time and place. While we uncover dates and names to add to our family trees, it is this kind of work that puts substance and meaning into those names. Although my family is not from Caroline County, I can’t help but to know that many of their experiences were the experiences of most African-Americans in the early 20^th century. The memories she recorded: walking miles to get to schools that were sometimes dilapidated but filled with passionate instructors, working on the family farm every day, leaving school to continue work or get married, respecting teachers and administrators at school because they knew your parents—all of these recollections could be my ancestors in Tennessee, Maryland or Florida during that timeframe. I am awed by the sacrifices that were made in the name of education. I so wish the students of today could have a better understanding of these realities, and perhaps a better appreciation for it.

Marion interviewed dozens of former Union High students and visited numerous libraries & research facilities during her research. She collected pictures and digitized yearbooks, and found the original deeds for the land, and gathered pamphlets and albums of the school band and traced many students through their college years at Virginia State University.

I am envious of the work Marion has done with such passion, tenacity and resilience. Recording the history of the communities we research is such important work. If we don’t do it, who will? Please rush and pick up a copy of this book (and be sure to follow her blog on preserving local history as well!) I promise it is well worth the cost.

What You Didn’t Know About Slavery

OK, I confess that blog title is a little sensationalized. Truth be told, much of this information becomes well-known to researchers within a few years of their African-American genealogical journey. Family research turns many of us into walking, talking, beacons of black history. It certainly turned my life around; probably 90% of what I read now is non-fiction and slave/slavery/black history related. It is an endlessly fascinating subject, epic, tragic and but often inspiring.

Nevertheless, here are a few tidbits to keep in mind as you do your research.

1.       Slavery was vastly different at different times, in different places. A slave’s life in 1780 in Virginia would likely not look much like a Georgia slave’s life in 1850. A city slave’s experience was vastly different than a rural or country slave’s experience. Different crops had different labor demands (cotton, rice, tobacco, indigo, sugar). Learn what crop your ancestor worked.

2.       South America (mainly Brazil) and the West Indian Caribbean islands took in the lion’s share of slaves from Africa. Of those who came to the North American colonies, most were imported here by 1795. That means many of us have very long histories in this country.

3.       Most slaves had surnames that were known amongst themselves, even though the white planters did not record those surnames. Check out the WPA narratives, civil war pensions, and freedman’s bank as three types of records where you’ll find slaves mentioning their parent’s entire names.

4.       There will be many instances where the enslaved father is owned by someone other than the owner of his wife and child. Don’t expect to always find entire family units owned by one owner. Check those neighbors; many slaves found mates on neighboring farms. Young children (under 10), however, were often allowed to stay with their mothers.

5.     Slaves were employed in every conceivable occupation: they worked in shipyards and wharves, railroads and steamboats, coal mines, iron works, gristmills and sawmills; as maids, seamstresses, tailors, masons, butchers, barbers, and so on. Especially for urban slaves, think of all the ways other than farming they worked.

6.       Understand the dynamics of the interstate slave trade. The rise of cotton in the early 1800’s and waning need for year-round slaves in the North caused hundreds of thousands of slaves to be sold into the deep south and expanding southwest. This had a devastating impact on black families. Note the prevalence of the birthplace of “Virginia” or “Maryland” in the 1870 southern states. Consider that your southern slave ancestor may have been sold south at some point.

7.       Slaves were often sold or bought through slave traders or others who had businesses in slaves. Many of these auction –style purchases will not have any existing records or receipts, as these were private organizations. There are a few localities, however, which have records of former slave traders.

8.       Researching slavery will expand your vision of what it meant to be a slave. Many slaves in cities were allowed to live as virtual freedmen, work for pay and give their owners a monthly fee; others were allowed to earn wages to buy themselves or family members. Some planters worked their slaves on the “task” system, which meant they were responsible for a certain amount of work every day & when they finished they were free to do other things, like work their own garden plot or hunt for more food.

9. Looking at original sources will broaden your mind as to how the local whites interacted with their enslaved population. Criminal court records are replete with people being charged with playing cards with slaves and selling them things. This really surprised me. Slaves were plied with liquor by their masters and others. I have a court record detailing the local practice of allowing the slaves to work for pay on their holiday off-days. All these things expanded my view of slave life.

10. It took me awhile to agree with this idea, but slavery was still a negotiated relationship. Yes, the masters had the final and violent upper hand, but you’ll be amazed at how many times the master’s actions were altered by a slave’s threatening to run away, refusing to do work, refusing to be sold to someone, etc. These are shown in numerous entries in planter’s diaries and other documents:
“Salley won’t go without her husband so I’ll have to sell him too.”
“Joe if you come back home, you may have your choice of master.”
“I had to whip Bill today because he would not go with me.”

Our ancestors used every tool at their disposal and sometimes were able to influence the master’s decisions.

Tell me, what things have you learned during your research about slavery that surprised you?

Harris Family Breakthrough! Big City, Here I Come…

Sometimes I just don’t take my own advice. Or, rather it just takes me longer these days to actually do it.

My ggrandmother Georgia Harris’ line has always been problematic for me. Awhile ago, I made some headway in tracing her roots not in Jacksonville (Duval County) Florida, as oral history said, but in Madison County, over 100 miles west of Jacksonville. I was able to find her in a previous marriage and discover she had other children. I also found Georgia’s mother, Matilda, her stepfather, Perry Davis, and sister Ruth also in Madison. After that, the trail ran dry. I really wanted to find out whatever happened to Georgia’s mother, Matilda.

I decided one day last week to research Georgia’s only known sibling, Ruth Harris. Familysearch (don’t you just love them?) listed a marriage between Ruth Harris and a man named “Nish Torence” in 1910. Hmm. A search for his (thankfully) odd name in the 1920 census found the couple living in…drum roll…Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!

The names are mangled, but I’ve been around enough to know its them. And who is living with them? Drum roll #2…Ruth (and Georgia’s) mother Matilda!

1920 Philadelphia

In 1930, they had moved yet again and were living in Camden, New Jersey. By then, Nish was remarried to a woman named Mary (Baity), and had several more children.

1930 Camden

A couple of thoughts. I am still surprised that so many of my ancestors moved around as much as they did. They are all over the place. And that’s a major reason many of us lose the trail. I see Nish worked on the railroad, so perhaps that was the reason behind their move. I get extra happy when they move to a big city from a rural area, because that usually means more  and better records. I am now focusing in on Philadelphia, between 1920-1930, and *hoping* to be able to find death certificates for Ruth Harris and Matilda Davis.

From the SSDI, it appears that Nish lived in Camden until he died in 1970. Another online gift for me was his World War II Draft, which confirmed this is the right family:

World War II

Since I had the address, I went on Google Maps and found a picture of the home–it’s the one in the center:

826 S. 8th Street

I am *hoping” also to try to find some Torrence descendants that may still live in Camden. This would be phenomenal since I’ve never met anyone even remotely associated with this line. To have some new cousins would be very cool.

I’m still wondering why I didn’t find this sooner–as many times as I have told my students, “when you get stuck, search sideways, search the siblings!”. I am still thrilled. One of my favorite roommates in college was from Camden. Anybody out there in Philly or Camden want to do some research for me in those city directories, let me know.

Using Land Records Effectively: Part 1

I was at the Reginald Lewis Museum in Baltimore this past September, presenting my first lecture on using land records effectively. Because it’s  a museum dedicated to African-American history, I wanted to focus not just on genealogical use of the records, but also the unique history between land and African-Americans and its relevance to our family histories.

I started with the failure of Reconstruction to provide former enslaved laborers with  land ownership, dooming most to decades of sharecropping and tenant farming. In spite of that, by 1910, African-Americans had amassed 15 million acres of land, a figure that astonishes me even still today. The great migration north, along with continual discrimination in agricultural subsidies and loans have decimated those numbers today. Obama signed the law in December 2010 that fully funded the landmark Pigman vs. Glickman case, which we should all know about. The Department of Agriculture admitted to historical discrimination, and black farmers were awarded billions in the largest class action settlement ever.

The subject fascinated me more and more as I researched in preparation for this lecture. As an agricultural nation, land was central to our experience. Heck, it’s why we were brought here to begin with. In some of my slavery studies, I have found that some former slaves felt emotionally tied to the land they worked; some determined that it was as much theirs as their owners.

Think about how it wasn’t enough to just buy the land: who was going to provide seed & fertilizer? How were you going to get animals and tools? Like everywhere else, the South moved on credit.  These things lead you to see how hard a proposition it was  to even approach independence. Never mind the racism and violence and illiteracy on top of all that.

I think about my 3rd great grandfather, John W. Holt, who was the largest black landowner in Hardin County, TN in the early 20th century. His first land purchase (with his brothers) was only 6 years out of slavery. All of this and at his death, his son sold most of that land out of the family. Also, consider that many families who later migrated North were simply not as connected to the land as their parents, and many lost it to tax sales or simply sold it because of that.

One thing that particularly struck me was the use of partition sales by speculators and developers to wrest control of inherited land from heirs. The majority of black farmers who owned land did not leave wills, so their land was inherited by spouses and children. All someone had to do was buy one share from one of those parties, and they could now force a sale of all the land. Some of these sad stories will take your breath away.

I don’t think I’ll ever think about land the same way again. Take a look at some of the links below, but more importantly, think about the history of land as it relates to your family lines. In what ways did it make or break their fortunes? Did some choose to stay on land owned by previous owners? For how long? Which lines were able to eventually purchase land, and did they end up losing it? Do you have pictures of the old homeplaces that no longer stand? What crop did your ancestors grow?

Black Farmers Win Settlement; Congress passes legislation

Black Farmers Losing Land

Homecoming: Black Farming and Land loss

Timeline of Black Land Loss

A Vanishing Breed, Black Farm Owners in the South, 1651-1982

Tell me, what stories about your ancestors relationship to the land have you discovered in your research? If you haven’t searched the records fully yet, what has been your biggest obstacle?

In Part 2 of this blog post, I’ll provide some basic definitions and examples of deed types that we can build upon in future posts.

Kin Reclaimed! James Holt and Why I Love Genealogy

I recently had one of those amazing moments in genealogy that reaffirmed my belief that I was meant to this work, called to do this work, by forces beyond my comprehension.

I posted awhile ago about breaking through a brick wall using black newspapers. I had been stuck trying to trace my ancestor James Holt. I am really trying to find all the branches of the Holt family that left the area of Hardin County, Tennessee, and there lots that left at various times & planted roots elsewhere.

Recently I was contacted by the granddaughter of that man, James Holt. She had been searching for her roots online and found me. We had a tearful & joyous conversation, as we shared stories about our lives and our historical paths. I had reclaimed another family member.

It gets even better. She shared wonderful photos of James M. Holt & his family. My heart leapt as I gazed upon this ancestor of mine who had left Tennessee, the son of an enslaved woman, and blazed a trail across the states (and I mean literally, in each census he is living in a different place) as a successful Methodist minister. Then he attended law school in Mississippi and practiced as a very successful lawyer in Indianapolis. One of the photos below shows him, I assume, in his law office surrounded by legal books.

James Holt & Family

The story didn’t end there. After talking more, I realized that one of my unidentified photos may have been her father. This is mainly because of her description of him as a police officer. And of course, yes–it turned out to be him! She was thrilled to have a photograph she had not seen before, and I couldn’t believe this obscure photograph I hadn’t looked at in years turned out to be him. Another unidentified kin–reclaimed. This experience just warmed by heart, and affirmed for me why I love genealogy so much.

Ferdinand Holt