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African-American Genealogy Research Basics
Presented by Elaine Hayes
Laramie County Library System
June 2014
The challenge of African-American genealogy
“Genealogy can be difficult for African Americans to trace, especially before 1860, but the procedure for tracing genealogy is
the same for everyone,…regardless of race…” Alex Haley
Research Steps:An Overview
Begin with yourself and work backwards.
Gather oral history and family records.
Research your family back to 1870 via census records, vital records, etc.Identify the last slave owner.Research the slave owner and slavery.Trace your ancestors back to Africa.Research Canada and the Caribbean if necessary.
Above list from Black Roots by Burroughs
Read a Few Good Books:
The Genealogists guide to discovering your African-American ancestors by Franklin Carter Smith.
Black roots by Tony Burroughs.
Finding a place called home: a guide to African-American genealogy by Dee Woodtor.
See bibliography handout.
All are available at the LCLS library.
Begin Your Research at Home:Start with what you already know.
yourself, your parents, your grandparents
Look for family papers
photographs, scrapbooks
family Bibles, letters,diaries
birth, marriage and death certificates
wills, land deeds, military service records newspaper clippings, funeral cards etc.
Talk or Write to Older Relatives:
Parents, Grandparents
Aunts & Uncles
Cousins
Old family friendsAsk them to share information, documents, photos and family memorabilia. Let them know you’re interested.
Get the stories and get the facts. Find out about the religious, educational and political climate of their time. How have things changed? Use audio or video technology to record this information if possible.
Get Your Genealogy Project Organized.
Begin with yourself and work backwards.Figure out what you know and what you want to find out.Choose one line to research at a time. Don’t skip generations.Record what you know on genealogy forms such as Family Group Sheets and Pedigree (or Ancestry) Charts or on genealogy computer software programs.
Using Family Group Sheets
A family group includes parents, children, and the spouse of each of those children.
Prepare a family group sheet for each couple.
Include all children alive or deceased.
Include adopted children, but indicate adopted.
Show where you found the information.
Using Ancestry (Pedigree) Charts
Enter full names, including women’s maiden names, dates and places of births, marriages, and deaths.Dates written in military/European style, i.e. 10 Dec 1888 to avoid confusion.Surnames in capital letters.
Richard THOMAS
Counties are critical!
Numbering of Ancestry Charts
Males are even numbers.
Their spouses are odd numbers, one greater than the husband.
Father’s numbers are double their son or daughter’s number.
Keep a Research Log
Keep track of both positive and negative search results. Cite your source.Sources are any records, books or databases you are using to search for information about your family.Keeping a photocopy (or digital copy) of a record can save you valuable time if you need to go back to it.Keep track of the letters or emails you send and the responses you receive.
Organization: Part Two
Keep a notebook or file with page protectors for the documents you collect.
Use a computer program specifically designed to organize your family information. Advantages are:
Enter information easily, link individuals together, allow for lots of notes, add photos, etc.
Share information with others, add information from others. Produce forms and charts.
Software can be downloaded for free at www.legacyfamilytree.com, gramps-project.org, familytreelegends.com.
Search Genealogy Databases:Ancestry Library Edition: can only be used in the library.
Heritage Quest: Can Be Accessed at Home at laramiecountylibrary.org
First Steps: Search the Census
After you have gathered home information.
Search CENSUS information.Census has been done every ten years from 1790 to 2010.
1790 to 1940 censuses are available to genealogists via databases such as Ancestry Library Edition, FamilySearch.org and Heritage Quest.
More About the U.S. Census
Counts everyone every 10 years starting in 1790 Through the use of the censuses you can find the name of the county plus other information about the family.In 1866 the 14th Amendment was passed to make all American-born blacks U.S. Citizens.The 1870 census is the first listing made of all blacks by name in the federal census.Free black heads of households were always listed since 1790.
Free Blacks in the U.S. CensusFree black heads of households listed in the census since 1790. About 400,000 free blacks just prior to the civil war. Books available at LCLS:
“List of free black heads of families in the first census of the United States, 1790”
“Free negro heads of families in the U.S. in 1830” and “Free negro owners of slaves in the U.S. in 1830” by Carter G. Woodson.
Also look for State Census information.
U.S. Census Slave Schedules
From 1790-1840, only free heads of households (usually men) were listed by name, numbers of slaves were listed within each age and gender category. (~ 4 million slaves in the 1860 census)In the 1850-1860 census slave schedules: broken down by state with slaves listed under their owner’s names. Usually only gender and age are listed. Slave schedules can be searched on Ancestry Library Edition by slave owners name.
Write for Vital Records:
Check county and state vital record websites for availability, costs and request forms. Or check a book like The Genealogist’s Address Book.
Birth and death records.Marriage and divorce records.• Any of these can give you more clues to
continue your research.Some records are also available at state archives or county or state historical societies.
Vital Records-Segregation(1896-~1954)
Separate records kept for “colored”Most records kept just since the beginning of the 20th century.Work backwards with death certificates.County records usually cheaper and easier to get than state records.It may be worth a personal trip to the county to see the original records.
Church Records
Find out what church they attended and what records were kept for that church.Survey of American church records: for the period before the Civil War, east of the Mississippi by KirkhamMake a personal visit to search for tombstones in the church cemetery.Some church records have been compiled into book and/or computer databases.
Military Records
African Americans have served in all of America’s wars, military records should be available. Check the National Archives www.archives.gov
Service records available on microfilm at the NARA and regional branches – also at other genealogical libraries. For Revolutionary, Civil War and Indian wars. Order forms available on NARA website.WWII, Vietnam, etc. service records are available but are governed by privacy laws.
Black defenders of America, 1775-1973 by Robert Ewell Greene – good background reading.
Revolutionary War1775-1783
More than five thousand African Americans fought in the Continental Army. Another thousand fought for the British.
List of black servicemen compiled from the War Department collection of Revolutionary War recordsPayroll records of the Continental ArmyThe Book of Negroes available at the NARA includes the names of the British sympathizers.
The Civil War, 1861-1865
240,000 blacks fought in the Union Army or Navy, 40,000 diedThe Index to compiled service records of volunteer Union soldiers who served with the United States Colored TroopsThis index is on microfilm which can be ordered through the National Archives. Also check books, the Internet, databases, etc.
Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection
African Americans served in the Ninth and Tenth U.S. Cavalry in the Spanish American War of 1898.
Philippine Insurrection 1899-1902
World War I, II, Korea, Vietnam and recent conflicts.
350,000 blacks served in WWI.
1 million served in WWII.
600,000 served in Korea
1 million + served in Vietnam.
NPRC in St. Louis
Pension Bureau Washington DC
Military Pension Information:You’ll need to include the date of birth, marriage, death and residence at time of the military service.You may also need a service number.Be sure to note that you are asking for the records of a black serviceman.Forms and information available at www.archives.gov.
Voter Registration ListsAfrican American males began to be enumerated on county voter registration rolls between 1865-1870. Usually noted as “colored”.
Pre-1865: Problems Specific to African-American Genealogy
From Somerset Homecoming by Redford.“My mother had given me all she had to offer. So had the library. I was finished looking at censuses, and there were no more records for me there. Still, there were questions.
Where were the white families with my family’s surnames?Where did my great-great-grandfather Fred come from?Was he African?
Fred Littlejohn was property. To find him, I would have to go to the courthouses in Washington, Tyrrell and Chowan counties. That’s where they kept bills of sale.”
Slaves Were Considered Property.
Before 1865, slaves were considered property, they were bought, sold, rented out, and were passed on in wills. Therefore your research must include bills of sale, court records, deeds, wills, mortgages, personal papers of slave owners, government records, and newspapers.To find the last slave owner, check white families with the same surname, and any slave owner in the area with slaves listed in the 1860 slave schedules of the proper gender and age as your ancestors. Some records such as Freedman’s Bank records listed former slave owners names.
Marriage and Naming Conventions.
Most slave marriages weren’t considered legal. Some slave owners would allow their slaves to perform marriage ceremonies and form families. But those marriages were often not recorded.Most slaves only had first names. Records referred to them by first names only.After emancipation a former slave could choose a name to begin his new life. Sometimes they took the name of a current owner, a former owner, or sometimes an entirely different name, perhaps of geographical or historical significance.
More on Surnames:From Finding Oprah’s Roots by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
“the consensus among most scholars is that a majority of slaves took the names of their former masters upon gaining their freedom… Elizabeth Shown Mills, a genealogist,… had this to say “A sample study from 696 ex-slave testimonies, …taken between 1871-1884 indicate that in 71% of the cases, the ex-slave used the surname of the man whom he identified as his last master; and 2% reverted to using the name of an earlier master…””
But this percentage seems to vary by state and decrease as the length of time after emancipation increases. Information from the 1930s have found the number to be between 18.5% to 43.2% depending on the location.
The Problem of Illiteracy.
In many places in the South during the slavery period, slaves were forbidden by law to learn to read and write. So when former slaves where first counted in the 1870 Census, most could not spell their own names. The census takers were free to choose whatever spelling they wanted based on what they thought they heard. And they sometimes heard some pretty strange sounding names.Look for phonetic spellings and groups of names that you find appearing together throughout your research. Remember that all you want to do is identify people and to prove, as best you can, their relationships.
Geographic Relocation
After 1808 the domestic slave trade moved many from one location to another within the U.S. Typically from VA/MD to MS/AL. Often separating family members.Many slaves escaped with or without the help of the Underground Railroad. Escaped slaves traveled north and west. Many made it all the way to Canada.After the Civil War thousands of African Americans moved towards cities or the western frontier. This movement is known as “The Great Migration”.
Manumission and Emancipation Records
The documents that gave slaves their freedom prior to the Emancipation Proclamation.Could have been part of a will or a separate court document. Collections of these documents at the NARA, Library of Congress, several university libraries and historical societies. The PA Abolition Society has an excellent collection.The Genealogy Society of PA has 7,500 records on microfilm. You must know owner’s name and county of residence.
Plantation Records
Found in state libraries or archives, university libraries, state and local historical societies. Also some in the Library of Congress and LDS Family History Library. Records of Antebellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, by Kenneth M. Stampp.Must know name of slave owner and location of plantation.
Consists of wills, inventories, appraisements, diaries, advertisements, tax records, some owners named slaves and recorded ages and gender.
Reconstruction 1865-1877and The Freedman’s Bureau
In 1865 the Freedman’s Bureau was established. The Bureau:
recorded marriages that had taken place during slavery
assisted with labor contracts
issued rations and clothing
leased land and established hospitals
Established aid and refugee camps
Provided transportation and relocation assistance to another part of the country
Freedman’s Bureau Cont.(These Activities Created Records)
The Bureau also helped African American soldiers and sailors file claims for bounties (1868) and paid pensions. And opened schools financed by taxes on property owned by African Americans.
Unfortunately the Bureau was short lived – it ceased functioning by 1872.
These records are available at the LDS Family History Library (familysearch.org), the NARA branches, at other genealogy libraries and (in part) on the Internet or in genealogy computer databases such as Ancestry and Heritage Quest.
Freedman’s Savings & Trust
Chartered by Congress in early 1865“A simple savings institution created primarily for former slaves and their descendents”.Information in registers include, depositors name, signature, date, place of birth, place raised, residence, age, complexion, employer or occupation, spouse, father, mother, brothers, sisters, former owner and plantation.Microfilms available at the National Archives.Can be searched on the Heritage Quest and Ancestry Library Edition database.
Searching Freedman’s Records at Heritage Quest. www.heritagequestonline.com
Sharecropping Records
Many former slaves became sharecroppers or tenant farmers. Some on the same land where they worked as slaves.These records (usually held at the county level) can provide verification of addresses.Colored National Labor Union
Preserved records for 1869-1874Found at National Archives and Library of Congress.
Other Records That May Exist:
Runaway slave ads – broadsides and posters in taverns. Include description, name of slave, name of owner, amount of reward, etc.
Browse through newspapers in state where they lived. “Pennsylvania Gazette” is also a good source.
Underground Railroad
Siebert’s From Slavery to Freedom includes thousands of names of station keepers and some passengers.William Still’s The Underground Railroad kept records and published them.Abolitionist newspapers in Canada such as The Liberator, The North Star and The Voice of the Fugitive published articles by and about escaped slaves. Migration to Canada peeked in the 1840’s and 1850’s.
AME Church Records
Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia
Oldest organized black church in America, founded 1787.Kept excellent, detailed recordsPublished the Christian Recorder which gave information about blacks all over the country from 1856.Microfilm available at the Historical Society of Philadelphia.
Family Histories, Biographies, Autobiographies and General Local Histories.
A published Genealogy or Family History of a slave owner may give you important clues.
While they may not be specifically about an ancestor, biographies or local histories will help put your ancestors in context and may give you names, locations and other avenues to try.
American SlaveNarratives:
Oral histories collected from 2,300 former slaves during the 1930’s by WPA (Works Progress Administration) interviewers.Most of those interviewed were in their 80’s and 90’s and they answered questions about labor, diet, marriage, punishment and relations with masters. Many were still hesitant to tell the full story of the harsh realities of slavery.Available on various websites and databases such as Ancestry Library Edition.
The Genealogical Journey Back to Africa
Few will be able to make the crossing.3 step process1. Must know point of entry
• Check the port nearest where they lived as slaves.• Try to determine the year of entry (at least an estimate).• Find slave sales records and sale advertisements.• The New York Historical Society has Bolton and Dickens list of
over 1,500 slaves and their purchasers.• Chicago Historical Society has records of the Hector Davis Co.• Visit local historical societies and the state archives.• NARA, Library of Congress or any good maritime museum.
• Take down any familiar names you find.
Back to Africa Cont.
2. Find the slave ship and what other stops it made.
Ship captains recorded the number and descriptions of slaves being brought to America on the ship’s manifest.
Lloyd’s of London insured many slave ships.• Published a newspaper Lloyd’s Lists 1740-1826
Also try the Insurance Company of America
3. Find specific area ship sailed from and/or tribe, from the records above.
However it is very unlikely you will be able to find out the names of individuals and their tribal origins.
DNA Assisted Journey Back to Africa.More than 100,000 Americans have traced their ancestry back to a certain area of Africa through DNA testing according to the ABC Television News program Good Morning America. The company that was featured in this program is African Ancestry. Their African Lineage Database contains 11,747 paternal lineages and 13,690 maternal lineages from over 160 ethnic groups (as of February 2009).Their web site is www.africanancestry.com. ORwww.africandna.com or many other companies.
Some Good Websites to Get You Started:
Afrigeneas www.afrigeneas.comCyndi’s List www.cyndislist.com/african.htmCivil War Soldiers and Sailors system www.itd.nps.gov/cwssAmerican Slave Narratives memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.htmlThe African American Mosaic www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.htmlSchomburg Center for Research in Black Culture www.nypl.org/locations/schomburgAfrican American Cemeteries Online africanamericancemeteries.com www.findagrave.com
A Few More Websites:• USF Africana Heritage Project
www.africanaheritage.com• African-American Research at the NARA
www.archives.gov/research/african-americans• Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy
www.ibiblio.org/laslave• Freedmen’s Bureau Online freedmensbureau.com• Homecoming (black farming history)
www.pbs.org/itvs/homecoming• African-American Lives www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives• In Motion: The African-American Migration
Experience www.inmotionaame.org
Genealogy SocietiesAfrican American Genealogy Group
PO Box 1798Philadelphia, PA 19105-1798
(215) 572-6063(search for local branches)
Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc.
PO Box 73067Washington, DC 20056-3067
(202) 234-5330www.aahgs.org
More Genealogy Societies
International Society of Sons and Daughters of Slave Ancestry PO Box 436937Chicago, IL 60643-6937 www.rootsweb.com/~ilissdsa/
Thank You for Attending.
Please consider:checking out a genealogy how-to book (929)
researching in our genealogy room
accessing Heritage Quest from our website• www.laramiecountylibrary.org you’ll need a LCLS
library card number and a PIN (default PIN is wyld).
attending Genealogy Basics and/or Beyond the Basics class (taught in Feb, June, Oct).
