TraceTrace Your Your African- African-American AmericanAncestry Ancestry
25 Research25 Research Strategies Strategies for Findingfor Finding Your Family History Your Family History t r a c e y o u r African- American Roots Don’t be intimidated by the challenges of slave research. Follow the experts’ advice to begin discovering and documenting your ancestors’ African-American lives. Z62-69913 S C-U
L by bijan c. bayne ivision, d phs a n 2006, the PBS series “African-American Lives” < pbs.org / aalives > helped replicate what the landmark miniseries “Roots” did 30 years ago: stimulate African-Americans’ photogr d interest in researching their ancestry. The show explored the family histories of n a notable African-Americans, including talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, composer Quincy Jones and the Rev. T.D. Jakes. Revelations of their forefathers’ struggles and accomplishments moved more than one celebrity to tears. Many African-Americans share the dream of learning their progenitors were more than ongress, prints c f names on censuses or deeds—and before that, first names or numbers on slaveholders’ ry o
a property lists. It’s a dream we’ll help you realize with this guide to researching the African- r b li American lives of your own ancestors.
www.familytreemagazine.com 47 Forming communities American Lives” guest expert. “People family interviews to create a documentary There’s no reason to conduct your ances- need to learn how to read history, and for the Ellis Island immigration museum tor search alone, what with the array of from there how to do genealogy.” You’ll < ellisisland.org >. “Ask cousins—their genealogical societies, conferences, Web get research leads on where blacks worked mothers may have talked more than your sites, online message boards and e-mail and worshiped, and why they moved into mother,” suggests Bah. “Ask older neigh- lists. “Join an African-American histori- and out of an area. Browse your library, bors of your family.” Those who are 88 to cal society,” suggests Bruce Jackson, PhD, ask fellow researchers for book recommen- 90 now would’ve been 11 to 13 in 1930— head of the Lowell, Mass.-based Roots dations and search Amazon.com < amazon. probably old enough to remember your Project < www.uml.edu / roots >. You’ll com >. In preparation for my family relatives. Once you’ve determined from find contact information for several larger reunion, I found a town history of tiny census records (see below) where relatives groups in the online resource toolkit at Littleton, NC, that mentioned my great- lived in 1930, see if someone familiar with < www.familytreemagazine.com / af-am >. great-uncle. I looked up the author online the area (perhaps a librarian or minister) Your library’s history desk can recommend and it turned out when she was a little girl, will recommend people you can talk to a group near you. my great-great-aunt took care of her. or provide introductions. If not, use the Many general and African-American phone book to look up surnames of local genealogy Web sites, such as Afrigeneas Starting with sources residents listed in the 1930 census, and call < www.afrigeneas.com >, have surname For relatives from about 1870 to the pres- to see if the current residents are related. boards where you can post about your ent, African-Americans generally can find Explain your relatives once lived nearby family in hopes another surfer is research- information using the same research steps and you’d like to ask about them for gene- ing the same line. Be sure to provide as as anyone else. Consult Unpuzzling Your alogy research. much information as possible, such as Past, 2nd edition, by Emily Anne Croom n Federal censuses: Taken every 10 where your ancestors lived, surnames they (Betterway Books, $18.99), and begin with years since 1790, the nationwide census used, their life dates and family members’ these sources: is a relatively simple way to trace Ameri- names. Browse data already posted, too. n Interviews: Talking to relatives is cans. You’ll find census records on micro- Such online support is key, says Timothy especially important, says Virginia-based film at the National Archives and Records Pinnick, author of Conducting Coal Miner researcher Char McCargo Bah, who used Administration (NARA) < archives.gov > Research (Gregath Publishing Co., $20). He also recommends following the steps in Tony Burroughs’ Black Roots: A Begin- ner’s Guide to Tracing the African Ameri- can Family Tree (Fireside, $20.95). “My third suggestion,” he says, “is that people subscribe to Ancestry.com < ancestry. com >, because it’s worth their while—at what I feel is a nominal cost, considering what they get.” That includes census, vital, military and immigration records, as well as Freedman’s Bank registers, digitized African-American histories, US Colored
Troops files and Illinois slave emanci- Z62-114266 S C-U
pations. Access these databases with a L $155.40 annual membership; many of
them are free at public libraries offering ivision, d Ancestry Library Edition. phs Enhance what you learn by studying a African-American history, adds Burroughs, photogr a professional genealogist and “African- d n a
You’ll find more
African-American ongress, prints c
genealogy Web f ry o a
sites, books and organizations r b in our online toolkit at < www. li familytreemagazine.com / af-am >. Try to track down older people from your relatives’ social circles—neighbors, church members, teammates. They (or their descendants) may have information about your own family.
48 Family Tree Magazine November 2007 The Name Game Most slaves were identified publicly by only a given name.O n a plantation, slaves with the same names were distinguished by age, size or color (“old Jim” or “young Jim”). The restrictions of slavery and a lack of documentation on slave culture mean slaves’ own naming practices are difficult to verify.S cholars have speculated that naming patterns existed to the extent possible to maintain family ties. As you research, watch for the repeated use of given names and compare them with post-Civil War relatives’ names. Family historians often assume freed slaves took the surname of the most recent slaveholder. In reality, the surname might have belonged to a prior slaveholder—the first or favorite, perhaps—or the slaveholder of a parent or grandparent. Other families chose surnames related to: n a famous American or prominent local family ntoine a n n an occupation, such as Mason or Carpenter a li n ju a characteristic: Strong, Brown, Freeman or African f n a parent’s first name or the person’s own nickname n
rtesy o a geographic connection to the family u o n c a religious or symbolic meaning Records of African-Americans aren’t always As author Joel Williamson put it, some freed slaves chose names “for no apparent separate from those of whites. If you’re reason other than the pleasure of the author,” including such names as Prince, searching “nonsegregated” records for your Captain or Governor. Family members didn’t always pick the same name. Will Oats of relatives’ marriage, researcher Timothy Pinnick Mercer County, Ky., told an interviewer his brothers were Jim and Lige (Elijah) Coffey. suggests learning who the local ministers were and looking for the ceremonies they officiated. Their masters had been Lewis Oats and his sister. Some families may never know the history of a surname choice; others may be and its regional facilities, the Family His- able to discover it. Either way, the name might be the clue that opens the door to your tory Library (FHL) < www.familysearch. family’s pre-Civil War history. org > in Salt Lake City and its branch —Franklin Carter Smith and Emily Anne Croom Family History Centers, and in large public libraries. Censuses are searchable online through Ancestry.com, Ancestry ancestor’s vital certificates from his county don’t know your relative’s church, check Library Edition and HeritageQuest Online or state health department or state archive; marriage certificates, wedding announce- < heritagequestonline.com > (free through get contact information from < www.cdc. ments, obituaries and funeral cards. many libraries). gov / nchs / howto / w2w / w2welcom.htm >. Starting with the 1930 census (the most Note witnesses’ names in these records— Encountering slavery recent one open to researchers), search for they may be relatives, too. The Emancipation Proclamation, which your family in every census working back n City directories: In many cities, these Abraham Lincoln signed Jan. 1, 1863, to 1870 (the first census to record former annual listings—which often predate the freed slaves in the Confederate States, slaves). Be sure to look for alternate spell- 20th century and are similar to telephone except areas occupied by federal troops. ings of the names. These censuses provide books—noted names, addresses and pro- But the Union couldn’t enforce the proc- a person’s name, relationship to the head fessions. Your city’s main library probably lamation in the areas it had no control of household, age, birthplace, parents’ has city directories; if not, you may be able over, so in effect, slaves weren’t freed birthplaces, profession and ability to read. to borrow them through interlibrary loan. until the ratification of the 13th Amend- Enumerators also filled in a Color or Race n Church records: Churches played cen- ment in December 1865. There’s no doubt column for each family according to the tral cultural, educational, social and politi- researching enslaved ancestors is chal- Census Bureau’s definitions: African- cal roles in the lives of newly freed slaves. lenging: Slaves’ given names often were Americans might be recorded as black, Many kept track of membership and events nicknames; most didn’t use surnames until mulatto (any trace of African blood), qua- such as baptisms and funerals (cluing you after they were freed (see the box above for droon (1⁄4 black), octoroon (1 ⁄ 8 black) and in to vital events). Usually, you’ll request more on names). But these record groups later, Negro. records from the church or a denomina- can help you trace former slaves: n Vital records: States began issuing tional archive—see the February 2004 n Freedmen’s Bureau: From March 1865 birth, marriage and death records at differ- Family Tree Magazine for help. A stroll until 1872, the War Department oversaw ent times (see < www.familytreemagazine. through a church cemetery may prove the Bureau of Freedmen and Abandoned com / vitals > to download a full list). Some fruitful, too: “A lot of blacks were bur- Lands to provide relief, educational and counties kept records before the state ied near the church, and your family may medical assistance to former slaves. It also mandated it. You usually can request your have headstones there,” says Bah. If you assumed custody of confiscated lands in
www.familytreemagazine.com 49 offices survived; they include depositors’ Scheduling Time names and ages, residences, birthplaces, occupations and relatives’ names. They’re Even though slave schedules don’t list slaves by name, you still can use them to on microfilm at NARA and on CD at the research your ancestors. How? By following these steps: FHL and FHCs; HeritageQuest Online and Ancestry.com have searchable, digi- 1. Note where your family lived in the 1870 census. Subtract 10 years from each tized versions. person’s age to estimate an age in 1860. n US Colored Troops: African-American 2. Look at the 1860 census for white families in the neighborhood with the same soldiers had been fighting in the Civil War surname as your family, or a similar one (Harget, Hagatt and Haggart, for example). even before the US Bureau of Colored Expand your search to the entire county or state if it’s an unusual name. Put the Troops came into being in 1863. In all, similar-named white families on a list of potential slave owners for your relatives. 179,000 blacks served in the Union Army; 19,000 were in the Navy. 3. In the 1860 slave schedule, study each potential owner’s family. Compare the First, search for their names in the Civil slaves’ ages and sexes with your ancestors’ information from step 1. Note those that War Soldiers and Sailors System < www. match. Remember, parents may have lived on separate plantations before 1870, so itd.nps.gov / cwss >. Then use your results search for mothers and children together. to seek their Compiled Military Service 4. Prioritize your list of potential slave owners into likely candidates (the slaves’ sexes Records on microfilm at NARA or the and ages match your family) and possible candidates (the data is close, but not FHL. You can order copies from NARA exact). Repeat these steps for the 1850 slave schedule. for a fee: Go to < eservices.archives.gov / orderonline > and click Made-to-Order For more help using slave schedules, see A Genealogists’s Guide to Discovering your Reproductions, or complete NATF Form African-American Ancestors (Betterway Books, $21.99) by Emily Anne Croom and 86, which you can request at < archives. Franklin Carter Smith, from which this advice was adapted. gov / contact / inquire-form.html >. n Slave schedules: The 1850 and 1860 censuses included schedules naming slave- holders and listing slaves by age, sex and color—rarely by first name. But they still can help you; see the box at left for tips to use them. You’ll find the schedules with other census records on Ancestry.com. Eventually, you’ll probably find your- self tracing slaveholding families for deeds, court records, personal papers and other documents that mention your relatives. Some slave owners, more often on smaller estates, recorded slaves’ births and deaths in the family Bible. Newspapers carried ads seeking escaped slaves. See A Genealo- gist’s Guide to Discovering Your African- American Ancestors by Franklin Carter Smith and Emily Anne Croom (Betterway Slave schedules, such as this 1860 enumeration from Franklin, La., list slaves by owner, age, Books, $21.99) for details on researching sex and skin color. these records. Bear in mind a quarter million African- Americans in the antebellum South were the former Confederacy. Its records include some bureau field offices, though they’re “free people of color.” They’re probably ration applications, program reports, cor- not indexed by name—you’ll need to listed in censuses, and may have owned respondence and testimonies from freed search on the state and year range, then property. Look for deeds in the county slaves, and Civil War-era marriage certifi- browse the records. clerk’s office where your ancestor lived cates. In 2005, NARA completed a project n Freedman’s Bank: In 1865, Congress (for contact information, run a Google to microfilm them; you’ll find the film at incorporated the Freedman’s Savings < google.com > search on the county name NARA facilities and in some cases, at the and Trust Co. for former slaves and their and court), and on FHL microfilm. Visit Family History Library. Some transcrip- descendants. It grew to 37 branches in 17 < www.freeafricanamericans.com > for lists tions are online at < freedmensbureau. states plus Washington, DC, before failing of free blacks from Virginia, the Carolinas, com >. Ancestry.com has documents from in 1874. Records of 29 Freedman’s Bank Maryland and Delaware.
50 Family Tree Magazine November 2007 Using DNA DNA analysis, one of the newest research tools, is how Harvard historian and “Afri- can-American Lives” host Henry Louis Gates Jr. learned he’s half-Irish, and former astronaut Mae Jemison found out she has Z62-114267 Asian ancestry. Such genetic mixing is more S C-U common than you might realize. Jackson, L whose Roots Project traces the origins of ivision, American and Caribbean blacks, says 30 d phs percent of African-American males he’s a sampled have European Y chromosomes.
Ethnobiogeographic tests estimate per- photogr d n centages of ethnic ancestry groups by com- a paring your Y (male line) or mitochondrial (maternal) DNA to samples from African populations. Test results give you percent- ongress, prints c
ages of ancestry from different groups, f
along with a margin of error, or likelihood ry o a r the DNA match is coincidental. b li Although genetic data provides clues to Because of the important role churches played in African-Americans’ lives, their records are a key your origins, view it as another research source for your genealogical research. tactic rather than a stand-alone identifica- tion. Jackson advises first seeking historical markers or signatures (called haplotypes) A DNA study published in the Novem- documents from places where your for- are found among different African eth- ber 1998 journal Nature convinced many bears lived and interviewing family mem- nic groups for reasons that are not clear.” that Thomas Jefferson fathered at least one bers. “[DNA] must be used in conjunction Jackson notes scientists have studied only child with his slave Sally Hemings. That with other tools and information,” he 1 percent of African ethnic groups, which debate continues, but there’s no question says. “We have a poor understanding of doesn’t even include all those who were female slaves across the South bore slave- the genetics of African groups. Many mod- sources of the slave trade. All this means holders’ children. This often led to special ern African ethnic groups did not exist at it’s difficult to prove origins beyond a rea- treatment of the child, or his “passing” the time of the slave trade. Identical genetic sonable doubt using genetic testing. unnoticed into white society, which can account for disappearances from censuses. If you suspect a slaveholder in your ances- try, Y-DNA might hold the answer. You’d need to identify a likely slaveholder and test male-line relatives of both individuals. DNA tests cost $100 and up, depending on the number of genetic markers tested and Z62-114271 S the lab you choose. See the October 2006 C-U L Family Tree Magazine for more on using genetic genealogy. Wherever your research ivision, d leads you, share your legacies, hometown phs a stories and research notes with those who’ll follow in your footsteps. Make your dis-
photogr coveries available, perhaps through a fam- d n a ily tree chart at a reunion, Web site, photo album or written family history. Once you find out what’s behind your ancestor’s name on a record, you’ll get a deeper look into ongress, prints c
f yourself and your family, too. 3 ry o a r b li Bijan C. Bayne is a Washington, DC, writer and You can use DNA testing to find clues to the geographic origins of your male line or female line. But author of Sky Kings: Black Pioneers of Professional Bas- experts caution that African groups’ genetics aren’t yet fully understood or studied—so testing can’t ketball (Franklin Watts, out of print). He moderates conclusively prove where your family came from. Afrigeneas’ Organizations and Institutions forum.
www.familytreemagazine.com 51 ST CE OR N S A
Slavery has obscured the names of your African-American ancestors and cast their lives into darkness. But with our guide, you can begin to rediscover them. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-11244 and Photographs Prints of Congress Library BY DEBORAH A. ABBOTT AND SUNNY JANE MORTON
0215FT INVISIBLE ANCESTORS.indd 44 12/1/14 2:28 PM 3 HAVE YOU EVER searched for ancestors who seemed to leave no paper trail? You know the ones: The nomads who The most recent available elude the census. The relatives who didn’t own property. The women (darn those surname changes!). The quiet folks who census—1940—was only 75 years never made a ripple—let alone a splash—across the page of a newspaper. removed from slavery. Now imagine searching for ancestors who were not only poor and landless, but weren’t even considered people by their government. They came in ships without passenger lists. They would never become naturalized or vote. They weren’t named in censuses. They appear in tax records, but questions that will guide your research in the right direction only as objects being taxed. (see the box on page 48). This is the documentary darkness of American slavery. To BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS. Gather vital records for fi nd an ancestor’s name in that darkness can be a long and all family members (not just direct ancestors) as you work diffi cult task. You start by researching more recent kin, but your way back in time. These will help you reconstruct the all the while you’re looking over their shoulders for evidence timelines of relatives’ lives and their family relationships. of slaveowners who held past generations in bondage. Once They also may contain clues to the more distant past. Don’t you’ve crossed over into the slave era, you reverse your focus. settle for indexed versions of a record unless you can’t legally Now you search for the slaveholders—and look over their access the original. Indexes often contain mistakes and may shoulders for glimpses of your ancestors. not include everything in the actual record. Of course, not every ancestor of African origin was Search fi rst for government vital records kept at the city, enslaved. But about 90 percent were. If you have at least one county and state levels. Note that recent records might be African-American branch on your family tree, chances are subject to privacy restrictions. Old marriage records, unless you’ll eventually be doing slave research. Let’s get started. they were lost, are generally available back to the date a county was formed. Many counties and cities began record- Follow the trail to emancipation ing deaths and later, births in the decades following the The trail to your enslaved ancestors begins with present and Civil War. State governments eventually took over birth and recent generations. Don’t skip them. Details about their lives death registration, generally by the early 20th century. Our lead you to the generations that preceded them. Especially Vital Records chart
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0215FT INVISIBLE ANCESTORS.indd 45 12/1/14 2:28 PM Agents of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Aban- former slaves by name. Every household member is named,ameded, doned Lands (Freedmen’s Bureau), created to serve black but relationships aren’t specified. You may be looking at and white indigent families after the Civil War, recorded “families” who banded together after emancipation left tthemhem marriages for couples emerging from slavery. Some states did stranded in hostile environments far from blood relatives. A as well; recognition of “slave marriages” in practice, if not by couple or single parent may have taken in—not necessarilyy law, varied from state to state. You can search US Freedmen’s given birth to—the children listed in the household. Bureau Marriage Records free on FamilySearch.org; the Finally, look for your relatives in the 1860 and 1850 cen-en- collection contains marriage legalizations for 11 states plus suses. If you fi nd them named, it means they were free at thehe Washington, DC. Field offi ce records (see the next page) also time. If they’re absent, they were likely enslaved. contain marriage legalizations. SEARCH THE CENSUS. Federal censuses can take you back Straddle the Civil War gap in 10-year intervals to the Civil War era. The most recent When you reach the Civil War era, where you look for records available census, 1940, is only 75 years removed from slavery. depends on whether an ancestor was free. If it appears he or So with each census moving backward from there, you’ll fi nd she was, check the usual sources for free people, including increasing numbers of former slaves and their families. The censuses, tax records and the like. Then try to fi nd manumis- clues will help you reconstruct families: relationships (1880 sion papers (see page 49) freeing the slave. Check a resource on); birthplaces (1860 on) and age (1850 on); the number such as State Slavery Statutes by Paul Finkelman to learn of children a woman had borne (1900 and 1910); how many whether the state required free blacks to register and look for years a couple was married (1900 and 1910) and more. them in those documents. Race identifi ers in the census can be helpful if, for example, If, like most African-Americans at the time, your ancestor a relative is consistently identifi ed as “mulatto” (of mixed was enslaved, it’s time to start looking for a slaveholder. Go black and white ancestry) versus “colored.” But remember fi rst to censuses. Many former slaves, lacking the resources that it’s quite common to see a person’s race appear diff erent to start free life in a new place, stayed close to their previous ways over time. Census-takers often guessed based on skin homes. In 1870, did your relatives live next to a white fam- tone, and people may have self-identifi ed their race diff er- ily of means—especially (but not always) one with the same ently, especially after moving to a new place. surname? Look at that family’s columns for real estate and Be especially alert when you reach the 1870 census, the personal property. Now fi nd the same family in the 1860 cen- first taken after slavery ended and the first to enumerate sus. Was their personal property signifi cantly higher in 1860
The 1870 census for Hart County, Ga., shows a cluster of African-American Johnson families living near the white couple Michael and Malinda Johnson (rows 36 and 37). The African-Americans are absent in the 1860 census, in which Michael and Malinda have signifi cant personal property. As an exercise, fi nd Michael’s entry in the 1860 slave schedule. How well do his 1860 slaveholdings match up with the ages and genders of the African-American Johnsons in this 1870 census listing?
TIP: County court records may be available on FamilySearch microfilm. Run a place search for the county in the online catalog at
46 Family Tree Magazine 3 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
0215FT INVISIBLE ANCESTORS.indd 46 12/1/14 2:28 PM Many former slaves, lacking the resources to start free life in a new place, stayed close to their previous homes.
than in 1870? That often refl ects the loss of human property. Another clue in the 1870 census, at least in areas where slave labor was used for farming, is whether that family had a lot of real estate and the head of household was a farmer. If the clues fit, this family may be a good candidate to be your ancestors’ slaveowners. Next, look up the head of household in the 1860 census Slave Schedule, searchable at subscription website Ancestry.com
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0215FT INVISIBLE ANCESTORS.indd 47 12/1/14 2:29 PM end of slavery may have gotten it from a slaveholder or PROBATE RECORDS: When a slaveholder died, his or her someone connected with the slaveholder’s family. Deeds slaves were inventoried and disposed of along with the rest of are usually among county court records; fi nd a guide in the the estate through the probate process. Owners often willed September 2012 Family Tree Magazine
Free Web Content For Plus Members ShopFamilyTree.com Finding free African-Americans Researching in African-American Jump-Start Your African-American
48 Family Tree Magazine 3 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
0215FT INVISIBLE ANCESTORS.indd 48 12/1/14 2:29 PM manyma places, that would appear in deed books and whatever court handled foreclosures. Websites Afrigeneas
for them in deed books. Oct. 4, 1841, Benjamin Prall filed TOOLKIT mmanumission papers in Mercer County, Ky., “in consider- Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy 1719-1820 aation of the faithful service of my yellow woman Gabriella
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0215FT INVISIBLE ANCESTORS.indd 49 12/1/14 2:29 PM JUL09FT AF-AM_02.indd Sec1:1 3/25/09 10:29:55 AM Tracing Slave Ancestors Don’t stop your family history search at the Emancipation Proclamation. Use these techniques to discover African-American roots obscured by slavery.
BY KENYATTA D. BERRY
third-great-grandfather Lewis Studying slave communities MY Carter was born about 1817 in The enslavement of Africans in the United Virginia and spent most of his life there. States began in 1619, when a Dutch trader The 1870 census shows him living in that sold slaves to settlers at Jamestown, Va. state’s Madison County with his wife and Millions of Africans were forced to cross six children. He was a farmhand with the Atlantic over the next 200 years—a real estate valued at $4,700 and personal branch of the slave trade known as the property worth $1,150. Middle Passage. The Web site Voyages Such substantial holdings aren’t bad
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JUL09FT AF-AM_02.indd Sec1:2 3/25/09 10:30:19 AM by Larry Koger (University of South Car- olina Press, $18.95). Whether someone was a slave depended on his or her mother’s status: If the mother was a slave, her children were slaves; if the mother was free, so were her children. A slave community could con- sist of a large plantation with 100-plus slaves, or it could be a small farm with just a few slaves. To research your slave ancestors, you’ll fi rst need to trace your family tree back from yourself to the time slavery ended in 1865, documenting your ancestors in as many historical records as possible. For help with this, see the November 2007 Family Tree Magazine, as well as A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your African-American Ancestors by Franklin Carter Smith and Emily Anne Croom (Genealogical Publishing Co., $34.95) and the resources on page 54. Try to learn your ancestors’ names and where they settled after slavery ended. Researching enslaved ancestors involves the same basic genealogical principles as any other family history quest, with this difference: You’ll need to study both the slave family and the own- er’s family. Your goal is to reconstruct relationships in the slaveholding family and their process of acquiring slaves. The slave and white families were bound together not just as property and owner, but also as a community and a fam- ily unit. Their children played together, black women cared for white children, and the owners and slaves sometimes worked side by side. But more important, slaves were often “kept in the family.” As legal property, they could be passed down through inheritance, loaned out and given away as gifts to children. All of these actions could generate records under the slave family’s name. Identifying your slave ancestor’s owner is a process. You might take an educated
After slavery was abolished in Washington, DC, in 1862, slave owners had to fi le in court for compensation. The resulting records (top), on National Archives and Records Administration microfi lm and at Footnote
JOHN W. HARTMAN CENTER FOR SALES, ADVERTISING AND MARKETING HISTORY, DUKE UNIVERSITY RARE BOOK, MANUSCRIPT AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARY, ITEM B0317 DUKE UNIVERSITY RARE BOOK, MANUSCRIPT AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARY, HARTMAN CENTER FOR SALES, ADVERTISING AND MARKETING HISTORY, JOHN W. societies, may help you trace a slave’s sale.
50 Family Tree Magazine July 2009
JUL09FT AF-AM_02.indd Sec1:3 3/25/09 10:30:36 AM guess that proves untrue as you research living with her parents Walker and Mar- 1619 First African slaves that family. Don’t be discouraged from tha Aills in Union County. Walker owned arrive in Jamestown rechecking your research, forming another six slaves in 1860; two were within the on the White Lion theory and trying again. right age range for Prince and Frank. I 1654 John Casor becomes the also noticed Auckley was born in Missis- fi rst legally recognized Discovering the sippi—as was Prince’s mother, Charlotte. slave in the United States slaveowner family In 1850, Walker and Martha lived with You probably already know slaves didn’t their five children and seven slaves in 1705 Virginia declares all use last names. Your newly freed ances- Union County. The 1850 Union County negro, mulatto and tor could’ve chosen a particular surname slave schedule lists two slaves about the Indian slaves should be for a variety of reasons, so don’t assume ages Prince and Frank would’ve been. held as real estate your ancestor took his most recent mas- Freedmen’s Bureau records may not 1774 Rhode Island bans the ter’s name. But because many freedmen only contain valuable information for importation of slaves did, start by researching white families fi nding ancestors post-slavery, but they 1775 with the same surname in your ances- also might hold clues to former own- The Society for the tors’ community, especially if it was an ers’ names. The bureau, created after the Relief of Free Negroes uncommon surname. Civil War under the purview of the War Unlawfully Held in First, focus on the county where your Department, became the primary struc- Bondage (aka the ancestors lived in 1870. Look at county ture through which freed slaves sought Pennsylvania histories and fi nd your family in the 1870 aid, protection and assistance. These Society) forms census (the fi rst census to include former records, generated between 1865 and 1783 Slavery ends in slaves’ last names). Next, examine the 1872, include: Massachusetts white families living in the same enumer- ■ labor contracts between planters 1800 A slave named Gabriel ation district as your ancestors. A few and freedmen leads a rebellion in things to ask yourself: How many whites ■ registers of transportation Virginia with the same surname lived in the dis- ■ school records trict? Did they live near my ancestors? ■ correspondence and registers of out- 1807 British Parliament makes Can I fi nd them in the 1860 US census? In rages and violence against freedmen the slave trade illegal the 1850 census? Are they listed as slave ■ marriage registers 1822 Denmark Vesey is owners on 1850 or 1860 slave schedules? ■ bounty applications for soldiers dis- hanged for planning In 1850 and 1860, African-Americans charged for the US Colored Troops a slave rebellion in were included on a supplemental slave ■ registers of payment claims (related Charleston, SC schedule. Schedules are organized by the to Civil War service) of Colored Troops slave master’s name and list the slaves’ veterans, their families and others 1831 Nat Turner leads a slave color, sex and age—not their names, but ■ correspondence from bureau field rebellion in Virginia you still can use the ages to hypothesize agents and local residents 1831 William Lloyd Garrison about your ancestral family. Informa- Records from Freedmen’s Bureau fi eld founds the abolitionist tion also includes whether the slave was offi ces are available on microfi lm at the newspaper The Liberator a fugitive or deaf, dumb, insane or idi- National Archives and Records Admin- 1848 otic; the total number of slaves the owner istration (NARA)
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JUL09FT AF-AM_02.indd Sec1:4 3/25/09 10:30:43 AM By George
George Dwelle, the third-great- 1 grandfather of my law school friend, sparked my interest in genealogy. My classmate was named after his ancestor, a prominent pastor of Springfi eld Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga. In Notable Black American Women, 3 volumes, edited by 2 Jessie Carney Smith (Gale, out of print), I stumbled across a biographical sketch of Dwelle’s daughter Georgia Rooks Dwelle. I was hooked: I yearned to learn more about this family. George was born Jan. 26, 1833, in Columbia County, Ga., the son of a slave and a white man. In the 1917 book The History of the American Negro and His 3 Institutions by A.B. Caldwell (reprinted by Kessinger Publications, $64.95), George identifi ed his mother as Mary Thomas and his father as C.J. Cook, a white man from Connecticut. Mary was born about 30 years of age—presumably his male, 25; and a black male, age 12. None 1818 in Georgia and died between 1900 brother Aaron H. Cook—and no slaves. match for George and Mary. But the and 1910 in Augusta. Little is known about (Remember, in pre-1850 censuses, only same year, Aaron Cook (No. 3) has two her, but it’s rumored she was living with a heads of household are listed by name.) slaves, a black female, age 40, and a Dwelle family when George was born. According to 1850 mortality schedules, mulatto male, age 26. Mary and George In the 1840 census, I found a Clark Clark J. Cook was born in Massachusetts, might’ve been hired out to Aaron Cook Cook living with a white male 20 to and died in May 1850 at age 47 in in June 1860 (that year’s census date). Richmond County, Ga. Slave schedules George Henry Dwelle didn’t let list in his estate (see No. 1, above) a the stigma of his skin color or former- black female, age 30, and a male, age 17, slave status stop him from becoming a presumably Mary and George. Census preacher. Two Englishmen in Augusta informants may have guessed at the ran a clandestine school for slaves, slaves’ ages, and slaves often didn’t where he learned to read and write by know their own birth dates, so age age 13. He joined Springfi eld Baptist discrepancies are common. Church in 1855 and was baptized the With this information, I contacted the following January. Richmond County courthouse for copies Dwelle was ordained and licensed of estate records for C.J. Cook, aka Clark to preach in 1874, and three years later, J. Cook. The papers show he migrated to joined Eureka Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia sometime before participating Ga. The 85 members lacked a place in the state’s 1832 land lottery. When to worship. In less than four years, he died, his estate totaled more than Dwelle had purchased land and built a $27,000. Its proceeds were divided church. In 1885, he became a pastor at among Aaron and his other three siblings. the church where he was baptized. He Mary and George were sold at served Springfi eld Baptist Church until auction to Milo Hatch, Sept. 2, 1851, his retirement in 1912. for $2,300. George brought in $1,500; His daughter Georgia, whose Mary fetched $800. Hatch is listed in biography spurred my search, followed 1860 with four slaves (No. 2, above): two her father’s example to become one of black females, ages 50 and 45; a mulatto Atlanta’s fi rst black woman physicians.
52 Family Tree Magazine July 2009
JUL09FT AF-AM_02.indd Sec1:5 3/25/09 10:30:55 AM and see NARA’s online guide at
Owners of runaway slaves often advertised rewards—and provided detailed descriptions—in newspaper advertisements
COURTESY OF THE OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY LIBRARY SC1509 and on leafl ets such as this one.
www.familytreemagazine.com 53
JUL09FT AF-AM_02.indd Sec1:6 3/25/09 10:31:04 AM Toolkit
Web Sites ■ USF Africana Heritage Project ■ Many Thousands Gone: The First Two
■ An Index to the Freedom ■ Black Genesis: A Resource Book for ■ Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball Records of Prince George’s African-American Genealogy, 2nd (Ballantine Books, $17.95) County Maryland, 1808-1869 edition, by James M. Rose and Alice ■ The First Emancipator: Slavery,
54 Family Tree Magazine July 2009
JUL09FT AF-AM_02.indd Sec1:7 3/25/09 10:31:13 AM help you learn what happened to slaves sold George and his mother Mary to also fi nd some on FHL microfi lm—run he or she owned. A probate file might Milo Hatch Sept. 2, 1851, for $2,300. a search on your ancestor’s county and include a will spelling out who was to get See page 52 for more on George. look for the deed records heading. which slaves, property inventories, deeds, ■ Inventories: Also often part of estate ■ Manumission papers: An owner account books and correspondence. papers, inventories itemized all the or a court could issue these papers to These records are often found at county deceased’s property at the time of death. document a slave’s freedom when the courthouses and state archives. Slaves would be listed with sex and age. owner granted it (sometimes in a will) For example, the estate papers of ■ Account books: The executor of the or the slave purchased it. The papers are Clark J. Cook, a white man I believe estate kept account books, which may often located at historical societies and is the father of a mulatto man named record when the deceased’s slaves were state archives, and in manuscript collec- George Dwelle, showed how the prof- sold—and to whom. You might fi nd them tions held in state and local libraries (see its from selling Cook’s property were in probate fi le collections or on their own below). NARA has Washington, DC, divided among his siblings. After Cook’s at historical societies, state archives and manumissions from 1857 to 1863 on death, auctioneer Augustus Lafayette in collections of family papers. microfi lm M433. ■ Deeds: These papers record the ■ Manuscript collections: Typically, web extra For more Web sites, transfer of property on the basis of a larger plantations kept meticulous books and organizations to help with your sale, gift or trust. Slaves were sometimes records regarding expenses for clothing search, see our African-American genealogy transferred via deeds. Deeds are usually or medical care. For these slaveholders, toolkit
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JUL09FT AF-AM_02.indd Sec1:8 3/25/09 10:31:22 AM finding freedom
The records of the Freedmen’s Bureau can help you discover freed slaves in your family tree—and FamilySearch’s indexing project makes access easier than ever.
BY LESLIE ALBRECHT HUBER
26 Family Tree Magazine 3 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
0217FT_26-32_FREEDMENS BUREAU.indd 26 11/29/16 3:25 PM 3 ONCE IN A while, a new genealogical resource comes along that changes the landscape of research all together. For If you have ancestors in the South those with African-American roots, the Freedmen’s Bureau during the post-Civil War period, Project is one of those game-changers. The FamilySearch-led eff ort was launched in June 2015 with the goal of recruit- Freedmen’s Bureau records are a ing volunteers to index genealogically important portions of the records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and resource you can’t aff ord to miss. Abandoned Lands, the post-Civil War agency commonly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau. Along with partners at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture, Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) and California African-American Museum, lead to government dependence. Critics found sympathy in FamilySearch announced the completion of the project last Andrew Johnson, who became president in April 1865 fol- June. The records are indexed and searchable by name for lowing Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. In 1866, Congress free at
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-stereo-1s03948 and Photographs Prints of Congress Library St. Helena Island, and their employers.
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0217FT_26-32_FREEDMENS BUREAU.indd 27 11/29/16 3:25 PM SUCCESS STORY: Finding Peter Clark in Freedmen’s Bureau Records
Around 2005, when Bernice Bennett sat down at the National were he deprived of his entry.” He received a patent for the land Archives and Records Administration with microfilmed records in 1896. from the Freedmen’s Bureau Louisiana field offices, she was Although she’d learned a great deal about Peter’s adult life, researching for a client. But it just so happened that Bennett’s family Bennett was unable to find Peter in the 1870 census and she knew had lived in the next parish over, so she decided to take a peek. almost nothing about the family he’d grown up in. So scrolling the Bennett knew from a family Bible that her second-great- then-unindexed records of the Freedmen’s Bureau, page by page, grandfather Peter Clark was born in St. Helena Parish in 1855. was a shot in the dark. She’d found him with his wife, Rebecca Youngblood, and their But then Bennett happened across a labor contract dated April children in the 1880 and 1900 US censuses. His application for 1, 1868, with Peter Clark’s name. And not just his name, but also land in Livingston Parish, La., under the Homestead Act of 1862 the names and ages of his mother, Katie, and siblings Ann, Olive, gave her rich details about Peter’s adult life, asserting that he, Hester and Bob. In addition to room and board, the family was to “a very poor man,” had “lived on and cultivated his land in good receive $100 for a year of work on the plantation of “Benj.” F. Coxe. faith for over ten (10) years and it would work a great hardship, “I was beside myself with joy,” Bennett says. “I already knew his name. I already knew where he was living. But that’s all. And there he was, listed with his family.” Armed with their information, Bennett went back to the 1870 census and examined the returns line by line. Eventually she found the family with the right first names, right approximate ages and right place—but the incorrect surname of Johnson. A simple recording error, most likely. “The Freedmen’s Bureau record really gave me the anchor I needed to look back and find my family,” Bennett says. Her experience came before the Freedmen’s Bureau records were digitized and indexed. Without her understanding of the records’ organization and how to access them, she might not have met with success. Now that the records are indexed and searchable, more genealogists have the opportunity to make a breakthrough like hers and discover their ancestors.
Genealogist Bernice Bennett found her second-great-grandfather Peter Clark (seated) listed along with the rest of his family (above) in an 1868 labor contract. The record opened the door to locating the family in the
photo courtesy of Bernice Bennett of Bernice photo courtesy 1870 US census and researching Peter’s mother and siblings.
28 Family Tree Magazine 3 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
0217FT_26-32_FREEDMENS BUREAU.indd 28 11/29/16 3:25 PM the war. It oversaw labor contracts between freedmen and employers. Eff orts at land distribution were met with limited success, but the bureau did aid in negotiating contracts for land purchases. In its later years, it helped African-American veterans and their heirs receive bounty payments and pen- sions for Civil War service. Signifi cant for genealogists today, each purpose generated records.
Understanding the records Figuring how the records work and what information they contain can be tricky. NARA, which houses the original documents and describes them at
FREEDMEN’S BRANCH OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL’S courtesy of Angela Walton-Raji OFFICE records, which the FamilySearch site terms simply Among the most genealogically valuable Freedmen’s Bureau records Branch Records, date from 1872 to 1878. After the bureau are labor contracts, marriage records, hospital and relief registers, closed, this branch continued the bureau’s work to help black transportation records and correspondence. In this letter, a sub-assistant commissioner demands the return of the complainant’s children. soldiers and sailors receive pay and pensions. These records are often rich with genealogical information. FIELD OFFICE RECORDS are the heart and soul of the You’ll also find nongenealogical records dealing with the Freedmen’s Bureau collection. It was to these local offi ces administration of the agency. people went for help, and it’s often in these records where To help you focus on the genealogical records, Family- you can uncover the most details about your family. Each Search organizes fi eld offi ce records in two ways: First, all of fi eld offi ce had some degree of independence in the services each state’s fi eld offi ce records are grouped in an unindexed, it provided (and therefore, records it kept). You might fi nd browsable collection. But for the indexing project, Family- labor contracts, ration lists, affidavits, hospital records, Search also pulled out the documents containing ancestor applications for land, school records, letters, transportation names, grouped them by record type, and indexed them. So records (as the Bureau helped families reunite), complaints the collection US, Freedmen’s Bureau Hospital and Medical and court testimonies (often claiming mistreatment or lack Records, for example, includes searchable hospital registers of payment in employment arrangements), among others. from every state’s fi eld offi ces. Even when they were performing the same basic services, field offices records can vary in formats and information kept. The best way to get a handle on what might be avail- able for the area where your ancestors lived is to look at the TIP: Records of the Freedman’s Savings Bank, which descriptive pamphlet for your state. Created by NARA, these operated from 1865 to 1874 (and wasn’t part of the pamphlets explain how the Bureau operated in each state Freedmen’s Bureau), are another good resource for finding and describe the available records. Link to them from Map- freedmen. Look for them on FamilySearch and Ancestry.com. ping the Freedmen’s Bureau
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0217FT_26-32_FREEDMENS BUREAU.indd 29 11/29/16 3:25 PM Even those not researching African-American roots may Searching for family fi ne these records useful. The key is in the bureau’s full name, Until recently, researching the Freedmen’s Bureau records the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, was no small task. Anyone who wanted to use these records says Angela Walton-Raji, a cofounder of Mapping the Freed- had to go to the National Archives in Washington, DC, and men’s Bureau along with Toni Carrier (who established sort through the actual documents. This was both prohibi- Lowcountry Africana
20 million paid out
» Sunny Jane Morton TIP: Researching your freedman in as many post-slavery records as possible will help you know enough about him to Source: W.E. Burghardt Du Bois, “The Freedmen’s Bureau,” The Atlantic Monthly, March 1901
30 Family Tree Magazine 3 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
0217FT_26-32_FREEDMENS BUREAU.indd 30 11/29/16 3:25 PM You can search Freedmen’s Bureau records by record category on the FamilySearch website. To fi nd a collection to search, go to
Download the record to your computer and copy the cita- digitized copies of many of the microfi lms; search for Freed- tion for your genealogy notes. If you have a family tree on men and fi lter results by the topic United States Bureau of FamilySearch, you can return to the Details page to attach Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. Ancestry.com the record to the named ancestor. has portions of the records at
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0217FT_26-32_FREEDMENS BUREAU.indd 31 11/29/16 3:25 PM The FamilySearch record collection United States, Freedmen’s Bureau Ration Records includes registers of those issued rations, account books, applications for relief and affi davits like this 1866 statement from
widowed mother Mary Boothe. courtesy of Angela Walton-Raji Angela of courtesy
provide details about Civil War service; use these clues to African-Americans are documented as citizens,” says Thom look for service and pension records. (See the October/ Reed, senior marketing manager at FamilySearch. “There November 2014 Family Tree Magazine for a military pension was this black hole, and now we’ve fi lled in that hole.” records guide and the May/June 2016 issue for help with FAMILY STORIES: “For descendants of slaves, what’s sig- service records. Both are available at ShopFamilyTree.com nifi cance is that you’re capturing the fi rst years of freedom,”
Free Web Content For Plus Members ShopFamilyTree.com Best Websites: African-American African-American Great Migration Slave Ancestors Research Guide genealogy
32 Family Tree Magazine 3 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
0217FT_26-32_FREEDMENS BUREAU.indd 32 11/29/16 3:25 PM Moving On
Were your African-American ancestors part of the massive 20th-century Great Migration to Northern cities? We’ll show you the best records for retracing their steps.
BY KARIN D. BERRY
44 Family Tree Magazine 3 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
0216FT AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEATURE.indd 44 11/25/15 10:53 AM Though Jim Crow laws contributed to the exodus of African-Americans Black newspapers such as the Chicago Defender helped from the rural South during the Great Migration of 1910 to 1940, the persuade many to leave the South. The Defender was fi lled new arrivals faced segregated neighborhoods in many large Northern with train schedules and employment listings. Other papers, cities, such as Chicago. In the mid-1900s, up to three-quarters of the Windy City’s African-American population lived in a chain of South Side such as the Pittsburgh Courier and the New York Amsterdam neighborhoods known as the “Black Belt.” News, reported that the North provided better education for children, higher-paying jobs, more-secure voting rights, and access to improved housing. Most early Great Migration migrants went to New York, 3 WHEN IT COMES to researching African-American fam- Pittsburgh, Detroit and especially Chicago. The Windy City’s ily history, the obstacle of fi nding enslaved ancestors looms black population, which was only 2 percent in 1890, doubled largest in family trees. But another, 20th-century challenge to 100,000 by World War I, according to the Newberry faces many genealogists: fi nding African-Americans who Library
The birthplaces listed in the 1910 census for Isaac Walker and his family, residents of Greene County, Ohio, suggest that the Walkers had migrated north from their prior home in North Carolina.
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0216FT AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEATURE.indd 45 11/25/15 10:53 AM Population Shift
If you’ve noticed a Percentage of African-American population northward trend in 10 20 30 40 50 % change the residences of your 2.3 Gary, Ind. +16 African-American 18.3 ancestors, there’s a reason for it. In 1910, 1.5 Cleveland +8.1 89 percent of the 9.6 country’s African- American population 1.2 Detroit +8 lived in the South. In 9.2 1940, that number had dropped to 77 5.5 Philadelphia +7.5 percent, while the 13 black population grew in the North. This shift 6.4 St. Louis +6.9 to Northern cities 13.3 continued until 1970. 5.4 Cincinnati +6.8 12.2
2 Chicago +6.2 8.2
1.9 New York +4.2 1910 6.1
33.5 Atlanta +1.1 1940 34.6
51.1 Savannah, Ga. -6.1 45
52.8 Charleston, SC -8.2 44.6
46 Huntsville, Ala. -9.9 36.1
49.6 Jackson, Miss. -10.5 39.1
49.6 Shreveport, La. -13 36.6
50.8 Jacksonville, Fla. -15.1 35.7
Source: US Census Bureau, Population Division Working Paper No. 76, Historical Census Statistics On Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For Large Cities And Other Urban Places In The United States,
46 Family Tree Magazine 3 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
0216FT AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEATURE.indd 46 11/25/15 10:53 AM Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, cph 3a42069 and Photographs Prints of Congress Library A boll weevil infestation had taken hold of US cotton-growing areas by the 1920s, ruining crops and eliminating the jobs of rural African-American sharecroppers like these workers, pictured in Georgia in 1907.
April 1, 1935.” This lets you confi rm the city, town or village, records: Isaac and Sarah had been married for 10 years, county and state where the family lived fi ve years earlier. If Sarah’s marriage to Isaac was her second marriage, and they it’s diff erent from their home in 1940, and it’s in the South, had a son named Johnny. Sarah had borne seven children and you might have pinpointed their hometown or an interim four were living; the youngest, 10-year-old Johnny, was born location. Once you fi nd your family in the census, take note in North Carolina. That provides a time frame for the family’s of the nearby households—neighbors and possibly friends. move to Ohio. Just as European immigrants did, many African-Americans Next, locate all available birth, marriage and death records migrated in groups or moved to the same Northern town. for the family, starting where the family settled in the North. If you can’t fi nd your family in other censuses, fi nding the States and counties kept these records generally beginning in friend’s listing might reveal your relatives living nearby. the early 1900s, though some areas may have started keeping Continue to search for your family back every 10 years them earlier or later (see statewide record-keeping dates in in the census, checking each one for your family’s location our Vital Records Chart download at
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0216FT AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEATURE.indd 47 11/25/15 10:54 AM The Great Migration saw 1.6 million black people move from the rural South to the urban North between 1910 and 1930.
search of the FamilySearch online catalog
48 Family Tree Magazine 3 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
0216FT AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEATURE.indd 48 11/25/15 10:54 AM Bedford’s grandson John L. Enoch, a grocery store owner, and his wife, Lillie. Alexander’s brother David Long, a laborer, lived at 633 Miami with his wife, Bertha E. Censuses and vital records show how the Long family intermarried with the Enochs in North Carolina and migrated to Ohio starting around 1900. By fi nding them year over year in direc- tories of Springfi eld and nearby Xenia, Ohio, I can follow them as they moved North and lived with relatives, then got jobs and separate directory listings.
Finding folks in military records Chances are good you’ll find a male relative in military records. WWI and WWII draft registrations can yield valu- able information: birth date, birth location, age, physical description, profession, spouse and/or employer. WWI records also reveal a man’s residence in the gap between the 1910 and 1920 US censuses. This may be your fi rst indication of a relocation, as the war accelerated the Great Migration by creating relatively high-paying industrial jobs. Twenty-four million men between ages 18 and 45 (born between Sept. 13, 1873, and Sept. 12, 1900) registered for the WWI draft. Three registrations occurred between 1917 and 1918. Cards used for the 1917 registration instructed the registrar to tear off the lower left corner if the applicant was black. You can search and view WWI draft registration cards at FamilySearch.org. More than 10 million American men ages 18 to 65 reg- Robert B. Clark, an African-American, is marked “white” on his WWI draft istered for the WWII draft starting in November 1940. registration card. The card reveals he’s working in Tennessee, although Ancestry.com has a database of cards from the fourth regis- his permanent residence is Louisiana. Years later, his WWII draft card tration—the “Old Man’s Draft”—which for privacy reasons is documents his residence in Chicago. the only WWII registration currently available to the public. Unfortunately, the cards for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Reading the newspapers Tennessee were destroyed before they could be microfi lmed Don’t overlook newspapers as a resource for your African- or indexed. American ancestors. You’ll find people in news articles, On this page, you can see the WWI draft registration obituaries and tributes to aged former slaves. You might record for Robert B. Clark, who was born Dec. 11, 1881, in fi nd a family’s impetus to move: As noted, African-American Norwood, East Feliciana Parish, La. When he registered in newspapers encouraged black Southerners to migrate. September 1918, he was 36, a carpenter for Mason & Stanger Some Northern newspapers had segregated “Colored Soci- in Jacksonville, Tenn. His wife, Cora, lived in Norwood. Fam- ety” sections similar to the one published in the Xenia Daily ily legend had it that Clark was African-American and was so Gazette in Ohio. The Gazette covered an area near two his- light-skinned that he could pass for white. Indeed, the draft torically black colleges, Central State University and Wilber- card identifi es him as white. force University. The paper published its “Colored Society” Clark lived long enough to also register for the WWII section sporadically throughout the early 1900s, reporting draft. At age 58 in 1942, he lived with one of his children, such items as visits from family and friends, church events, Sybil, in Chicago. His birth year was diff erent from the WWI deaths, weddings and illnesses. draft registration, but the birth date and place, Norwood, La., Subscription website GenealogyBank has a collection of are the same. Clark was a janitor for Drape & Kramer, 341 E. African-American newspapers at
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0216FT AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEATURE.indd 49 11/25/15 10:54 AM Tillie Powers, shown here in 1937, is one of the more than 2,000 former slaves interviewed as part of the WPA’s Federal Writers’ Project.
For men, check 1910 census column 30, which records “Whether a survivor of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy.” Your relative may have been one of the 180,000 free African-Americans and former slaves who enlisted in the Union Army’s US Colored Troops (USCT). A USCT veteran will have UA in column 30. Next, search for the name, rank and unit in the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, ppmsc 01175 and Photographs Prints of Congress Library with his son, Guy, the last surviving child of 12 with his sec- ond wife, Eliza. His narrative is a treasure trove of informa- tion: where he was born, the names of his former slaveowner Search tab to search for a person by state and, if you want, a and his parents’ slaveowners, the number of his siblings, specifi c newspaper. Click the US Newspaper Directory button when he joined the USCT and where he lived following the to search for microfi lmed newspapers you can fi nd in libraries. Civil War. You can search the slave narratives on Ancestry. com and on the Library of Congress website
Free Web Content For Plus Members ShopFamilyTree.com Podcast: African-American research How to trace US Colored Troops Research guide to African-American tips
50 Family Tree Magazine 3 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
0216FT AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEATURE.indd 50 11/25/15 10:54 AM Answers in African-American Newspapers The black press created a repository of experiences, hopes and dreams for your African-American ancestors. Discover 11 ways these publications can give you the scoop on your family.
BY TIMOTHY PINNICK
3 CHANGE IS A platform political candidates often use when they want to distinguish themselves from the status quo. Change can be scary, but propos- ing a diff erent approach often pays off , as it did for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008. A new approach can be good for your genealogical research, too. Newspapers are frequently an unexplored genealogical frontier. They bring to mind endless hours of scrolling unindexed microfi lm, and African-American researchers may believe newspapers didn’t pay attention to their relatives. But guess what? Newspapers hold much promise for those seeking to navigate the somewhat choppy waters of African-American research. With the exponential rise of the black press following the Civil War, newspapers such as the Florida Tattler, Chi- cago Defender and Kansas City Advocate became a major repository of the experiences, hopes and dreams of former slaves and their succeeding generations. And with a recent surge in digiti- zation projects and newspaper websites, these chronicles are more accessible than ever before. (See the box Getting Into the News, page 44, for help fi nding African-American newspapers that may hold your ancestor answers.) So whether you’re conducting research in a red state or a blue state, switching up your research routine to include African-American newspaper resources is a change you can—and should—endorse. Here are 11 ways African- American newspapers can advance your search for your black roots.
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MAY10FT AF-AM FEATURE.indd 41 1/26/11 1:04:44 PM Establishing pre-Civil War status Were your ancestors slaves, or were they free prior to TIP: Can’t find a newspaper you need? State archives 1861? (By 1860, the United States was home to about a and historical societies often have excellent collections of 1half-million free African-Americans.) Many of us lack newspapers published in that state. the documentary evidence or oral history needed to answer this pivotal question. What we can defi nitively attest to is the cruelty of slavery in its reckless disregard for the family unit. In addition, the chaos of war added to separations as car-train accidents. News was hard to come by in the days enslaved individuals dashed for freedom when Union mili- before black newspapers had access to wire services, and tary units passed through. many editors purchased subscriptions to other newspapers, As a result, family members sought lost kinfolk for decades black and white, for the express purpose of reprinting news. following the war. Advertisements from former slaves seek- Remember the columns in the 1900 and 1910 censuses that ing loved ones can be found throughout the pages of many ask mothers how many children they’ve had and how many newspapers. If you find your ancestor’s name in one, it are living? How many times have you looked at the diff erence should indicate whether he was a slave. Death notices, some- and wondered about those kids? A newspaper might explain times consisting of just a few sentences, also often reveal what happened. evidence of prior enslavement. This is especially true in the case of elderly community members, and you’ll frequently Making military service connections encounter standalone articles with “former slave” or “ex- Finding out whether an ancestor served in the mili- slave” in the title. tary is important because it can lead you to the genea- 3logical information contained in personnel fi les and Finding pre-vital records death details other records. News columns identifi ed former soldiers as Early newspapers routinely carried news of indi- they participated in veterans organizations, and in death viduals’ deaths within their pages, regardless of the these groups may be listed as taking part in burial cer- 2person’s lot in life. In many instances, this is the only emonies. If you suspect WWI service, search listings of men surviving documentation of the event. Search papers for a few drafted during the war, which usually made front-page news. weeks before and after the death date—you might fi nd refer- And the community news sections, also referred to as social ences to an illness preceding the death, or funeral services may columns, were fi lled with talk of departures to boot camp, have been postponed until distant relatives could arrive. arrivals home on leave and shipments overseas. Finally, be on For average citizens, papers generally covered locals who the lookout for newspaper columns devoted to the activities resided in town or the surrounding rural community. Geog- of African-Americans in and around active military posts, raphy wasn’t a factor, though, when decedents met with soldiers homes and veteran organizations. fates other than natural causes, such as murders, suicides or Opening a window on the community Social columns were an essential part of black news- Meeting the Press papers. Whether your ancestor lived in a village of 4a few dozen African-Americans or in a bustling city What did a typical black paper print? Here are four quick such as Cleveland, chances are good that community events hints from my Family Tree University course Finding African- found their way into print. Newspapers with national cir- American Ancestors in Newspapers: culation aggressively sought local correspondents to collect ■ African-American newspapers published in the years news and sell subscriptions in hopes of boosting readership. after the Civil War were almost uniformly four pages in length. Social columns are full of news of births, deaths, mar- They later grew in size based on their financial success. riages, sickness, accidents, out-of-town trips, visitors to the ■ Front-page news often was clipped from other newspapers town and more. If you had ancestors in Indianapolis in 1902, (both black and white publications). they may have been in the crowd that the Jan. 11 Freeman ■ Nearly all black papers contained a local news column. reported was at the railroad station hoping to catch a glimpse This usually appeared on page two of a four-page publication, of Booker T. Washington on his way to Decatur, Ill. or later in larger newspapers. A few years ago, I compiled a list of more than 5,000 social ■ Some also printed “out of town” columns, which can serve columns covering communities in 46 states, the District of as a passageway to news about ancestors living in cities that Columbia, Indian Territory, Mexico and Canada. You can didn’t have their own black newspaper. search it by location or download a PDF organized by state To learn more about the class, see
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MAY10FT AF-AM FEATURE.indd 42 1/26/11 1:05:08 PM Providing pictures In genealogy, pictures aren’t merely worth a thousand YZ words—they’re priceless. From Pullman porters (see 5No. 7) to banana cart vendors, images abound in black Whether your ancestor lived in newspapers. And you’ll fi nd not only headshots, but wonder- ful group pictures like that of fi re department Engine Co. 8 a village of a few dozen or in a of Louisville, Ky. (from the March 8, 1924, Chicago Defender) and the wait staff of the Knutsford Hotel in Salt Lake City (in bustling city such as Cleveland, the Jan. 6, 1906, Indianapolis Freeman). chances are good that community Determining church affi liation Religion has always been central to the African- events found their way into print. American experience. Although I have a good friend 6who’s chasing her Catholic roots in Chicago and Mil- waukee, the overwhelming majority of our black ancestors were either Baptist or African Methodist Episcopal (AME). You’ll fi nd churches of those affi liations in practically every Detailing Pullman porters community. In Champaign, Ill., for example, the two main Shortly after the Civil War, industrialist George Pull- black churches were Bethel AME and Salem Baptist. man began seeking former slaves to work as porters If you can establish the religious affi liation of your ances- 7on his railroad sleeper cars. Over the years, renowned tors, and then a specific church, you’ve opened an excit- men such as Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall, ing and valuable avenue of research. Social columns often author Malcolm X and Oscar “Doc” Joyner (grandfather of can provide this critical information. You’ll also fi nd many radio host Tom Joyner) joined their ranks. How many of you newspapers carrying church-related articles, such as those wish you had a Pullman porter in your ancestry? Finding one on state and national church conventions, throughout their of these cultural icons on a family tree would make any gene- issues. In my experience using African-American newspa- alogist justifi ably proud. pers, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to fi nd women dominat- Newspapers provide genealogists with resources to ing much of the church-related news. discover or verify a Pullman porter ancestor. The Chicago Defender and California Eagle are two papers that included columns for railroad employees. The columns are full of news related to the activities and routes of Pullman por- ters, and provide plenty of research clues. Last year while searching for Pullman porters in Ohio, I found a wonderful array of articles on dozens of these men, including a picture of Edward F. Smith of Cincinnati, a Tuskegee graduate who was an aviator in his spare time, in the July 29, 1928, Chicago Defender. A number of Pullman porters are still alive. Ben Isaacs of Victorville, Calif., who began his career with Pullman in 1936 and retired in 1968, turned 105 last year, and Lee Wesley Gibson of Los Angeles is close behind at 100. The Los Angeles Times wrote about the men several months ago; read more at
Unveiling entrepreneurs One of the most surprising aspects of my experience using black newspapers has been discovering an 8amazing amount of material related to self-employed individuals. So check those census sheets and other docu- ments carefully for signs of an entrepreneurial spirit among Photographs are among the treasures to be found in old newspapers. your ancestors. And be aware that your ancestor could have The Jan. 6, 1906, Indianapolis Freeman printed this picture of the wait worked full time at a factory and operated a bicycle repair staff of Salt Lake City’s Knutsford Hotel. shop on the side.
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MAY10FT AF-AM FEATURE.indd 43 1/28/11 2:42:06 PM MORE ONLINE
Free Web Content ■ African-American Genealogy Toolkit
I’m happy to report that thousands of African-American of existing ones. Search by name at
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MAY10FT AF-AM FEATURE.indd 44 1/26/11 1:05:39 PM of the hundreds of thousands of free blacks Frederick Douglass’ Paper, which openly G. Detweiler’s book The Negro Press in then living in the Colonies. To them, it was endorsed abolitionism through politics (as the United States documents that it was abundantly clear that they were not “free” opposed to appeals to Americans’ personal “a common custom for a group to listen politically, economically, socially or in many consciences). as someone reads the paper aloud … an other respects. Therefore, a half-century Each paper contributed to the education observer in the far South saw the Freeman after the Declaration of Independence was of the African-American community in a of Indianapolis draw a circle of auditors in authored, African-Americans made their way no other newspaper would. This was a small-town barber-shop soon after the own declaration of sorts by launching the evident in Willis A. Hodges’ Ram’s Horn, paper arrived on the train.” first black newspaper. started in 1847. In his 1972 thesis The Black The mission of the black press was clear “We wish to plead our own cause. Too Press and the Search for Identity, Lester Pope in the minds of publishers and editors as long have others spoken for us,” declared reveals that Hodges began the newspaper they served the perceived needs of their Samuel Cornish and John B. Russwurm “after he attempted to gain space for Negro audience. Often this was vividly displayed in on the first page of Freedom’s Journal. The news in the New York Sun and was told, ‘The the masthead of the paper. The State Capital, country’s first African-American-owned Sun shines for all white men, but not for published in Springfield, Ill., proclaimed, and -operated newspaper began in 1827, colored men.’” “Give Us Justice; More, We Do Not Ask; but lasted only a few years (view digitized With the end of the Civil War came a Less, Will Not Content Us.” issues on the Wisconsin Historical Society pressing need to assimilate and educate Among the most comprehensive sources website
Your ancestor’s business might be mentioned in an article, and letters to the editor discussing various aspects of life in or he may have advertised in the paper. “A typical paper these communities. contained numerous small advertisements of groceries, Pay special attention to newspapers’ memorial tributes to meat markets, restaurants, boarding houses, dressmakers, deceased loved ones as well as milestone wedding anniver- employment agencies, and notices of Negro lawyers and saries—two sources genealogists routinely pass over in their physicians,” states noted historian Emma Lou Thornbrough search for family history clues. If you fi nd such an item, look in a 1996 Business History Review article. “Advertisements for similar tributes in issues published around the same date of funeral establishments were numerous and conspicuous in prior and subsequent years. In tributes that repeat over in all Negro papers.” multiple years, be on the lookout for changes in the residences of any relatives listed. If a contributor from a prior year is no Revealing migration clues longer listed in an annual tribute, it can be a strong indicator Many of our ancestors relocated numerous times, that he or she had perhaps migrated to the great beyond. and more often than not, they neglected to leave their 9descendents evidence of all the moves. Thank good- Solving marriage problems ness, however, that the comings and goings of individuals For the genealogist, “marriage problems” can and families rarely escaped the watchful eyes of newspaper come in all forms. Finding an exact or nearly correspondents. 10 exact wedding date, fi guring out whether some- You may find an article or society column mentioning one married multiple times (and the identities of those your ancestor arrived in or left town. More generally speak- spouses), determining a marriage location, and discovering ing, newspapers loved to inform their readership about the the married (or maiden) names of women is enough to give African-American population. You’ll frequently come across you a migraine. And it’s even more painful when you step into accounts of “Negro colonies” being formed in many places, that chasm between the 1880 and 1900 censuses. But take a particularly in the Mountain West and the Great Plains. look at this relatively nondescript news item tucked away in Also expect to fi nd recruitment advertisements for settlers the Jan. 12, 1889, edition of the Savannah Tribune:
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MAY10FT AF-AM FEATURE.indd 45 1/26/11 1:05:55 PM Along with obituaries and “missing person” ads, photos and articles After Emancipation, former slaves seeking their family members such as this one—a Chicago Defender piece about West Jardan, a often posted newspaper announcements such as this one from the 90-year-old former slave—can help you learn about African- July 18, 1891, State Capital, published in Springfi eld, Ill. American ancestors’ pre-Civil War status.
era (1876 to 1965), such news diff ered drastically from what TIP: Besides typing names into searchable newspaper was being published in mainstream newspapers. Through databases, try keywords such as your ancestor’s hometown or the black press, our ancestors were able to fi nd encourage- neighborhood, occupation, military unit, church, school or hobby. ment and direction. They could validate their worth by reading stories about fellow African-Americans who were intelligent, industrious, successful, of good moral character Mr. James F. Wand, a popular barber in the employ of E. R. and willing to exercise their newly acquired rights. There’s Spaulding, Lake Street, and Miss Mary L. Brown of Savannah, no better way to gauge the way your ancestors and their Ga., were married on Tues last, in Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. contemporaries thought and felt than to read the news that Wand, have arrived in Oswego, and have taken rooms with they read. Mrs. Dorsey, on Spencer Avenue.—Oswego Times. African-American newspapers are an indispensable part of your research plan. From their pages will spring the vital Fortunately for you, wedding and engagement announce- clues you need to solve many a genealogical mystery, along ments are abundant in newspapers. Also coming to your res- with rich and relevant stories of the black experience that cue are memorial tributes and announcements about deaths will allow you to build an accurate, substantive family his- and funerals, noteworthy wedding anniversaries, reunions, tory. When embarking on a research journey into African- and countless visits to relatives near and far. American newspapers, prepare for an exciting and rewarding adventure. And expect the unexpected: Marvelous surprises Gaining African-American perspective await the zealous newspaper researcher. ■ Arguably, the most important mandate for editors and publishers of African-American newspapers Timothy Pinnick is the author of Finding and Using 11 was to provide their community of readers with African American Newspapers (Gregath Publishing Co.) and news that was relevant and signifi cant to their lives. During teaches a Family Tree University
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