African-American Genealogy

A Beginner’s Guide

COURTESY OF THE HIGH POINT PUBLIC LIBRAR Y

W H A T Y O U ’ L L IS IT REALLY THAT DIFFERENT? F I N D WITHIN: subject to different laws than  Is it really that The question often occurs to whites. One should be familiar with different? beginning researchers, “Why would local laws to make the best search. you need a separate guide for  Family tradition African American researchers? Is For legal purposes, slaves  Census and vital working on your black ancestors as were extensions of their masters. statistics different as all that?” Any property in their possession  The Jim Crow Era was considered the master’s prop- The answer is an unreserved erty. Therefore, the identity of the  Reconstruction “Yes!” It is true that each ethnic enslaved in Indian Territory. Slavery owner is key to following them. clues group presents its own unique existed in every seaboard British There are also challenges in trac-  Slavery Days challenges. Tracing Irish ancestors colony from Georgia to Massachu- ing names because most slaves is very different from tracing Ger-  The unfulfilled setts, but it was outlawed much were called only by their given man or French or Spanish or Chi- promise of DNA earlier in the northern states. All the names. They could pass from hand nese ancestors. But African Ameri- states north of Maryland and Dela- to hand in practically invisible ways. cans were the only group in the ware had banned it by 1804. United States to be subjected to Poverty, common to many H E R I T A G E R E S E A R C H involuntary servitude (other than A substantial free black popu- African American ancestors, also CENTER American Indians, for a much brief- lation was created by this early creates challenges that tend to High Point Public Library er period). And the period of slavery abolitionist movement. Their num- hamper progress even further. We

901 N. Main Street lasted from 1619, when the first bers continued to grow through have to be imaginative and flexible slaves were marketed in the Jame- freedoms (manumissions) granted to in our tactics and content ourselves P. O. Box 2530 stown colony in Virginia until Southern slaves, runaways and race with probabilities in cases where High Point, N.C. 27261 1865—slightly longer for those mixing. But free people of color were direct proof is lacking. (336) 883-3637 [email protected] The Importance of Black HOURS: Family History MON: 10:00—6:00

TUE-THU: 10:00—8:00 So, why study black realize they too had family sto- nowned , wealthy, and powerful,

FRI: 10:00—6:00 genealogy? Well, in a way, it ries that needed telling. Previ- created the America we know.

SAT: 9:00-1:00, 2:00-6:00 was really the work of one black ously, genealogy had more We can’t understand the na-

SUN: CLOSED family historian which first in- commonly been the pass time tional story without knowing spired the widespread interest of elite groups—persons who their individual stories. And in family history. Alex Haley, might be eligible to join the truly, the monopoly exercised through his Roots series of DAR, or the Sons of the Cincin- on history by elite people tend- books, but even more through nati, or the Mayflower Society. ed to obscure the oftentimes the television adaptations, excit- Now, we realize that all of our sobering realities of American ed people of all backgrounds to ancestors, not just the re- history as a whole. P a g e 2 A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n Family Tradition; Family Treasure

Any family historian is might tell you that your an- in a period when the legal sys- were freed and who their thankful for bits of information cestor purchased land from tem was especially corrupt? most recent owners were. that happen to pass to him by his former owner in the period Public records rarely have Some guesswork is in- word of mouth. But for the Afri- after slavery ended, but it photographs attached to them, volved unless your family can American researcher, a can’t tell you how he got the so you won’t know what your kept and passed down that rich legacy of stories, docu- money together to make the ancestors looked like unless memory. And if you don’t ments and photographs is irre- purchase or how he man- someone in your family has know the owner’s name, placeable. That is because, aged to hold on to it through kept this material and can your research into that fam- traditions help to fill in gaps that tough economic times and in share it with you. One very ily will necessarily come to public records do not address. spite of race-prejudice. You important kind of tradition re- a halt. So interview all of And public records can be quite might read that one of your lates to whether your older your older relations and ask disappointing in this area of ancestors was imprisoned for family members have ever them about the names you research. For instance, a deed a crime in the early 19th cen- heard about the white family are uncovering. Record tury and even read a news who owned their forebears. what they say, preferably Do not expect census story about it. But without There are very few public rec- on audio tape. Track down records to be family stories, how do you ords that recorded the names all the cousins you can know what really happened, former slaves took when they locate and ask them what accurate in every family heirlooms they have. respect. Mistrust may In this day and age, with have led people to portable scanners and digi- tal cameras at our disposal, give misinformation. we have no excuses for not Ages vary, names are making an effort to repro- spelled oddly, duce and share our lega- nicknames are used. cies with one another.

Common Starting points: Census and Vital Statistics

Most people of any ethnicity time. You can then branch out except by some owners in their information. Marriage records be- begin their research by locating to death certificates, birth certifi- plantation records. Vital records are ginning in the latter 1800s usually relatives in the census. In April cates and marriage licenses in important, however, because they mention parents of the bride and 2012, we finally got access to that same neighborhood to find may give clues about relationships groom and witnesses, who may be every decennial census from further clues about relationships in slavery times. Someone who relatives. Do not expect census 1790 to 1940. Everything after and places of origin. These died in the 1910s or 1920s, when records to be accurate in every 1940 will be protected from tactics are usually helpful until death certificates were first being respect. Mistrust may have led public view for privacy reasons. you approach 1865, when slav- kept, could easily have been born a people to give misinformation. It is important, then, that you ery ended in most places. Be- slave and the certificate may list Ages often vary as much as ten know the names of some an- fore that time, enslaved people place of birth and parents. When years and names are spelled oddly cestors born before that last were not listed in census rec- gravestones are absent, as they at times. First names may shift to available census year, and ords by name and their births are for many earlier burials, a death nicknames, then to middle names where they were living at that and deaths were not recorded, record may provide the missing and back again. AFRICAN AMERICAN P a g e 3 Research in the Era of J i m C r o w

After you’ve exhausted census and some negative information in the Finally, for families that farmed the vital statistics, what else can you do to “white focused” newspapers. Many of land but did not own it, check out records trace your ancestors? Don’t forget to try to the stories about African Americans of crop liens and chattel mortgages in the locate and visit the cemeteries where the are crime-related with an occasional local land registry. Most farming families death certificates say they are buried. reminiscence about the old days from entered into agreements in order to get Family members were often interred near an elderly former slave or a notation the advance of seed and equipment they one another, and the placement of grave- about the death of a respected black needed to raise a crop. A prominent land- stones, where they exist, can be of help. person. You will also find a great owner often loaned this sum against the The records of black funeral homes and deal of blatant racism. harvest or articles of personal property. black churches, if they survive, are a very Don’t neglect the usual deeds, You can also sometimes get details about useful supplement. wills and estates, either. Though Afri- the farms of sharecroppers in 1870 and Survey all the surviving issues of the can American were often sharecrop- 1880 agricultural local newspaper from the time your ances- pers and farm laborers, many did own schedules of the cen- “Reconstruction tors lived in a given area. The local library land and left it along with other prop- sus, including the size in the county seat should be able to help. erty to their descendants. Many Afri- of the farm and what it came with an Likely, there are no indexes, so you’ll be can Americans also served in the produced. The 1910 to initial burst of spending many hours searching issue to armed forces, particularly in World 1930 censuses indi- issue, but it may be worth your while. Some War I and World War II, so service cate whether land or freedom and newspapers had special columns for Afri- and pension records are pertinent, homes were rented or promise to can American news. In larger cities, there where they survive. Draft cards also owned, whether they may have been separate African American help locate eligible males, indicate were mortgaged or African publications. Be prepared to run up against employment and identify next-of-kin. free. Americans

RECONSTRUCTION CLUES residing in the South.”

The period from 1865 to eration of records. Recent index- former slaves whose marriages 1877 is referred to as Recon- ing projects have made many of had not been recognized legally struction and it came with an these records more accessible to come forward and formalize initial burst of hope and promise than ever. Others still have to be them, and voter registration rec- for African Americans residing in searched laboriously. They in- ords, which allowed black people the South. Federal troops occu- clude biographical directories of political participation for the first pied the region and missionar- public officials, Freedman’s time in American history. ies and federal agencies worked Bank Records, Freedmen’s There are also woeful tales to help freed people in the after- Bureau Records (a federal of vigilante violence by whites math of the Civil War. In many agency set up to educate freed attempting to maintain social and places, African Americans be- slaves and provide for their safe- political control of the region. came politically active, occupy- ty and fair treatment), pension Check Freedmen’s Bureau re- ing positions of authority in local, and service records for former ports, local newspapers and fed- state, and federal governments. slaves who may have served in eral and county court records for the Union army or navy, cohabi- A proliferation of rights and these darker stories. tation records, which allowed opportunities resulted in a prolif- P a g e 4 AFRICAN AMERICAN Slavery Days

Slavery is undoubtedly one of the very darkest chapters in American history, and it can also be the most difficult area in which to perform research. The first hurdle involves identifying the former slave-owner of a freed person. There are very few records that will make a firm identi- fication, though it is not unheard of to see such an allusion in Freedmen’s Bureau reports, Virgin- ia cohabitation records, or Southern Claims Commission records, for instance. Family traditions may identify a particular white family. But most folks are left making assumptions. All freed peo- ple did not take the names of their former owners, contrary to popular belief. They may have taken the name of someone they admired or on whose land they settled after the War. They may have preferred the name of a more remote slave owner—someone who had owned a grandpar- ent, or the owner of the father as opposed to the mother of the family, for instance. A good rule of thumb, however, is that freed people who stayed in the county where they had been enslaved often took the former owner’s name. The 1870 census provides interesting clues. The person on whose land the freed people lived was often the former owner or closely connected to the owner. The black family may have used first names common to the owner’s white family. This was a common prac- tice and can be a pointer. In worst case scenarios, it might be beneficial to map out the land of all the white people in a ten mile radius of your ancestor’s 1870 residence (using deeds) and trace as many slaves’ and freed people’s names in that neighborhood as possi- ble. This sort of community-wide study can reveal patterns and possibilities when other methods have yielded nothing. Once you’ve located your ancestor’s last slaveholder, it is time to learn all you can about that white family. Can you locate where the family papers today? If they have been preserved, they may provide the most benefit of all. Plantations were like manors in Europe. The occupants were almost totally under the thumb of the owner. So records were most likely to be kept by him, if at all. The larger plantations with greater slave populations were more likely to keep meticulous business records, including records of slave pur- chases, sales, births, and deaths. These may now reside in a public archive (university or government) or they may still belong to white family members. So start tracing the white family to the present day and contact living people for clues. Search the catalogs and finding aides of nearby universities for family papers or search the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) on-line. Slaves are also sometimes documented in public records, but usually in less detail. The 1790 to 1860 censuses do list slaves by age and gender categories and this can help you narrow your search and separate slave owners from non-slave owners. But also look at estate records and wills of white owners, which often mention slaves by name and sometimes even give their ages. Deeds of sale regarding slaves are sometimes recorded in deed books (though they are not always indexed by grantor and grantee). Court rec- ords may mention slaves in connection with illegal activities or ownership disputes. Expect, however, to have more success with female ancestors than male ancestors and to eventually come to a dead end, beyond which you cannot pass. DNA RESEARCH: A WORK IN PROGRESS

Of course, not all people of color were anywhere else. It can be like interviewing a ise of identifying tribal origins in Africa and slaves before the Civil War. Some were free per- remote ancestor about his/her lineage, since some companies have attempted to sell tests sons, even in the Southeast. Most of these indi- proving the mother’s free lineage could deter- which suggest potential tribal origin. Those viduals or their ancestors, however, had at one mine the freedom of her children and grand- claims have recently been discredited. As it time been slaves. It is very likely the family was children (called “Law of the Womb”). There stands, DNA testing in Africa is too spotty to freed by a former owner. It is not that uncommon are also frequently legal cases attempting to justify pinpointing particular tribes of origin for to find slaves freed in wills, although sometimes overturn provisions of wills which free slaves. African Americans. This doesn’t mean that the application was made to a local superior court or But as the 19th century wore on, the number potential doesn’t exist, but, so far, insufficient to a state legislative body in the owners’ lifetime. of free black people resident in the South sampling has been done in Africa. DNA is use- Sometimes, but not always, special legacies and dropped dramatically. This is because the ful, however, in determining degrees of Cauca- freedoms given to slaves may indicate that the laws became more and more hostile to their sian, African, and Amerindian origin, and it can white owner was a relative of the slave—very presence, as arguments about the morality of help in deciding whether two people have the often the father or sexual partner. Slaves could slavery became more and more heated. same male ancestor in common. In spite of be freed on the grounds of meritorious service, The tragedy of black genealogy is that, family legends, however, much DNA testing and bonds were frequently made for their good has shown that very few African Americans eventually, all research avenues, except behavior and upkeep as free people. There were those of discovered white ancestors, will tend have substantial American Indian ancestry. also certain individuals, mostly Quakers, who This legends about Indian forebears may have to become so obscure as to become impossi- purchased slaves in order to free them and ble to follow any longer. The lack of surnames sprung up to explain non-African features transport them elsewhere. In court records, you which most often have their origins in white and the spotty private and public records of may find cases disputing a person’s free status. ownership, sale, birth, and death constructs a male sexual exploitation of black women. These can be treasure troves of genealogical brick wall impossible to penetrate. In recent information which probably couldn’t be obtained years, DNA evidence has held out the prom-