RESEARCHING African American AT THE MARYLAND STATE ArCHIVES BY PHEBE R. JACOBSEN & MARYLAND STATE ARCHIVES HOW TO BEGIN NAMES The genealogy of an African American family African Americans, for the most part, will use begins in the same manner as with a family the same records as anyone else searching their of any race. Start with your immediate family family history. These records in clude probate and go backwards in your search, generation by (estate settlement) records, land records, generation, being certain at every step to docu- mili tary records, court records, federal rec ords, ment all written proof of family rela tionships and church records. Most people have ac cepted discovered. Write down or record remembrances the tradition that enslaved people, when freed, of older relatives. Even if no written record took the surname of their former owner. But exists, oral tradition may provide valuable clues an examination of Maryland slave statistics, for continuing your search. Be sure, specifically, manumissions, and other records shows that to document the source of all of your infor- blacks took surnames the same way whites mation as you find it. had in earlier generations. Some freed slaves assumed the name of a respected white family, a beloved clergyman, or an admired black Manumission of Molly Gibbs, formerly called Poll, leader; others took a name from their trade, slave of Elizabeth Bordley, Anne Arundel County, from a physical trait, or from a geograph ical 1789 [ MSA C111-1-2] . eople researching African American history are particularly fortunate if their families lived in Maryland. A strong tradition of record keeping from the earliest days of settlement has resulted in the preservation of a vast amount of material relevant to African American history. This material can be found primarily at the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis, where the permanent public records of state, county, and local agen cies are conveniently centralized. Rec ords concerning African Americans, once neglected by professional historians and gen ealogists alike, provide new insights into the Maryland experience for people of color. Cover: Dawson-Curtis-Spriggs family, Background: Shell pliers, Baltimore City Oyster 1900 [MSA SC 1612-1-1]. House, before 1906. [MSA SC 1477-1-4741]. 1 HOW TO BEGIN NAMES The genealogy of an African American family African Americans, for the most part, will use begins in the same manner as with a family the same records as anyone else searching their of any race. Start with your immediate family family history. These records in clude probate and go backwards in your search, generation by (estate settlement) records, land records, generation, being certain at every step to docu- mili tary records, court records, federal rec ords, ment all written proof of family rela tionships and church records. Most people have ac cepted discovered. Write down or record remembrances the tradition that enslaved people, when freed, of older relatives. Even if no written record took the surname of their former owner. But exists, oral tradition may provide valuable clues an examination of Maryland slave statistics, for continuing your search. Be sure, specifically, manumissions, and other records shows that to document the source of all of your infor- blacks took surnames the same way whites mation as you find it. had in earlier generations. Some freed slaves assumed the name of a respected white family, a beloved clergyman, or an admired black Manumission of Molly Gibbs, formerly called Poll, leader; others took a name from their trade, slave of Elizabeth Bordley, Anne Arundel County, from a physical trait, or from a geograph ical 1789 [ MSA C111-1-2] . eople researching African American history are particularly fortunate if their families lived in Maryland. A strong tradition of record keeping from the earliest days of settlement has resulted in the preservation of a vast amount of material relevant to African American history. This material can be found primarily at the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis, where the permanent public records of state, county, and local agen cies are conveniently centralized. Rec ords concerning African Americans, once neglected by professional historians and gen ealogists alike, provide new insights into the Maryland experience for people of color. Cover: Dawson-Curtis-Spriggs family, Background: Shell pliers, Baltimore City Oyster 1900 [MSA SC 1612-1-1]. House, before 1906. [MSA SC 1477-1-4741]. 1 feature where they lived. At times, you also see a) Manumissions b) Certificates of Freedom these years also lists personal information names derived from Ancient Greek and Roman A manumission is the legal document freeing Certificates of freedom were first is sued in about the individuals, including but not limited works, or those found in the Bible. Only in rare an enslaved person by an act of their owner. 1806. The legislature passed a law (Chapter to: gender, race, value of property, and occupa- instances are names of African origin found. Between 1752 and 1796, manumissions could 66, Laws of Maryland 1805) that required all tion. The slave schedules of the U.S. Census for Sometimes, if a white owner ac knowledged only be accom plished by deed, so manumissions free blacks to register at the county court, 1850 and 1860 list the names of slaveholders a relationship to the person freed or if a free were recorded in the county land records. certifying by what means they were freed and the number of slaves in their possession black man purchased his enslaved wife and Some manumissions can be found in court and recording physical characteristics such as in county districts in the state. Most census children so that he could manumit them, the documents called chat tel records. By the end height, color of eyes, complexion, and hair so takers did not record slaves in a cumulative surname of the father, either white or black, of the eighteenth century, certain counties, that each free black person could be identified fashion; rather each slave was counted with was retained. It is important, however, that the like Anne Arundel, Dorchester, and Queen by a certificate with a matching description. the number (1). The gender, age, and race of researcher not assume that a white family bear- Anne’s, kept manumissions in separate books. These certificates were generally recorded in the slaves were recorded, but the names of the ing the same surname as a free black one was Ex cept for the period 1752–1796, manumis sions a separate record series. Some can be found individual slaves were not. The census of 1870 the family that had formerly held that person, also could be made by will and may be found with manumissions, however, and a few will be was the first census taken after the Civil War or his ancestor, in bondage. This ambiguity, in the probate record series. found among the county land records. and was the first to list all African Americans. unfortunately, makes the search for enslaved The Legacy of Slavery Program staff has ancestors far more difficult. But, in many cases, Please note that, in order to maximize acces- abstracted information from federal census information can be gathered with pa tience, sibility of these essential records, the Maryland records from Maryland for the period 1776 time, and disciplined effort. State Archives Legacy of Slavery Program staff through 1880, with particular focus on the has digitized and inventoried all 111 manumis- period 1830 to 1880. These records were RECORDS RELATING EXCLUSIVELY sion and certificates of freedom record series. stripped to identify all households with free TO AFRICAN AmERICANS These scanned images can be accessed online blacks, enslaved people, and mulatto individuals. There are some records that relate specifi cally to through the Guide to Government Records The results can be found in a searchable African American Marylanders that will be of (http://guide.msa.maryland.gov/pages/index. online database accessible on the Legacy of particular interest and value. Six series, or types, aspx), and the searchable online database Slavery Program website at: http://slavery2. of records bear specifically on the lives of found on the Legacy of Slavery Program msa.maryland.gov/pages/Search.aspx. Maryland African Americans. They are: website at: http://slavery2.msa.maryland.gov/ Manumissions, Certifi cates of Freedom, the pages/Search.aspx. These documents include Census of Negroes (1832) and the Maryland Census of 1832, Slave Statistics, Military Records names of enslaved and free African Americans, Colonization Society (includ ing those for the United States Colored slave holders, counties of residence, and physical In 1832, the General Assembly authorized a Troops), and Certificates of Slaves. Manumis- descriptions of the recipients. census (Chapter 281, Laws of Maryland 1831) sions and Certificates of Freedom exist for almost to aid in the effort to resettle recently freed every Maryland county established prior to c) Census slaves and other free blacks in Liberia. The 1864, including Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Since 1790, the federal government has taken Maryland State Archives has schedules for Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, a census of the popu lation of the United States the Census of 1832 for Harford, Talbot, and Frederick, Harford, Howard, Kent, Prince every ten years. Enslaved and free blacks were Somer set counties, while the Maryland Histor- George’s, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, Talbot, St. included in the census to varying degrees ical Society in Baltimore holds microfilm of all 2017 forensic artist depiction of Lot Bell, slave of Silbey Mary’s, and Washington Counties, and Baltimore Bell, created from her 1816 certificate of freedom. throughout slavery’s existence. The census other counties except Baltimore and Baltimore City. Military records encompass sol diers from records for 1790, 1800, 1810, and 1820 give a City.