{"id":31751,"date":"2018-06-04T11:59:32","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T15:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=31751"},"modified":"2024-03-13T11:45:33","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T15:45:33","slug":"genealogy-101-using-records-from-the-freedmens-bureau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/genealogy-101-using-records-from-the-freedmens-bureau.html","title":{"rendered":"Genealogy 101: Using Records from the Freedmen\u2019s Bureau"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega gives tips for using the records of the Freedmen\u2019s Bureau, 1865-1872. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.<\/span>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

After the Civil War, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (\u201cFreedmen\u2019s Bureau\u201d) assisted former slaves and impoverished whites in the Southern states and the District of Columbia between 1865-1872.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: a Freedmen\u2019s Bureau agent stands between armed groups of whites and freedmen, by Alfred Rudolph Waud, 1868. Credit: Harper\u2019s Weekly; Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to the National Archives and Records Administration\u2019s website African American Records: Freedmen\u2019s Bureau, the Bureau:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026issued food and clothing, operated hospitals and temporary camps, helped locate family members, promoted education, helped freedmen legalize marriages, provided employment, supervised labor contracts, provided legal representation, investigated racial confrontations, settled freedmen on abandoned or confiscated lands, and worked with African American soldiers and sailors and their heirs to secure back pay, bounty payments, and pensions.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/a>
Image source: National Archives and Records Administration.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Bureau\u2019s records are available to the public on microfilm, and some records have been digitized and indexed. According to its website:<\/p>\n

\u201cThese records present the genealogist and social historian with an unequaled wealth of information that extends the reach of black family studies. Documents such as local censuses, marriage records, and medical records provide freedpeople\u2019s full names and former masters; Federal censuses through 1860 listed slaves only statistically under the master\u2019s household.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Types of Records<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, what kinds of records did the Freedmen\u2019s Bureau create? There\u2019s a wide range with rich genealogical information including marriage records, food rations, \u201ccensus lists, details of labor and apprenticeship agreements, back pay records, complaint registers, personal data about black soldiers (including company and regiment), school records, hospital registers, census records, and records of murders committed against freedmen.\u201d(1) What this means is that records can include such information as name, age, location, familial relationships, occupation, and more.<\/p>\n

Information from records differs not only by type but also location. In this example of a marriage record from Mississippi, note the inclusion of previous relationships, number of children and parents\u2019 race. This is not true of all marriage records created through the Freedmen\u2019s Bureau; but consider how valuable these records are for researching a previously enslaved ancestor who left few records behind.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Image source: \u201cUnited States, Freedmen\u2019s Bureau Marriages, 1861-1872,\u201d database with images, FamilySearch (https:\/\/familysearch.org\/ark:\/61903\/3:1:S3HY-DYQN-TM?cc=1414908&wc=Q893-MY3%3A28210001%2C28530601%2C28439801: 20 May 2014), Mississippi > Christman > Mollie > image 1 of 1; National Archives, College Park, Maryland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finding Records<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2015, FamilySearch conducted a yearlong Freedmen\u2019s Bureau project utilizing 25,000 volunteers who indexed the names of 1.8 million people in partnership with the National Archives, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, and the California African American Museum.(2)<\/p>\n

Those images and indexes are now available on FamilySearch. You can learn more about searching the Freedmen\u2019s Bureau records and what information they contain on the FamilySearch Family History Research Wiki page, African American Freedmen\u2019s Bureau Records<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mapping the Freedmen\u2019s Bureau<\/a> is a website that assists researcher with locating:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sites where Freedman\u2019s Bureau offices were located… In addition, other institutions that served former slaves are marked \u2013 the branches of the Freedman\u2019s Savings Bank, Freedmen Schools, contraband camps, and even the location of battle sites where men who were in the U.S. Colored Troops fought.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: Office of the Freedmen’s Bureau, Memphis, Tennessee, 1866. Credit: Harper\u2019s Weekly; NYPL Digital Gallery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once you locate the area where your ancestor lived, you can click on the icon marking that area. This will provide you with information, the National Archive microfilm number for the records, and a link to see the digitized records on FamilySearch.<\/p>\n

The Freedmen\u2019s Bureau records are an important resource for researching your African American ancestor in the post-Civil War years. Thanks to the work of volunteers and organizations we now are able to search or browse these records to learn more.<\/p>\n

___________________<\/p>\n

(1) \u201cAfrican American Freedmen\u2019s Bureau Records,\u201d FamilySearch Family History Research Wiki (https:\/\/www.familysearch.org\/wiki\/en\/African_American_Freedmen%27s_Bureau_Records<\/a>: accessed 21 February 2018).
\n(2) \u201cThe Freedmen\u2019s Bureau Project,\u201d Discover Freedmen (http:\/\/www.discoverfreedmen.org\/<\/a>: accessed 8 Feb 2018).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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