Aug 30, 2017 Orange County Review
The black slave in the United States was not undervalued, not monetarily! Records indicate that the dollar value of the enslaved man, woman and child was highly recognized and in many cases obsessively followed between 1810 and 1860 when the domestic slave trade was prospering.
However, much like the market value for a fine horse, it was the level of skill and the physical quality of the product that mattered. The character and humanity of the individual was not a consideration. To that point, most black families prior to Emancipation lived their lives as unnamed, unregistered, undocumented individuals and thus their identities were lost to future generations. A situation that created not only a catastrophic break in familial lineage but a massive abyss in the history of the United States.
But, all is not lost! Researchers, descendants and interested parties utilizing the tools of genealogical and historic investigations can unite families and enlighten the ill-informed.
t is not an easy path but every year new resources are surfacing and being made widely accessible through digitization.
It is my hope that you will find interesting and useful a few tips and techniques provided below that are targeted at finding more about our enslaved ancestors.
Key sources include:
Census records; Virginia’s birth records beginning in 1853 that include both free and enslaved births; Freedman’s Bank Records; Freedmen’s Bureau Records; Personal Property Tax Records; and the all-essential 1870 census. Many of these can be located on the Internet or at your local library.
Courthouse records are invaluable and include deeds, wills, birth, death and marriage documents.
This listing is not intended to be complete, but rather a sampling of essential resources. However, searching resources will only get you but so far along the path to discovery. As in any investigation, it is how one uses the findings that will ultimately determine the level of success which brings us to the topic of techniques.
Well-documented results demand that the researcher analyzes all findings. There is a place for those who only collect data and I am forever grateful for their efforts, but if you hope to link lost families with living descendants, you must do more.
Cross-reference, compare and continue.
Is the name spelled differently? But are there given names that repeat in subsequent generations?
Birth years will often vary and can be noted but not necessarily be a negating factor, unless we are talking about a 30- or 40- year difference. Then we may have stumbled on different generations in the same family.
Marriage records can indicate birth year, parents of parties, first or second marriage, place of residence and who performed the ceremony.
The birth records prior to Emancipation often contain data that can inform the researcher as to when the enslaved was born, the mother’s given name and who the owner/master was at the time of the birth.
If one can determine the identity of the enslaver, it opens a well spring of potential additional information that can be found in wills, deeds, diaries and other forms of correspondence.
The ancestor may have participated in the Freedman’s Bank system where there will be yet another record of data.
Comparing findings from these sources with results from searching the Freedmen’s Bureau files for the ancestor’s name in labor contracts and/or claims, the early years (1867-1869) of the personal property tax records and the 1870 census should prove fruitful in tracking the ancestor.
There are no guarantees but I can say with certainty, there is much more to be discovered. The documented stories, once revealed, will connect families and set the record straight.
If you would like to hear the full presentation on this story and several others, plan to attend the conference at the Library of Virginia on Sept. 15 - 16. http://edu.lva.virginia.gov/african-american-genealogy-conference/
Until next week, be well.
Comments