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Freedman's Bureau Records for Orange County

Writer's picture: Zann NelsonZann Nelson

Jul 22, 2016 Orange County Review


A Freedman's Bureau receipt for WP Cave outlining the terms of service of Abraham Shepherd, a slave freed by Dolley Madison’s son John Payne Todd upon his death in 1852. However, because Todd was deeply in debt, some of his slaves, including Shepherd, were transferred to further service to reconcile his debts.

Contributed Photo


You may have heard me reference the Freedman’s Bureau records and wondered what that might be all about. I can tell you the records provide a wealth of information, some of which may surprise you. But first, I’ll offer a bit of background on the nature of the federal agency.

The name "Freedmen’s Bureau" is only partial and because of that fact, somewhat misleading. The full name was The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands.


The agency was established in March of 1865 with the overarching purpose of reconciliation once the Civil War ended. Reconciliation was targeted at yes, the newly freedman, but also those white citizens of the south who had become impoverished due to the ravages of war, a fact that has been all but lost to historic accounts. There is no dispute that the bulk of the efforts were on behalf of the freedmen, partially because much of the federal aid was refused by most whites.


The agency published detailed orders to each of the jurisdictional superintendents instructing them clearly on what they were to accomplish and the expected reports.


They were:

• to encourage the freedmen to find work and landowners to employ the freedman; there were to be contracts between the two parties which the agency approved and monitored;

• aid in the establishment of schools at the minimum to teach the freedmen to read and write;

• to oversee legal claims primarily by freedmen in family matters as well as other types of civil and criminal disputes;

• to create a database recognizing the freedmen as individuals with a first and last name, age, parents, spouse and children (much like the census records that had previously identified these same individuals only by age and gender);

• to provide the bare necessities of clothing and food if non- existent otherwise.


The outcome of these efforts without dispute varied throughout the south. In the immediate region of Culpeper, Orange, Madison and Louisa, it was considered to be beneficial, at least as long as it lasted.


The Freedmen’s Bureau office was operating at Orange Court House by June of 1865 and there are literally hundreds of records that pertain singularly to Orange County. Among those are reports, court cases and contracts. These have been digitized and are available online through Familysearch.org. An indexing project has recently been completed and when it is meshed with the data the files will be searchable by name.


If you have been following these articles and our quest for living descendants, you may remember the search for the history of Abraham Shepherd, born at Montpelier and enslaved by the Madison family. Abraham and several others were transferred from Dolley Madison to her son John Payne Todd, who via his will and upon his death in 1852, freed all of his slaves. But wait! He owed everybody and his brother money and some of the slaves he received from his mother may have been transferred with a lien for a previous debt. There is no record of freedom for Abraham or the others that were residing in Orange; none of these can be found in an 1860 census as free blacks.


A study of the Freedmen’s Bureau files revealed a contract between Abraham Shepherd and family and Wm. P. Cave of Montebello (Rapidan). Combined with other documents, the preponderance of evidence concludes that Abraham and wife Nancy became the property of Richard Cave (father of Wm.P.). His story is both fascinating and inspiring.


Until next week, be well.

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