I’ve just discovered the wonderful “Lost Friends” database. It contains ads of former slaves searching for their loved ones after emancipation. Sold away or otherwise taken away by slaveholders, enslaved people often never saw their loved ones again. I posted a few months ago about these ads. Ads here are from the Southwestern Christian Advocate […]
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Category: Slave Research
How Were Slaves Sold?
It is a well-known fact when researching African-American enslaved ancestors that slaves were frequently sold. In fact, many enslaved people had a personal experience of their own sale or that of another family member. It’s recounted in numerous slave narratives, such as this excerpt from Leonard Black’s narrative: “As near as I can remember, my […]
Slave Research: Four Things You Need to ...
I’ve been conducting slave research on my family and teaching others how to do it for about 18 years now. There are a few points I tend to mention repeatedly on Reclaiming Kin, but thought it would be a good idea to list them all in one place. Especially for beginners, there are some things […]
Researching U.S. Colored Troops
For many years now, I’ve been interested in researching U.S. Colored Troops who served in Union forces from the communities where my family lived. Almost 200,000 black people, slaves and free blacks, served in the Union Army and Navy. The 1863 Emancipation Proclamation began the process of large-scale recruitment of black men into the service as […]
Slaves Search For Their Families in News...
After emancipation, former slaves placed thousands of ads in newspapers in search of sold-away spouses and children. These ads are just one more source that document the sale of millions of enslaved people. False Reasons Slaveowners conjured up many reasons to justify the buying and selling of people, especially when breaking up families. One was that […]
Henry’s Slaves: One in a Million
There have been only a few times in the 18 years of my research that have truly taken my breath away. I just had another one. John Campbell Henry’s Inventory I was researching the possible owners of a group of former slaves from Dorchester County, Maryland. John Campbell Henry died in 1857. A former governor […]
Freedmens Bureau Jewels: “They are a rat
Familysearch released three more sets of Freedmens Bureau Field Office records recently.Now, the Bureau field office records for all southern states are online, free for viewing! Sign in at Familysearch.org, click on “Browse the records,” and then type “Freedmen” in the search box and the links for each state will appear. I cannot overemphasize how valuable […]
There Were No “Good” Slaveowners
I’m convinced that slave research and the research of slaveowners is some of the toughest genealogy research the field will ever see. This is a long post, but I hope you’ll read it all. I also recommend reading “The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism,” by Edward Baptist. The book […]
Slave Research in Community Papers
Slave research can be frustrating, but there are an endless array of records in which to uncover the lives of our ancestors. Many are little known and uncommon, but still filled with possibilities. What Are Community Papers? The private records of local citizens is one kind of valuable source. These are usually stored in the […]
Slave Distributions
One of the most important pieces of information those of us researching enslaved ancestors need to know is how the slaves are distributed after the owner’s death. If we’re lucky, there’s a will that tells us to whom each slave is bequeathed. Most of the time, there’s not. There are many wills that simply say […]