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The State Historical Society of Missouri
1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, Missouri 65201 | 800–747–6366 | shsofmo@umsystem.edu
African American Genealogy
GETTING STARTED
Researching African American ancestors follows essentially the same path as any genealogical research problem. Genealogists must first exhaust home resources including family bibles, newspaper clippings, birth, death, and marriage certificates, diaries, letters and other family memorabilia. They interview older family members and visit cemeteries. They use county, state, and federal records, such as the census, birth, death, and marriage records, wills, tax records, and land deeds. In addition to these sources, genealogists researching African Americans should not overlook several other valuable resources. Many museums, historical societies, universities, and local historical collections in public libraries have black history collections that should also be consulted. The State Historical Society has an excellent African American collection for the historian, as well as some very useful resources for the genealogist.
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE 1870 TO 1930 FEDERAL POPULATION CENSUSES
The census has been taken every ten years since 1790, but due to right-of-privacy laws, the 1930 Federal Population Census is the most recent one available to the public. The census schedules will help you to determine relationships within a family, ages, and occupation, as well as other valuable information. Because of the wealth of information to be found in the census, it is often the first resource genealogists consult after exhausting home resources.
Slaves were freed in 1865, so the 1870 census was the first to record every African American by name.
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE 1790 TO 1860 FEDERAL POPULATION CENSUSES
Prior to 1870 only free black individuals were listed in the census. In the 1800 to 1860 censuses, slaves were enumerated under the slaveholder’s name by age and sex. Only the total number of slaves owned by a slaveholder was reported in the 1790 census.
Genealogists who are descendants of slaves may find that their research will become more challenging prior to 1870. Slaves were the property of the slaveholder, so in order to continue researching the genealogist has to identify the slaveholder. Materials such as plantation records, wills, and inventories of estates provide means for discovering family documents.
SLAVE MARRIAGES
In Missouri, prior to the Civil War, marriages between slaves were not legally binding. After slavery ended in 1865, many former slaves became legally married. According to state law, the names of the children born before the marriage were also recorded
WILLS, INVENTORIES OF ESTATES AND DEEDS
Wills were the legal documents by which property, including slaves, was transferred from one person to another. Slaves were also manumitted in wills. Inventories of estates were compiled to determine the value of an estate prior to distribution among the heirs and to settle any debts.
^topRESOURCES AVAILABLE AT THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI
Although the State Historical Society has no original records of births, deaths, marriages, or probate and circuit court proceedings, it does have some privately published indexes to abstracts and transcriptions of some county records. The State Historical Society has numerous cemetery transcriptions in its collections. Researchers should keep in mind that some cemeteries have an African American section.
The State Historical Society staff maintains and regularly updates a “Bibliography of Material Pertaining to Black History held by the Society.” This comprehensive bibliography, with tabbed sections, is in a loose-leaf notebook [301.451] in the Reference Library. A selected bibliography of African American research resources is also available online.
During the past 50 years the prevailing popular culture has imposed changing terms in regard to African American studies. Thus the researcher will maximize his efforts by checking the following subject headings in the SHS Main Card Catalog [and card catalogs of other research facilities, as well]: African, African American, Afro-American, Black, Blacks, Black American, Colored, Negro, Negroes, and Slavery in the U. S.
MILITARY RECORDS
The State Historical Society has Hewitt, Janet B., ed. The Roster of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865, United States Colored Troops. Wilmington, N. C.: Broadfoot Publishing Co., 1997. SHS holdings also include the microfilm Compiled Service Records of both the Union and Confederate armies. These records can be very useful.
Records ancillary to the war are those of the Claims Commission. These records are available through the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This commission reviewed claims by those whose property was taken away during the Civil War. Claimants had to prove ownership and loyalty to the Union. Some former slaves and free blacks are included in the claims. These records include affidavits of witnesses and depositions. The commission asked 82 questions of each claimant. The questions covered family data. By inference one can gain much information through these records. The Claims Commission closed in 1880. By 1887 disallowed claims were forwarded to the Court of Claims, which is another source of records.
During the Reconstruction period many African Americans were destitute. The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands issued rations and endeavored to get people back to work on abandoned lands. This bureau kept records on claimants.
Government involvement includes detailed record keeping. Researchers have to work their way through this data, approaching it by the type of agency, rather than through the name of an individual. Much of the material is not indexed or cross-referenced, but substantial data can be identified through diligent searching. Some examples include: marriage certificates, marriage lists, contracts of indentures, orphan lists, and hospital records. These documents had to be provided in order to justify claims.
Another resource at the National Archives in Washington, D. C. is the archive of the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company, established after the war in 1865 to assist black soldiers. The account records included family information in order to establish heirs to the accounts. The records are not the best, and the bank failed after nine years. For the most part they are not indexed and have to be read line by line. In order to liquidate the accounts, bank patrons had to send in their passbooks and answer questions.
Black History, A Guide to Civilian Records in the National Archives, compiled by Debra L. Newman, National Archives Trust Fund Board, General Services Administration, Washington, D. C. 1984 [301.451 N463] outlines resources in the National Archives.
Black Studies, A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications, National Archives Trust Fund Board, U. S. General Services Administration, Washington, D. C., 1984 [301.451 Un3 1984] lists many valuable sources for documenting African American family history.
NEWSPAPERS
The Society’s newspaper collection, dating from 1808 to the present, is the largest repository of state newspapers in the nation. The collection includes newspapers from every Missouri county with 4,500 different titles preserved on 50,000 rolls of microfilm. Most newspapers in the Society’s collection are not indexed but are still a good resource for information about community news, births, deaths, marriages, and legal notices. The Society also has a collection of African American newspapers, which includes the following titles:
Caruthersville:Caruthersville Anchor
Charleston:Charleston Spokesman
Columbia:Blackout, Professional World
Hannibal:Home Protective Record
Jefferson City:Western Messenger
Joplin:Uplift
Kansas City:Baptist Record, Western Messenger, Globe, Inter-State Herald, American, Call, Sun, Liberator, Missouri State Post, Rising Son, Son, Western Christian Recorder, Western Messenger
St. Louis:Advance, American, Argus, Palladium, Sentinel, Western Messenger
Sedalia:Weekly, Conservator, Searchlight, Times
Sikeston:Southeast Missouri World, Southern Sun
Springfield:American Negro
For specific dates, contact the Society’s Newspaper Library staff or seach the Society’s Newspaper Catalog or through the University of Missouri's Library Catalog.
BOOKS AND REFERENCE SOURCES
Many books are available on African American history. The State Historical Society of Missouri has both a select and a comprehensive bibliography of its resources on African American genealogy. The holdings of the State Historical Society are extensive.
^topADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE
Information may be gained from the sources listed below. In some cases there may be a fee involved. In all cases researchers should enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) for the reply
Any links in this section will take you outside the Society’s Web site. The Society is not responsible for the content.
Black Archives of Mid-America
2033 Vine
Kansas City, MO 64108
Mid-West Afro-American Genealogical Interest Coalition (MAGIC)
c/o Bruce Watkins Cultural Heritage Center
3700 Blue Parkway
Kansas City, MO 64130
Missouri State Archives
P.O.Box 778
660 West Main Street
Jefferson City, MO 65102
A Guide to County and Municipal Records on Microfilm, Rebecca McDowell Cook, Secretary of State, Kenneth H. Winn, State Archivist, [ca. 1995] The items include Marriage records and sometimes separate Negro and colored marriage records.
African American History Initiative
The initiative aims to create a broad public awareness of the rich contributions of African Americans to the state.
Guide to African American History at the Missouri State Archives
Timeline of Missouri's African American History
Before Dred Scott: Freedom Suits in Antebellum Missouri
National Archives and Records Administration
700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20408-0001
Schomburg Center for Black Research
New York Public Library
515 Lenox Ave.
New York, NY 10037
WEBSITES
Electronic resources for African American genealogical research offer much useful data and seem to be developing rapidly. Here are some good possibilities:
These links will take you outside the Society’s Web site. The Society is not responsible for the content.
www.gensource.com [Freedman’s Bureau Records]
