Freedmen's Bureau records: the bridge across 1870 for African American families

Why they matter The 1870 census is the first federal census to name nearly all formerly enslaved people. Before that, enslaved people appear on the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules only as age, sex and colour under an enslaver's name. The records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (1865 to 1872) often bridge that gap, because they recorded freedpeople by name, with labour contracts, marriage registers, ration lists, school records, hospital records and complaints. Where they are - The National Archives holds the originals and publishes microfilm descriptions: https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/freedmens-bureau - The Freedmen's Bureau Project (2016) indexed millions of names through FamilySearch volunteers. Search them free at https://www.familysearch.org. The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture also hosts the collection and transcriptions. Related collections - Freedman's Savings and Trust Company records (1865 to 1874). Depositor cards often list parents, siblings, spouse, children and former enslaver. They are on FamilySearch. - Southern Claims Commission files, for testimony that names neighbours. Method 1. Find the family in 1870 and note the county. 2. Search the Bureau field office records for that county and nearby counties. 3. Note the name of any former enslaver mentioned, then search that person's estate, probate and deed records, where enslaved people were listed as property. This is painful to read and it is often the only record of a name before 1865. Cite the field office, record type and NARA microfilm publication number for every find.