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African American Genealogy Research: Strategies for Tracing Your Family History

Writer's picture: tristathegenealogisttristathegenealogist

Updated: Aug 7, 2024

An African American family posing for a photo at Coney Island in 1911
The Brown family at Coney Island, c. 1911

Why is African American Genealogy Research so Challenging?

Tracing your African American ancestry can be an exciting adventure, but it can also be a challenging one due to the legacy of slavery. Our ancestors were largely prohibited from activities that generate genealogical records (reading, writing, attending school, legally marrying, owning land, owning a business, voting etc.), making it difficult to establish ancestry. Surnames, naming practices, and family structures were often inconsistent or non-existent. Finding relevant information in historical records can be frustrating, but with diligent research, it's still possible to uncover the stories of your ancestors and gain a deeper understanding of your heritage.


In this blog post, we'll discuss some of the roadblocks 🚧 to African American genealogy research and potential routes 🗺️ to success.


🗺️ Understanding the Timeline

Having a general understanding of the events and migrations of African Americans is crucial to successful research and will provide clues to help you decide where and how to look for your ancestors.


Here are some milestones in African American history that may have affected your ancestors’ movements:


  • 1619: Arrival of the first enslaved Africans

  • Civil War (1861-1865): Conflict between the Northern Union and the Southern Confederacy over issues including slavery,

  • Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Lincoln's order freeing enslaved people

  • Reconstruction Era (1865-1877): Efforts to integrate formerly enslaved African Americans into society.

  • Jim Crow Laws (Late 19th to mid-20th century): Legalized racial segregation, primarily in Southern U.S.

  • First Great Migration (1916-1940s): African Americans migrated to the North to escape racial discrimination and pursue better opportunities.

  • Second Great Migration (1940s-1970s): African Americans migrated from the South to urban areas seeking economic opportunities and to escape segregation and racial violence.


🗺️ Locating Holders of Your Enslaved Ancestors

Contrary to popular belief, only about 15 percent of former slaves adopted the surname of their last owner. Many chose surnames based on people they looked up to, like politicians or other famous figures. If your ancestor is part of that 15 percent, here is one way to connect them to a slaveholder and potentially to other family members.


  1. Locate your family in the 1870 Federal Census.

  2. Search the 1860 Slave Schedules for slave-holding individuals of the same surname and look for groupings of enslaved people who line up with your family members, based on age and gender in 1860.

  3. Search digital archives like the Freedman’s Bureau Records and slave petitions for mentions of your ancestor or any of their nearby relatives.

  4. You can also search for info about your ancestors by name in slave-holder wills and probate records.


Four seprarte portraits of African American people c.early 1900's

Another scenario to consider is one I encountered while researching my own family. I used the method mentioned above and discovered the link between my ancestor and a slaveholder who shared my last name. However, it wasn’t the connection I had anticipated. Based on my research, I suspected that my ancestors were “owned” by that slave-holding family and had taken their last name after emancipation, but using DNA results with confirmation from an elderly relative still living in the area, I discovered that my great-grandfather was actually fathered by the plantation owner's grandson. I've written about this experience in detail in another blog post.

 

🗺️ Slave Databases and Records

To uncover this information, try reviewing records of slave sales and manifests regulated by most states. They can be found at State libraries, archives, historical societies, or county courthouses.


The National Archives keeps records related to the formerly enslaved and former slaveholders from the Civil War and Reconstruction eras (1861-1877). These include military records and documents from the Freedmen’s Bureau, Freedman’s Bank records, and Southern Claims Commission records. Many of these records have been digitized and are accessible on genealogy websites, including FamilySearch, Fold3, and Ancestry.com.

 

🚧 Destruction of Records and Archives

Further complicating matters, many Southern states lost records due to the Civil War and courthouse fires, and vital events like births, marriages, and deaths were often not recorded until after 1900. Even African Americans with ancestors who were free before 1865 may face obstacles if their family members moved frequently, worked for others, and did not own land.


🗺️ Local In-person Research

To tackle this problem, consider working with local historical societies and archives that may have access to lesser-known records and sources. However, this option requires in-person research and may not be feasible for everyone. If you live in the area you're researching or plan to visit, you can start by searching online for local genealogical societies or visiting a nearby FamilySearch Center. Either option can help point you in the right direction.

 

🚧 Lack of Official Records Post-Slavery

Historically, African Americans faced systemic barriers, including limited access to education and other social benefits that produce official records. As a result, fewer written records are available for descendants to trace their family history through conventional means. This lack of documentation creates a knowledge gap, again making constructing a complete family history difficult.

 

🗺️ The Freedman Bureau Records

During the Civil War, the United States government created the Freedmen's Bureau and Freedman’s Bank to help former slaves and poor people in the Southern States recover post-emancipation. The bureau was active from 1865 to 1872.


An African American father standing in the doorway of his home with his child

The records kept by the Freedmen's Bureau can provide valuable information about former slaves and their families, including full names and the names of former masters. They also include local censuses, marriage records, and medical records. Unlike pre-1860 Federal censuses that listed slaves under their master's household, the Freedmen's Bureau records give us a more complete picture of the lives of freed people.


The Freedman Bureau and Bank records

are searchable at FamilySearch.org

 

🚧 Fragmented Families Due to Slavery

During slavery, many African American families were separated and sold away from each other, which led to the loss of family connections. As a result, tracing our lineage and learning about our family history can be challenging. However, there are alternative ways you can search for clues to help track the movements of enslaved people and potentially find connections between family members who were separated.

 

🗺️ Using DNA Results to Fill in the Blanks

I highly recommend submitting your DNA to a service that also offers family tree-building capability, like Ancestry or MyHeritage, to fill in the gaps in your family tree. Your DNA matches can help you make connections that you might have missed otherwise.

 

An African American family of adults and children. c. 1930's

🚧 The Great Migration

The Great Migration, during which millions of African Americans moved from the rural South to urban areas in the North between 1916 and 1970, further complicated family history research. Families became spread out across different regions, making it challenging to trace their paths. The movement of individuals and families during this period also made it more challenging to identify family connections and geographical roots.

 

🗺️ Federal Census Records and Newspaper Archives

 To start tracing your African American family's path, you can refer to Federal census records or any other records that include an individual's parents' place of birth. Unfortunately, this strategy will only take you as far as the 1870 census, which was the first census to list African Americans by their names.


If you're trying to connect the dots between yourself and a known ancestor and have lost track of them in their last-known location, you might try researching a family member who stayed in the area.


Look for evidence of your ancestor in obituaries by searching newspaper archives, and military draft records. When you make a positive identification, you might even do a little happy dance, just like me.


Conclusion

Tracing African American ancestry can be challenging, but it's a rewarding journey that requires patience, persistence, and a carefully curated collection of research tools. Despite the legacy of slavery complicating things, each discovery offers insights into the strength of past generations. We honor our ancestors when we keep pushing forward and remain committed to uncovering our African American heritage, one discovery at a time.


Links to Free African American Genealogy Sites

➡️ Enslaved

➡️ BlackPast

 

Keep your family’s stories alive. Contact me at hello@tristathegenealogist.com or through the contact page on my website, and together, we can ensure that your legacy lives on for generations to come. Don't wait until it's too late.


Trista the Genealogist wearing a shirt that says, :Who's your daddy?"

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