G2G: Knowledge About Freed Enslaved Men in Ohio in 1860s?

Question

I've been working on creating profiles for soldiers from the 5th Regiment US Colored Infantry who died during the Civil War. This started as Memorial Day weekend project (https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1583242/weekend-sprint-memorial-create-profiles-regiment-soldiers?show=1583242#q1583242). I found it so rewarding, I've continued the work beyond that weekend.

Many of these volunteer soldiers were born in the south, and I'm assuming many had to have been born enslaved. The regiment was formed in Ohio, and I've found sources to indicate most of them lived in Ohio at the time of enlistment. Came across the first one yesterday that had some documentation in the pension application that he and his wife had been slaves (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Singer-2253). I've only found sources to indicate one of the soldiers was born a free person.

My question: is it likely most of these men were in Ohio because of the underground railroad? Or was there some kind of mass migration around the time of the Emancipation Proclamation from Virginia and North Carolina to Ohio? Most of them are from VA and NC.

Followup question: is anyone here an "expert" on finding family lines for freed enslaved persons before the Civil War? For most of these soldiers, I can't find any record of their lives before enlistment. The only reference I have to where they were born is the enlistment papers.

Thanks for any thoughts/help!

Comments

[[Copeland-2505|John Anthony Copeland Jr. (1834-1859)]] was born a freeman. He met John Brown at an abolitionist meeting and helped free slaves in the south. He was with John Brown at Harpers Ferry and escaped back to Ohio, but was arrested by marshals and eventually hung.  I don't know how many slaves he rescued before his death, but there are detailed records of the trial in newspapers.

His father [[Copeland-6651|John Anthony Copeland Sr (1808-1893)]] was born a slave in North Carolina and later freed. He lived in the south as a freedman for a period, but left for Ohio because of the hostilities toward blacks. He has an interesting story to tell of his journey.

Answer 1

Ohio was one one the paths for the Underground Railroad. It could be dangerous for those escaping slavery to stay in Ohio, though, after the Dred Scott case. Many who were escaping tried to get further north into Michigan or, ideally, into Canada.

It was safer for those who had been manumitted or were born as Free People of Color. However, beginning in 1807, Blacks in the state were supposed to register their manumission in the county where they were going to be living, and have two people testify to their "good behavior."

Several Black settlements in the state were founded by groups of families who had been manumitted by Virginian slaveholders, including Burlington in Lawrence County and the Gist settlement in Highland County.

Comments

Thank you Amy, that's a helpful description. Did a search for "Ohio manumission records" and found at least one source. The enlistment records do often have the county of residence at time of enlistment, and these records are by county. Maybe I can use this to find out a little more about these soldiers.  https://www.ohiohistory.org/what-are-manumission-registers/

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Some counties kept manumission records in separate volumes. Other counties recorded them in the deed books in the Recorder's Office.

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I was born in Indiana and back living here as an adult. So grew up knowing some about the underground railroad, and discovered a year or so ago that a 3-great grandfather, Seth Hinshaw, was a well-known abolitionist and partner in it. But don't know all that much about the particulars of migration paths or dates/times. I'm learning!

Answer 2

I just wanted to stop by and say thank you for working on these profiles! So many descendants don't know they have Civil War soldiers in their family tree and by adding them to WikiTree, they'll be able to see the connection.

Comments

Hi Emma, when I volunteered for the project, I did it more out of curiosity than anything. I didn't know anything about Civil War soldiers or what records to work with. I've learned so much, but more than that, I'm touched that for many of these men who died during the war, the military records appear to be the only documentation of their lives. A few of them who were buried in national cemeteries also have FindAGrave profiles, but for most I can't find burial records. You're right about having the WikiTree profile as a way for future generations to find these long forgotten family members. And that feels pretty worthwhile to do!

Answer 3

Thanks for continuing to work on these profiles Beverly!

I think just looking at it geographically, Ohio was the closest free state to many parts of Virginia (which at the time also included present-day West Virginia) and North Carolina, so there is a lot of migration of Black people/families during this time period to Ohio from these states (as well as other nearby states with legalized slavery like Kentucky). Some of it came from the Underground Railroad and some migration was able to be more open, but like Amy said, it could still be dangerous because of laws/practices like the Fugitive Slave Act and the decision in the Dred Scott case. I know one factor with Virginia is that it had a law passed in 1806 that required people who had been freed from slavery to leave the state within a year of being freed unless they received special legal permission to remain in the state.

In terms of identifying these family lines, it can be tough, although it is slowly becoming easier as more records are being digitized and indexed over time. It usually requires looking at sources besides traditional genealogy sources (sale bills, plantation diaries, etc.) or sources from enslavers (their wills/probate records, etc.).We do have some tips for finding enslaved ancestors. With all the work you're doing on these soldiers and their families, you might also be interested in joining the US Black Heritage Project and going through our PATH training, especially the Heritage Exchange part which goes through our process for documenting slavery on WikiTree. You can sign up here if you're interested. We'd be happy to have you :)

Comments

I'm actually really enjoying working on them...I figure 1 per day and they'll all be done in a couple of months.

I saw that training the other day and may do it. I'm torn between continuing to finish all the profiles and finding connections for the ones I've already created. One of the challenges is that these men aren't ancestors of anyone (for the most part). They died as very young men, mostly before they were married or had children. And they're not likely to be in someone's will because they were free before enlisting.

What got me thinking about going deeper is the mention on one of the affadavits for a pension application that the soldier and wife had been married on the plantation of their former enslaver, with his name and location. That was in early 1864, and by May 1864 they were in Ohio. In July 1864 he enlisted, and their son was born in October 1864. So they weren't free very long before he left and never came home again.  :(

Answer 4

Yes! There was additional incentive for black and mixed race people to move out of Virginia and North Carolina in the early half of the 19th century.

About 8–10% of the black and mixed race population in those two states were "free people of color." Most of them traced their roots as free people to the Colonial era. (Colonial Assemblies passed laws that declared whether a child was free or enslaved based on the mother. Mixed race children with a white mother were "free" by birth. These were usually the children of white indentured women in common-law marriages with enslaved men.) While they were not treated as full equals, they did have far more rights than we might imagine: Some free African American and mixed race men in these states even had the right to vote!

But in the beginning of the 19th century both Virginia and North Carolina began to change their laws and place greater restrictions on free black and mixed race people.

From Paul Heinegg's website, Free African Americans (See: Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina > Introduction—Free Negro Code):

Many free African American families sold their land in the early nineteenth century and headed west or remained in North Carolina as poor farm laborers. This was probably the consequence of a combination of deteriorating economic conditions and the restrictive "Free Negro Code."

Beginning in 1826 and continuing through the 1850s, North Carolina passed a series of restrictive laws termed the "Free Negro Code" by John Hope Franklin...

Many of those who left the state were enumerated in the 1840–1860 censuses of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan.

So, a number of the men you are researching may never have been enslaved.

Heinegg's website has good lists of names and brief histories for many of the known free families. It might help give you some clues about whether a particular person might be free or previously enslaved.

You might also find free people that came from Tennessee, Kentucky or possibly South Carolina. But conditions and laws were very different in other states. For example, fewer than 1% of the Black people in pre-war Georgia were free. It's probably safe to assume that people from Georgia had been enslaved.

Comments

I find this info very rewarding because I could never understand how my great-grandmother (3x) a white lady who had 10 mixed kids(1839-1869) with my great-grandfather (3x) an owned slave in Va. The kids were free while their dad was still a slave until 1851 he bought his freedom for $1 from his master even though they got married in 1841. My great-grandmother (3x) lived next door to her husband's master until they left Va. once he got his freedom papers and moved to Ohio. because she was afraid he would get RE-ENSLAVED if they stayed in Va. even though he had his freedom paper(receipt)- Now I understand while the kids were freed but he wasn't!!!!

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Glad it was helpful!

Paul Heinegg's work really helped me understand a lot about the possibilities in my ancestry, too.

Answer 5

Also to consider is that many states, such as Georgia, and I believe South Carolina and Virginia, had laws that required that the persons who were manumitted must leave the state. Since Ohio was pretty much the nearest free state, they went there.

I've been creating profiles for the 55th Massachusetts in the Civil War and I've run into the same thing - lack of sources and many of these soldiers either dying young or not having families for other reasons. However, it is just as helpful to future generations of their siblings, etc. I've had many people contact me (on Ancestry) to say they had no idea they had a Civil War soldier in their family! Most of the soldiers from the 55th were from Ohio and went to Massachusetts to sign up.

Thank you so much for your work, it is very much appreciated!

Answer 6

Hi Beverly! Thank you so much for doing this work! I added project related categories, a slave category and the slave owner heading in the bio.

Comments

Thank you for that! I didn't know there were categories about slavery, but of course there are!

Answer 7

Lucy is correct (see her answer above) that laws increasingly required those manumitted to leave many southern states. North Carolina enacted laws which criminalized the Quaker practice of 'owning' slaves who were kept safe, educated, and eventually moved North (the original impetus seems to have been to keep them safe and educate them in the hope slavery would be abolished in the state where they could then remain). 

The UGRR from North Carolina into Ohio/Indiana (and on into Canada) was principally formed through Quaker connections from the Quaker exodus (which began earlier than many think). An excellent first hand account may be found in the Reminiscences of Levi Coffin covering both the Quaker exodus (of which he was a part) and the development of the UGRR of which he was dubbed the "president."