Researching The Enslaved
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Surnames/tags: research slavery
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Research
Researching has been a great enjoyment to me. I am occasionally asked, "How did you find that?" Below are the techniques I use to research Plantations, Plantation Owners, and the Enslaved. I generally research using this type of order.
The Plantation
Use an internet search engine:
- By Name
- By Location
- By Owner
I have found the name of a Plantation in:
- Wills (example: Duck Creek Hundred[1])
- Probate Papers
- Deeds
- Freedmen's Labor Contracts
- Newspapers
- Family Papers and Correspondence (where they wrote the letter from)
- Court Records
- County Histories
Plantation History
Search the following:
- Google Books
- JSTOR
- State and County Online Archives
- Historical Society Online Archives
- Newspaper (sometimes you will find the plantation for sale and the ad will give lots of specifics about it, including the owner, where it is located, and sometimes the names of the enslaved)
- University (sometimes out of the state)
- Family Search, in their "Books" and "Subject" section
- Internet Archive[2]
- Chronicling America (this has free newspapers as well)[3]
- Historic Building Surveys (These give ownership history with dates. See this example[4])
Plantation Owner
For history on the plantation owner
- Family Tree/Profile if name is known
- Research the birth and death dates, burial history
- Freedmen's Labor Contracts
- Search internet for history on the plantation to find the owner
- Google Books
- Newspapers
- University Family Papers
The Enslaved
- Probate Papers
- Wills
- Deeds
- Court Records
- Newspaper clippings
- Family Papers
- Family Histories
- Slave Stories
- Freedmen's Labor Contracts (freed men had sometimes been enslaved on the plantation they signed work contracts for)
- Google Books
Online Information
Free Resources
Although there are many many free websites out there these are the ones I use most often:
Pay For Information
The information on these websites has been very useful for me:
- Newspapers.com
- Fold3.com
Finding the Names
No. 1 Rule: Look in records earlier than 1865. Occasionally you may find a journal or diary after that date that recorded the enslaved that used to live on a plantation. But in general, you need to look EARLIER than 1865. Freedmen's Bureau is my exception to that rule. These records date from 1865 to about 1868. There are often last names in the labor contracts, and other records that the Freedmen's Bureau kept. They also record the name of the Plantation contracted to work on, as well as the name of the current plantation owner.
Using Family Search
Many websites are self explanatory and include indexes. I use Family Search as my main research tool. Although some of the information on the Family Search website is locked unless you are at the LDS library, or have a LDS church account. I do all my research online, and the good news is... much of their online information is UNLOCKED and FREE to the researcher. And they do have a lot of free information available! Many of their records are indexed as well. Indexes make research easier, but I have seen that many of the persons and time era's I research are not yet indexed. If you are ready to dig in, here is how to do it.
When using Family Search:
- Sign in, the account is free!
- Start with the "Search" pull-down menu
- You can search "Records" and get what is indexed.
- I begin with "Catalog"
- type the location that is being researched in the "Place" box
- select the "Online" button
- select "Search"
Everything available in their online resources for that state and county will show in the list on the right.
- Note - Once you open a record set there will be a Key ABOVE the Camera icon if the records are LOCKED. There will be NO Key above the camera if the records are UNLOCKED.
Probate Records
The first thing I do when I know a slave owner's death:
- Select Probate Records
Some probate records include specific index books you can look through. Where there are no index books the probate books themselves will usually have an index.
- Look in the FRONT and the BACK of the probate book for the index. It is not always in front.
Some books don't have an index. If you think your document should be in that book:
- research in the book starting at the date of death.
- In some cases the will and probate paperwork start within the same week that the person died.
However I have found some of the larger estates may take several years for the inventory and probate paperwork to be filed in court. I have looked through the pages in a probate book up to several years after the death date and found information because I KNEW it was there. I have also found some inventories and estate divisions as far as 25 years after the death. So, if I can't find it easily then,
- I go to the Minutes Book
In the Minutes book (if not listed in the Probate category it will be in the Court category) you will find the date of your subject's will and probate filing. That date is what you want from the Minute Book information. The date probate was filed will give you a timeframe to search in those other probate books. (but sometimes Minute Books don't have an index either...)
Wills
Wills may hold the names of some of the enslaved. If you find names in the will do not assume that those named are the only enslaved of the deceased slave owner. Often there are many more enslaved persons not listed in the will.
The will gives instruction where the enslaved were to go to live, or if they were to be emancipated, after the death of the current slave owner. Most of the time the children of the slave owner received the enslaved after their parents death.
Sometimes a will gives information about the purchase of a specific property, the plantation, who it was purchased from and the date (and sometimes along with the specific deed book and page!).
Inventory
The probate Inventory is the BEST place to find names of the enslaved recorded with an owner. Did I say it is the best? It is the VERY BEST place (in my opinion) to find names of the enslaved with the name of the slave owner. In the Inventory you will sometimes find last names of the enslaved, sometimes their ages, sometimes names of children connected with parents, any illness or disability, and almost always the value placed on enslaved person.
The Inventory will also at times give the name of the plantation/plantations and the county location that each of the enslaved lived on.
Inventories often show Division of Property. This includes the enslaved who would be named in lists, or Lots of Division, and who was to own them next.
Court Records
Court records are not my first go-to, but there have been times when I could find nothing else on a particular slave owner and when I went to the court records I found something absolutely amazing.
- Sometimes families fought over their inheritance rights. The enslaved being fought over were named in the court records.
- Estate Division records were sometimes maintained in court records and the enslaved were named in these records.
States and counties are all different about what they kept in court records. If the court records don't go as early as you are researching, look for the records in the parent county.
Searching Deeds
Searching Deed records is similar to searching probate records. Property books hold information for Deeds, Mortgages, Leans, Sheriff sales, and Sales of the Enslaved. And sometimes Deed books hold information about the enslaved being transferred after a person had died. Not all books will have all of those records.
- start with the index
- The Grantor is someone who sells property.
- The Grantee is someone who buys property.
- Look up EVERY deed for the slave owner. Not every deed will have the information you are looking for.
- Some deeds give the information on the purchase and sale of the enslaved.
- Some deeds are written as security for a loan. VERY often the security for the loan is a number of enslaved persons. They will be named and sometimes listed in family groups along with their ages.
Tax Records
Some of the early "Personal Property Tax" records not only list the property owner name, but all of the enslaved on that property. See this example from 1784 Virginia.[8] If you are researching this time period, look at these records! Again, not every state and not every county kept records with the names of the enslaved.
Family Papers
State Universities and Archives often hold "Family Papers". There is always a guide posted online for the family papers, and overview with "scope and content" of the collection. Although the Scope and Content papers may be online, the Family Papers themselves are not always online. The ones that are online can be a goldmine!
I found the University of North Carolina was very helpful when asking for family papers. See this example.[9] On the left of this web page you can "Request This Collection" for something that they have listed there but is not yet posted online. They were very helpful and often emailed me the "folder" that I asked for by the next day. All they require is that you source it as requested.
Finding Last Names for Those Who Were Enslaved in South Carolina
Sources
- ↑
Wills, 1680-1860; and index to wills, 1680-1948:
"Wills, 1680-1860; and index to wills, 1680-1948"
Catalog: Wills, 1680-1860; and index to wills, 1680-1948 Bk. K-L, 1749-1783
Film number: 007652920 > image 414 of 666
FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-C95D-KSWX-X (accessed 1 May 2022) - ↑ https://archive.org/about/
- ↑ https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
- ↑ https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/de/de0000/de0022/data/de0022data.pdf
- p.6
- ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/en/
- ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/
- ↑ https://www.jstor.org/
- ↑
Personal Property Tax:
"Personal property tax lists, 1782-1863"
Catalog: Personal property tax lists, 1782-1863 Personal property tax lists 1782-1816 (Missing 1808.)
Film number: 008151748 > image 55 of 505
FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-CSKJ-M986-2 (accessed 30 April 2022)- 1784 Personal Property Taxes
- ↑ Cameron Family Papers https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/00133/#d1e9979 Subseries 6.7.1. Other Antebellum and Civil War Era Account Books, 1768-1865
- Folder 3634, Volume 95: 1776-1842 Southern Historical Collection, Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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