Military Service by African Americans

America's History Part 1

I was interviewed by the MidContinent Public Library of  the Kansas City area. This of course is the home of the Midwest Genealogy Center.  I will be posting questions and answers from the interview here. This is a precursor to the presentation Military Service by African Americans. Three sessions of this title are being offered by Mid-Continent Pubic Library beginning 11 Feb 2020.  Check the link for the different branches. One session at the Daniel Boone Regional Library of Columbia, MO. on Feb 18;  and one at the Leavenworth Kansas Public Library, 23 Feb 2020.

I'm Not African-American

Remember this is America's History.  Your non-African-American Ancestor may have been an officer of these troops and the research tips provided might uncover your hidden veteran regardless of troop affiliation. Here is the course description. 

African American military service history began with Colonial America. Researchers must locate veteran records while also uncovering under-utilized holdings of military service collections. In addition to the Civil War, WWI and WWII, your African American ancestors may have served in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, the Spanish American War, Philippine-America Insurrection, or the Indian Wars. Plus, women contributed in large numbers to the modern wars also.

Kathleen Brandt

a3genealogy@gmail.com

In researching the military service of African Americans, what are unique factors that researchers must consider?

Through the different eras of America, the status and challenges have changed for African Americans in the military.  This forces the researcher to follow tailored strategies for ferreting out their African American veteran ancestor.   To determine if your African American ancestor served in the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812, we must take into account that free-coloreds, black indentured servants, and slaves served in the war.  Research may include following researching seamen records, slaveholder records to include deeds and minutes and  as other court records.  Court records may uncover manumission records due to military service or detailed court cases that hold freedom records.  African Americans who served as a substitute in these wars may have had a manumission clause in a court recorded agreement with their slaveholder.  Of course, the research to uncover your African American early war ancestor may include England and Canadian records also. 

Researching African Americans who served in the Civil War must include, federal and state records.  This research must not be restricted to your ancestor’s state of residency but also include neighboring states.  Researchers must understand and follow the role of the Underground Railroad and Freedmen’s colonies.  Often overlooked are the over 100 contraband Union camps for runaway slaves that existed in the South. Many of these slaves became veterans of the Civil War.  The records at the Provost Marshal Records at the regional National Archives are a treasure trove, as well as local newspaper clippings. 

Tracing your early war African American soldiers may be complicated by name changes, especially post Civil War. Reconstructing your veteran’s family unit to ensure tracing common names can also be challenging.  In genealogical research we always state “follow the money.”  For African American research this may begin scouring the Freedmen Bureau’s records, and including exhaustive research in county deeds and minutes. 

The biggest myth is to assume your present family name was that of a slaveholder.  The truth is many of our African American soldiers served under a name not associated with a slaveholder and after the war maintained that name or assumed an alias.  Of course DNA results, and strong genealogical research may assist in uncovering your military veteran.

America was not a safe place or a place of equality for African Americans whereas other countries or communities welcomed their contributions.  We find many of our Philippine War veterans, as well as WWI and WWII African American veterans settled in foreign countries where they served. Uncovering these ancestors may require expanding our research to include overseas documents, passports, ship and passenger records, and American consulate records.