10 Connections: Enslaved Persons with Enslavers

Tracing the Enslaver's records may be the key to uncovering information on our enslaved ancestors. As a brickwall expert, I also use these records to distinguish common-named enslavers. The enslaved names may be my only clue between that Wm. Smith and the other Wm. Smith.

Objective: Did you know the connection may be found after 1865? Marriage records, death records, wills, deeds, and court records, plus more, may make this connection for you. You just have to dig! Here are examples and 10 suggestions to add to your Research Checklist:

This blog is part of the Connecting Enslaved Persons with Enslavers: The Unexpected presentation.

The following ten research resources should be added to your enslaved / enslaver Research Checklist. Get used to seeing the enslaver and the enslaved person having different surnames (family names).  

This post purposely does not cover the Freedman Bureau. Most are familiar with  Freedman's Bureau, and it is not often overlooked. However, the Freedman Bureau did not reach all of the states or communities. So, this blog post is not about low-hanging fruit, where we expect to see enslavers' names, but where we might not see them. Since we are working with brickwall research, we need to leave no paper trail untouched.

Note: I was going to transcribe the following records for you. But decided this is a learning opportunity.  You can just as easily use AI (try ChatGPT) to help with the transcribing.  Of course, the familysearch.org links also have transcriptions for their records below. Great time to test your AI  skills. 

1.  Marriage Records

In Upson, GA, it was common.  Actually, in many areas, it was common. We also see this in Caldwell, NC, 1866-1872. It was the best way to distinguish which Tom married Mary, which John married Betty, and which William married Tempy.  Here is just one page of registered marriages of former enslaved persons. 

FamilySearch: Upson Marriage Records, 1868-1876

2.  Death Records

Yeah, I know...death records, especially those 50 years after the Civil War, rarely host the enslaver's name.  But this is one of a half dozen or so that we have unearthed as a tool to beat down that brickwall. This record also confirmed that Anderson Stanton's former enslaver was Charles S. Bruce.  Even more special, Staton's parents were named

Familysearch, Virginia Death Certificate, 1914

3.  Apprentice  Court Record

After the Civil War, many of the formerly enslaved were established as apprentices through their former enslaver.  These apprentice agreements were not only put in place, but they were often witnessed by the former enslaver. 

Logan (KY) Court Records, 1870-1870

4.  Orphans Court Records

There are times (ok, always) that additional background to a court record is needed.  But in Howard County, MD, there were several records in the court proceedings after the war that asked formerly enslaved persons to justify why their formerly enslaved child, underage,  "should NOT be bound as an apprentice.  Again, this is one example in one county, in one state. However, this practice was not unique to Maryland. 

Howard County, MD Orphans Court Proceedings, Sept 1864; Image 141/715

5. Southern Claims Commission 

It's important to know that the practice of tying a former enslaved person to a former enslaver can be found in very deep southern states. The Southern Claims Commission record collection is replete with such connections like this one from Benton, Mississippi, where the former enslaved person witnessed for their former enslaver, or vice versa. Yes, the former enslavers were also credible witnesses for their enslaved people. We see this especially when an enslaver had gifted a donkey or tool, but that gift was taken as war bounty, or to assist the war efforts.. 

Southern Claims Commission, Benton, MS, 1871 - 1880

6.  The local newspaper.  Really, that's not the first place you looked?  I know most people won't get this lucky, but I have found over a dozen for clients. 

The Courier Journal, Louisville, KY, 29 Dec 1906

Plus, if you are looking for that missing ancestor, the newspapers reported the gory parts too: 

The Daily Galveston, TX, Jul 1890

7.  Wills and Probates

We know not all enslaved persons took their enslaver's surname.  Matter of fact, many kept an earlier surname, perhaps from the previous enslaver or the enslaver of their childhood.  Either way, it makes tracing our enslaved ancestors challenging to trace. Or maybe they are just making sure we are not being lazy! Ancestors can be filled with folly and tricks!

So, when I look at the Brunswick County, VA Will, dated 1875, years after the Civil War, we not only get the ancestor's name of Alfred Wilkes, we are also able to confirm his former enslaver, W. W. Tally, also had a "former slave" Archer Fagans. 

Brunswick County, VA, will Books, 1875

8.  Deed books

We've all seen it.  The enslaver bequeaths freedom along with property to enslaved people in their Wills, or emancipates them at a particular age. For a no-question court case, the former enslaver is often named. This is a direct path for pulling all associated records (wills, deeds, probates, etc) to prove ownership of land.  

Campbell County, VA, Deed Book 1874 -1877

9. Military Records

It's not enough to know that your enslaved ancestor served in the Civil War. Your key to reconstructing your enslaved ancestor's records and family may be buried in the Military Records. 

Military Service Records, familysearch.org, 1861 - 1865

Many of these letters are in the Adjutant General's office also. 

10.  Territorial Records

Mention to me African Americans' research in early territories - LA, MO, IL, FL, (ok...all of them) and you will get my "panda" cuddly face🐼.  I love these records.  There are territorial church records, mostly for the French and Spanish Code Noir and Catholic sacraments, that name "former slave of ..." or "slave of..." Keep in mind that a common early practice was to emancipate the enslaved ones at a certain age, upon completion of specified years of service,  or upon the death of the enslaver. Some researchers, like myself, translated many entries for books and finding aids. Territorial Records are usually located in local repositories, but be sure to check your regional National Archives.

Here's a blog that may assist you with this research: 5 Resources to Tracing Missouri Territorial Ancestors.  The rules apply, in general, across all early territories. 

Here's what an abstract / transcript looks like: 

Meridian, Evangeline, Louisiana; 1733-1735

I know I can go on forever.  This is just an excerpt of the Connecting Enslaved Persons with Enslavers presentation. 

Juneteenth - What Are You Celebrating?

Juneteenth, a blend of “June” and “nineteenth” marks the day in 1865 (19 Jun 1865)when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, TX, were finally informed of their freedom. Texas, the most remote slave-holding state, was the last to receive Union troops to enforce emancipation hence Juneteenth’s powerful legacy. That's when the Union troops arrived in Galveston, TX. This was over two years after President Abraham Lincoln had issued the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.

Everyone Did Not Celebrate

Due to the mass exodus of ex-slaves from Texas to other states and communities, small Juneteenth celebrations were held across the nation as early as the 1866's, not just in Texas. It was also customary, especially in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas, for the previously enslaved Texans to return to their family community for the Juneteenth festivities annually. Early celebrations included readings of the Emancipation Proclamation. Plus, it was a great time to have a family reunion!

Did You Know?

All Enslaved People Were Not Freed by the Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

          36  U.S. states by end of the Civil War

          25  Union States: 21 Free State

                                        4  Slave States 

          11  Confederate States (claimed secession)

A small forgotten detail by the masses is the fact that the Emancipation Proclamation only freed the enslaved people of the eleven states that formed the Confederacy. The Emancipation Proclamation did not free the enslaved people in the other Union states. 

Texas joined the Confederacy in 1861. Their enslaved people were freed 1 Jan 1863, by the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation could only be enforced if the Union military was in place and had the military power to free the enslaved people.
Note: This was easier on the states along waterways.

Year	Event	Notes
1861	Start of the Civil War	Eleven Southern states secede, forming the Confederacy.
Sept 22, 1862	Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation	Lincoln warns that enslaved people in rebellious states will be freed if rebellion continues.
Jan 1, 1863	Emancipation Proclamation	Slaves in Confederate states are declared free, but enforcement relies on Union military success.
April 1865	Civil War ends	Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders. Slavery remains in border Union states.
June 19, 1865	Juneteenth	Union troops arrive in Galveston, Texas. Slavery officially ended in Texas.
Dec 6, 1865	13th Amendment ratified	Slavery becomes illegal in all U.S. states, including Union states

There were five non-Confederate States, the "Border States," that held enslaved peoples. It was legal to have "slaves" in the Union States until there was a state-level action or through the 13th Amendment, ratified on December 6, 1865. 

The enslaved people in the following states were not freed by the 1861 Emancipation Proclamation 

1. Delaware - Never seceded.  Rejected both the Emancipation Proclamation and voluntary abolition before the 13th Amendment.

2. Maryland - Abolished slavery on November 1, 1864, through a new state constitution.

3. Kentucky - Maintained slavery until the 13th Amendment. 

4. Missouri -The pro-Union government abolished slavery in January 1865 by state action before the 13th Amendment was passed.

5. West Virginia (A new state in 1863)
   Allowed slavery at statehood but abolished it in February 1865.
   West VA had just become a state in 1863, and is historically lumped in with the "Border States."

For more reading:
Juneteenth - Our Ancestors Knew: Celebrated Across the Nation

8 More Revolutionary War Resources

American Revolutionary Museum 

1. 6 Steps Revolutionary War Era Research
   https://blog.a3genealogy.com/2024/09/who-are-parents.html
   
   
2. Women Legally Voted in Revolutionary Era
   https://blog.a3genealogy.com/search?q=revolutionary
   
   
3. 1-2-3 Researching Revolutionary War Veteran - Virginia / Kentucky
   https://blog.a3genealogy.com/2015/05/1-2-3-researching-revolutionary-war.html
   
   
   
   
4. Identifying Revolutionary War Era Parents
   https://blog.a3genealogy.com/2010/08/back-to-basics-on-identifying.html
   
   
5. African American Revolutionary War Soldiers
   https://blog.a3genealogy.com/search?q=revolutionary&updated-max=2018-03-20T10:24:00-05:00&max-results=20&start=6&by-date=false 
   
   
6. Canadian Connection to American Revolution? (Loyalists) 
   5 Resources to Researching Your Loyalist (Tory)
   https://blog.a3genealogy.com/search?q=revolutionary&updated-max=2018-03-20T10:24:00-05:00&max-results=20&start=6&by-date=false
   

   

   
   
7. Revolutionary War Research - Ridiculous Mistakes
   https://blog.a3genealogy.com/2024/03/revolutionary-war-research-ridiculous.html
   
   
8. Revolutionary War Era Artifacts
   https://blog.a3genealogy.com/search?q=revolutionary&updated-max=2013-02-28T13:32:00-06:00&max-results=20&start=14&by-date=false
   
   
   

 

White Slavery Law: The Mann Act Records

The Mann Act, also known as the White-Slave Traffic Act, is a United States federal law passed in 1910. Its original purpose was to combat human trafficking, particularly the transportation of women across state lines for prostitution or other "immoral purposes." It is also said The Mann Act prohibited the transportation of any individual across state or international borders for the purpose of engaging in not only prostitution, but also "debauchery." Today, it's used primarily to prosecute sex trafficking, child exploitation, and similar offenses

You Asked...Here's More on Aunt Bird
The ancestors are so much fun. Aunt Bird, as we called her when I was young, lived in Wichita, Kansas. She was actually my great Aunt, Great-grandpa Roy's sister. 

AncestryBlog, ancestry.com

She died at the age of 100 in Tulsa, OK., just short of her 101 birthday.  The Arrow Rock, Saline County, MO 1900 census has her born Dec 1891. She was not the ideal wife or mother, so it seems. But, she was a wonderful great-aunt. 

Aunt Bird, Bertha Tumbleson
Pratt (Ks) Union, 30 Apr 1914  

The Pratt Independent

Wed, Apr 29, 1914 ·Page 7

Since posting this podcast 14 March, people have asked for pics of Aunt Bird. Well, here she's seated on the far right at age 90. I was eleven at the time! She died 10 years later 18 Oct 1981, after I graduated from College. So I remember her well!

The Pratt Union, 29 Jul 1895, pg 4

Aunt Bird, age 90
Wichita Beacon 1971

Wichita, KS
18 Oct 1981

Charles and Bertha (Aunt Bird) did have a son, James Tumbleson. We will talk about The Murderers and The Murdered in a later blogpost. 

a3Genealogy, now under the TracingAncestors.org Umbrella

Researching Your Lynched Female Ancestors

Cattle Kate, WY, 1936

Did You Know Women (White and Black) Were Lynched? 

Juanita, 1903, CA

While lynching primarily targeted black men, both black and white women were also victims—often for speaking out, defending loved ones, or simply being accused without evidence. Approximately 200 women were lynched in the United States between the late 19th and mid-20th centuries. The vast majority were Black women, though White, Latina, and Indigenous women were also lynched.

Lynching wasn’t just racial terror—it was also used to silence women.

While most lynching victims were men, women faced this brutal form of violence for various reasons, including:

Just to name a few of the women: 

• Mary Turner (1918, GA) – A black woman, 8 months pregnant, lynched for protesting her husband’s murder and speaking out against racial violence
• Laura Nelson (1911, OK) – A black woman and her teenage son lynched without trial or evidence
• Juanita (1903, CA), - A Mexican woman 
• Kate Townsend (1883, LA) – A white brothel owner, possibly lynched in a business dispute.
• Helen Stark (1893, CO) – A white woman accused of robbery, lynched alongside three men.
• Josefa Segovia (1851 CA) A Mexican Woman, same town as Juanita in 1903, Downieville, California,

History of US Lynchings
There are not clear statistics of the US lynchings prior to 1882. However, during the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, and up to the depression era at least 4743 people were lynched according to newspaper accounts, court records and church records. Perhaps the tension of the Civil War brought this activity into popularity, or the fear of losing power, or the anger toward sympathetics and abolitionists, but US lynchings affected every southern state. The open lands of the new frontier, even California, was not spared. Matter of fact, all but Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont recorded lynches.

America's Lynching Practices

Although over 90% of the victims were African American, there were also white victims, mostly transplants from the northern states. The majority of the victims in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi were carried out by lynch mobs. Of course, Florida, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Kentucky also had notable numbers. Lynching victims were not limited to men. A woman in California was lynched as early as 1851.

White lynching victims were often targeted for opposing mob violence, being accused of crimes, or being immigrants, particularly Italian, Irish, or Jewish people.

Seven Resources for Finding Lynched Female Ancestors

Letter from Colored Federated Clubs of Augusta to President Woodrow Wilson, 1918

1. Name Search

A comprehensive listing of lynched victims is not available. However, the following will get you started: The Finding Josephine blog post "Was My Ancestor Lynched?" lists several places to look for names.

2. Historical American Lynching: One of the better search sites for names, states and reason for being lynched is the  American Lynching  Data . This information is based on the NAACP Lynching Records that can be located at Tuskegee University.

3. Collections: Check with a local college/university collection. Be sure to ask the check the catalog of dissertations and search under the popular keywords. These dissertations may not be in the normal library catalog. A doctoral thesis, of let’s say within sociology, may take a more personal social approach analyzing activities using names and citing court records. In 2008 the University of Washington named 3000 known US lynch victims collected as a research project. This list of names is available.

Maria Delongoria wrote a dissertation, Stranger Fruit: The Lynching of Black Women, where she lists names of “Black Female Lynching Victims” between 1886-1957 on pages 160-164.

4. The Laws: Check to see if any anti-lynching laws were put into place, or special sentences. By reviewing these hearings, you may find the reason why a new law was implemented, and you may even find your ancestor’s name attached to it. I usually start with a database like Lexis Nexis for these types of legal searches.You may find the names of those incited lynch mobs, as well as victims.

5. Local Newspapers: Local black newspapers kept relatively good records of lynching activities in their area. Rural black news may be reported by the largest town’s paper, but this news was often carried by word of mouth, so I suggest double checking the accuracy. Church news, like the Star Zion of the AME Zion church, also reported these activities.

6. Lynch Mobs: If your lynched ancestor was a white sympathetic, or part of a lynch mob, be sure to check the Democratic paper. Remember the Democratic party was labeled rebels and Republican were considered progressive.  Most southern towns had competing Democratic and Republican newspapers; Those involved in lynch mobs were often hailed as heroes in the Democratic reporting. See Imagery of Lynching: Black Men, White Women, and the Mob

7. List of Lynching victims in the United States has 537cited sources.  

Remember in 2022, (yes, 3 years ago), the United States Congress passed the Emmett Till Anti-lynching Act, making lynching a federal hate crime

Kathleen Brandt

a3Genealogy@gmail.com
Accurate, accessible answers

Women Legally Voted in Revolutionary Era

Writer/Poet Hannah Griffitts 1727-1817, reprint, and image: a3Genealogy

Revolutionary Era Female Ancestors Voted

Suffrage, the right to vote in political elections, is a term people use, but not sure what it means or how it applies to our ancestors. Suffragists” during the woman suffrage movement were"anyone—male or female—who supported extending the right to vote (suffrage) to women." Read: National Archive Pieces of History- What is Suffrage?

We often go straight to the 1865 petition to explain it. But, women voted before 1865.

Petition for an amendment of the Constitution:
Prohibits the states from disfranchising any of citizens on the basis of sex, 1865.
(National Archives Identifier 306684)

Many are unaware that during the Revolutionary Era America women legally voted. One hundred and sixty-three (163) women, four of them free Black women, voted in New Jersey between 1800-1807 following the Revolutionary War. So when I tell you the relationship of suffrage as it applies to women has always been an on again- off-again topic; it really has. 

The Myth: Women couldn’t vote before the 19th Amendment

For a more in-depth exploration of this topic, visit the Museum of the American Revolution's virtual exhibit: When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story.

Married and Loss of Freedom: Not This Again!

American Revolutionary Museum 

Abigal Adams, wife of John Adams stated: Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could.” You must know Abigal, wife of John Adams. She opposed slavery and supported women's education. Read more about the correspondence between this power couple here: National Women's History Museum.

And, she was right. When they tried to remove women's rights due to marital status women rethought marriage as seen earlier in the poetry of Hannah Griffitts. 

 In early United States, the right to vote was a privilege largely reserved for property-owning white men. However, during the Revolutionary era from 1776 to 1807, the NJ state's constitution granted voting rights to "all inhabitants" who met certain property requirements. This phrasing inadvertently enfranchised women and free people of color. This progressive stance made New Jersey the first state to explicitly include women in the electorate. Read more: The American Revolution Museum.

Electoral Fraud: We've Seen This Before!
The concern of electoral fraud is almost always used to disenfranchise women and people of color for political gain.

 In 1807, facing political pressure and claims of electoral fraud, New Jersey's legislature revised the voting laws, restricting suffrage to tax-paying, white male citizens. This change effectively disenfranchised women and free people of color, rescinding the rights they had briefly held.

The loss of voting rights in New Jersey reflected a broader national trend of limiting suffrage. In the early 19th century, as states drafted new constitutions, many explicitly restricted voting to white men, erasing the gains made by women and minorities during the Revolutionary period. It wasn't until the mid-19th century that the movement for women's suffrage began to regain momentum. 

Our Ancestors Left a Roadmap
The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 marked a pivotal moment, where activists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott formally demanded equal political rights for women, including the right to vote. Read more: American Bar Association

The struggle for women's suffrage continued for decades, facing numerous challenges and opposition. It wasn't until the early 20th century that the movement saw significant progress. The tireless efforts of suffragists culminated in the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, which prohibited states from denying the right to vote on the basis of sex. This monumental achievement restored voting rights to women nationwide, more than a century after they had been rescinded in places like New Jersey. Learn more here: National Archives: Woman Suffrage and the 19th Amendment. 

If we don't learn from history, there will be another opportunity to get it right. No one is surprised, we now get to crawl through the Save Act, bill, H.R. 22, the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act” (SAVE Act). 

As many as 69 million American women lack access to valid birth certificates. Estimated number of female citizens ages 15 and older in each state whose names do not match their birth certificate due to last name change or hyphenation upon marriage I just wonder what outcome is expected for them.

CAP, Image and Article, 69 million American women

Wonder how it will affect married women citizens and name changes due to marital status. We will learn since this trend of suppressing the woman's vote started in 2024. It's no surprise women who have legally changed their names are part of the intended victim package on this bill. It's always intentional.

Kathleen Brandt
a3genealogy@gmail.com

5 Research Tips for your Black Cowboy Ancestor

 

 Wichita Beacon, 25 Apr  1975 

The Western Expansion

Sometimes I wonder if I was raised in an alternate USA. The Black Cowboy's importance to westward expansion has ALWAYS been a part of my ancestral history. I went to a "black rodeo" before the age of fifteen.

My maternal ancestors are seven (7) generations Western Kansans, my father's line was five.

Here's a photo of my Great-Grandma's second husband, Arthur White at the Hutchinson Diamond Pow Wow. (For G-GP Arthur, this event was not tied to Native Americans.)

Photo: 1946, Hutchinson Diamond Pow Wow. William Arthur White (Arthur), mulatto, born 23 September 1890 in Trenton, Missouri, died 15 May 1973 in Hutchinson, KS. Hopefully, this was just a git-up, especially the gun, since Arthur was blind in his right eye.

The seventy-fifth anniversary of Hutchinson, KS celebrated its founding with the “Diamond Pow Wow.” This four-day celebration was held May 15 - 18,1946, and featured street entertainment, parades, and a historical pageant. Three pages of pictures were taken and featured in the June 17 issue of Life.

Research Tips

Yes, you can find your cowboy ancestors too.
Library of Congress Learn more about Black Cowboys at “Home on the Range” by Neely Tucker at the Library of Congress.https://lnkd.in/gm7gghJU

1 )Learn more about Black Cowboys at “Home on the Range” by Neely Tucker at the Library of Congress.

2)  use the occupation option and put in Cowboy

Tobler was in enumerated from the Leavenworth Penitentiary, 1900

Get this, he was imprisoned for swindling others with Confederate bills (money) in 1896!!! Yes, a local market and a butcher let him buy a dollar worth of goods and gave him change on his $20.00 of fraudulent money. I'll share how I traced him via a subsequent post. He was fun!

3) local newspaper searches

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-iola-register/159250910/

4) Cowboy Museums. Did you even know there was a Black American West Museum in Denver? Go on a limb, and ask your local museum to share this part of America's history: Black Cowboys: An American Story.

The Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas

5)  Compilation of Black Cowboy Resources: https://lnkd.in/gSqAMs-E

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Kathleen Brandt, a3Genealogy

A Gem: Southern Claims Commission Case Files

I would be remiss if I did not share a favorite presentation of a3Genealogy entitled Claim It! which highlights the Southern Claims Commission Case Files. I also wanted to provide a few updates, for example, I learned recently, many did not know there was a Master Index on ancestry.com.

That should get you started.  But you will want to really scour the archives.  By the way, just because your ancestor did not make a claim, or mentioned in the index, does not mean he (or she) is not mentioned in the neighbors' claims. I have a tendency of reading quite a few claims in the community to unscramble relationships. 

Why Research Southern Claims Commission Case Files?

This record collection can lead the family researcher / genealogists to uncover more on their ancestors, as it holds a wealth of historical information on the community, kinships, and proof of applicants’ claims.

Kinship	Plantation conditions
Vital records	Location of residence(s)
War service	Property ownership
Name changes	Manumission
Slave ownership: often with names	Slave loyalty

 Making a Claim: Who, What, When, Where & How  

Q: Who could make a claim?  And, Who did it? 

A: Union Loyalists / Supporters. This included property owners during the Civil War, former slaves and free born coloreds.  Basically, if it was your ancestors’ property, and they allowed for the Union Army/Navy to use their property, and can prove it, many filed a claim. There were 22, 298 claims and about 220,000 witnesses.  Witness may have been a slave or ‘free-colored.” 

Q: What could be claimed?
       A: Property. This was a property Reimbursement procedure put in place.

 
Q: When could the union loyalists/supporters make the claim?
     A: 1871-1873

 Q: Where (or Which) states were eligible?
       A: 12 southern state

     Q. How to make a claim?

     A: With proof and most often witnesses. Researchers will find proof in the form of a petition accompanied by testimonies; depositions of witnesses and reports penned by special agents.

 Slaveholder, Ex-Slave, Free Coloreds

As mentioned, the claims were based on reimbursement for the Union to use property (horse, mule, food from storage, slave, etc. But, the claims were a bit different to prove 1) ownership 2) proof of value.

 Slaveholder had to provide proof of …

• Being an abolitionist or union supporter
• Owning a plantation and having a loss
• Claimant information to prove kinships
• Places of residences
• Wills and probates if pertinent to the claim (ownership)

 Free- Coloreds had to provide proof of …

• Legally manumitted: manumission papers proof
• War Service
• Proof of kinship, inheritance

Slave: Ex slaves could also claim but had to prove...

• Slaveholder information
• War Service (contraband)
• Name Changes
• Property Ownership

Where are the Records
These records have been digitized on ancestry.com and fold3.com The originals and microfilmed versions are held in NARA Record Group 217 for the approved / settled claims.  For more information read NARA Southern Commission Case Files and Approved Case Files, 1871 - 1880 

Disallowed (failed to prove), and barred claims (often because they did not meet the deadline of 3 Mar 1873), can be found in RG233, House of Representatives or at Fold3 partially digitized. (We've had 100% success of uncovering the counties for our clients on Fold3.  But some county records may notbe included here and only located at NARA. 

Slave Compensation Claims

Although this will require a separate blog, let’s not confuse the Southern Claims Commission Case Files with the Slave Compensation Claims which was compensation for loss of slave’s free labor.

Slave Compensation Claims allowed loyal slaveholders in the Boarder States, think Kentucky, Missouri, Delaware, Maryland (and some neighboring states), to be compensated for permitting their slaves to enlist in the Union efforts ($300); or were drafted ($100).

More to come on Slave Compensation Claims.

America's History is Our History!

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