African American Resources for Georgia

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Online Resources

Record Collections

• Discover Freedmen - this site searches all of the Freedmen's Bureau record collections on FamilySearch altogether (and redirects there)
• Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874
• Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872 Images only
• United States, Freedmen's Bureau Marriages, 1861-1872
• U.S., Freedmen’s Bureau Marriage Records, 1846-1867 ($)
• Georgia, Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978 ($)
• Georgia Deaths 1914-1927
• Georgia Deaths, 1928-1940
• Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1975
• U.S., Southeast Coastwise Inward and Outward Slave Manifests, 1790-1860 ($)
• Georgia, Reconstruction Registration Oath Books, 1867-1868
• Georgia, Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869 ($)

Digital Archives

• Civil Rights Digital Library
• Georgia's Virtual Vault
• Lowcountry African is dedicated to documenting the family and cultural heritage of African Americans in the historic rice-growing areas of South Carolina, Georgia and extreme northeastern Florida

Lists of Sources

• Access Genealogy: Georgia African American Genealogy
• Papers of the American Slave Trade: part 1, Port of Savannah Slave Manifests, 1790-1860

History

• Caldwell, Arthur Bunyan, History of the American Negro and His Institutions, Georgia Edition Volume 1
• Caldwell, Arthur Bunyan, History of the American Negro and His Institutions, Georgia Edition, Volume 2
• The Black Side: a partial history of the business, religious, and educational side of the Negro in Atlanta, Ga. / by Edward R. Carter. - Atlanta:[s.n.], 1894/ - ix, 323 p.Micro 28148 F LC copy replaced by microfilm.
• Homecoming: African-American Family History in Georgia / Carole Merritt. - [Atlant: African-American Family History Association, c 1982. - 122 p. E185.93G4 M47 1982
• Distinguished Negro Georgians. - Dallas: Royal Pub. Co., [1961]. - 203 p. E185.93 G4 T7
• Profiles of Black Georgia Baptists: two hundred and six years of Black Georgia Baptist History, one hundred years of national Baptist history as told by Clarence M. Wagner. - Gainesville, GA.: Wagner, c 1980. - 268 p. BX6444.G4 W33
• Stewart, Roma Jones, Africans in Georgia, 1870 (Chicago, Illinois:Homeland, c1993)

Resources

Cemeteries

• 1852-1942 - Georgia, Chatham, Savannah, Laurel Grove Cemetery Record Keeper's Book (colored), 1852-1942 at FamilySearch — index
• 1866-2000 - Georgia, Columbus, Linwood and Porterdale Colored Cemeteries, Interment Records, 1866-2000 at FamilySearch — index and images

Other Records

• Juan Madrazo v. Slaves and Cargo of the Isabelita and John Clark, Governor of Georgia, v. Negroes NAID 16611866 - National Archves

Probate Records

• Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1975 - lists of slaves can often be found in probate records

Reconstruction Records

• Georgia, Reconstruction Registration Oath Books, 1867-1868 - information usually includes name, county of residence, date of registration, race, and an oath of allegiance
• Georgia, Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869 ($) - lists name, registration date, location, and race

Freedman's Bank

An excellent source is the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company (visit the African American Freedman's Savings and Trust Company Records page to learn more). This company was created to assist African American soldiers of the Civil War and freed slaves. Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company signature cards or registers from 3 March 1865 to 25 July 1874 may list the name of the depositor, date of entry, age, birthplace, residence, complexion, name of employer or occupation, wife or husband’s name, death information, children’s names, name of father and mother, brothers’ and sisters’ names, remarks, and signature. Early books sometimes contained the name of the former master or mistress and the name of the plantation. Copies of death certificates were sometimes attached to the entries. The collection is organized alphabetically by state, then city where the bank was located, then date the account was established, then account number.

Online collections of Freedman's Bank records:

• United States, Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874
• U.S., Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1871 ($)

Freedmen's Bureau

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was created by the US government in 1865 until 1872 to assist former slaves in the southern United States. The Bureau created a wide variety of records extremely valuable to genealogists. Such documents include censuses, marriage records, and medical records. These records often include full names, former masters and plantations, and current residences. For 1865 and 1866, the section on abandoned and confiscated lands includes the names of the owners of the plantations or homes that were abandoned, confiscated, or leased. It gives the county and location, a description of the house, the number of acres owned, and the number of cabins of former slaves. These films do not appear to contain the names of former slaves.

• Paul A. Cimbala. Under the guardianship of the nation : the Freedmen's Bureau and the reconstruction of Georgia, 1865-1870.Athens, Georgia : University of Georgia Press, ©1997.FHL 975.8 H6c

To find Freedmen's Bureau records:

• DiscoverFreedmen - the search on this site will utilize all of the Freedmen's Bureau records on FamilySearch, including:
  • United States, Freedmen's Bureau Claim Records,1865-1872
  • United States, Freedmen's Bureau Hospital and Medical Records, 1865-1872
  • United States, Freedmen's Bureau Labor Contracts, Indenture and Apprenticeship Records, 1865-1872
  • United States, Freedmen's Bureau Marriages, 1861-1872
  • United States, Freedmen's Bureau Ration Records,1865-1872
  • United States, Freedmen's Bureau Records of Persons and Articles Hired, 1865-1872
  • United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Freedmen's Court Records, 1865-1872
  • United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Land and Property Records, 1865-1872
  • United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of Freedmen's Complaints, 1865-1872
  • United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Superintendent of Education and of the Division of Education, 1865-1872

Other FamilySearch collections not included:

• Georgia, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872 Images only
• United States Freedmen's Bureau Miscellaneous Records,1865-1872
• United States Freedmen's Bureau, Records of Freedmen, 1865-1872
• United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Assistant Commissioner, 1865-1872 Images only. These reports primarily contain statistical and historical information.

Slavery Records

Number of Slaves in Georgia
1860	1850	1840	1830	1820	1810	1800	1790
462198	381682	280944	217531	149656	105218	59406	29264

Number of Free People of Color in Georgia
1860	1850	1840	1830	1820	1810	1800	1790
3500	2931	2753	2486	1763	1801	1019	398

• Martin, Joann and African-American Family History Association (Atlanta, Georgia), Slave Bills of Sale Project (Atlanta, Georgia;: African-American Family History Association, 1986) At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL fiche 6049830–31; book 975.8 F2sL

Contents: Vol. 1. sect. 1. Atlanta, Augusta, Baldwin, Bartow, Bibb, Bryan -- v. 1. sect. 2. Burke -- v. 1. sect. 3. Campbell, Carroll, Cass, Chatham, Chattahoochee, Clarke, Cobb, Columbia, Columbus, Covington, Coweta, Dekalb, Dooly, Early, Elbert, Emanuel, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Gwinnett, Hancock, Henry, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Jones, LaGrange, Liberty, Lincoln, Lowndes, Lumkin -- v. 2. sect. 1. Macon, Madison, Marion, McIntosh, Meriwether, Milledgeville, Monroe, Morgan, Murray, Muscogee, Oglethorpe, Perry, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Richmond, Savannah, Spartanburg, Stewart, Sumter, Telfair, Troup, Twiggs, Upson, Walton, Washington, Whitfield, Wilkes -- v. 2. sect. 2. Unidentified counties -- v. 2. sect. 3. Freedmen and contractors. and contractors.

• Cotner, Neal N. Extractions of Slaves' Names from Select Georgia and Alabama Wills (SLC, Utah, 1992) FHL film 1697603 item 14 Extractions of slaves' names from wills of seven Traylor families of Troup, Jasper, and Upson counties, Georgia; and Lowndes and Dallas counties, Alabama. Wills dated from 1817 to 1860. 46 slaves listed.

• United States Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, Records of the assistant commissioner for the state of Georgia, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1869:NARA, RG105, M798 (Washington D.C.:NARA, 1968) FHL films 1498626 (first of 36) (digital images available on the FamilySearch Catalog)

"On the 36 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Georgia, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-69. A few papers are dated as early as 1862. The records consist of 34 volumes of communications sent, registers, and orders issued; and of unbound letters and reports received and miscellaneous papers. The documents were created or received by the Assistant Commissioner ...The records are part of Record Group 105, Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. ...The editorial material for this publication was prepared by Elaine Everly." -- P. 1, 8.
The library has bound numbers 791-800 together. Some numbers are missing.

• For more resources available at the Family History Library see Georgia Slavery and Bondage

• Mohr, Clarence L. On the Threshold of Freedom: Masters and Slaves in Civil War Georgia. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1986.

• Joann Martin. Slave Bills of Sale Project." 2 volumes.Atlanta, Georgia : African-American Family History Association, 1986. FHL 975.8 F2sL

Vital Records

Marriage

• Georgia, Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978 ($) - includes both "White" and "Colored" marriage books that listed names, marriage date, and marriage place

The Freedmen's Bureau (1865-1872) was created by the US government to assist former slaves in the southern United States. One of their responsibilities was to record the marriages (past and present) of the former slaves. These records can be found in the collections below and include the lists of marriages that occurred previously, marriage certificates, and marriage licenses. The information contained on the records may include the name of the husband and wife/groom and bride, age, occupation, residence, year or date of marriage, by whom, number of children, and remarks.

• United States, Freedmen's Bureau Marriages, 1861-1872
• U.S., Freedmen’s Bureau Marriage Records, 1846-1867

Death

• Georgia Deaths 1914-1927 - lists name, death date and place, burial date and place, gender, race, marital status, birth date and place, age, occupation, cause of death, parents and their birthplaces
• Georgia Deaths, 1928-1940 - lists name, death date and place, burial date and place, gender, race, residence, marital status, birth date and place, age, occupation, cause of death, parents and their birthplaces

Voting Registers

• Georgia. Executive Department. Returns of Qualified Voters, 1867-1868. 22 rolls
• Georgia. Executive Department. Reconstruction Registration Oaths Books, 1867-1868. 23 rolls

Archives and Libraries

Georgia Archives
University System of Georgia
5800 Jonesboro Road
Morrow, GA 30260
Phone: (678) 364-3710
Website: Georgia Archives
The website contains a guide to the African American resources at the archives.

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.