South Carolina, Freedmen Bureau Field Office Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (often called the Freedmen’s Bureau) was created in 1865 at the end of the American Civil War to supervise relief efforts including education, health care, food and clothing, refugee camps, legalization of marriages, employment, labor contracts, and securing back pay, bounty payments and pensions. These records include letters and endorsements sent and received, account books, applications for rations, applications for relief, court records, labor contracts, registers of bounty claimants, registers of complaints, registers of contracts, registers of disbursements, registers of freedmen issued rations, registers of patients, reports, rosters of officers and employees, special and general orders and circulars received, special orders and circulars issued, records relating to claims, court trials, property restoration, and homesteads. This collection corresponds with NARA microfilm publication M1910, Records of the Field Offices for the State South Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872. English

For a list of records currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

Record History, Content and Use
For details about the contents of these records, their history, and help using them, see the wiki article: United States Freedmen’s Bureau Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Search the Collection
To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒Select the "Freedmen's Bureau Office or Subordinate Field Office Location" category ⇒Select the "NARA Roll Number - Contents" category which takes you to the images.

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

Related Websites

 * National Archives Resources for Genealogists
 * Publications of the Freedmen and Southern Society Project
 * The Freedmen's Bureau Online. Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands.
 * Publications of the Freedmen and Southern Society Project
 * Suffolk University

Related Wiki Articles

 * African American Freedmen's Bureau Records
 * Quick Guide to African American Records
 * African American Research
 * South Carolina

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Citation for This Collection
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