Arkansas, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Arkansas

What Is in the Collection?
This collection consists of scanned images of records from National Archives microfilm publication M1901Records of the Field Offices for the State of Arkansas, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands which is part of Record Group 105 Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands.The following link will provide a description of the record types found in this and other Freedmen's Bureau collections.Freedmen's Bureau Record Types

The images are generally arranged in the order the records were microfilmed with the records of the state level staff officers; Claims Division, Chief Disbursing Officer and Claims Agent, first then the local field office records are arranged alphabetically by location and by NARA roll number.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
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 M1901, Records of the Field Offices for the State of Arkansas, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872.

The records usually include:


 * Name of the freedman
 * Name of the freedman’s former owner
 * Date of the record
 * Birthplace
 * Residence
 * Age
 * Bride
 * Groom
 * Marriage date
 * Marriage place

Sample Images

 * NARA Select Images from Freedmen's Bureau Records


 *  Records with Freedmen and Refugee Names:
 * Arkansas, Chief Disbursing Officer and Claims Agent: Roll 6, Registers of Claimants 3 vols.
 * Arkadelphia, Clark County: Roll 6, Registers of Complaints, Labor Contracts and Marriages
 * Augusta, Woodruff County: Roll 6, Registers of Labor Contracts, Legal Papers
 * Batesville, Independence County: Roll 6, Monthly Reports of Persons and Articles Hired, Court Writs, Summons, and Other Legal Papers Contracts
 * Camden, Ouchita County: Roll 7, Register of Labor Contracts, Register of School Children and Register of Attendance of School Children, Affidavits and Depositions, Register of Complaints
 * Lewisburg, Conway County: Roll 7, Labor Contracts, Amnesty Oaths and Marriage Certificates, Affidavits and Petitions
 * Devall’s Bluff, Prairie County: Roll 8, Reports of Persons and Articles Hired
 * Fort Smith, Sebastian County: Roll 8, Register of Labor Contracts, Register of Application for Restoration of Property, Register of Marriages, and Register of Persons Drawing Rations
 * Fort Smith, Sebastian County: Roll 9, Register of Refugees Issued Rations, Register of Rebel Property in Counties Subject to Confiscation
 * Hamburg, Ashley County: Roll 10, Registers of Complaints and Contracts
 * Helena, Phillips County: Roll 11, Register of Claimants
 * Jacksonport, Upper White River District: Roll 11, Register of Contracts
 * Jacksonport, Jackson County: Roll 12, Affidavits and Court Papers, Register of Contracts and Register of Marriages, Register of Complaints
 * Lake Village and Luna Landing, Chicot County: Roll 12, Register of Contracts and Register of Major Landholders
 * Lewisville, Lafayette County: Roll 14, Register of Complaints
 * Little Rock, Pulaski County: Roll 14, Registers of Complaints and Marriages, Register of Freedmen Employed on Plantations
 * Little Rock, Pulaski County: Roll 15, Employment Registers 3 volumes
 * Madison, St. Francis County: Roll 16, Registers of Complaints and Contracts, Court Papers
 * Magnolia: Roll 16, Affidavits of Freedmen
 * Monticello: Roll 17, Register of Contracts for Bradley County, Court Papers and Reports
 * Napoleon, Desha County: Roll 17, Register of Complaints
 * Osceola, Mississippi County: Roll 18, Registers of Claims, Marriages, Contracts and Indentures, Register of Complaints
 * Ozark: Roll 18, Register of Destitute Citizens of Franklin and Johnson Counties Issued Rations
 * Paraclifta, Sevier County: Roll 18, Orders Sent to Local Citizens, Register of Marriages and Copies of Indentures, Register of Complaints, Register of Employees and Employers
 * Pine Bluff: Roll 19, Reports of Persons and Articles Hired
 * Pine Bluff, Jefferson County: Roll 21, Register & Certificates of Marriage, Register of Abandoned Property, Record of Account Book of Mrs. Bayner’s Plantation
 * Princeton, Dallas County: Roll 22, Contracts and Monthly Statements of Property
 * South Bend: Roll 22, Orders Issued to Local Citizens, Proceedings of Cases
 * Washington, Hemstead County: Roll 23, Registers of Contracts, and Complaints, Marriage Certificates

How Do I Search the Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name of the person
 * The location or date of the event
 * The name of former slave owner

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page. br>
 * 1) Select Freedmen's Bureau Office or Subordinate Field Office Location
 * 2) Select NARA Roll Number-Contents

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

For more tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
If these are indexes, the original records may contain additional information than was not indexed, or the information might have been indexed incorrectly. You may want to search for the original record at the National Archive and Records Administration.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * In case you need to find this record again later, copy the citation below in the Citing This Collection section. It's always a good idea to keep your citation on a Research Log. This is an important tool to help keep track of what you have and have not found.  Family search wiki has a  Example Research Log that you can download and use.
 * Use the age or estimated birth date to find county or Arkansas Vital Records such as birth, baptism, marriage, and death records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find additional family members in the United States Census, 1870 (FamilySearch Historical Records). Search the state censuses as well.
 * Use the information found in the record to find United States, Internal Revenue Assessment Lists (FamilySearch Historical Records).
 * Use the information found in the record to find United States, Bureau of Land Management Tract Books (FamilySearch Historical Records).
 * Search for death or burial information in BillionGraves Index or at Find A Grave.
 * If applicable, search for immigration and naturalization records as well.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching a nearby locality.
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Check the infobox above for additional FamilySearch websites and related websites that may assist you in finding similar records.

General Information About Freedmen's Bureau Records
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was established in the War Department in March of 1865. It was commonly called the Freedman’s Bureau and was responsible for the management and supervision of matters relating to refuges, freedmen, and abandoned lands. The Bureau assisted disenfranchised Americans, primarily African Americans, with temporal, legal and financial matters, with the intent of helping people to become self-sufficient. Matters handled included the distributing of food and clothing; operating temporary medical facilities; acquiring back pay, bounty payments, and pensions; facilitating the creation of schools, including the founding of Howard University; reuniting family members; handling marriages; and providing banking services. Banking services were provided by the establishment of the Freedman’s Saving and Trust Company, or Freedman’s Bank. The Bureau functioned as an agency of the War Department from approximately June 1865 until December 1868. In 1872, the functions of the Bureau were transferred to the Freedmen’s Branch of the Adjutant General’s Office. The Bureau assisted over one million African Americans, including many of the nearly four million emancipated slaves, which was over 25% of the population of former slaves in America. The records identify those who sought help from the Bureau at the end of the Civil War. Most supplicants were freed slaves, some of which were military veterans. In addition, a few veterans who were not African Americans also sought help from the Bureau. Freedmen’s Bureau records are usually reliable, because the records were supplied through first-person correspondence or the recording of a marriage.

Related Wiki Articles

 * United States Freedmen’s Bureau Letters (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * African American Freedmen’s Bureau Records
 * Quick Guide to African American Records
 * African American Research

Citing This Collection
A citation is a note that shows where you found information. Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Using citations allow others to find the same records. Below are the proper citations to use for this whole collection as well as for individual images:

Collection Citation:

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