African American Resources for West Virginia

African American Online Genealogy Records

Introduction
Tips and resources for researching African American ancestors who lived in West Virginia.

Online Resources

 * 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
 * United States, Freedmen's Bureau Marriages, 1861-1872
 * U.S., Freedmen’s Bureau Marriage Records, 1846-1867 ($)
 * West Virginia Archives & History
 * Join the Facebook and Skype African American Genealogy Research Community.
 * History of the American Negro, West Virginia Edition
 * African-American Genealogy-West Virginia
 * West Virginia Death Records
 * Newberry Library Resources
 * Library of Virginia's Virginia Untold collection - includes digitized African American records from West Virginia counties

Research Strategy
Keys to success in African American Research

You will find the most success researching African American ancestors if you begin with yourself, and follow oral history as well as historical records such as birth, marriage, and death certificates to document the previous generations.

Use the US Census to research your family groups. Many times, you may have difficulty in documenting an ancestor. If you research the collateral lines (aunts, uncles, siblings, and cousins), you will discover more about your common ancestor and have a wealth of resources to explore.See United States Basic Search Strategies.

See the wiki pages Virginia African Americans and United States African American Research. See also Quick Guide to African American Records

See also Finding Records of Your Ancestors 1870-Present in the FamilySearch Learning Center.

History

 * West Virginia Archives & History
 * History of the American Negro, West Virginia Edition
 * Posey, Thomas Edward. The Negro Citizen of West Virginia Institute. W.Va. : Press of West Virginia State College, [1934].- [5]-11p. E185.933.W5 P6

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.

To find Freedmen's Bureau records:


 * DiscoverFreedmen - the search on this site will utilize all of the Freedmen's Bureau records on FamilySearch, including:

Other FamilySearch collections not included:


 * Images only. These reports primarily contain statistical and historical information.
 * More collections are available in the FamilySearch Catalog. Search for "FREEDMEN - WEST VIRGINIA" in the Subjects search bar to find.
 * Images only. These reports primarily contain statistical and historical information.
 * More collections are available in the FamilySearch Catalog. Search for "FREEDMEN - WEST VIRGINIA" in the Subjects search bar to find.

Visit the African American Freedmen's Bureau Records page to learn more about utilizing these records.

Slavery Records
Library of Virginia's Virginia Untold Collection has digitized records pertaining to African Americans in West Virginia counties and may include: bills of sale, certificates of importation, cohabitation registers, colonization registers, commonwealth causes, correspondence, coroner's inquisitions, deeds of emancipation, election records, fiduciary records, Free Negro registrations and tax records, freedmen's contracts, freedom suits, indentures of apprenticeship, judgements, legislative petitions, petitions for re-enslavement, petitions to remain in the commonwealth, public claims, requisitions for public use, and runaway slave records for Virginia counties and independent cities.

Birth

 * West Virginia Birth Records: Enslaved persons may only be listed by first name with "slave" entered in the surname column. A note in the file lists the slaveholder but this is not a searchable category. To search for an enslaved person, search by full or partial first name and/or "slave" as the last name, narrowed down to the county if known. There are few enslaved persons' birth records with "slave" entered as first name, and no last name.

Marriage

 * West Virginia Marriage Records There are a few entries of marriages between enslaved persons (search "slave" in first or surname box).

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

 * West Virginia Death Records Enslaved persons may only be listed by first name with "slave" entered in the surname column. A note in the file lists the slaveholder but this is not a searchable category. To search for an enslaved person, search by full or partial first name and/or "slave" as the last name, narrowed down to the county if known. There are few enslaved persons' birth records with "slave" entered as first name, and slaveholder surname.

Societies
West Virginia Center for African-American Art & Culture 179 Summers Street #507 Charleston, WV 25301 Phone: (304) 346-6339

Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society P.0. Box 569 Ranson, WV 25438 Contact: Contact JCBHPS