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

United States

What is in the Collection?
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 M1908, Records of the Field Offices for the State of Missouri, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872.

NARA Descriptive Pamphlet M1908

Records with Freedmen and Refugees Names


 * Roll 24, Register of Marriages at Cape Girardeau, July - August,1865
 * Roll 24, Registers of Adjusted Claims, 4 volumes, ca. 1868-1870
 * Roll 24, Register of Bounty Claims, September, 1867-October,1871
 * Roll 24, Missouri Commission, to award claims for military service

Collection Contents
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)

How Do I Search the Collection?
To browse by image: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the appropriate "Freedmen's Bureau Office or Subordinate Field Office Location" ⇒Select the appropriate "NARA Roll Number-Contents" which takes you to the images.

Look at each 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. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

Related Websites

 * Mapping the Freedmen's Bureau
 * NARA Freedmen's Bureau Records: An Overview
 * NARA A Genealogical Finding Aid
 * NARA Select Images from Freedmen's Bureau Records
 * 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,Boston
 * National Park Service Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Emancipations from St. Louis Court Records 1828-1865
 * National Park Service Jefferson National Expansion Memorial St. Louis Freedom Suits, 1804-1865
 * National Park Service Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Freedom License Database from St. Louis City and County 1835-1865

Related Wiki Articles

 * Missouri Genealogy
 * African American Freedmen's Bureau Records
 * Quick Guide to African American Records
 * African-American Resources for Missouri
 * African American Research

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation

Image Citation