African American Resources for Missouri

African American Online Genealogy Records

Online Resources
1846-1867 U.S., Freedmen’s Bureau Marriage Records, 1846-1867 at Ancestry ($) 1861-1872 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection  1865-1872 at FamilySearch; images — How to Use this Collection  1865-1874 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection  African American Digital Bookshelf - a growing list of digital books on FamilySearch and other websites Discover Freedmen - this site searches all of the Freedmen's Bureau record collections on FamilySearch altogether (and redirects there) Missouri Digital Heritage The State Historical Society of Missouri African American Genealogy</li> Online Resources for Missouri 1839-1840 The Amistatd Trials of 1839-1840</li> 1910-1958 Missouri Death Certificates 1910-1958</li> Black Archives of Mid-America</li> The Dred Scott Case, Washington University Library</li> African-American Genealogy State Historical Society of Missouri</li> Missouri Newspaper Index</li>

Online Resources for St. Louis, Missouri


 * Emancipation's, 1817-1865 - information taken from St. Louis Circuit Court Record Books at the Civil Courts Building at Tucker and Market Streets, and the examination of papers at the Missouri Historical Society
 * Freedom Licenses Database, 1835-1865 - St. Louis City and County, records at Missouri Historical Society
 * Freedom Suit Case Files, 1814-1860 - database and images by St. Louis Circuit Court Historical Records Project
 * Freedom Suits, 1804-1865 index - St. Louis Court records
 * Urban life for African Americans during 1804-1865 - as taken from St. Louis court records
 * Civil War Slave Compensation Claims: includes index U.S. Colored Troops who served in the following regiments:
 * Artillery: 1st Regiment,4th Regiment, 8th Regiment, 12th Regiment, and 13th Regiment, Heavy Artillery Regiments, U.S Colored Troops
 * Cavalry: 5th Regiment, and 6th Regiment, Cavalry Regiments U.S. Colored Troops
 * Infantry: 4th Regiment, 7th Regiment, 18th Regiment, and 19th Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops

History

 * Timeline of Missouri's African American History
 * African Americans in Missouri
 * The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys, 1931-1937
 * Desegration of Armed Forces, The Truman Presidential Library and Museum


 * Blattner, Teresa, People of Color:Black Genealogical Records and Abstracts from Missouri Sources" (Bowie, Maryland:Heritage Books, c1993,c 1998) ;
 * Brown, William Wells, Narrative of william W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave (NY, NY: Johnson Reprint, 1970) ;
 * Eddlemon, Sherida K. and Marlene A. Towle, Missouri Genealogical Records and Abstracts (Bowie, Maryland:Heritage Books, c1990-2001) ;
 * Mallory, Rudena Kramer, Claims by Missourians for compensation of enlisted slaves:records of the U.S. District Court of Kansas, Slave Compensation Records, November 3, 1866 to February 21, 1867, Record Group 21, National Archives-Central Plains Region, Kansas City, Missouri (SLC, Utah:Genealogical Society of Utah, 1992)
 * Lee, George R., Slavery North of St. Louis (Canton, Missouri:Lewis County Historical Society, Missouri, [200?]) ;
 * State Slavery Statues (Bethesda, Maryland:University Publications of America, c1989)
 * United States Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands and Washington Reginald, Records of the field offices for the state of Missouri, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1972:NARA, RG 105, M1908 (College Park, MD:NARA, 2004)


 * McLaurin, Melton Alonza, Celia, A Slave (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1991). Discusses the trial in 1855 of eighteen-year-old slave Celia for the murder of her abusive master Robert Newsom in Callaway County, Missouri.
 * Greene, Lorenzo Johnston. Missouri's Black Heritage. Gary R. Kremer, Anthony F. Holland; forward by Julius K. Hunter; Saint Louis, Mo.: Forum Press, c. 1980. 195 p. E185.93 M7 G73

Biographies

 * Historic Missourians: African Americans
 * James Cox: This was posted on the Missouri Genealogy Research Community on Facebook: Record of a slave girl named Malinda, born about 1824 and was hired out to work for W. S. Pollard and C. Bustes (sp) during 1860. Her owner, James Cox, had died in 1858 in Kingston Twp, Caldwell, Mo. See post.

Law and Legislation

 * State slavery statutes - Missouri, ca. ca. 1813-1865 (17 fiche) FS Library 6118911
 * Paul Finkelman, editorial advisor, State slavery statutes : guide to the microfiche collection Frederick, Maryland : University Pub. of America, c1989 FS Library 975 F23s

Other Records

 * Ozarks Afro American Heritage Museum Online

Military Records

 * United States, Missouri, Recruitment Lists of Volunteers for the United States Colored Troops, 1863-1865. FamilySearch Historical Records

Newspapers

 * Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery
 * Missouri Newspaper Index

Probate Records
Garrett-Nelson, LaBrenda. Gleaning Information about Enslaved Ancestors from Probate Files NGS Magazine 48 #2 (April-June 2022): 23 –27. FS Library 973 D25ngs

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:


 * at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * U.S., Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1871 at Ancestry ($)

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:
 * at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection

Other FamilySearch collections not included:


 * at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * at FamilySearch; Images — How to Use this Collection
 * at FamilySearch; images — How to Use this Collection


 * More collections are available in the FamilySearch Catalog. Search for "FREEDMEN - MISSOURI" in the Subjects search bar to find.

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

Birth

 * Missouri, Birth Registers, 1847-1910 ($) - information may include name, gender, race, residence, birth date and place, number of child, and parents and their birthplaces, residence, and occupation

Marriage
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.

at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * U.S., Freedmen’s Bureau Marriage Records, 1846-1867

Death

 * Missouri Deaths and Burials, 1867-1976 - information may include name, gender, death date and place, burial date and place, age, birthplace, occupation, race, and marital status

Archives and Libraries
The Griot Museum of Black History 2505 St. Louis Ave. St. Louis, MO 63106-2324 Phone: 314-241-7507 Email: info@thegriotmuseum.com

The George B. Vashon Museum 2223 St. Louis Ave. St. Louis, MO 63106 Email: info@georgevashonmuseum.org

Julius K. Hunter and Friends African American Research Collection St. Louis County Library 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63131-3598