District of Columbia, Freedmen's 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.

Record Content

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

How to Use the Records
The Freedmen’s Bureau records are a major source of genealogical information about post Civil War African Americans. They are also a good source to quickly identify a family group and residence. Use the place of residence, age, and other information for each person to search for the individuals in census records and other types of records.

Related Websites

 * National Archives Resources for Genealogists
 * Publications of the Freedmen and Southern Society Project

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

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Citation for This Collection
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