North Carolina, 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 two NARA microfilm publications M843, Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of North Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1870 andM1909, Records of the Field Offices for the State of North Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872.


 * Records of Staff Officers include, Superintendent of Education, Chief Quartermaster and Disbursing Officer and Surgeon
 * Hospitals were established by the Freedmen’s Bureau in Raleigh, Newberne, Beaufort, Roanoke Island, Kinston, Wilmington, Salisbury and Charlotte. Smallpox hospitals were also established in Beaufort, Newberne, Raleigh, Greensboro and Wilmington.

Records with Freedmen and Refugee Names

Collection History, Content and Use
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)

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 Location "  ⇒ Select the appropriate "NARA Roll Number - Contents " which will take you to the images.

Search the collection by 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.

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.

With either search keep in mind:


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 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

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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.
 * Digital Library on American Slavery University of North Carolina Greensboro
 * Publications of the Freedmen and Southern Society Project
 * Suffolk University,Boston

Related Wiki Articles

 * African American Freedmen's Bureau Records
 * Quick Guide to African American Records
 * African American Research
 * North Carolina Cohabitation Records

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.

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