United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Assistant Commissioner - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States North Carolina

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of images of records of the Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (often called the Freedmen’s Bureau). The 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 the following NARA microfilm publications, Alabama, M809; Arkansas, M979; District of Columbia, M1055; Florida, M1869; Georgia, M798; Louisiana, M1027; Mississippi, M826; North Carolina M843; South Carolina, M869; Tennessee, M999; Texas, M821; Virginia, M1048.

Sample Images
National Archives Pamphlets
 * Alabama M809
 * Arkansas M979
 * District of Columbia M1055
 * Florida M1869 The field office records were filmed with those the Assistant Commissioner
 * Georgia M798
 * Louisiana M1027
 * Mississippi M826
 * North Carolina M843
 * South Carolina M869
 * Tennessee M999
 * Texas M821
 * Virginia M1048


 * Florida, Field Office Records
 * Records with Freedmen and Refugee Names
 * Reports: Roll 9, Monthly Reports of Abandoned or Confiscated Lands
 * Reports: Roll 10, Unregistered Monthly Reports of Homesteads Located by Bureau Agents
 * Other Records, Rolls Records Relating to Restoration of Property
 * Other Records, Roll 11, Applications of Freedmen for Rations, Acre-Owens
 * Other Records, Roll 12, Applications of Freedmen for Rations, Page-Young
 * Claims Agent, Roll 14, Register of Bounty Claimants
 * Jacksonville, Roll 14, Register of Freedmen Issued Rations
 * Quincy, Roll 15, Register of Freedmen Issued Rations
 * Tallahassee, Roll 15, Records Relating to Court Trials; Register of Freedmen Issued Rations

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The records usually include:
 * Name of the freedman
 * Name of the freedman’s former owner
 * Date of the record
 * Birthplace
 * Residence
 * Age
 * Document dates

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate age of your ancestor.
 * The place where your ancestor lived.
 * The name of the former slave owner.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then select the appropriate "NARA Roll Number-Contents".

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age to calculate a birth date and to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members. Witnesses or bondsmen were usually relatives.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Former slaves may have had used multiple names or changed their names until they decided upon one particular name. Search all possible names along with variations or spellings of their known names.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the United States Archives and Libraries.

General Information About Freedmen's Bureau Records
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was established in the War Department in March of 1865. It was commonly called the Freedman’s Bureau and was responsible for the management and supervision of matters relating to refuges, freedmen, and abandoned lands. The Bureau assisted disenfranchised Americans, primarily African Americans, with temporal, legal and financial matters, with the intent of helping people to become self-sufficient. Matters handled included the distributing of food and clothing; operating temporary medical facilities; acquiring back pay, bounty payments, and pensions; facilitating the creation of schools, including the founding of Howard University; reuniting family members; handling marriages; and providing banking services. Banking services were provided by the establishment of the Freedman’s Saving and Trust Company, or Freedman’s Bank. The Bureau functioned as an agency of the War Department from approximately June 1865 until December 1868. In 1872, the functions of the Bureau were transferred to the Freedmen’s Branch of the Adjutant General’s Office. The Bureau assisted over one million African Americans, including many of the nearly four million emancipated slaves, which was over 25% of the population of former slaves in America. The records identify those who sought help from the Bureau at the end of the Civil War. Most supplicants were freed slaves, some of which were military veterans. In addition, a few veterans who were not African Americans also sought help from the Bureau. Freedmen’s Bureau records are usually reliable, because the records were supplied through first-person correspondence or the recording of a marriage.

Related FamilySearch Historical Records Collection Articles

 * Alabama, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Arkansas, Field Offices Records of the Freedmen's Bureau (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * District of Columbia, Freedmen's Bureau Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Georgia, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Kentucky, Freedmen's Bureau Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Louisiana, Freedmen's Bureau Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Mississippi, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Missouri, Freedmen's Bureau Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * North Carolina, Freedmen Bureau Field Office Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * South Carolina, Freedmen Bureau Field Office Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Tennessee, Freedmen's Bureau Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Texas, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Virginia, Freedmen's Bureau Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * United States Freedmen’s Branch Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Commissioner (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * United States, Records of the Superintendent of Education and of the Division of Education (FamilySearch Historical 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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