United States, Freedmen's Bureau Claim Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What is in This Collection?
Index of claim records including registers of claimants, case files of pension claims, bounty and pay arrearages, applications for bounty, lists of claimants, receipts for payment of claims created by the Freedmen's Bureau for the years 1865 to 1872. The Freedmen’s Bureau assisted freedmen who had served in the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War receive any bounty, back pay or pensions due for military service. Many of the records in this publication are from the Freedmen’s Branch records NARA microfilm publication M2029. Additional collections helpful in searching for claims are the and the 

Records from the field offices from the following states.
 * Alabama (M1900), rolls 18, 19, 23, 26
 * Arkansas (M1901), rolls 6, 11
 * Maryland and Delaware (M1906), rolls 16-18, 28-35, 42
 * Kentucky (M1904), roll 132
 * Mississippi (M1907), roll 37, 40, 62, 63
 * Missouri (M1908), roll 24
 * North Carolina (M1909), rolls 47, 76
 * South Carolina (M1910), rolls 23, 24, 58, 61, 106
 * Virginia (M1913), rolls 127, 145, 146, 169, 178

Records of the Assistant Commissioner.
 * Alabama (M809), roll 23

What Can These Records Tell Me?
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.

Sample Images
The following important information is often found in Bureau records:


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

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

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the information found to search for the family in census records
 * Use the information found to search for the family in church records
 * Use the information found to search for the family in land and probate records
 * Use the information found to search for the family in additional state and county records

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name
 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names
 * Look for another index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor
 * 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

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the United States.
 * United States Guided Research
 * United States Record Finder
 * Research Tips and Strategies

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
 * Kentucky, Freedmen's Bureau Records - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Maryland and Delaware, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office 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
 * United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Assistant Commissioner - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * United States Freedmen’s Branch Records - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * United States, Civil War Service Records of Union Colored Troops - FamilySearch Historical Records

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.