Virginia, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Why Should I Look at This Collection?
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.

For details about the contents of these records, their history, and help using them, see the wiki article:African American Freedmen's Bureau Records See also Sharon Batiste Gillins.A Window into the lives of black and white ancestors: Freedmen's Bureau field office records. NGS Magazine 39 #1 (January-March 2013): 34-38.

Also available is a field office personnel coverage table which shows where the field offices in Virginia were located, the names of the employees, what office they held, and the dates they served. See: Freedmen’s Bureau Virginia Field Office Personnel Coverage Table


 * Sub-Districts and Divisions - April 15, 1867
 * First Sub-District: Norfolk HQ: 1st Div., Norfolk City and Co.;2nd Div., Princess Anne Co.;3rd Div., Nansemond and Isle of Wight Counties; 4th Div., Southampton Co
 * Second Sub-District: Petersburg HQ: 1st Div., Dinwiddie and Prince George Counties;2nd Div., Sussex and Surry Counties; 3rd Div., Brunswick and Greenville Cos.,4th Div., Nottoway and Lunenburg Counties;5th Div., Amelia and Powhatan Cos.;6th Div., Prince Edward, Buckingham, Cumberland and Charlotte Cos.,7th Div., Mecklenburg County;8th Div., Halifax County
 * Third Sub-District: Richmond HQ: Henrico and Chesterfield Cos.;2nd Div., Hanover Co.;3rd Div., King William Co.
 * Fourth Sub-District: Gordonsville HQ: 1st Div., Orange and Louisa Cos.;2nd Div., Goochland and Fluvanna Cos.;3rd Div., Albemarle Co.;4th Div., Madison and Green Cos.;5th Div., Culpepper and Rappahannock Cos.
 * Fifth Sub-District: Fort Monroe HQ: 1st Div., Elizabeth City Co.;2nd Div.; Warwick Co.;3rd Div. York Co.;4th Div.; James City Co.;5th Div.; New Kent Co. and Charles City Cos.;6th Div.; Mathews and Gloucester Cos.;7th Div.; Accomac and Northampton Cos.
 * Sixth Sub-District: Fredericksburg HQ: 1st Div.; Spottsylvania, Stafford, and King George Counties;2nd Div., Caroline County; 3rd Div., Essex, King and Queen and Middlesex Cos.; 4th Div., Richmond and Westmoreland Cos.; 5th Div., Northumberland and Lancaster Cos.
 * Seventh Sub-District: Lynchburg HQ: 1st Div., Campbell, Nelson, Appomattox, and Amherst Cos.; 2nd Div. Pittsylvania County; 3rd Div., Henry and Patrick Cos.; 4th Div.,; Franklin County; 5th Div., Bedford and Botetourt Cos.; 6th Div., Rockbridge, Alleghany and Bath Cos.
 * Eighth Sub-District: Wytheville HQ: 1st Div., Wythe, Grayson, Carroll, Smythe, Bland, and Tazwell Cos.; 2nd Div.; Washington, Russell, Buchanan, Scott, Wise and Lee Cos.; 3rd Div., Montgomery, Pulaski, and Giles Cos.
 * Nine Sub-District: Winchester HQ: 1st Div., Frederick and Clark Cos; 2nd Div., Warren and Page Cos; 3rd Div., Shenandoah and Rockingham Cos.; 4th Div., Highland and Augusta Cos.
 * Tenth Sub-District: Alexandria HQ: 1st Div., Alexandria Co.; 2nd Div., Faifax Co.; 3r Div.; Loudon Co.; 4th Div., Fauquier and Prince William Cos.


 * Hospital Locations: Danville, Drummondtown, City Point, Eastville, Farmville, Hampton, Lynchburg, Norfolk, Petersburg, Richmond, and Yorktown; Howard Grove Hospital near Richmond, ward for the insane and a home for the aged and infirm


 * Marriage records from this NARA publication have been published in a separate collection: Freedmen's Bureau Virginia Marriages, ca. 1815-1866


 * Records of the Chimborazo School in Richmond, 1868-1869 will be located in the Virginia Historical Society Papers Chimborazo School Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection includes field office reports, letters received and sent, contracts, certificates, registers, censuses, affidavits, and other documents that preserve, directly and vividly, the experiences and circumstances of the individuals involved, such as freedpeople, Bureau officers, landowners and employers, and others. They contain desperate pleas for food, clothing, and medical care from rural communities; freedpeoples' testimonies about delinquent employers, continued use of forced labor and apprenticeship, violence, restrictions due to the new state-legislated and repressive "black codes"; petitions for new schools, legal aid in courts, and protection from violence; applications for land; and marriage certificates. The collection includes records from 1865 to 1872.

Sample Images
Record Types 
 * NARA Select Images from Freedmen's Bureau Records

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (often called the Freedmen’s Bureau) created many different record types necessary 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.
 * The following link will provide a description of the record types found in this and other Freedmen's Bureau collections. Freedmen's Bureau Record Types
 * Officers' Manual. Washington, 1866

Collection Inventory Table
 * The inventory will include for each individual collection the National Archives Identifier Number (NAID) and preliminary inventory entry number.
 * Inventory
 * Records with Freedmen and Refugee Names
 * To locate the name of the collection indexed and locality see the coverage table. Look for the Digital Folder Number and Image Number. Virginia, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records Coverage Table - FamilySearch Historical Records

How Do I Search This Collection?
The Freedmen’s Bureau records are a major source of genealogical information about post Civil War African Americans. To begin your search it is helpful to know the name and some other identifying information such as age, residence or former 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?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information
 * These pieces of information may give you new biographical details such as a title, an occupation, or land ownership
 * You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors. For example 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

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 state of Virginia.
 * Virginia Guided Research
 * Virginia Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Virginia Research, 1880-Present
 * Researching African American Genealogy
 * Quick Guide to African American Records

FamilySearch Catalog

 * Dee Parmer Woodtor, Finding a place called home : a guide to African-American genealogy and historical identity New York, New York : Random House, c1999 FHL 973 F2wd
 * Records of the field offices for the state of Virginia, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands : NARA, RG105, M1913, 1865-1872
 * 1865 census of the 'colored' population in the city and county of Alexandria Image Range 186-252
 * Virginia Census Population Schedules, 1870. Virginia State Library
 * Agricultural Schedules 1870 Census
 * Persons who died during the year ending 1st June 1870, Accomack-York counties, Virginia
 * Virginia. General Assembly. Public claims, slaves and free blacks, 1781-1865
 * Case papers of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia relating to the confiscation of property, 1863-1865. M435
 * Elizabeth Cann Kambourian, extracted and compiled. The Freedmen's Bureau in Virginia: names of destitute Freedmen dependent upon the government in the military districts of Virginia. FHL 975.5 F2k


 * In search of : selections from Freedmen's Bureau records for Augusta County and Staunton, Virginia FH 975.5916 F2ai
 * Bedford County, Slave records, 1853-1866
 * Janice Abercrombie, trans. Cohabitation lists of former slaves, in Goochland, Hanover & Louisa counties Virginia : as recorded in the Freedmen's Bureau. FHL 975.5 V2aj
 * Isle of Wight, register of free negro certification, 1785-1870
 * John M. Johnson. comp. Records of the Freedmen's Bureau in Wythe County, Virginia FHL 975.5773 F2j

FamilySearch Digital Library

 * Elaine Everly, Willna Pacheli, comp. Preliminary inventory of the records of the field offices of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands : record group 105.Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Service, 1973.
 * Officers' manual : Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Washington D.C. : Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1866

Related National Archives

 * NARA Confederate Slave Rolls RG 109 Click "Search within this series"
 * Confederate Slave Payrolls - National Archives Catalog
 * Claire Prechtel Kluskens. Civil War Confederate Slave Payroll Records. NGS Magazine 45 #2 (April-June 2019): 61-64.
 * Register of Work Done by Slave Labor at Fort Monroe, 9.1.1820-4.30.1824 NAID 122681376

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.