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

United States

What is in the 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 Freedmen's Branch Recordsand the records of the United States Colored Troops

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

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 the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know


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 * Identifying information such as name of spouse, age birthplace or residence

Search the Collection
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Additional Information About These 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.

The Freedmen’s Bank Records are the most commonly known records created by the Freedmen’s Bureau and have also been described separately.

The original records are preserved at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. Copies of the original records are available at the National Archives Building in Washington D.C. and the regional archives located in Alaska, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington State. The records were microfilmed in 2001 the microfilms are available at the Family History Library.

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
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Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry): Image Citation