Louisiana, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872 - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What is in the Collection?
This collection consists of scanned images of records from National Archives microfilm publications M1905 Louisiana Records of the Field Offices for the State of Kentucky, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands and M1483 New OrleansRecords of the New Orleans Field Offices, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands which is part of Record Group 105 Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. The images are generally arranged in the order the records were microfilmed with the records of the Assistant Commissioner who oversaw Bureau operations in the state and state level staff officers; Bounty Agent,Commissary of Subsistence, Provost Marshall General of Freedmen, Quartermaster, Surgeon in Chief, Plantation Department,  first then the local field office records are arranged alphabetically by location and by NARA roll number.

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 NARA microfilm publications M1905 and M1483, Records of the Field Offices for the State of Louisiana and New Orleans, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872.

Selected Staff Officer records with Freedmen and Refugees names

 Offices of Staff Officers(Bounty Agent
 * Roll 1,Registers of Claims Received, 3 volumes, Registers of Claimants, volume 1
 * Roll 2,Registers of Claimants, volume 2
 * Roll 3,Registers of Payments, 3 volumes

Provost Marshall General of Freedmen
 * Roll 7,Registers of Proceedings in Freedmen's Court, 2 volumes, Registers of Complaints, 3 volumes, Complaints, 2 volumes
 * Roll 8,Registers of Houses Occupied by Soldiers' Families, Registers of Concepts, Registers of Refugees, Indentures of Orphan Children
 * Roll 9,Registers of Contracts

Subordinate Office Plantation Department
 * Roll 27,Registers of Black Persons, volumes 1-2,A-D
 * Roll 28,Registers of Black Persons, volumes 3-7,E-N
 * Roll 29,Registers of Black Persons, volumes 8-11,O-Z
 * Roll 29,Freedmen's Employment Registers,2 volumes
 * Roll 30-39,Registers and Payrolls of Freedmen Employed on Plantations
 * Roll 39,Freedmen's Labor Contracts
 * Roll 40-51,Labor Contracts(Agreement with Freedmen)
 * Roll 52,Lists of Contracts with Freedmen
 * Roll 52,Daily Record of Cotton Picked on the Corondolet Plantation
 * Roll 52,Register of Payrolls of Freedmen on Plantations

Surgeon in Chief (report)
 * Roll 24, Weekly Reports Received from Surgeons Concerning Cholera Cases
 * Roll 25, Registers of Patients
 * Roll 26, Employee Contracts

New Orleans Freedmen’s Hospital Home Colonies
 * Roll 7, Register of Contrbands in Corps d’ Afrique General Hospital, Register of Patients, Registers of Sick and Wounded, Register of Disabled Destitutes Sick, etc.,Register of Interment at Freedmen’s Cemetery, Register of Prescriptions

Bragg Home Colony
 * Roll 67, Register of Departures, Registers of Rations and Clothing Issued, Register of Marriages, Registers of Applications for Laborers

Greenville Colony
 * Roll 79, Register for Contrabands

McHatton Home Colony
 * Roll 83, Registers of Arrivals and Departures

Rost Home Colony
 * Roll 98,Register of Arrivals and Departures,Records of Births and Deaths, Register of Applications for Laborers, Register of Sick and Wounded Refugees and Freedmen

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of Louisiana marriages, click here.

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)

How Do I 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 Office Location" ⇒Select the appropriate "NARA Roll Number-Contents" which takes you to the images.

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. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

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
 * Rost Home Colony see related browse link
 * The Freedmen's Bureau Online. Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands.
 * 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 Resources for Louisiana
 * African American Research
 * Louisiana Genealogy
 * Louisiana

Citing this Collection
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