Federal Records that Help Identify Former Enslaved People and Slave Holders December 2021, Page 5
● Records of the Field Offices for each state contain a variety of records including reports of persons
and articles hired, lists of people in industrial schools and freedmen’s homes, school reports, lists of
orphan children, registers of rations issued, contracts, voluminous correspondence about various
matters. Records are available online for Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,
Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. For links to digitized records,
go to www.archives.gov/digitization/digitized-by-partners
and search for the term “field offices.”
Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company Records (Freedman’s Bank), 1865–1874
The bank was a private corporation chartered by Congress to provide a safe place for freedmen to save their
money. In an effort to protect the interests of depositors and their heirs in the event of a depositor's death,
the bank branches collected a substantial amount of detailed information about each depositor and his or
her family. The data found in the files provide researchers with a rare opportunity to document the black
family for the period immediately following the Civil War. For more information, see Reginald Washington,
“The Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company and African American Genealogical Research,” Prologue:
Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Summer 1997), online at
www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1997/summer/freedmans-savings-and-trust.html
.
● National Archives Microfilm Publication M816, Registers of Signatures of Depositors in Branches
of the Freedman's Saving and Trust Company, 1865–1874 – digital images online at
FamilySearch.org (www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1417695
) and Ancestry.com
(search.ancestryinstitution.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8755)
o This series consists of 55 volumes of signatures and personal identification data about 67,000
depositors in 29 branches of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company.
o The information may consist of account number, name of depositor, date of entry, place of birth,
place brought up, residence, age, complexion, name of employer or occupation, wife or husband,
children, father, mother, brothers, sisters, remarks, and signature.
o Early volumes may contain the name of the former slave holder and the name of the plantation.
o Copies of death certificates have been pinned to some entries. In these cases, the death
certificate has been filmed directly following the page showing the registration of the
depositor's signature.
o Many numbers are missing, a few are out of numerical order, and in some cases blocks of
numbers were not used. Many registers appear to be missing. The volume for Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, January 1870–June 1874 contains signatures of officers of societies.
● Dividend Payment Record of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, 1882–1889 – digital
images online at catalog.archives.gov/id/566993
o This series consists of ledger books that contain information on depositors for each bank.
o The ledger sheets in each book include a running number for each entry, the number of the
depositor's account, the name of the depositor, the balance due (currency, number of the
dividend, silver), payments of dividends (number of the dividend), and remarks. Dates of the
dividends and entries are also shown.
Southern Claims Commission Claims Files
The Southern Claims Commission was established by the Act of March 3, 1871, to provide compensation for
citizens of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia who had suffered property damage or loss by Federal troops during the Civil
War. Claimants were required to prove their losses and that they had remained loyal to the Union during the
war. Some claims were approved while others were disallowed (not approved).