Researching Formerly Enslaved Ancestors Between 1865 & 1880

At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, 90 percent of African Americans in the Southern states were enslaved. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on 1 January 1863, declaring that all enslaved persons in the states in rebellion against the United States were then and forever afterward free. Of course, the majority did not actually attain their freedom until the war ended in 1865.

The period between 1865 and 1880 is especially important when researching formerly enslaved ancestors, since learning where your ancestors lived and who their associates were just after the war can help identify their former enslaver. Most or all mentions of enslaved ancestors during the period of slavery will be in the records of the former enslaver.

Look for the Person Rather Than the Name

For African American research during the first few decades after the end of the Civil War, we need to shift our mindset away from looking specifically at printed names and stated relationships and ages, and instead focus on all the details that make up the individual and the family. These might include first names—especially first names within a family group that are uncommon—general age or birth order of the children, occupations, sex of the children along with birth order, and names of people living nearby.

Names

Names were very fluid in the 1865-1880 period. Newly freed persons who previously were listed only by first names in the records of their former enslaver could now have established surnames in records. It is a myth that no enslaved persons had surnames during slavery. Some did, although they may not have been used by the enslaver. 

Some of the surnames used after the Civil War may have been the same surnames the freedmen and -women already used within their families during slavery. Others established a new surname. Another myth is that newly freed persons took on the surname of their most recent former enslaver—or of any former enslaver. Some did; many did not.

Some African American individuals or families completely changed their surnames within these years. The family’s surname may have been recorded in one way in the 1870 census, but appears as something completely different—not a spelling variation—in the 1880 federal census.

This could mean that individuals living nearby with the same surname may or may not be relatives. They could have been non-relatives who were formerly enslaved on the same plantation. Similarly, people living nearby with different surnames might be relatives—even brothers with the same parents but who chose different last names.

The fluidity of names is also important to keep in mind when analyzing DNA matches and their trees.

Ages

Calculated years of birth based on ages in the census and other records can vary greatly. This is true in the research of any family, but is more pronounced when researching Black families. Enslaved persons were often prohibited from learning to read and write, so paper record-keeping was rarely done. Individuals may not have known how old they were, or how old their family members were. The person who provided the information to the census taker or other record keeper is usually unknown so it can be difficult to assess the accuracy of the information. It is common to see elderly individuals gain much more than a decade from one census to the next with some listed as over 100 years of age.

Relationships  

Even today, relationships are not necessarily precise. We might refer to someone simply as a “cousin” rather than a first cousin, a second cousin, or a first cousin once removed. Mother’s close friend we’ve known since birth might be “Auntie” though she is really of no blood relation. It was no different for our ancestors of prior generations, so we need to pause before taking literally the relationships stated in records.

In the post-war period it was common to see multi-generational households. Mothers-in-law were often simply recorded as mothers in the 1880 census. Nieces and nephews might be listed in age order with the children of the household in 1870, even though census takers’ instructions were to list the head of household, then the wife (if the head of the household was a man), followed by the children of that couple, and finally anyone else living in the home. Someone might be listed as a cousin who was a nephew or a brother-in-law. Also, sometimes husbands and wives did not live in the same household but were still married. If work was available elsewhere, a man might go to another location to work while his wife and children remained in the family home.

Types of Records for African American Research

Several different types of records from the 1865-1880 period may help you find your African American ancestors, but the availability of those records can vary depending on the location and the specific ancestor’s situation. In some areas, courthouse fires and other disasters have destroyed records. In other locations, records that once existed have been destroyed. Records created by some jurisdictions were not always created by others. Whether extant records are available online also varies from one place to another. Material that is not online may be available at local, county, and state archives, historical societies, and libraries. 

The 1870 and 1880 Federal Censuses

These two census schedules are especially important for researching formerly enslaved ancestors. 

• The 1870 federal census is the first one in which formerly enslaved people’s full names appear.
• The 1880 census is the first to officially record each individual’s relationship to the head of household.

Newly freed people often lacked the financial resources to migrate soon after Emancipation, so you may find them in the same area where they had been enslaved. You also have a good chance of finding relatives and other people with whom your ancestors had close ties dating from slavery—as well as the former enslaving family—listed in the census pages before and after your ancestor’s listing.

Voter Registrations

In the mid- to late- 1860s—after the Civil War—formerly enslaved men were added to voter rolls in many Southern states. In many cases, a voter registration may be the earliest record of your formerly enslaved ancestor’s name. The right of Black men to vote was not ensured, however, until the U.S. Congress ratified the 15th Amendment in early 1870. That right was soon quashed by Jim Crow-era laws until civil rights legislation of the 1960s.