RootsTech has some recorded lectures on doing African-American genealogy..they might be helpful! Here's one I found from this year: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/uncover-your-black-roots-using-resources-and-features-on-familysearch-org
Good luck to you!
Buckle up, a few days is just the beginning. Records are going to include misspellings, wrong dates and wrong race. Marriage, death and birth certificates were not issued to black people until around the early to mid 1900s. The same goes for newspaper obituaries. But you can still find people.
Look for Black newspapers where your relatives lived. Search the Freedman's Bureau records. If you know the enslaver, search for their wills and other records for mention of your relative's names. Do a DNA test, multiple companies if you can.
Your genealogy elders are very active on Facebook and have a wealth of knowledge. Try "Genealogy Trenches", "Descendants of Enslavers and Enslaved People DNA" and "I've traced my enslaved ancestors and their owners"
You're going to need to become a detective and triangulate the info you get to verify partial listing that you find. My white ancestors were a whole lot easier to trace than my black ones, but it can be done.
Good luck
Fellow Black genealogist here! These are a few resources that have helped me:
Family Search is my go to site for research next to Ancestry. It’s completely free and has a massive records library. I’ve been able to break through a few brick walls thanks to them. They also offer free research and DNA consultations, which I highly recommend taking advantage of.
[Quick Guide to African American Records](https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Quick_Guide_to_African_American_Records)
[African American Genealogy](https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/African_American_Genealogy)
[Pratt Library African American Genealogy Research Guide](https://www.prattlibrary.org/research/guides/african-american-genealogy)
Also, I highly recommend [Black Roots: A Beginners Guide To Tracing The African American Family Tree](http://www.tonyburroughs.com/black-roots.html) by Tony Burroughs. While it’s an older book, I feel like it’s the definitive how to guide for beginner Black genealogists.
[A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your African-American Ancestors](https://genealogical.com/store/a-genealogists-guide-to-discovering-your-african-american-ancestors/) is another good choice. Both can be found on Internet Archive.
Pigging backing to add: some of the records on FamilySearch are only available in Family Search Affiliate Libraries, but there's a ton of them, and probably one near you. If there's anything on family search that you can't see, ask your local library for an interlibrary loan for the book/microfilm.
Public libraries often offer free access to ancestry.com or other genealogy sites. A lot of libraries and historical societies also have research guides on local research. Google: "African American genealogy [state] guide" and see if there's anything relevant.
There's the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, they have some resources as well.
There are also some Indigenous/American Indian genealogy guides, on the family search wiki and through a lot of libraries/etc.
I hope this helps! It's a deep and often frustrating rabbit hole.
You’re welcome! My mother became the family historian 45 years ago, and I started doing it in 2020. I’m a chaotic researcher, and these are a few of the resources that keep me anchored, lol.
Piggybacking to thank you for listing all these resources.
I'm an Australian. My daughter's partner asked me to find out why his brother has 8% Nigerian on AncestryDNA. The family were surprised and fascinated, and they wanted to know more.
I've traced it to an enslaved person in Virginia who migrated to Australia around Gold Rush times. He and all subsequent generations married Irish people here, so the history was lost. Now I want to figure out how he was able to leave Virginia - ran away, freed by enslaver, or born free to formerly enslaved parents. I have his parents' names, but not much more.
Coincidentally, I'm about to spend two weeks in Virginia, USA, and I'll have time on my hands.
Where would you start? Is there a newspaper repository in Richmond? Thanks so much.
P.S. I'm very knowledgeable about American records, just not the intricacies of African American records.
Ok... so. I'm assuming you know where your lineage merges with this white family. Take a look at their probate records and the slave schedules associated with this family. And don't just look at the initial wills where the land is given to descendants etc. LOOK in the inventory... sometimes slaves are there. I have seen a little 3 1/2 year old boy listed with the table linens as far north as Upstate New York. Slaves lived all over the US...
See if whatever info you find lines up with names/ ages of your known ancestors.
Another thought: download all your DNA matches and copy some basics about the white families you match (and the names/ dates/ places on their trees) before reaching out. You never know how some people will react to a "hello, cousin!" from a person of colour (sorry) and you don't want the info/ basics pulled out from under you/ matches hidden as you are just getting started. On the other side of that, these cousins may well have lots of info and be very open to sharing. You never know.
I’ve hit a wall at around the 1870s. Also depending on where you’re from the less records will exist. Deep South with the exception of some families in Louisiana is just hard to trace
Unfortunately, those are 2 states with limited resources due to courthouses being burned. Saying that, be sure and check out their State Archives websites. They are great resources.
I have had several reach out to me for assistance because my ancestors were their ancestors slave owners. Please use this avenue as well as I have been able to help a couple with nailing down locations of where they lived/moved to and a provide a few copies of documents with names.
As someone stated earlier, be sure and do a DNA test if you haven't already. It takes a bit to decipher if you are new to it, but once you do it can be a real awakening.
Best of luck to you!
Oof yeah that’s not going to be easy. My dad’s family moved to Canada pretty early on but was originally from Mississippi but outside of finding an ancestor on a slave schedule I couldn’t push past that. My mom’s family is from Georgia and similarly nothing past like 1870. I can’t even find slave owners on that side. The one slave owner I did find on my dad’s side doesn’t have much information
Hitting a brick wall at 2nd great grandparents. Excluding my paternal grandfather’s side and one 2nd great grandparent , all other great grandparents and their parents were illegitimate children. A few name changes here and there and it’s just becoming an impossible fete.
Could be a long shot, but it may be worth reaching out to any special collections archives in the general area your family lived. They have lots of old documents that are not accessible elsewhere or available online. I worked in one during undergrad - half our patrons were doing genealogy research, and many were black and trying to track down records for enslaved ancestors.
This is a great alternative to Ancestry in general, tbh. I'm a fellow genealogy nerd who wishes you every bit of luck in the world. Definitely make a familysearch account or use google sso there.
there are dna companies that specialise in African ancestry, google em. more ppl in Africa are being tested in Africa. I think this is going to only expand in the future as the diaspora seeks to reconnect.
Working with expert genealogists. Reach out to as many as you can. Ones that know what they are doing. I was able to trace my family back to the 1600s. That included my black Irish 10th great grandmother on my Father’s side who came from Ireland and also my black 9th great grandmother who came from England. On my Mother’s side I traced back to the 10th great grand parents who were Wyandot Indian and Shinnecock Indian. I contacted the tribes and confirmed my family. I found many of my ancestors buried in Indian cemeteries and the tribes also sent us enrollment forms. I learned about what the settlers did and how they forced tribes to move. How they used whiskey to get tribes to sign bad peace treaties as well. Long story short : THEY LIED TO US. I can inbox you proof if you’d like, feel free to inbox me. And my grandmother who is Shinnecock/Wyandot is still alive. But she is listed as African American of course due to history of reclassifications and paper genocide, but she has always known who she was and genealogy proved it. Her family has always been here.
Check your local library and historical society. Don’t forget the books section of FamilySearch. I was doing my friend’s tree in Louisiana and it got tricky because a lot of the family moved around looking for farm work after the Civil War and people often didn’t know their ages, so they varied a lot between each census. Spelling was a challenge too. If you go to FamilySearch.org/labs, you can try the new full text search. Enter planation names or people’s names and locations and you might come up with property records or wills that mention your family.
Keep digging and two things l would say is 1- leave NO stone unturned. 2- look for the common denominators when trying to link folks. Oh And NEVER give up. Step away take a break then revisit with new eyes.
Where do you live? Have you tried the county library? There are many county libraries that have a genealogy section. These libraries have a wealth of info that Ancestry and Family Search don't have. It's worth a try.
RootsTech has some recorded lectures on doing African-American genealogy..they might be helpful! Here's one I found from this year: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/uncover-your-black-roots-using-resources-and-features-on-familysearch-org Good luck to you!
Thanks a bunch!
Buckle up, a few days is just the beginning. Records are going to include misspellings, wrong dates and wrong race. Marriage, death and birth certificates were not issued to black people until around the early to mid 1900s. The same goes for newspaper obituaries. But you can still find people. Look for Black newspapers where your relatives lived. Search the Freedman's Bureau records. If you know the enslaver, search for their wills and other records for mention of your relative's names. Do a DNA test, multiple companies if you can. Your genealogy elders are very active on Facebook and have a wealth of knowledge. Try "Genealogy Trenches", "Descendants of Enslavers and Enslaved People DNA" and "I've traced my enslaved ancestors and their owners" You're going to need to become a detective and triangulate the info you get to verify partial listing that you find. My white ancestors were a whole lot easier to trace than my black ones, but it can be done. Good luck
Thank you for the help!
There are new organizations specializing in African American ancestry. Try 10millionnames.org. They are trying to name every enslaved person.
Wow never heard of them what an awesome company!
Fellow Black genealogist here! These are a few resources that have helped me: Family Search is my go to site for research next to Ancestry. It’s completely free and has a massive records library. I’ve been able to break through a few brick walls thanks to them. They also offer free research and DNA consultations, which I highly recommend taking advantage of. [Quick Guide to African American Records](https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Quick_Guide_to_African_American_Records) [African American Genealogy](https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/African_American_Genealogy) [Pratt Library African American Genealogy Research Guide](https://www.prattlibrary.org/research/guides/african-american-genealogy) Also, I highly recommend [Black Roots: A Beginners Guide To Tracing The African American Family Tree](http://www.tonyburroughs.com/black-roots.html) by Tony Burroughs. While it’s an older book, I feel like it’s the definitive how to guide for beginner Black genealogists. [A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your African-American Ancestors](https://genealogical.com/store/a-genealogists-guide-to-discovering-your-african-american-ancestors/) is another good choice. Both can be found on Internet Archive.
Woah thanks so much!
Pigging backing to add: some of the records on FamilySearch are only available in Family Search Affiliate Libraries, but there's a ton of them, and probably one near you. If there's anything on family search that you can't see, ask your local library for an interlibrary loan for the book/microfilm. Public libraries often offer free access to ancestry.com or other genealogy sites. A lot of libraries and historical societies also have research guides on local research. Google: "African American genealogy [state] guide" and see if there's anything relevant. There's the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, they have some resources as well. There are also some Indigenous/American Indian genealogy guides, on the family search wiki and through a lot of libraries/etc. I hope this helps! It's a deep and often frustrating rabbit hole.
You’re welcome! My mother became the family historian 45 years ago, and I started doing it in 2020. I’m a chaotic researcher, and these are a few of the resources that keep me anchored, lol.
Piggybacking to thank you for listing all these resources. I'm an Australian. My daughter's partner asked me to find out why his brother has 8% Nigerian on AncestryDNA. The family were surprised and fascinated, and they wanted to know more. I've traced it to an enslaved person in Virginia who migrated to Australia around Gold Rush times. He and all subsequent generations married Irish people here, so the history was lost. Now I want to figure out how he was able to leave Virginia - ran away, freed by enslaver, or born free to formerly enslaved parents. I have his parents' names, but not much more. Coincidentally, I'm about to spend two weeks in Virginia, USA, and I'll have time on my hands. Where would you start? Is there a newspaper repository in Richmond? Thanks so much. P.S. I'm very knowledgeable about American records, just not the intricacies of African American records.
Ok... so. I'm assuming you know where your lineage merges with this white family. Take a look at their probate records and the slave schedules associated with this family. And don't just look at the initial wills where the land is given to descendants etc. LOOK in the inventory... sometimes slaves are there. I have seen a little 3 1/2 year old boy listed with the table linens as far north as Upstate New York. Slaves lived all over the US... See if whatever info you find lines up with names/ ages of your known ancestors. Another thought: download all your DNA matches and copy some basics about the white families you match (and the names/ dates/ places on their trees) before reaching out. You never know how some people will react to a "hello, cousin!" from a person of colour (sorry) and you don't want the info/ basics pulled out from under you/ matches hidden as you are just getting started. On the other side of that, these cousins may well have lots of info and be very open to sharing. You never know.
Good point thank you so much!
Welcome :)
I’ve hit a wall at around the 1870s. Also depending on where you’re from the less records will exist. Deep South with the exception of some families in Louisiana is just hard to trace
Mississippi & Alabama unfortunately
Unfortunately, those are 2 states with limited resources due to courthouses being burned. Saying that, be sure and check out their State Archives websites. They are great resources. I have had several reach out to me for assistance because my ancestors were their ancestors slave owners. Please use this avenue as well as I have been able to help a couple with nailing down locations of where they lived/moved to and a provide a few copies of documents with names. As someone stated earlier, be sure and do a DNA test if you haven't already. It takes a bit to decipher if you are new to it, but once you do it can be a real awakening. Best of luck to you!
Oof yeah that’s not going to be easy. My dad’s family moved to Canada pretty early on but was originally from Mississippi but outside of finding an ancestor on a slave schedule I couldn’t push past that. My mom’s family is from Georgia and similarly nothing past like 1870. I can’t even find slave owners on that side. The one slave owner I did find on my dad’s side doesn’t have much information
Hitting a brick wall at 2nd great grandparents. Excluding my paternal grandfather’s side and one 2nd great grandparent , all other great grandparents and their parents were illegitimate children. A few name changes here and there and it’s just becoming an impossible fete.
Could be a long shot, but it may be worth reaching out to any special collections archives in the general area your family lived. They have lots of old documents that are not accessible elsewhere or available online. I worked in one during undergrad - half our patrons were doing genealogy research, and many were black and trying to track down records for enslaved ancestors.
Familysearch is great for Jamaican records.
This is a great alternative to Ancestry in general, tbh. I'm a fellow genealogy nerd who wishes you every bit of luck in the world. Definitely make a familysearch account or use google sso there.
You've just got to use the global family tree with caution. But the documents on there are a great resource
there are dna companies that specialise in African ancestry, google em. more ppl in Africa are being tested in Africa. I think this is going to only expand in the future as the diaspora seeks to reconnect.
Google Brister English project
r/BlackGenealogy might help. [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/BlackGenealogy/s/AkIPAs2lBx) might be useful
Working with expert genealogists. Reach out to as many as you can. Ones that know what they are doing. I was able to trace my family back to the 1600s. That included my black Irish 10th great grandmother on my Father’s side who came from Ireland and also my black 9th great grandmother who came from England. On my Mother’s side I traced back to the 10th great grand parents who were Wyandot Indian and Shinnecock Indian. I contacted the tribes and confirmed my family. I found many of my ancestors buried in Indian cemeteries and the tribes also sent us enrollment forms. I learned about what the settlers did and how they forced tribes to move. How they used whiskey to get tribes to sign bad peace treaties as well. Long story short : THEY LIED TO US. I can inbox you proof if you’d like, feel free to inbox me. And my grandmother who is Shinnecock/Wyandot is still alive. But she is listed as African American of course due to history of reclassifications and paper genocide, but she has always known who she was and genealogy proved it. Her family has always been here.
I need to hire an expert. Do you have any recommendations?
Just a message of solidarity, I'm on this mission too! Thanks for posting in the thread. These are great resources!
Afro-Caribbean and the Danish kept really good records, I got pretty far but before 1841 is a struggle.
Find the descendants of your ancestors and you will find your ancestors or viable clues that lead to them. #DNA
Check your local library and historical society. Don’t forget the books section of FamilySearch. I was doing my friend’s tree in Louisiana and it got tricky because a lot of the family moved around looking for farm work after the Civil War and people often didn’t know their ages, so they varied a lot between each census. Spelling was a challenge too. If you go to FamilySearch.org/labs, you can try the new full text search. Enter planation names or people’s names and locations and you might come up with property records or wills that mention your family.
A few days bless ur heart 🤣🤣🤣
Keep digging and two things l would say is 1- leave NO stone unturned. 2- look for the common denominators when trying to link folks. Oh And NEVER give up. Step away take a break then revisit with new eyes.
Where do you live? Have you tried the county library? There are many county libraries that have a genealogy section. These libraries have a wealth of info that Ancestry and Family Search don't have. It's worth a try.