Below you’ll find an archive of our database blog posts:
New Database—South Carolina: Charleston County Slave Bills of Sale, 1774-1872 - We are excited to announce the publication of a new database, South Carolina: Charleston County Slave Bills of Sale, 1774-1872, which adds 258,913 names and 258,944 records to the 10 Million Names Project. The database includes bills of sale for enslaved people from official Charleston County, South Carolina court records. The records are indexed by first and last names. The names of both...
Three New Databases for 10 Million Names - We are excited to share three new 10 Million Names databases today: The United States: Freedmen’s Bureau, Records of Freedmen, 1865-1872; The United States: Freedman’s Bank Records, 1865-1874; and The United States: Freedmen’s Bureau Labor Contracts, Indenture and Apprenticeship Records, 1865-1872. The Freedmen’s Bureau collected and documented a wealth of information about previously enslaved individuals and their...
New Database: Illinois: Cook County, Births, 1871-1953 - We are excited to share that we have published a new database, Illinois: Cook County, Births, 1871-1953. This valuable database contains 4,034,139 records and 9,782,424 names! This collection of over 4 million Cook County, IL birth records was created by FamilySearch from over 5,908 original record volumes. Although the collection is titled “Illinois: Cook County,...
New Database: Louisiana: Slave Manifests of Coastwise Vessels Filed at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1807-1860 - We are excited to share that we have published a new database, Louisiana: Slave Manifests of Coastwise Vessels Filed at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1807-1860. This database adds 115,507 records and 114,426 names to the 10 Million Names Project. The import of slaves to the United States was outlawed by Congress in 1807, effective, January 1, 1808. However, this law did not affect the right to buy and sell existing enslaved people...
Update to North America: Records of Enslaved People from Plantations and Estates, 1727-1890 — Maryland: Historic Sotterley - We are excited to announce that we have added a new volume, Maryland: Historic Sotterly, to North America: Records of Enslaved People from Plantations and Estates, 1727-1890. This volume was made possible through a collaboration with Historic Sotterly, a 300-year-old National Historic Landmark, a UNESCO Site of Memory for the Routes of Enslaved Peoples, and...
New Database: Data Mining and Mapping Antebellum Georgia (DMMAG) - We are excited to announce a new 10 Million Names database today, Data Mining and Mapping Antebellum Georgia (DMMAG), which contains 9,368 records and 10,222 names. These valuable records were provided by the Data Mining and Mapping Antebellum Georgia (DMMAG) project, a collaboration between scholars from Troy University and Georgia State University. The Data Mining...
Massachusetts: Biographical Entries of People of African Descent in New Bedford and Coastal Towns Also Once Part of Dartmouth, Volume 4, Surnames S-Z - The fourth and final volume, consisting of surnames S-Z, has been published for the database, Massachusetts: Biographical Entries of People of African Descent in New Bedford and Coastal Towns Also Once Part of Dartmouth (Westport, Dartmouth, and Fairhaven). This update adds 12,325 names, 6,025 records, and 392 pages to the 10 Million Names Project. Historian...
Update: Boston Tea Party Biographies - We have added one new sketch and one updated sketch to the Boston Tea Party Participant Biographies database. The following sketches are proven participants or eyewitnesses: Updated: Ridgeway/Ridgway, Isaac (1758-1842) [Participant] New: Wells, Thomas (1746-1810) [Eyewitness] The goal of this project is to create comprehensive biographical sketches for all individuals associated with or known to have...
New Sketches: Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784 - We’ve added four new sketches and three updated sketches to Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784. The people profiled in these sketches lived in Brattleboro, Guilford, Halifax, and Springfield. These sketches were created by Scott Andrew Bartley, who is researching the heads of families who lived in Vermont prior to the Revolutionary War. His study project is not...
Update: Great Migration Study Project - We have completed a major update to The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634-1635. All vital records have been indexed for volumes 1-7 and are now searchable. This update allows users to search for immigrants by name, location, and date. Searches for spouses and parents are also now possible in the relationship field. There...