Author Archive
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 the enslaver and enslaved are included. The majority of the enslaved persons do not have last names, making the enslaver’s last name an important clue for researching.
This database is presented in partnership with Family Search as part of the 10 Million Names Project, which aims to recover and restore the names of the estimated 10 million women, men, and children of African descent who were enslaved in the U.S. prior to 1865.
This database was made possible with the help of our long-time volunteer, Sam Sturgis. We greatly appreciate all of his hard work on this project! If you are interested in volunteering for the 10 Million Names Project, please contact our 10 Million Names Volunteer Manager, Danielle Rose, at Danielle.Rose@americanancestors.org.
Please note: This database is available to all American Ancestors members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.
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 families, offering insights into the lives of Freedmen.
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (Record Group 105), also known as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was established in the War Department by an act of Congress on March 3, 1865. The Bureau was responsible for the supervision and management of all matters relating to refugees and freedmen, as well as lands abandoned or seized during the Civil War, duties previously shared by military commanders and U.S. Treasury Department officials.
These valuable records were provided by FamilySearch, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving important family records and making them freely accessible online. Their resources help millions of people discover their heritage and connect with family members.
FamilySearch is involved in collaborations with more than 10,000 organizations in over 100 countries. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides FamilySearch free of charge to everyone, regardless of tradition, culture, or religious affiliation. Learn more
United States: Freedmen’s Bureau, Records of Freedmen, 1865-1872
The functions of the Bureau included issuing rations and clothing, operating hospitals and refugee camps, and supervising labor contracts between planters and freedpeople. The Bureau also managed apprenticeship disputes and complaints, assisted benevolent societies in establishing schools, helped legalize marriages entered into during slavery, and provided transportation for refugees and freedpeople seeking to reunite with their families or relocate to other parts of the country. When Congress extended the Bureau’s life, it also authorized other duties, such as assisting Black soldiers and sailors in obtaining back pay, bounty payments, and pensions. Much of this information was documented as part of the Freedmen’s Bureau mission and function.
This database contains an index and images of 35,658 records and 35,658 names.
United States: Freedmen’s Bank Records, 1865-1874 are a rich source of documentation about the African American family. Founded in 1865 as a safe place for African American Civil War soldiers to save their money, the Freedmen’s Bank collected substantial, detailed information about each depositor and their family.
This collection contains an index of records from 32 out of 37 branches. The branches were in Alabama, Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. This database contains an index of 480,597 records and 1,081,838 names.
It’s important to note that this collection is “transcript only.” Each record, however, contains a link to the FamilySearch website where the image of the record may be viewed. Image viewing is possible when logged in to Familysearch.org from an FamilySearch affiliate Library (such as the Brim-DeForest Library in Boston), or a FamilySearch center. FamilySearch center locations
United States: Freedmen’s Bureau Labor Contracts, Indenture and Apprenticeship Records, 1865-1872
This database includes an index and images of employment-related records, including labor contracts, indentures, and apprenticeship records from individual state field offices. The purpose was to supervise agreements to ensure that both parties met the agreement specifications. States covered include Alabama, Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. The database holds 704,532 records and 577,411 names.
These databases are presented as part of 10 Million Names, a project which aims to recover names and restore information to families of the estimated 10 million women, men, and children of African descent who were enslaved in the U.S. until emancipation through a collaborative network of expert genealogists, historians, cultural institutions, and descendant communities. This project seeks to amplify the voices of people who have been telling their family stories for centuries, connect researchers and data partners with people seeking answers to their family history questions, and expand access to data, resources, and information about enslaved African Americans.
These databases were made possible with the help of our long-time volunteer, Sam Sturgis. We greatly appreciate all of his hard work on these projects! If you are interested in volunteering for the 10 Million Names Project, please contact our 10 Million Names Volunteer Manager, Danielle Rose, at Danielle.Rose@americanancestors.org.
Please note: These databases are available to all members, including Guest Members, as part of 10 Million Names.
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, Births, 1871-1953,” the birth years range as early as the early 1800’s. Some records are “delayed” records of earlier births that occurred outside Cook County and were created via affidavit. It should also be noted that although the great majority of births occurred in Chicago, the records often refer to either Chicago neighborhoods or community areas, to other Cook County towns such as Evanston, Berwyn, Cicero, etc., or occasionally, to more distant locations such as other states, Europe, or Asia.
It’s important to note that this collection is “transcript only.” Each record, however, contains a link to the FamilySearch website where the image of the record may be viewed. Image viewing is possible when logged into Familysearch.org from an FamilySearch affiliate Library (such as the American Ancestors library in Boston), or a FamilySearch center. Here is a link to FamilySearch center locations. Copies of birth certificates for this time period may be ordered from Cook County Clerk, and more information about this collection can be found here.
This database was made possible with the help of our long-time volunteer, Sam Sturgis. We greatly appreciate all of his hard work on this project! If you are interested in volunteering for the database team, please contact our Database Volunteer Coordinator, Zobeida, at zobeida.chaffee-valdes@americanancestors.org.
This database is available to all American Ancestors members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.
Finley, Anthony, A New General Altas, Comprising a Complete Set of Maps, representing the Grand Divisions of the Globe, Together with the several Empires, Kingdoms and States in the World; Compiled from the Best Authorities, and corrected by the Most Recent Discoveries, Philadelphia, 1827, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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 or to transport them from one location to another. The law also required the captain or master of vessels in coastwise trade to provide a manifest of slave cargo to the collector of customs at the port of departure and at the port of arrival, or to the surveyor if there was no collector of customs at the port. The recorded information includes the captain or master’s name, and a description of each enslaved person on the vessel, including name, age, sex, height, name of owner or shipper, and race/color.
This collection of slave manifest documents was originally microfilmed by The National Archives and Records Administration. The microfilm rolls were then digitized and indexed by Family Search and shared with American Ancestors as part of the 10 Million Names Project.
Please note: This database is available to all American Ancestors members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.
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 a Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markets Project site. This update adds 481 names, and 475 records to the 10 Million Names Project.
Historic Sotterly was founded in 1703 and is has embraced its responsibility to interpret all aspects of our shared history. It is an exceptional cultural and educational resource dedicated to preserving its over 20 historic structures and 94 acres of natural environment to bring American history to life. Additionally, in the tradition of their ancestors, they farm sustainably and donate most of what they grow to local food pantries.
This update is presented as part of 10 Million Names, a project which aims to recover names and restore information to families of the estimated 10 million women, men, and children of African descent who were enslaved in the U.S. until emancipation through a collaborative network of expert genealogists, historians, cultural institutions, and descendant communities. This project seeks to amplify the voices of people who have been telling their family stories for centuries, connect researchers and data partners with people seeking answers to their family history questions, and expand access to data, resources, and information about enslaved African Americans.
This database is available to all American Ancestors members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.
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 and Mapping Antebellum Georgia (DMMAG) project is a pilot initiative exploring the feasibility of creating a scalable database and map prototype to identify by name and to geolocate individual enslaved African Americans and their families in the antebellum south. The pilot datasets contain more than 5000 named enslaved people and over 1000 entries of land parcels owned by the 120 associated enslavers. These datasets can be linked to connect identified enslaved people to specific enslavers and locations where they may have been held before emancipation. Primary records for enslaved individuals can be found in the volume, “Troy University Records,” and primary records for enslavers can be found in the volume, “Georgia State University Records.”
This test case of a small population sample in Harris County, Georgia illustrates the key relational data available through common archival resources such as land and deed records, estate records, census reports, and archival maps. Most promising is that this work suggests the high feasibility for scaling up to build a comprehensive database of antebellum Georgia, and in turn, exploring the potential to identify multitudes of enslaved African Americans by name across the antebellum south.
Through the 2024 award of a Digital Humanities Development Grant to Georgia State University (Co-Pis Elizabeth West and Joshua Jackson) from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the pilot DMMAG database and website was developed and launched in spring 2025. The expediency of the archival work, especially the transcriptions, was made possible through an agreement with FamilySearch.org, granting access to requested digitized records from their collection.
This database is presented as part of 10 Million Names, a project which aims to recover names and restore information to families of the estimated 10 million women, men, and children of African descent who were enslaved in the U.S. until emancipation through a collaborative network of expert genealogists, historians, cultural institutions, and descendant communities. This project seeks to amplify the voices of people who have been telling their family stories for centuries, connect researchers and data partners with people seeking answers to their family history questions, and expand access to data, resources, and information about enslaved African Americans.
This database is available to all members, including Guest Members, as part of 10 Million Names.
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 Kathryn Grover, author of The Fugitive’s Gibraltar: Escaping Slaves and Abolitionism in New Bedford, Massachusetts, compiled biographical entries of every person indicated as a person of color in New Bedford and historic Dartmouth (that is, Westport, Dartmouth, and Fairhaven) through 1860. New Bedford was considered a major whaling port during the 19th century, as well as a significant stop on the Underground Railroad. Many freedom seekers settled there after escaping enslavement.
This database is presented as part of the 10 Million Names Project. To learn more about 10 Million Names, please visit the project website. Thank you to Kathryn Grover for kindly donating the data used in this project, and to the many volunteers who indexed the entries and helped make this database possible.
This database is available to all American Ancestors members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.
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 participated in the Boston Tea Party, which took place on December 16, 1773 in Boston Harbor. This project is launched in conjunction with the announcement of the Boston Tea Party Descendants Program, a new lineage society for those whose ancestors participated in the historic revolutionary event. This project, as well as the Descendants Program, are both in collaboration with the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. You can learn more about the Boston Tea Party Descendants Program here.
This database is available to all American Ancestors members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.
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 only identifying those who sought better lives on the frontier, but is also illustrating major players on the political and religious fronts and uncovering regional migration patterns for this period.
The following new sketches have been added:
Carpenter, Asaph (Guilford, Halifax)
Carpenter, Benjamin (Guilford)
Shepardson, Zephaniah (Guilford)
The following updated sketches have been added:
This database is available to Individual-level and above American Ancestors members only. Consider membership.
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 are now 60,911 records, 94,971 names, and 4,550 pages within these databases.
We have also completed indexing the first volume of Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1636-1638, Volume I, A-Be. This volume also includes vital records and adds 9,307 records, 13231 names, and 721 pages to the collection.
The Great Migration Study Project is a comprehensive genealogical and biographical accounts of the twenty thousand English men, women, and children who settled in New England between 1620 and 1640. The project’s published works, containing thousands of sketches, are necessary resources for any genealogist, historian, or descendant with early New England interests and connections. The Great Migration Study Project was directed by Robert Charles Anderson, FASG, from 1988 to 2025.
We want to thank our volunteer, Sam Sturgis, for publishing this project!
This database is available to Individual-level and above American Ancestors members only. Consider membership.