Researching Your African American Ancestors
Image: "Young black man in hat, coat, patched pants, and boots, seated on trunk with basket beside it. 1917." (Doris Ullman photographic Collections, Kentuckiana Digital Library)
African American genealogy offers unique challenges, but a basic framework of information gleaned from family traditions, forgotten cemeteries, or family Bibles provides researchers with a good starting point. Sources such as Finding a Place Called Home: A Guide to African-American Genealogy and Historical Identity by Dee Parmer Woodtor and Black Genesis by James Rose and Alice Eicholz are available to assist beginners. Armed with this basic information, the researcher is ready to explore sources at a number of repositories.
The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives in Frankfort serves as a major repository of state and local government records that can be used for Kentucky genealogical research. From the ordeal of slavery to the Civil Rights era, the heritage of African American Kentuckians descent is reflected in the state's public records. The following overview of state and local records available for public use in the department's Archives Research Room suggests specific examples from these rich sources for those tracing African American ancestry.
| Slave Census Records | Military Records |
| County Court Records | Vital Statistics & U.S. Census Records |
| Judicial Records | |
| Local Records | Other Sources |
Unquestionably, the most significant challenge of African American genealogical research stems from the institution of slavery. By 1860, over 95% of Kentucky's black population was held in bondage. There was a small population of free blacks living in Kentucky prior to the Civil War, primarily in urban areas. Federal census records from 1790 to 1860 document this population, as free blacks were recorded by household as were whites.
While the 1850 and 1860 Kentucky Slave Censuses enumerate the state's slave population, these records generally provide the name of the owner. Organized by county, they provide only the age and sex of the slaves themselves. First and last names are not included. Researchers may discover that a free ancestor was enumerated as a slave owner. Although free blacks were permitted to purchase family members, Kentucky law prohibited African Americans from owning slaves as property for personal gain. Kentucky's earliest birth and death records (18521862) contain information on both the free and slave populations. Organized by county, birth records only identify the mothers of children born as slaves. The name of the child's father was not required by law. Both birth and death records identify the owner of the slave.
» Request a record from the 1850 or 1860 Slave Census
Kentucky
Governor's Papers
Correspondence files for years 1830-1861 include letters
relating to fugitive slaves
Works Progress Administration
Folders on racial elements, folklore, may contain slave
narratives, etc.
The key to working with sources prior to 1865 lies in the following excerpt from the Kentucky Slave Code, "Slaves shall be deemed...personal estate." Kentucky's public records reflect the terrible reality that under the institution of slavery, African Americans were legally classified as property. For genealogists, this means that records relating to the slaveowner's "property" become the focus of their efforts.
County deed books frequently contain records of slave sales, "Deeds of Gift", "Slave Hirings", the "mortgage" of slave property, and the "manumission," or emancipation, of slaves. Probate records such as wills, inventories, and settlements also provide lists of those in bondage who were accounted for as part of an estate settlement. "Records of Importation of Slaves" into Kentucky, "Lists of Slaves" enlisted in the Union Army, or "Manumission Reports" represent other county records pertaining to slavery.
» Request a county deed record
Although a required record for County Clerks, "Lists of Dower Slaves" apparently represent those scarce sources of rare value. Any owner holding a life estate in slaves was required to submit an annual list to the county clerk "of the names, sex, and ages of such slaves." A Meade County "Life Estate or Dower Slaves" book for the years 1850 through 1865 virtually serves as a yearbyyear chronicle for many slave families. In 1851, Elizabeth Woolfork, provided the following list of property "held as dower in slaves from Joseph F. Woolfork, Dec.": Milly, age 55; Luke, age 39; John, age 27; Ben, age 25; Nelly, age 23; Sharlot, age 2; and Charles, age 76. A study of the annual lists to 1865 eventually reveals the passing of "old Charles", the births of Delila and Amanda, and the eventual death of their mother, Nelly, during the Civil War.
Image: Lt. Henry O. Flipper - West Point's first African American graduate and the first African American commissioned officer in the regular U.S. Army (National Archives and Records Administration)
Regimental records may include rosters, descriptive lists, and muster rolls that not only provide the age, residence, and physical description of volunteers, but whether or not he was a slave or freeborn at time of enlistment. These sources might also include the names of owners as well as the wives of those volunteers seeking refuge with the military authorities.
» Request a military service record
KDLA has limited resources regarding African American military records for the Civil War era. Those wishing to do in-depth research should refer to the services of the Military Records and Research Library in Frankfort, Kentucky and the National Archives in Washington, D.C. for more detailed service records and pension files.
Kentucky stoutly resisted Federal "interference" with slavery until Congress ratified the Thirteenth Amendment in December, 1865. Since the Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to neutral Kentucky, the only route to freedom for African Americans, besides flight, was military service. Over 23,000 Kentucky blacks fought for freedom with the "U.S. Colored Troops" during the conflict. While the State Archives has some muster rolls in unprocessed collections, the Military Records and Research Library in Frankfort, has a wealth of information about these units.