Unique Freedmen's Bureau Records Reflect Rations given to Whites and Indians

The recent news in the genealogy community is that Family Search has partnered with a number of African American organizations, societies and communities to participate in the national indexing initiative. The goal is to make the recently digitized records of the Freedmen's Bureau, available online.

The bureau is officially known as the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, and field offices existed throughout the south after the Civil War. One such office was located in Ft. Smith Arkansas, and this office not only assisted former slaves in western Arkansas, but also assisted local whites in need of aid, and also Indians from nearby Cherokee and Choctaw Nations. On the following document one can see clearly that rations were shared with persons of all backgrounds.

National Archives publication M1901 Roll 8, Ft. Smith field office

Source for all images:
Same as above: National Archives publication M1901 Ft. Smith Field Office

Also found on Family Search:
"Arkansas, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1864-1872," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-46268-22619-19?cc=2328125&wc=9VRS-VZ4:1076659802,1076659805 : accessed 25 June 2015), Fort Smith (Sebastian County) > Roll 8, Register of application for restoration of property, register of marriages, and register of persons drawing rations, 1867 > image 16 of 23; citing NARA microfilm publication M1901 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

Interestingly during that time, it is fascinating to see that Freedmen, or former slaves were the smallest population receiving rations at the Ft. Smith field office. Also from these particular pages this was now two years after the Civil War, and assisting the hungry and people in need was still a large focus of the bureau.

There was a community that lived by the Arkansas River for many years. The area was sometimes referred to as "Coke Hill." Though there is no evidence, it is possible that these may have been early settlers in the community that would later develop. By the late 1800s and early 1900s this community still lived near the Arkansas River. And for many years both poor whites and blacks lived along the banks of the River. With time as the city grew and changed, the communities would reside along 2nd 3rd, 4th street. By the mid to late 20th century they would eventually disappear.

These western Arkansas records are unique in that they are reflecting the population not often mentioned as having been affected by war. These refugees requesting rations in the western Arkansas field office are quite revealing. Seeing the number of white citizens, and even those from the Cherokee and Choctaw nation, tell a story on the local history level that is unique. These pages shed light on the importance that the western military post on the Arkansas river had on the civilians living nearby.

It is hoped that the new indexing project launched by Family Search will see the value of including the whites and Indian in the indexing as well. Including their names will be of benefit to genealogists, historians and students of state and county history. For genealogists the value of all names on a record are important. It is understood that the bureau served millions of former slaves, but this record set holds many other stories as well on those pages, and it is hoped that all will be included in the new indexing effort underway.

Thanks to the digitization of these records, more chapters of the unwritten post civil war years can be written. For family historians the value is clear. For community historians there are equally valuable stories to extract from these pages. And for those who study Civil War history and its impact upon the civilian population, records such as these will shine the light on many areas never studied before.

It is hoped that as many study the records that they will share the stories and place all who were there on the historical landscape where they belong.

Freedmen's Bureau Indexing Initiative Begins June 19th

Discover Freedmen's Bureau Records

Live Announcement to be streamed online

A major initiative will be announced live on Friday June 19th at 1:00 pm EDT. Coming live via video stream from California, Family Search will announce that the genealogically critical records from the Bureau of Refugees Freedmen and Abandoned Lands---the Freedmen's Bureau, are now available online for genealogists to study. And for this critical record set to be used best by the genealogy community, Family Search is putting forth a call to action to get these records indexed!

Genealogists of all backgrounds will find the amazing records of the Bureau, to be vital to all 19th century southern research. The Bureau is also known by many researchers and scholars as National Archives Record Group 105. Now thanks to digitization genealogists with ancestors throughout the south, will be able to explore labor contracts, transportation records, hospital records and much more.

All Cultures Are Reflected in the Bureau Records

One thing must be emphasized---Record Group 105 should be of interest to all Americans, white, black and even Native American. The "refugees" served by the bureau were white southerners. The Freedmen were black people once enslaved, and newly freed, and the abandoned lands belonged to the white land owners, left abandoned during the years of the Civil War. This record set will allow many people to find their ancestors during those critical  years between 1865 and 1870 when they appear in the first Federal census as citizens in the land of their birth. And many southern whites whose families were left without land and resources after the Civil War will also find their ancestors receiving rations and petitioning for aid after the surrender.  Those whose ancestors served in the Union Army will find their ancestors among the workers of the Bureau, and others may find them as teachers in the Freedmen schools throughout the south. In western field offices like Ft. Smith Arkansas, one will even find Cherokee citizens being served by the bureau.

Early Marriages Recorded
For many, a particular treat will come with the dozens of Field offices of the Freedmen's Bureau that allowed formerly enslaved men and women to have their marriages recorded. Some of the records appear as simple ledgers while others are full elaborate certificates. These ceremonies were often recorded by the chaplain stationed at the military post that became the site of the Bureaus's field office. In some field offices full pre-marriage data was collected, in the form of co-habitation records as well. This name-rich record set will provide new information for researchers, and the access to these records is going to open doors once considered closed to many researchers whose ancestors were enslaved.

In previous posts I have shared samples of records from the Bureau. Hospital Records as well as marriage records, and transportation records reflect the vast amount of data found in the various field offices. In addition, bounty records reflecting payment of US Colored Troops after the war are also among the wonderful records to be found.

In 2011, I wrote a piece devoted to the Ft. Smith Arkansas marriage records that reflected ceremonies performed by Chaplain Francis Springer. 

The Challenge

The challenge is to get them indexed, so that families can be found. 

Many unwritten chapters in American history lie among the millions of pages to be indexed. 

Our charge is to get to them, and bring forth their names so that we can bring forth their stories!

We can get this done!