From Virginia to Arkansas, and Back to Virginia - A Freedman's Bureau Migration Story

Letter to Freedman's Bureau 

Source: Virginia Freedman's Bureau Letters 1865-1872

National Archives Record Group 105, Reel #44 Image 349

(Also Family Search Image: #4150377)  
(see transcription below)

Researching African American ancestry is not without its challenges.  The 1870 census provides a glimpse at a community of individuals who were a mere 5 years living in freedom.

But sometimes the assumption is often made that the individuals were living in the communities where they had been enslaved, and had not ventured far from their home.

It possible that in most cases this is true, however, if one studies the thousands of non-indexed pages from NARA Record Group 105--(the Freedman's Bureau) a wealth of data can be found that might reflect stories otherwise not known.

The Haney Family - A Case Study

In 1867 a woman Jane wrote to the Freedman's Bureau office in search of her sons. Upon first glance I would have thought that Jane's sons had been sold away from her, and she was seeking assistance to find them.

However in this case---they did not leave Virginia until 1866.  They had signed a contract in Alexandria Virginia to travel to eastern Arkansas, to work for a year, with their father.  Meanwhile, in Arkansas, the father of the two boys died after a short illness and their mother was seeking information about their return.

The letter reads:

Alexander Va.
August 16th, 1867


Col. S. P. Lee
Sub. Asst. Commr.
Alexander Virginia


Sir,
 I have the honor to apply to you to assist me in procuring my two sons Lewis Haney age 13 yrs, and Joshua Haney aged 16 yrs who are now in the vicinity of Helena Arkansas.


With their father Joshua Haney, they made a , 1866 contract April 16th in your office to work for one year with the firm of Van Belk, & Co., of Helena Arkansas.  They remained with Van Belk & Co. until their year expired and were discharged. After this they were employed by Mr. Briant Lynch of St. Francis Co. Ark until the 27th of July last when the father (my husband) died after an illness of nine days.  The boys are now without any one to care for them and on account of their age I am anxious to have them under my care and protection.

Source: Virginia Freedman's Bureau Letters 1865-1872

National Archives Record Group 105, Reel #44 Image 350

(Also Family Search Image: #4150377)

(next page)
and for that purpose I apply to you for aid, praying that you will have them returned to me through the agencies of the Freedman's Bureau.


Respectfully yours,


Rachel (her  X mark) Haney

Witness  Geo. H. Smith

* * * * *

Rachel's letter was interesting for several reasons.  Was Rachel in search of children who had been sold from her?  Not at all!


She lived in Virginia and it appears that a contract was made with the Bureau to provide labor in eastern Arkansas. Upon reading this letter one cannot wonder what the circumstances were that Arkansas needed to send for workers?  There were thousands of former slaves along the Mississippi River, and there was a Freedman's Bureau field office in many places in eastern Arkansas to assist with labor contracts.


With there being no shortage of labor in eastern Arkansas, what were the circumstances for the recruitment of workers from Virginia?


There must have been steady communication between Rachel and her family since she was clearly aware of what had happened to her husband as well as the status of her sons, when their contract had ended.  This is significant, particularly because this reveals a part of history that is just simply not well known. This tells the story of what happened in those critical years between 1865 and 1870.  


In this case---we see that a contract was made to send a large number of former slaves from Virginia to work in Arkansas.  This was organized by the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands---the Freedman's Bureau.

So----what happened to Rachel's children?  


A report in the Freedman's Bureau files describes what happened to them. 

Source: Virginia Freedman's Bureau Letters 1865-1872

National Archives Record Group 105, Reel #44 Image 703

(See transcription below)

Hd Qrs Ass Com Dist of Va

Richmond Va, Oct 4, 1867

Filed:

Respectfully returned to Brt. Lt  Col. S.P.Lee S.A.C.inviting attention to understatement of E.G. Barker, Agent.

Madera Ark. Sept 14th, 1867

Respectfully returned to Lieut. H. Sweeney Agt. at Helena Ark. with the information that the children Lewis and Joshua Haney are still with Mr. Bryant Lynch of this County,  and who has a contact with them appeared at this office.  Their compensation is $9.00 for the oldest and $7.00 for the youngest per month the contract expiring on the 25th day of Dec of 1867. Mr. Lynch is a prominent man in St. Francis Co. and I think is treating the children kindly: they will be looked after by the Bur in this co. and in my opinion would do well to remain until the expiration of their contract.

* * * * *

My question----was this common for persons from Virginia, once enslaved and later freed, to be sent under contract to work in places as distant as Arkansas?  

Were there others from the same community sent there as well?  

If so---were there many or were they just a small number whose story is mere anecdotal?

Well, further investigation revealed so much more.  And the answers were found in the Virginia Freedman's Bureau. Thankfully all of the reels are digitized and one tenacious researcher in Virginia is going through each and every reel, looking for interesting stories to share. (Thank you Selma Stewart!)

In fact----she located the very answers to those questions, including a contract with the names of the Haney children and others from Alexandria Virginia.  On reel 52, images 826 - 829 answer those questions. (see image and transcription below)

A signed Article of Agreement in which the Haney children and their father and many others from Alexandria agree to go to Arkansas to go to Arkansas to work, was dated 13th of April 1866. The contract expired on January 1, 1867. It appears that the same Haneys mentioned in the letter by Rachel are her family--Henry, Joshua and Lewis Haney. The wages were $15.00 per month, and Lewis is was stated was to receive $8.00

.

Source: Virginia Freedman's Bureau Letters 1865-1872

National Archives Record Group 105, Reel #52 Image 826

Family Search Image

The surprise was to find a list of names of dozens of people including the Haneys who were from Virginia and sent to Arkansas under contract to work, right after the Civil War.

Close up view of contract

Source: Virginia Freedman's Bureau Letters 1865-1872

National Archives Record Group 105, Reel #52 Image 826

Family Search Image

And a few pages later, came the names of dozens of people.

Partial View and Close Up of document from FB where workers were contracted for Arkansas

Source: Virginia Freedman's Bureau Letters 1865-1872

National Archives Record Group 105, Reel #52 Image 827

Family Search Image

Surprisingly more pages of names of former slaves from Alexandria Virginia appeared on following pages!

Source: Virginia Freedman's Bureau Letters 1865-1872

National Archives Record Group 105, Reel #52 Image 828

Family Search Image

This particular story had a happy ending----the Haney children returned to Virginia and they are found in the 1870 census in Alexandria Virginia.

The question must be asked however----what of the others?  Did they all return to Virginia, leaving Arkansas after their contracts ended?  

And what if they stayed? 

What are the implications for the genealogist? 

One thing is clear---there is a potential for error.  

If some of the Virginia people chose to remain in Arkansas, or move elsewhere they won't appear in the Federal census until 1870. Will their origins from Alexandria Virginia be known?  Probably not.

If the story of being contracted by the Freedman's Bureau did  not survive family oral history---how will the genealogist be able to tell this critical and significant story?

Sandy Nash A Case Study

Let's look at the case of Sandy Nash. His name also appears on the document of former slaves from Alexandria Virginia sent to Helena Arkansas.   

Close Up View

Source: Virginia Freedman's Bureau Letters 1865-1872

National Archives Record Group 105, Reel #52 Image 829

Family Search Image

Sandy Nash's name appears on line 306. 

I searched for Sandy Nash in Virginia and did not find him there and then I decided to see if I could find Sandy Nash in Phillips County Arkansas in 1870 and sure enough---he was right there. He had chosen to remain in the west and not return to Virginia.

Excerpt from 1870 Federal Census Reflecting Sandy Nash

Source: Year: 1870; Census Place: Planters, Phillips, Arkansas; 

Roll: M593_60; Page: 63B; Image: 128; Family History Library Film: 545559.

Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: 

Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Now---if a descendant of Sandy Nash who might still be living in Arkansas, he or she will find Sandy in 1870 in Phillips County. 

The researcher---if following the advice of the masters--will look for him in 1860, and then begin the search to find his last slave owner, presumably in Arkansas. 

Genealogists are taught-- that after determining that a black person was not free in 1860, then one can start to look for the last slaveholder in the same community. 

But in this case----Sandy Nash's last slave holder was in Fairfax county Virginia and was never in Phillips County Arkansas. It is usually recommended to African American researchers that when beginning the search for the last slave owner, that one begins in the community where one finds the former slave. 

And if this was not known via oral history---then how will the research ever know where in Virginia to find Sandy Nash?  

Chances are---the researcher may hit this brick wall and remain there for years. Even should the researcher turn to Freedman's Bureau records, the first move would be to use the Bureau records from Arkansas. And all of this data came from Virginia!

There are several points that I have learned from the cases above.

1) It is important to share what you find. Had a research colleague living in Virginia not shared this with me, I would never have known about these workers, several hundred----of them being contracted to go to Arkansas to work after the Civil War. She happened to know that Arkansas is one of my states and generously shared it with me.

2) It is important to avoid making assumptions  In this case--the researcher might hit a brick wall, unable to find the last slaveholder in the local community.  One might have to think outside of the box and ask about other resources that reflect the community and the time period--especially in those critical years after the Civil War. One should not assume that the former slave found in 1870 was a slave in the same place before the war.

3) Utilize all available Reconstruction Era records.  In the case of the Haneys, the researcher might find the Haney children in 1870, with little additional information about the family. However, the Freedman's Bureau letters contain a wealth of data found in the letter from their mother telling the story of their being in Arkansas.  She mentioned them by name, and also mentioned the name of their father, who died while in Arkansas.  If no known death record was known to exist--her letter might be the only piece of data about the father--his name and approximate time of death are in her letter.

We conduct our research because of the love of history and a desire to see that stories are told, and in this case---stories can be found when we least expect them.

Special thanks to Selma Stewart of Newport News Virginia, who in  her effort to look at every reel of microfilm that is now digitized, and available on Family Search, she shared the letters to me, and she opened my eyes to new possibilities.

Hampton Roads AAHGS Civil War Seminar

Last weekend on April 9th I had the honor to present at the Civil War seminar hosted by the Hampton Roads
chapter of AAHGS. (African American Historical and Genealogical Society)

I had the honor to speak and to present at the conference, and Drusilla Pair, well known genealogist and researcher also shared with the audience how her own interest in Civil War history emerged.  I was able to capture a few minutes of her session from the beginning.  As the light was being adjusted I was still able to capture the beginning moments of her presentation.  I am happy to present it here.

Finding Civil War Contrabands in Arkansas

Document reflecting "Colony of Freedmen in Arkansas, 1864

While on a recent trip to the National Archives I decided to look into some records from eastern Arkansas, to see what could be learned from the Freedman's Bureau documents.

Remember these facts:
The Freedman's Bureau was created after the Civil War and after slavery was abolished to provide assistance to newly freed slaves as they negotiated life for those first years after freedom.


The Bureau was officially known as the Office of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. 


The Bureau operated from 1865 to 1972, thus, it was a bureau created after the war had ended.

Imagine my surprise to come upon several pages of microfilm among the records of the Bureau, and to see the year 1864!

Wait----1864---the war was still going on and more than 6000 black men had fled to Union army lines and enlisted in the Union Army. On my Arkansas Freedmen website I devote a good portion of the history to the Civil War and I do have general information on the US Colored Troops organized in Arkansas during the Civil War. But imagine my surprise to find, in the midst of a record set pertaining to freed slaves after the war, a set of documents reflecting the fact that a possible colony of newly freed slaves also had formed during the war.

As I looked more closely, this refugee camp for ex slaves was organized, with several schools:  According to the report, there were 6 schools for Freedmen in the city of Helena, and 1 at a site known as Camp Freedmen.

Now this information is valuable for two reasons: 1) It reflects some of the local history----six Freedman schools.  How amazing to see so much interest in education almost immediately.  2) There was an official Freedman's colony.  This is exciting as it indicates as early as 1864 that there was organization being put to work to educate the children and to assist with the adaptation of the former slaves to a new life.

I wondered where this camp---quite clearly a contraband camp was located. Well, sure enough there was more information about the camp.

Location of the Freedman's Camp

Source: RG 105, National Archives M1901 Reel 6

Transcription of document

"The camp is situated on a home farm near the Fort, and in as healthy a location as could be selected and with plenty of water convenient.  Each family has a small garden connected with their house. We have reduced the number growing rations from the government, since the 16th of March, from two thousand down to 2 hundred sixty. Some sickness prevails at the camp but the people appear to be happy with their education and religious privileges." 

There was additional data about this camp.


I had to pause and reflect on what I was seeing. War is a time of chaos and confusion.  In spring of 1864, slavery still had a hold on people in the south and yet, some dared, once the Union Army was close, to make that dash for freedom. Here was a settlement of ex-slaves now breathing their first breath of free air, and there was immediate interest in education and providing structure to their lives that interrupted the pattern that they had known. So as they seized their freedom, there are some documents left that reflect the efforts to bring structure of a different kind into their lives.

Document reflecting those receiving rations at the Freedman's Camp, Helena Arkansas, 1864

Source: RG 105, National Archives M1901 Reel 6

On document listed the supplies listed to run the camp efficiently.  At first it appeared to be list of no historical interest, but then I looked at it again, more closely.

 

Supply list for Freedman's Colony

On this list was a request for an oil can for the Evening School.  An evening school? 

How strong the desire to learn must have been---there were already six schools in the city of Helena in 1864, and at the Freedman's colony and it also appears that there was an evening school.  

My guess is that it might have been the adults who attended the evening school. The simple inclusion of a lamp for the evening school reveals so much---these people once enslaved were so anxious to get on with their lives, and learning would be their key to a new life and a better life.

Researcher Dr. Alisea McCloud has identified a number of contraband camps in Arkansas  I wonder if any of the camps that he mentioned could have been a camp that emerged from Camp Freedmen.  On her site, Dr. McLeod mentions Camp Deliverance, Camp Wood and Camp Deliverance  Was Camp Freedmen one of those camps?  I don't know the answer to that.

But I glad to see a reflection of what was happening during the war, to the women and children left behind, and to see how they fled and took refuge at the contraband camp, known as Camp Freedmen, I see that by escaping---they formed their own act of resistance---they seized their freedom and began a new life.

There are no images of ex slaves in contraband camps in Arkansas. But their are images of other camps, some reflecting order and some reflecting the hardship even in freedom.

Contraband Camp, Richmond VA

Source: National Archives and Records Administration, Matthew Brady Collection

Another interesting part of this history is the reminder that the Freedman's Bureau also reflected the white refugee population as well.  War bring chaos into the lives of everyone in the community, and the records also reflected portions of the white population also served by the same Bureau.

White refugees were also reflected in this record set.

I did not set out with the intention of studying eastern Arkansas, and was in fact there to research some Civil War soldiers.  But while waiting for the original records to be pulled, I decided to take a look at the Helena Arkansas Field office, and I was able to glean additional information about a community. In this case, the strong desire to learn and to educate their children stood out.  The fact that so many had arrived at the camp, as early as March 1864 suggests that many had truly escaped to freedom.

I will return to continue this search, but was thrilled to find some unexpected data on life in eastern Arkansas, from those who fled to freedom and who lived in those camps after the war.

An Award - About our Freedom Award

I am thrilled that this blog has received an award by "About Our Freedom" In July of 2010 I wrote an article about my ancestor Sephas Bass, a soldier from the 111th US Colored Infantry in the American Civil War. In that piece I described how I was able to find my gr. gr. uncle in the records, and I shared the details about his experience as a soldier, who was captured, escaped and rejoined his unit after escape.

About our Freedom is a site created by Robin Foster of Saving Our Stories, and she has devoted this site to sharing stories of Freedom that emerged from the countless individuals who fought, served, and died for the cause of freedom for all.

I am humbled by this award, and grateful for it. Sephas Bass, Braxton Bass, Henry Bass and Emanuel Bass who all enlisted together, share this honor, for it is they who were the true Freedom Mavericks!

On their behalf, I accept this award.

The First Black Marriages of Ft. Smith Arkansas Found in Freedman's Bureau Records

Among the many desires that slaves had once freedom came was to legally marry.  Many men were anxious to marry the woman they loved and have those marriages recognized by the community, the state and they could be considered husband and wife forever.  In the years after the Civil War, for the first time, courthouses recorded the marriages of those who had once been enslaved. Once ordinary life was restored in those communities affected by the war, black men and women rushed to have their marriages recorded. 

The city of Ft. Smith was no different. At the time the war ended, the city had been occupied by Union soldiers---the 57th US Colored Troops. All entrances to the city were guarded by these black Union soldiers, and one can only imagine the impression that many of these soldiers in their blue uniforms must have made upon the local women, who had never seen such a number of free men of color and in uniform no less. It is easy to say that courtships occurred and subsequently marriages followed.  

These marriages were recorded--but not in the Ft. Smith court house.  In fact--these marriages, predated the marriage records found in the Sebastian county Courthouse.

They were performed at the Ft. Smith Bureau of the Office of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. These marriage ceremonies were performed at the Ft. Smith Field Office by Chaplain Francis Springer.

I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a ledger several years ago, and was amazed to find the marriages performed by Francis Springer in 1865 to 1867.

In this image, Nelson Call and Maria (no last name) are married, and

John Shields and Elizabeth Wagner were married.

Isaac McDaniel and Gracie Hall were married by Springer,

as were Peter Harris and Elizabeth (no last name given).

The ledger consists of 17 pages of marriages performed.  Needless to say I was thrilled to locate them, and I have published the names of the marriages on my Arkansas Freedmen website.

Francis Springer is known to those who study the history of the community in and around Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Each one of the marriages that he performed, reflect his signature as the officiating officer. 

It it not widely known that he performed so many marriages at the Bureau. But the records are there, and I have a copy of the entire ledger.

The presence of these Union Army men, and their marriages to women from the community could explain how so many of the same soldiers came to also be buried in Ft. Smith National Cemetery.  Many remained in the western Arkansas area and made it their home.

I was thrilled to find these marriages and am happy to write about these weddings that occurred at the Ft. Smith Field Office of the Freedman's Bureau.