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.

Visiting Freedom's Fortress - The First Contraband Camp

Historical Marker for the First Contraband Camp

This past weekend was full of so many experiences. I had traveled to Hampton Virginia to speak at the Civil War Seminar sponsored by the Hampton Roads African American Historical & Genealogical Society conference.  This was an amazing weekend on so many levels, and I traveled down on Thursday to have time to include visiting some historical sites while there.

Many sites were on my list and among them was a special trip to Ft. Monroe. This is the site of the very first

camp for escaped slaves during the Civil War. This was the first contraband Camp.  

I felt a need to visit this place, because I had ancestors who had made it to  a contraband camp. Mary  Paralee Young described how she and others---as they were following the line of Union soldiers, had made a harrowing trek on foot from Ripley Mississippi to Saulsbury Tennessee.  Once there, she and hundreds of others were put on a train and taken to President's Island Contraband camp, near Memphis Tennessee. She remained there until the end of the Civil War.

She described how on route one of the children had become lost but she had to stay on the move.

Statement made by Mary Paralee Young describing their journey to President's Island

Source: Civil War Pension File of Amanda Young

This story is significant in so many ways.

First of all, most of can remember when a woman broke the law of the land in Montgomery Alabama when she refused to sit in the back of the bus any longer.  Rosa Parks started a revolution and the Montgomery Bus Boycott started a revolution changing Montgomery and America as well.

Most of us need to know how three men---slaves of a Col. Mallory of Virginia---these three men, broke the law of the land. They sought asylum at Ft. Monroe a place in Virginia that was still under Union Army control. These three men sought asylum and were granted it by Gen. Benjamin Butler. And these three men---Frank Baker, James Townsend and Sheppard Mallory---began a quiet revolution ----a wave of thousands of slaves---who stood up, and walked to their freedom.  This was a wave began that could not be stopped.

A recent article in the NY Times describes what happened, how the slave owner sought the return of the slaves and how Gen. Butler gave sanctuary to these three men----Frank Baker, James Townsend and Sheppard Mallory--three men whose names we need to learn. They were essentially the "Rosa Parks" of their time.

Image reflecting the appeal of Frank Baker, James Townsend and Sheppard Mallory for sanctuary

The significance of this incident should not be overlooked---for this became the beginning of a wave of civil disobedience and it is the enslaved themselves who should be credited for unlocking the chains of bondage themselves. 

Like the current revolution of the masses that we have recently watched in the Middle East---we need to understand the wave of slaves---who were captured in the newspaper  illustrations of the day-----this wave of humanity---that refused to take it anymore.

Slaves pouring into Ft. Monroe

For me---I had the honor to stand where they stood and to enter the same fortress. I could not help but to stare at that gate---and appreciate the courage of the three men who dared to enter Ft. Monroe the first time.

View In front of the gate leading into Ft. Monroe

A recent article in the New York Times discussed the actual incident of the three slaves seeking sanctuary and it deserves to be shared here:

When Col. Mallory learned that three of his slaves had escaped, he sent a messenger under a flag of truce to Ft. Monroe to have the slaves returned.  The exchange is described as follows:

Cary got down to business. "I am informed" he said, "that three Negroes belonging to Colonel Mallory have escaped within your lines. I am Colonel Mallory's agent and have charge of his property. What do you mean to do with these Negroes?"

"I intend to hold them."

"Do you mean to set aside your constitutional obligation to return them?"

Even the dour Butler must have found it hard to suppress a smile. This was, of course a question he 

had expected.

And he had prepared what he thought was a fairly clever answer.

"I mean to take Virginia at her word," he said. " I am under no constitutional obligations to a foreign country which Virginia now claims to be."

"But you say we cannot secede," Cary retorted, "and so you cannot consistently detain the Negroes."

"But you say you have seceded," Butler said, "so you cannot consistently claim them. I shall hold these Negroes as contraband of war, since they are engaged in the construction of battery and are claimed as your property."

Source: NY Times Magazine April 1, 2011, by Adam Goodheart. Mr. Goodheart is the author of “1861: The Civil War  Awakening,” from which his article in this issue is adapted.

An Unsung Revolution

There was an incredible underground communications network among the slaves. News was often shared from one plantation to another through this amazing network.  The network became critical after Baker, Mallory and Townsend were given sanctuary and declared contrabands of war. As soon as this happened, the underground network became vital and it went into overdrive. 

A wave had taken over the enslaved communities and they arrived by the hundreds.  Newspapers throughout the country began to capture images of slaves walking to freedom---with one goal---get to the Union line!!

Some came in broken wagons

Source: Library of Congress Wood Engraving

Many traveled on foot

Source:  Library of Congress

 But they came by the hundreds.

Source: Library of Congress

With all of this rich history, visiting this incredible site was a must for me, because some of my ancestors were part of that revolution. 

That unsung revolution of the enslaved had spread throughout the land. The underground network had led to the establishment of contraband camps in multiple states. And my gr. gr. Aunt Mary Paralee Young, was among the many who dared to leave and walk to freedom! 

So to honor my ancestors, visiting the place where the dismantling of slavery began--- visiting this place was a must!

I honor them for their courage.

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.