Where can I find a list of freed slaves?

Question

I'm doing a genealogy on my family and have now gotten stuck. I'm trying to find information on relatives that I know were slaves. Does anyone know where I can find any lists of slaves or freedmen? They would have been slaves in Mississippi.

Answer 1

Hi. I just watched a genealogy special on Oprah on pbs - it was really interesting on how they went about finding info on slaves. They said that back then that slave owners had to keep records but most never put any names. They would just write male or female and their age. The people doing the show and researching on Oprah said that most slaves wrote down who owned them and for how long in an attempt at keeping some record. So you may find most info from the slaves themselves than from the slave owners. Also, this is very interesting - on the show they were looking for Oprahs great grandfather. His name was Harry Lee. They also knew his parents names. They couldn't find anything when they starting searching for info and more ancestors with the name Lee. Since some slaves kept their owners names and some didn't, you never know if you're going to find them or not. Still, they searched slave records or slave schedules, they called them, from the slave owners for any owners named Lee in the area around that certain time frame. Well, they found a slave schedule from a slave owner named Lee that stated he owned a 5 yr old black male, and 26 yr old black female and the whatever aged (I forgot) black male. (I just have to point out how sick it is that the owners didn't even put any names on paper - I wonder if they felt guily or shame. No - maybe a cowardly attitude?) This owner had actually put initials for the male and female. Based on already knowing the names and ages of Oprahs relatives they realized that they had found her great grandfather, Harry, and his parents and have found out how they got their name. (They did find more records and papers to prove it.) Winfrey was actually a slave owners last name as well. It was really mind blowing! So, anyway, try searching both the slaves and the slave owners. Look for last names and approximate ages in these records called "slave schedules" and also in death records. I hope you find what you're looking for! And check out pbs.com for that Oprah's Roots special. They went step by step in finding info on slaves. Take care!

Answer 2

Hey Melanie,

This is a new site, try it out. Hope it helps.