Illinois African American Genealogy

African American Genealogy online research is much more difficult due to the scant nature of record keeping for African American’s prior to the Civil War. This is the reason for creating a separate section for African Americans much like we have for Native Americans who’s research can also be hampered by the available records. The links below provide an accurate reflection of what is available to be searched for African American genealogy.

Conducting successful African American genealogical research can be a challenging adventure. In recent years, the challenge has been lessened and the adventure heightened by the growing body of publications relating to this ethnic group. Special-interest groups and genealogical societies nationwide are publishing key guides, new bibliographies, and important how-to books. Before delving into published sources, however, it is always important to pause long enough to organize one’s own personal papers and review standard research methodology.

Searching for African American families involves two distinct research approaches. These approaches correspond to the distinct change in the legal status of African Americans in the United States before and after the Civil War. Genealogical techniques used to track slave families before the war are necessarily quite different than those used for white or free African Americans; however, research conducted on African Americans after the war usually involves the same types of records as those used for whites.

• National Archives
  • United State National Archives
    • Digital Classroom
    • Genealogy Research at the National Archives
• Archives
  • Illinois State Archives
    • African American Research (PDF)
    • Servitude and Emancipation Records Database, 1722-1863
    • Descriptive Inventory
  • Illinois African American Griots
• Societies
  • Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
• Biography
  • Notable African-American Chicagoans (hosted at Chicago Public Library)
  • Hosted at The Genealogy Forum
    • Isaac Myers, 1835-1891
    • About The Abolitionists
    • Abraham – Dickson
    • Do Patrocinio – Garnet
    • Gibbs – Hood
    • James – Nell
    • Oge – Ruggles
    • Russwurm – Vesey
    • Walker – Woodland
  • Free Biography Resources (hosted at AccessGenealogy)
• Illinois African American Cemeteries
• Wabash County
  • Negro Cemetery, Bellmont Precinct (hosted at Interment)
• Access Genealogy’s Illinois Cemetery Records
  The most complete coverage of Cemetery records available on the web.  They are broken down by county.  We do know know if there are African Americans in these cemeteries, so you should browse them for ancestors also.
•  African American Census Records
  • Hosted at Ancestry.com
    • 1870 US Fed Census $$
  • Access Genealogy’s Illinois Census Records
    Providing the most complete coverage of census records available on the web. We’ve broken the list down by county, and take a careful look at the index page where we explain which records are missing from the census data and may never be recovered.
• Church Records
• Hosted at Ancestry.com
  • The First African Baptist Church of North America $$
• Court Records
• Hosted at Ancestry.com
  • Slavery petitions and papers $$
• History
  • Ancestry.com Slave Narratives  $$
    Perhaps no other resource approaches the range of human experience found in Ancestry.com’s Slave Narratives. This collection of interviews stands in contrast to other slave narratives that appear in most literature anthologies which were written by the rare few who, against staggering odds, had become literate. This database provides a more poignant picture of what it was to live as a slave in the American South. Taken from The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography, this collection is the most complete available picture of the African-American slavery experience. There is simply no other historical document quite like it. The collection contains over 20,000 pages of type-scripted interviews with more than 3,500 former slaves collected over a ten year period. (Requires Ancestry.com Membership) Get 14 Days Free Access!!!
  • Hosted at Ancestry.com
    • Freedman’s Bank Records, 1865-1874 $$
  • Slavery as Practiced by the French in Illinois (hosted at Leigh Kimmel)
  • Negro Slavery in Illinois (hosted at Illinois Trails History and Genealogy)
  • Slavery and Native Americans in British North America and the United States: 1600 to 1865 (hosted at MMS Reading Listmania)
• Mailing Lists
• Maps and Land 
• Military Records
  • Military Records (hosted at AccessGenealogy)
    • World War I Records
    • Hosted at Ancestry.com
      • WWI Draft Registration Cards $$
    • World War II Records
      • Illinois World War II Army – Air Corps Casualty List
      • Illinois World War II Navy – Marines Casualty List
  • Hosted at Ancestry.com
    • Civil War Service Records $$
  • African-American Civil War Soldiers & Sailors (hosted at Solders and Sailors System)
  • Negro Troops in the Civil War (hosted at The Genealogy Forum)
• Miscellaneous
  • Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
• Surnames
  • African-American Surnames Database (hosted at Afrigeneas)
• Vital Records
  •  Illinois Vital Records (hosted at AccessGenealogy)