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
- Archives
- Libraries
- The African-American Mosaic A library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture.
- Societies
- Biography
- Notable African Americans from Louisiana (hosted at New Orleans Public Library)
- Hosted at LAGenWeb Archives
- Biography of “Uncle Bill” Jones – Winn Parish
- Biography of Ben Allen and Ike Martin – Winn Parish
- Biography of Abraham Wyche Jackson – Desoto Parish
- Biography of W.H.Payne – Planter and Businessman
- Biography of Uncle Billy – Slave History-Franklin Parish
- Biography of Jim Thribling – From Kentucky to Louisiana
- Free Biography Resources (hosted at AccessGenealogy)
- A B Bi C Ch Cr D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
- African American Cemeteries
- Louisiana African American Cemeteries
- Access Genealogy’s 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
- Louisiana African American Census Records
- Hosted at Ancestry.com
- Access Genealogy’s 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
- Hosted at African American Genealogy USGenWeb Archives
- Livingston Parish
- Tensas Parish
- Grace Episcopal-Baptisms & Births 1856-1857
- Grace Episcopal-Marriages 1856-1857
- Court Records
- Hosted at Ancestry.com
- Hosted at LAUSGenWeb Archives
- Claiborne Parish
- DeSoto Parish Marriages
- Cleavins & Ellick Marriage Certificate – Rapides Parish
- Tensas Parish
- Conveyance Records
- Extractions from Porter Conveyance Records
- Lafourche Parish Conveyances for the Triche Name LaFourche Parish
- Conveyance Records – Catahoula Parish
- Conveyance of Bird W. Stroud to Louisa Owens – Natchitoches & Sabine Parish
- 1810 Conveyance Records – St. Landry Parish
- Succession Records
- Succession of George W. Keller – W. Feleciana Parish
- Succession of Pierre Durand – 1861 – Iberville Parish
- Succession of Simpson Whaly, Sr. – 1861 – Iberville Parish
- Succession of Henry Sheridan-1825 – Natchitoches Parish
- Succession of Robert Anderson – Carroll Parish
- Succession of Lightfoot Williams – Desoto Parish
- Notarial Records
- Emancipation Records
- Emancipation of Sylvain-1 – St. Charles Parish
- Emancipation of Sylvain-2 – St. Charles Parish
- Emancipation of Nancy – Tensas Parish
- Emancipation of Melite Gradenigo – St. Landry Parish
- Inquest Records
- Inquest Of Carolina – Winn Parish
- Miscellaneous Records
- Somerset Plantation John Perkins
- Matilda vs Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey
- Sheriff Sale – Barbet vs Roth – 1861 – Iberville Parish
- Adeliza Pickett Vs. Phillip Quay – Carroll Parish
- Criminal Justice Matters Hal Frazier and Jesse Robinson – Winn Parish
- Probate Records
- Hosted at LAUSGenWeb Archives)
- Deed: Absalom Traylor to James Durbin – St. Helena Parish
- Deed: Jeremiah Durbin to George Richardson – St. Helena Parish
- Probate Records – East Feleciana Parish
- Will of Charles Brumfield – 1815 – Washington Parish
- Estate of Marie Bihm – St. Landry Parish
- Last Will and Testement of Antoine Simien
- History
- Ancestry.com Slave Narratives $$
Perhaps no other resource approaches the range of human experience found in Ancestry.com’s Slave Narratives. This collection of interviews stands in contrast to other slave narratives that appear in most literature anthologies which were written by the rare few who, against staggering odds, had become literate. This database provides a more poignant picture of what it was to live as a slave in the American South. Taken from The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography, this collection is the most complete available picture of the African-American slavery experience. There is simply no other historical document quite like it. The collection contains over 20,000 pages of type-scripted interviews with more than 3,500 former slaves collected over a ten year period. (Requires Ancestry.com Membership) Get 14 Days Free Access!!! - Louisiana Slave Records
- Hosted at Ancestry.com
- Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy (hosted at Afro Louisiana History)
- Hosted at Slaveholders and African Americans 1860-1870
- Ancestry.com Slave Narratives $$
- Mailing Lists
- People of Color in the Old South (hosted at Tennessee GenWeb)
- Military Records
- Military Records (hosted at AccessGenealogy)
- World War I Records
- Hosted at Ancestry.com
- World War II Records
- Louisiana World War II Army – Air Corps Casualty List
- Louisiana World War II Navy – Marines Casualty List
- African Americans in World War II
- Hosted at Ancestry.com
- African-American Civil War Soldiers & Sailors (hosted at Solders and Sailors System)
- Roster – 9th United States Volunteer Infantry 1898 to 1899 (hosted at LAUSGenWeb Archives)
- Louisiana Native Guards (hosted at LAUSGenWeb Archives)
- Military Records (hosted at AccessGenealogy)
- Newspapers
- Hosted at LAUSGenWeb Archives)
- Ouachita Parish
- Ouachita Telegraph 1875
- Ouachita Telegraph 1876
- Ouachita Telegraph 1877 – Part 1
- Ouachita Telegraph 1875 – Part 2
- The Daily Telegraph – 1869 Ouachita Parish
- The Daily Telegraph – 1883 Ouachita Parish
- The Daily Telegraph – 1870 Ouachita Parish
- The Daily Telegraph – 1871 Ouachita Parish
- The Daily Telegraph – 1886 Ouachita Parish
- Articles from the La. Intelligencer – 1868 Ouachita Parish
- Union Parish
- The Homicide Near Shiloh
- Abstracts from the 1885 “Home Advocate” Union Parish
- Abstracts from the 1872-88 “Home Advocate” Union Parish
- Death of Dick Davenport – 1886 Union Parish
- New articles surrounding Death of W.P. Mabry Union Parish
- Washington Parish
- Other
- Surnames
- African-American Surnames Database (hosted at Afrigeneas)
- Vital Records