Black Genealogy

Slave Narrative of Vera Roy Bobo

Interviewer: Miss Irene Robertson Person Interviewed: Vera Roy Bobo (Mulatto, almost white) Location: Holly Grove, Arkansas Age: 68 “My parents come from Macon, Georgia. My mother was Margaret Cobb. Her people were owned by the Cobbs. They reared her. She was a house girl and a seamstress. She sewed for both white and black. She was light color. “My father was St. Roy Holmes. He was a C.M.E. preacher in Georgia and later in Arkansas. He came on the train to Forrest City, 1885. He crossed the Mississippi River on a ferry boat. Later he preached at Wynne. He was … Read more

Slave Narrative of Miss Adeline Blakeley

Interviewer: Mary D. Hudgins Person Interviewed: Miss Adeline Blakely Age: 87 Home: 101 Rock Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas “Honey, look in the bible to get the date when I was born. We want to have it just right. Yes, here’s the place, read it to me. July 10, 1850? Yes, I remember now, that’s what they’ve always told me. I wanted to be sure, though. I was born in Hickman County, Tenn. and was about a year when they brought me to Arkansas. My mother and her people had been bought by Mr. John P. Parks when they were just children—John … Read more

Slave Narrative of Frank Cannon

Interviewer: Miss Irene Robertson Person Interviewed: Frank Cannon R.F.D. Location: Palestine, Arkansas Age: 77 “I was born three miles west of Starkville, Mississippi on a pretty tolerable large farm. My folks was bought from a speculator drove come by. They come from Sanders in South Ca’lina. Master Charlie Cannon bought a whole drove of us, both my grandparents on both sides. He had five farms, big size farms. Saturday was ration day. “Our master built us a church in our quarters and sont his preacher to preach to us. He was a white preacher. Said he wanted his slaves to … Read more

Biography of Simon Folsom

Simon Folsom, one of the first elders of the Forest Presbyterian Church is now one of the oldest living representatives of the slavery period. Nancy Brashears, his third and present wife, enjoys the distinction of having been the most influential of the early leaders in effecting the organization of that Church. He became an elder in 1887. After twenty-six years of faithful service under very unfavorable circumstances, he is still trying “to hold up for the faith.” In 1901 he enjoyed the privilege of being one of the commissioners of the Presbytery of Kiamichi, and attended the meeting of the … Read more

Biography of Henry Crittenden

Henry Crittenden and Teena Crittenden his wife, John Ross Shoals, his son-in-law and Hattie C. Shoals, his wife, all of whom were buried in the Crittenden Burying Ground near the old Crittenden pioneer home east of Valliant, were four of the six original members of the Oak Hill Church in 1869.

Biographical Sketch of Elijah Butler

Elijah Butler, Lukfata, was an uncle of Rev. William Butler. He was one of the early leaders in Christian work in what is now the northeast part of McCurtain County. In 1878, when St. Paul Church was organized at Eagletown, he was ordained as one of its first elders, and became an active Christian worker. A few years later he moved to Lukfata, and when the Mount Gilead Presbyterian Church of that locality was organized, July 26, 1885, he and his son, Elisha Butler, were chosen as two of the first elders of that Church. Elijah Butler, like Apollos of … Read more

Biography of Rev. Thompson K. Bridges

Rev. Thompson K. Bridges, (B. Dec. 6, 1856), Lukfata, is a native of Ellisville, Jones County, Mississippi. He grew to manhood and received his early education at Claiborne, Jasper County. Later he attended the city school at Meridian, and then took a course in theology at Biddle University. He began to teach public school at the age of 21 in 1877, and taught fourteen years in Mississippi. In 1891, he located in Indian Territory, and has now taught sixteen years in Oklahoma. In 1899 he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Catawba and in April 1902 was ordained … Read more

Biography of Rev. William Butler

Rev. William Butler (B. 1859), pastor of St. Paul Presbyterian Church at Eagletown, and of Forest Church near Red River south of Millerton, is a native of the community in which he still lives. His parents, Abraham and Nellie Butler, were the slaves of Pitchlyn and Howell, Choctaws; and William was about seven, when freedom was accorded the family in 1866. His home and work as a minister until recently have been in localities remote from the railway and good schools. The short period of one and a half months was all the time he ever went to school. He … Read more

History of the Oak Hill Presbyterian Church, Valliant, Oklahoma

The Oak Hill Presbyterian Church was organized about June 29, 1869, with six members, namely, Henry Crittenden, who was ordained an elder, Teena Crittenden, his wife, J. Ross Shoals and his wife Hettie Shoals, Emily Harris and Reindeer Clark. The services at first were held in the home and later in an arbor at the home of Henry Crittenden, one mile east of the present town of Valliant, and now known as the home of James and Johnson Shoals. After a few years the place of meeting was transferred to an arbor about two miles southwest of Crittenden’s, and two … Read more

The First Chautauqua

In 1907, the last year under territorial government, arrangements were made for a patriotic celebration, in the form of a Chautauqua at the Academy. The following account of it is from the columns of the Garvin Graphic: The Fourth of July meeting by the Freedmen at Oak Hill Academy, near Valliant, was a real patriotic Chautauqua, the first meeting of the kind ever held in this part of the Territory, and well worthy of more than a mere passing note. The preparations for the occasion, which included a comfortable seat for everyone, were fully completed before hand. The speakers’ stand … Read more

History of Spencer Academy

This page provides a brief history of Spencer Academy and New Spencer Academy of Choctaw County, Oklahoma.

Doaksville and Fort Towson

Doaksville, though no longer entitled to a place on the map, is the name of an important pioneer Indian village. Here the proud and powerful Choctaws established themselves during the later twenties, and were regarded as happy and prosperous before the Civil War.

History of Wheelock Academy

Wheelock Academy for nearly four-score years was the most attractive social, educational and religious center in the southeast part of the Choctaw nation.

The Choctaw Freedmen and Oak Hill Industrial Academy

Oak Hill Industrial Academy

The aim of the Author in preparing this volume has been to put in a form, convenient for preservation and future reference, a brief historical sketch of the work and workers connected with the founding and development of Oak Hill Industrial Academy, established for the benefit of the Freedmen of the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, by the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., in 1886, when Miss Eliza Hartford became the first white teacher, to the erection of Elliott Hall in 1910, and its dedication in 1912; when the name of the institution was changed to “The Alice Lee Elliott Memorial.”

Alabama African American Census

For black Americans the census may hold the only records they can find of their ancestors. Researchers should start with their most recent ancestor using AccessGenealogy’s Census Records main census records area, as the census taken after the civil war (1870 onwards) enumerated all blacks as they did whites. The following census records are for those decades before, and consist of free persons of color who were enumerated with all other free people, mortality schedules which provides specific details around the deaths during the year prior to the census, state population schedules (state census) which in Alabama’s situation, was taken in 1866, and the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules, which were a count of slaves that often depicted the first name of the slave, along with the “owner” of the slave. You will actually have to know the “owner” of your slave ancestor and his location to find them in the slave schedules.

Alabama Black Cemeteries

Cemeteries provide us with a unique link to our past. While many cemeteries contain a few African American graves, some are comprised of only African Americans. The following list shows African American Cemeteries in Alabama. You should also check AccessGenealogy Cemeteries for additional listings. Alabama African American Cemeteries Bullock County County Line AME Zion Church Cemetery (hosted at African American Cemeteries Online) Butler County Hosted at USGenWeb Archives Bennett Cemetery May Cemetery Pressley Cemetery Springhill Cemetery Stamps Cemetery St. Luke Cemetery (hosted at African American Cemeteries Online) Choctaw County Bethlehem Cemetery (hosted at Choctaw County Alabama ALGenWeb) Colbert County St. … Read more