Coroner’s records are another type of record useful in determining, for example, date and cause of death. Here is an example showing partial testimony at the inquest on the body of an African American.
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Fr. Dickson Cemetery is an African American cemetery in St. Louis County, Missouri. Here is an example of a record from that cemetery showing the name of the deceased, dates of death and burial, place of death, etc. Have you located similar cemetery records for your ancestors?
Mobile authorities issued slave permits allowing slaves to live on their own in the city of Mobile. The number of slaves who lived as free in Mobile is not known. Federal census records list some slaves who were living as free as heads of households. For further information, see Christopher A. Nordmann, “Free Negroes in Mobile County, Alabama” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Alabama, 1990), 49-54, available on my website.
St. Louis city officials maintained registers in which they recorded a person’s date of birth, along with place of birth, racial status, names of parents and their places of birth, and name of informant. Separate registers for the races were not kept – names of whites and blacks appear together in the same books. These registers were used prior to state-wide requirements for filing such records. Have you found similar records?
St. Louis city officials maintained registers in which they recorded a person’s date of death, along with age, place of birth and death, marital and racial status, occupation, cause of death, and name of cemetery. Separate registers for the races were not kept – names of whites and blacks appear together in the same books. These registers were used prior to state-wide requirements for filing such records. Have you found similar records?
Probate records are among the most important to family historians. Wills contain a variety of information, including relationships. Here are two examples of wills written by free women of color: Charlotte, also known as Charlotte Davis of St. Louis, Missouri, and Margaret Trouillet of Mobile, Alabama.
Voting records are another important type of genealogical records. These valuable lists vary widely over time and place and may show one’s racial status. For instance, Alabama maintained a list of qualified voters in 1867, and these lists are available online at http://www.archives.alabama.gov/voterreg/index.cfm (bottom left image.) A 1904 St. Louis register of voters may show the voter’s name, residence, birthplace, color, age, occupation, length of residence in the city, naturalization data, and signature (top image). Also in St. Louis, canceled voter affidavits may show, for example, name of voter, race, address, and date of birth (bottom right image).
Among the many records of the Mobile probate court is a record book of runaway slaves. The 30 slaves of the estate of Zeno Chastang, Sr., a free man of color in Mobile County, Alabama, were appraised at $23, 525 in late 1860. Among those appraised was Felix. Zeno Chastang, Jr. appeared before the Mobile Probate Court judge on March 1, 1865, and testified that he knew the slave named Felix, committed as a runaway slave, and that Felix was the slave of Edward Z. Chastang, Zeno’s younger brother. Felix may have been the slave of Zeno Sr., whose slave named Felix Monroe was born and baptized in 1845. A slave named Felix also appears in Zeno’s inventory. Shown below is the Chastang record in the runaway slave book in Mobile County. Have you thoroughly checked all probate records where your ancestors lived?
Tax records are valuable resources for historians and genealogists. They may be used as a substitute for census records. Researchers should examine tax laws to understand data in the records. For additional information, see Gary M. Smith and Diana Crisman Smith, “Using Tax Lists,” NGS Magazine 35 (April—June 2009):56-59, and Elizabeth Shown Mills, “Using Tax Rolls Creatively,” Quick Tips: The Blog @ Evidence Explained website, https://www.evidenceexplained.com/quicktips/using-tax-rolls-creatively (accessed Nov. 18, 2014). Check newspapers for delinquent tax payers. As with some other records, race was not always shown in tax records or lists of delinquent tax payers. Shown below is a copy of a Virginia tax list that I received from certified genealogist Alycon Trubey Pierce as well as a list of Mobile residents who did not pay their taxes. Some free people of color appear on this list; however, their racial status does not appear.
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August 2015
CategoriesAuthorI am a professional genealogist specializing in tracing the lives of African Americans. I earned my Ph.D. in history from the University of Alabama. |