In honor of Black History Month, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) is featuring materials related to African American history. These materials range from historical accounts to genealogical guides and can be useful to researchers exploring the history of their own family or African American history as a whole.
Resources described in our guide, “African American Genealogy at the Texas State Library and Archives” may be helpful when researching family histories. The guide includes a mixture of resources available on-site and those digitized and available online and serves as a great starting point for a genealogical research adventure. We additionally have a variety of guidebooks for genealogy on display in our Reference Reading Room, with more information listed below.
Nell Plants a Tree, by Anne Wynter, 2023. TSLAC- Main 813.6 W993n.
This year, TSLAC’s Center for the Book named Nell Plants a Tree as their Texas Great Read Youth Selection. Exploring themes of family across generations through the lens of a pecan tree growing alongside Nell’s family, this beautifully illustrated book is perfect for introducing younger readers to genealogy. For those who wish to plant a genealogical seed of their own, this flier includes online resources that can be paired with the book to further familial research for all ages.
Prior to the Civil War, enslaved African Americans in the South were largely denied a formal education. Several states even passed legislation prohibiting teaching African Americans how to read, based on the belief that education would lead to “rebellion.”[1] After the war ended in 1865, the federal government established an agency primarily to assist newly freed African Americans. The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau, provided temporary relief and helped African Americans in the South with essential needs, including education. Despite epidemics, crop failures, natural disasters, and persistent local opposition, the Freedmen’s Bureau, in conjunction with various Northern missionary aid societies, managed to establish 66 schools throughout Texas. In July 1870, when the agency ceased operations, the freed African Americans owned 43 of the schools with 63 teachers and 3,248 students.[2]
Circular No. 20, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, Galveston, August 31,1866. Texas Adjutant General’s Department Reconstruction Records. TSLAC.
The crucial role the Freedmen’s Bureau played in the education of African Americans makes its records an important resource on this topic. While Bureau records have been duplicated on microfilm and are available in libraries and archives around the country, the nonprofit genealogy organization FamilySearch has digitized a significant amount of these materials and provides free access to them on their website. Their Freedmen’s Bureau Records of the Superintendent of Education and of the Division of Education contains images of scanned documents browseable by state or division. To help users navigate the site, FamilySearch also offers an overview of the types of documents and the kind of information one may find in these records. The collection contains monthly teacher reports and reports of the sub-assistant commissioners and agents. Reports include statistics about numbers of students and teachers and schools.
Notification from the Freedmen’s Bureau announcing tuition fees. Texas Adjutant General’s Department Reconstruction Records. TSLAC.
Researchers hoping to focus on Texas may select that state from the menu and view images specifically from that collection. An in-depth description of the Texas records was produced for the microfilm in the pamphlet, “Records of the superintendent of education for the state of Texas, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1870,” which is linked from the site as a PDF available for download. According to the pamphlet, records “include letters and endorsements sent, registers of letters received, and record books pertaining to schools, teachers, and educational expenditures of the Bureau.”
Since the federal government oversaw the Freedmen’s Bureau, that agency’s official records are managed by the National Archives and Records Administration. The Texas State Archives also contain collections with items related to the Freedmen’s Bureau. For example, the Texas Governor James Webb Throckmorton Records includes “Letters of Major Generals Philip H. Sheridan, Charles Griffin, J.B. Kiddoo, and S.P. Heintzelman concerning the activities of federal troops and the Freedmen’s Bureau constitute a large portion of the materials.” The Texas Adjutant General’s Department Reconstruction Records have “a sizable number of circulars and general orders [that] were issued by the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (commonly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau), both the central office in Washington, D.C. (1865-1867) and the regional office(s) in Texas: Galveston (1865-1867), Brownsville (1867), and Austin (1867-1868).”
When searching the archival collections with the TARO search tool, try using the term “freedmen” to catch references to both the common name and official name of the agency. In addition, researchers may be interested in collections related to the history of education more generally in Texas. Please note that not all collections have descriptive guides available online. Contact the reference staff at ref@tsl.texas.edu to assist with locating materials on topics of interest.
Those interested in the history of African American education in Texas may wish to consult our library collections for titles related to education, African Americans in Texas, and the period following the Civil War known as Reconstruction (1865-1877). Anyone hoping to learn about the history of African American education in Texas will find the story of the Freedmen’s Bureau essential.
We have identified the following counties as having school related records: Anderson, Bell, Blanco, Bowie, Brooks, Brown, Caldwell, Colorado, Collin, Cooke, Coryell, Ellis, Falls, Fayette, Gillespie, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Haskell, Henderson, Johnson, Kaufman, Leon, Llano, Marion, McLennan, Milam, Navarro, Parker, Robertson, Shackelford, Smith, Willacy, Wise, Young, Van Zandt, Waller, and Washington
[1] Federick Eby, The Development of Education in Texas (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1925), 263.
[2] Alton Hornsby, “The Freedmen’s Bureau Schools in Texas, 1865-1870,” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly 76, no. 4 (1973): 416. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30238207,
A note about terminology: Some TSLAC library and archival holdings may contain language, imagery, attitudes, and/or perspectives from the past that may be offensive today. TSLAC does not endorse the language, imagery, attitudes, and/or perspectives presented in the content but provides it as a historical document.
For more information about the collections at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, contact our reference staff at ref@tsl.texas.gov or 512-463-5455.
Group portrait of two women seated with hats in lap and a man standing between them, 1905. Tina Q. Odim photograph collection, 2015/109-7. Texas State Library and Archives Commission. (View in TDA)
Genealogy researchers tracing family lines through African American ancestors, especially those who may have resided in Texas, may find the collections and reference resources at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) helpful. TSLAC’s Genealogy Collection is part of the expansive library of publications and resources that includes family and county histories, city directories, birth and death indexes, cemetery records, newspapers, and other information essential to genealogists. Online services like Ancestry.com Texas offer digital versions of some State Archives collections. The State Archives houses the official record of the government of Texas throughout the history of the state, along with papers from organizations, families, businesses, and related Texas groups. If individuals interacted with the government on official business, it is possible that their names are on file.
Washington Edwards, 103 years old, 1889. According to the writing on the back of this photo, Edwards was brought to the United States from Africa, leaving behind a wife and family. He came to Texas shortly before the Mexican War. He never forgot his native African language. Prints and Photographs Collection, 1905/11-1. Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
The history of the lives of African Americans in the United States is intertwined with the long legacy of chattel slavery. The majority of Black Americans living in the South during the 19th century before the Civil War were owned as property. Tracing family lineage is difficult, as individuals were often only referred to by gender, a general age range, and perhaps a first name. In another blog post [https://www.tsl.texas.gov/outofthestacks/a-girl-named-loise-19th-century-documents-record-hidden-lives/], Reference Archivist Richard Gilreath described how he uncovered the history of an enslaved girl named Loise through historical records. He wrote that, “Deeds, wills, court cases and tax records are some of the evidentiary documents establishing intermittent timelines of those whose lives intersected with legal transactions, including those considered, under the law, as property.” In this case, Harris County tax documents and records from court cases illuminated the course of this young person’s life.
Image: 13th Legislature, 1873, Liberators of Texas, [included African American representation]. Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Find out more about representation in the online exhibit Forever Free.
After the Civil War, Black Texans began participating in communities in new ways that offer opportunities for genealogists. For example, ancestors may have entered public office, owned property, and registered to vote. Researchers should investigate federal census records, voter registration lists and other files available through the State Archives. The Texas Genealogy Trails site lists African Americans in government office during the Reconstruction Era here: http://genealogytrails.com/tex/state/aapolitics.html.
The Freedmen’s Bureau was a federal agency that provided various means of support for former enslaved people and opened field offices in southern states, including Texas. Digital collections of these records are available online through genealogy services like FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1989155) and particularly useful for African American heritage searches.
TSLAC Reference staff maintain a page on the Archives and Reference website with a list of popular resources used for Genealogy research. Many of these are searchable online. Much of the list is reproduced below. These entries cover only a portion of the hundreds of collections and publications that may contain references to ancestors. Patrons may also search the library catalog for more titles and search finding aids for more archival material.
The Index to Confederate Pension Applications provides the name, county of residence, and pension number for some 54,634 approved, rejected, and home pensions issued by the Texas government between 1899 and 1975.
Texas Adjutant General Service Records, 1836-1935. The Service Records Series combines both official service record files from the Adjutant General’s Office and alphabetical files created by other agencies which contain records related to an individual’s service in a military unit. The database provides the name, the military organization, and the call number. Please note that the listing does not include the names of ALL persons who served in Texas military organizations. It indexes only the names of persons who have files in this record series.
Republic Claims. This series is now available in digital form as well as microfilm. It includes claims for payment, reimbursement, or restitution submitted by citizens to the Republic of Texas government from 1835 through 1846. It also includes records relating to Republic pensions and claims against the Republic submitted as public debt claims after 1846.
Confederate Indigent Families Lists. View the names of families that received aid through the 1863 “Act to Support the Families and Dependents of Texas Soldiers.”
1867 Voters’ Registration. On March 23, 1867, Congress passed legislation that called for a registration of qualified voters in each military district. The text of this legislation can be found in the Statutes at Large in volume 15, page 2 (15 Stat 2). The commanding officer in each district was required to have, before September 1, a list of these voters from each county. These lists would be used to determine all who would be eligible to vote for any proposed constitutional convention in the state.
Texas Convict Record Ledgers and Indexes. The record ledgers are excellent sources of individual convict descriptions and information regarding their incarceration. Although the original records are too fragile to be used, they have been microfilmed and may be viewed on-site or borrowed through the interlibrary loan program.
Republic of Texas Passports. The collection of 55 documents has been digitized and a complete listing of names is available.
Library Reference Resources
Vital statistics indexes are an important part of the genealogical resources available at the library. While we do not have access to the certificates themselves, the library does own selected indexes to Texas births, deaths, marriages and divorces. The indexes are available for on-site use.
Index of County Records on Microfilm is available online, along with instructions for borrowing rolls through interlibrary loan. Although the microfilm is housed in depository libraries throughout Texas, the Genealogy Collection houses the film for the following counties: Atascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Caldwell, Comal, Frio, Galveston, Gillespie, Grayson, Guadalupe, Harris, Hays, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kinney, Llano, McMullen, Medina, Uvalde, and Wilson.
The following data collections are included free to Texans via Ancestry.com. Find out how to access these digital collections here: https://www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/ancestry.
Alabama, Texas and Virginia, Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958
Texas, Prison Employee Ledgers, 1861-1938
Texas, Muster Roll Index Cards, 1838-1900
Texas, Wills and Probate Records, 1833-1974
Texas, Convict and Conduct Registers, 1875-1945
Texas, Court of Criminal Appeal Indexes, 1892-1947
Texas, Capitol Building Payroll, 1882-1888
Texas, Memorials and Petitions, 1834-1929
Texas, Bonds and Oaths of Office, 1846–1920
Texas, Index Card Collections, 1800-1900
Texas, Voter Registration Lists, 1867-1869
Nacogdoches, Texas, Spanish and Mexican Government Records, 1729-1836
Texas, Land Title Abstracts,1700-2008 (original records held by the Texas General Land Office)
For more information on the collections and services available at TSLAC, check the website here or contact Reference Staff at ref@tsl.texas.gov or 512-463-5455.
Front cover of the Treaty between Great Britain and the Republic of Texas for the Suppression of the African Slave Trade, November 16, 1840. ATF0419, Artifacts collection. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
A few of the items in the
Texas State Archives’ Artifacts
collection are
both artifact and document—a combination of physical object, often with
aesthetic or artistic value, and informational record—that sheds light on a
facet of our historical past. Among these are treaties between the Republic of
Texas and other sovereign nations, created between 1839 and 1844 as formal and
official documents of international diplomacy. These treaties are also
described in our holdings as Texas Department of State treaties between the Republic
of Texas and other nations.
The treaty pictured above,
with its bright red velvet cover and decorative cord, is one of three treaties
by which Great Britain recognized the Republic of Texas as an independent
nation and was signed in November 1840. This particular treaty established an
agreement between the two nations to suppress the African slave trade by
declaring such trade as piracy. British or Texian merchant vessels discovered by
either nations’ war ships to be carrying Africans for the purposes of
enslavement were to be subject to capture and adjudication of their masters,
crew, and accomplices. African men, women, and children found on board who were
destined for slavery were to be immediately given their freedom and delivered
to the nearest Texian or British territory. “Texian” was the adjective used
during the Republic era where we would instead use “Texan” today.
First page of the Treaty between Great Britain and the Republic of Texas for the Suppression of the African Slave Trade, November 16, 1840. ATF0419, Artifacts collection. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
The treaty was signed in London, England, on November 16, 1840, by Lord Palmerston as Great Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and by James Hamilton, financial agent for the Republic of Texas. Hamilton had taken over the task of negotiation from James Pinckney Henderson, Texas minister to England at that time and the future first governor of the state of Texas.
Hamilton’s efforts
resulted in three signed treaties between the nations, including this one to
suppress the African slave trade, one of several such treaties Great Britain
negotiated with other nations during this time. Great Britain had abolished
slavery within its empire in 1807 and was working toward universal
emancipation. The treaty was not approved by the Congress of the Republic of
Texas until January 1842 due to politically motivated delay in sending the
document to Texas. It became effective on June 28, 1842.
Though slavery existed and
was lawful in Texas while it was a republic, and later as a state after
annexation, prohibition of the African slave trade was part of the Constitution
of the Republic of Texas, as it had also been prohibited by the United States
Constitution since 1808. Even so, a small percentage of slaves in the republic
arrived there due to illegal African trade.
Permanent residence of free blacks in the republic required the approval of Congress in each case. Before the Texas Revolution, the Mexican government had given free blacks full citizenship rights, but afterward, the Constitution of the Republic of Texas took away citizenship from those with one-eighth African blood and restricted their property rights. The “freedom” granted to those Africans who were found on vessels smuggling them into Texas was by no means full freedom as the white population enjoyed.
“All persons, Africans, the descendants of Africans, and Indians excepted, who were residing in Texas on the day of the declaration of Independence shall be considered citizens of the republic and entitled to all the privileges of such.” Detail from INV 6512, General Provisions, Section 10, Texas Constitution of 1836, Texas (Republic) Department of State records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Click here for an image of the entire page from Section 10.
The
treaty was nullified by the subsequent annexation of Texas by the United States
in 1845. A similar treaty between Great Britain and the United States was
finally concluded in 1862, though negotiations had gone on between the two
countries since 1814 (with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent) and had primarily
been hindered by disagreement over conditions for search and visitation of
vessels.
Slavery in Texas officially ended after June 19, 1865, when federal
forces occupied Galveston two months after the end of the American Civil War
and emancipation was announced by the Union commander of the Department of
Texas, General Gordon Granger. Still, the devastating effects of slavery
persisted and continue to echo in our society’s struggles to ensure social
justice and the protection of civil rights for African Americans.
Historical records at the State Archives provide insight into the lives of enslaved African Americans residing in Texas in the 19th century. Various government documents available through the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) provide dates, names, and geographic locations important to family historians and other researchers hoping to identify individuals who may have lived in bondage. Deeds, wills, court cases and tax records are some of the evidentiary documents establishing intermittent timelines of those whose lives intersected with legal transactions, including those considered, under the law, as property. One such individual was a young African-American girl known as Loise. Loise makes several appearances in records dating from 1848 -1851. By using the names and locations mentioned in a single document as leads, we may follow Loise’s path for several years through the historical record.
We locate Loise on an 1849 Harris County tax-assessor’s deed which states that her owner, C. W. Bassett, owed the state back taxes. Loise was put up for auction. With no bidders, the State of Texas purchased her for $5.90.
This Harris County document reveals that C. W. Bassett owed back taxes for the year 1848. Tax Assessor and Collector, John N. Reed therefore levied “upon the following property of said C.W. Bassett to wit: One negro girl named Loise about ten years old slave for life.” John N. Reed Deed, July 25, 1849, Miscellaneous File, Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
In our Texas
Treasures online exhibit, we noted that Loise’s fate is unknown.
However, by using other resources available at TSLAC, we can develop a better
understanding of the life of Loise after this point. Loise’s own voice and
words are not reflected in the records, but we are able to reconstruct an
incomplete timeline of her life through the probate records of Harris County.
These records, which have been microfilmed, are part of our county
records on microfilm.
The probate record refers to Loise as “Louisa.” These similar but slightly different names add an additional layer of uncertainty. However, we believe – based on the locations and times in which these individuals lived – that Loise and Louisa are the same individual.
Loise is first referred to in the Harris County probate record on August 28, 1848 with the assigned value of $100.00 and as the legal property of Adam Erastus Cloud. Cloud, a minor, was represented by his guardian, James Walker. However, the probate record shows Loise under the possession of Harris County Sheriff, D. Russell, not Cloud. Walker sought to acquire physical possession of slaves that Cloud claimed.
On July 25,
1849, records reveal that the tax assessor and collector for Harris County,
John N. Reed, put up for public auction in Harris County the young girl named
Loise. She was described as “about ten years old” and “a slave for life.” As no
one bid on her, the state purchased Loise for $5.90. Her purchase by the state
is listed in a Comptroller’s Office register of tax sales. The finding aid for
these records is available online.
Although the finding aid references the sales of land, sales of slaves are also
included in the volumes.
In an entry
in the probate record dated June 27, 1850 – nearly a year after the auction –
James Walker and Adam Cloud continued to claim Loise as Cloud’s property. The
record noted that she was gifted to Cloud by his grandfather’s will. Several other
slaves claimed by Cloud were found in Brazoria County, on property owned by
F.J. Calvit. James Walker filed a lawsuit against Calvit to claim the slaves on
Cloud’s behalf.
Texas Supreme Court document M-2980 – part one. James Walker filed a lawsuit against F.J. Calvit to claim slaves on behalf of Adam Cloud. Texas Supreme Court document M-2980 – part two.
This court case ultimately went to the Texas Supreme Court. The case file went missing, but TSLAC recovered a portion of the file in 2008. The portion of the case file recovered does not mention Loise. (You can read more about TSLAC’s replevin efforts here.)
The probate
record also reveals some of the circumstances of the death of Clement N.
Bassett. A petition by August C. Daws, dated November 11, 1850, averred that
Bassett died in 1848 (though it did not provide the exact date). This petition
noted that litigation was ongoing between Adam Erastus Cloud and Bassett
regarding the ownership of Loise. Daws applied to be the administrator of
Bassett’s estate and swore that Bassett died without writing a will.
Bassett’s
widow, Julia, protested Daws’s application on November 16, 1850. In response to
her protest, Loise was mentioned by name, and appraised at $375.00 by the
court. She was noted to be “about thirteen years of age.” On January 28, 1851,
Daws submitted a motion to withdraw his application for administration of the
Bassett estate. He cited a decision against him in a lawsuit, which also
referenced Loise, as his reason for withdrawing the application. The other
party in this lawsuit is not mentioned, but may have been Julia Bassett.
On July 31,
1851, Adam Erastus Cloud appears again in the probate record. He reached 21
years of age and asked to receive property held by James Walker as his
guardian. In this entry in the record, Loise is assigned a value of $400.00. An
entry in the probate record on October 2 of that year reveals that legal
difficulties still surrounded Loise. She was excepted from the property
returned to Cloud by Walker, due to “the prosecution of the suit in the
District Court … in favor of said Cloud against Clement N. Bassett for a negro
girl Louisa, commenced by said defendant as Guardian of said Cloud.” It
appears, at this time, that Loise worked for a man named James W. Henderson,
also in Harris County.
The probate
court ordered Loise be returned to Cloud, but that she would remain in
Henderson’s possession until the conclusion of the suit in District Court. The
probate record noted that Loise was hired by Henderson, rather than owned by
him.
After
October 1851, we did not find further reference to Loise in the probate record.
Her exact fate remains unknown, but the probate record allows us to reconstruct
claims over her ownership and have a sense of what may have happened to her.
After Bassett died, she was moved to the property of Henderson. It appears that
several of Cloud’s slaves were sent to work on others’ property during this
time period, and that Cloud took legal action to attempt to recover them.
Loise and
the other slaves owned by Cloud were discussed as property, and the impact
these decisions would have on their lives was never considered in the record. We
do not have documentation of the hardships Loise experienced and survived
during this time. However, these records provide us with the opportunity to
understand a little more about the lives of slaves like Loise, who, to the best
of our knowledge, left no written record of her own experiences.
Additional records at TSLAC and other institutions may provide more of the story. Harris County District Court records might provide the court case records of Adam Cloud’s and James Walker’s efforts to claim ownership of Loise. Her descendants may know the rest of the story. If you have additional information regarding Loise, please contact us at: ref@tsl.texas.gov.
