Labor Contract, Wm. J. Ball with Freedmen, 1866

FamilySearch has digitized all 106 microfilm reels in the NARA series Records of the Field Offices for the State of South Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1872 (NARA Micropublication M1910). This digital collection is titled South Carolina, Freedmen’s Bureau Records, 1865-1872.

This post is one of a series of posts with research tips for getting the most from this collection. To follow all of Lowcountry Africana’s posts for this significant collection, please bookmark the index page here. Each post we add will automatically update to the Table of Contents in the upper right sidebar on that page.

In this post, we will look at Freedmen’s labor contracts and the information they contain.

Labor Contracts

The regulation of written labor agreements between planters and freedmen was a major concern of the Freedmen’s Bureau. In South Carolina, some 8,000 contracts were signed, and nearly 130,000 freedmen worked under labor contracts between the years 1865 and 1866. The terms of the contracts were variable, but most labor contracts called for freed ancestors to receive housing, rations, medical attention, fuel, and a portion of the crop.¹

Arrangement of Labor Contracts

Labor contracts on a single microfilm span several years. If you find a labor contract for your ancestor, there may be labor contracts for several more years on that reel of microfilm. The earliest labor contracts made in 1865 sometimes list first names only, but by reading on in the microfilm you may find contracts for subsequent years that list surnames of ancestors.

Anatomy of a Labor Contract

As with other records in this series, both the front and back of each page of a labor contract were photographed for the microfilm. If an inscription was written in a margin, the page was rotated and photographed again from that orientation.

The cover page lists the parties in the contract, location, date and occasionally, remarks. Within the record series, many documents are grouped together by the first letter of the last name of the planter, but are not in strict alphabetical order within that subset. It is best to read through all of the frames for the first letter of the former slaveholder’s name before declaring your search unsuccessful.

Labor Contract, Wm. J. Ball with Freedmen, 1866

There follows a statement of the terms of the contract, outlining the responsibilities of planters and Freedmen, and how the year’s crop was to be divided. Most contracts were for one calendar year. The terms of many labor contracts were not far removed from what was required of enslaved ancestors – work days were long, Freedmen could not leave the plantation or have visitors without permission and possession of firearms or alcohol was prohibited.

Detail from Wm. J. Ball Labor Contract, 1866. Please Click on Image to View Larger

Following the contract terms is the signature page. Here the names of the Freedmen who entered into the contract are listed.

Detail from Labor Contract, Wm. J. Ball with Freedmen, 1866. Please Click on Image to View Larger

I Have Found an Ancestor Here. Now What?

If you find an ancestor in a labor contract or any other Freedmen’s Bureau record in this collection, this record set should be on your research radar for intensive research.

Why? Because this means the Freedmen’s Bureau may have been operating in the area where your ancestor lived. This means that any of the other records for the Field Office nearest your ancestor may hold treasures for you.

If you find an ancestor in a labor contract, rations list or other record within the collection, there may have been a sub-agent responsible for creating every type of record the bureau kept, for the area where your ancestor lived.

I Have Found More Than One Record for My Ancestor. Now What?

If you find more than one record for your ancestor in this new collection, the records for that particular Field Office should be on your reading list for browsing frame by frame.

We learned from the previous post on reading the descriptive pamphlet thoroughly that it was a common practice for agents to record more than one record type in a bound volume. The title of a bound volume therefore may not reflect the full contents of that volume. An example is this volume for Barnwell District labeled “Letters Sent” on the cover. Reading frame by frame, we found 5 different record sets in this bound volume. ²

Unbound records may be unarranged. The descriptive pamphlet notes whether records were arranged or unarranged when the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) received them. Unarranged records may have been catalogued as miscellaneous records, which are often overlooked.

If you have found more than one record for your ancestor within the records for a Field Office, reading through the records for that Field Office frame by frame is the only way you can be assured that you have exhausted all research avenues in this new collection.

About This Post

This post is one of a series of posts with research tips for getting the most from this collection. To follow all of Lowcountry Africana’s posts for the FamilySearch collection South Carolina, Freedmen’s Bureau Records, 1865-1872, please bookmark the index page here. Each post we add will automatically update to the Table of Contents in the upper right sidebar on that page, so you can be sure you never miss a post.

References Cited

[1] United States, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, Decriptive pamphlet for Records of the Field Offices for the State of South Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1872 (NARA Micropublication M1910).

[2] United States, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, Records of the Field Offices for the State of South Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1872 (NARA Micropublication M1910).