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Would you like to contribute Bible records, funeral programs, obituaries, photos, historical documents or family histories to our digital collections? We will cherish your contributions. Here’s what you need to know to get started on preserving your family’s history at IAAM!
LATEST BLOG POSTS
Register for Four Free African American Genealogy Seminars in February!
Save the dates! The IAAM Center for Family History and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission will present 4 FREE virtual seminars in February. Please join us every Saturday in February for these exciting seminars!
Resources for Documenting the Atlantic Slave Trade in Charleston
One of the biggest research challenges for African American genealogy is documenting enslaved ancestors who were brought from Africa to the Americas in the Atlantic Slave Trade. More than 40% of those who were forced from Africa to the shores of North America arrived...
Gather Records in Your Home or a Relative’s Home
A lot of us start researching by jumping online, and we do not start by using our own family archives. You could miss the best information that would keep you routed in the right direction to find your family. All that you need to do to start is look through this checklist and find things in your own house that can tell you about an ancestor. Gather all the records in your house that have a name of a family member on it. If you have never done this, you may not realize the number of items that you will find.
Family History: Starting Easy
Do you feel like you need to start over or are you getting into family history for the first time? You have come to the right place. Even seasoned family historians can learn something for the first time as we go over the principles of doing family history.
Wayne OBryant Tells of His Family’s Relationship with Rev. Simon Miller (1819-1875)
I have always believed we need community to come together to share what they remember about our history and genealogy. As I sit here in Fayetteville, NC writing about Rev. Simon Miller and only having a feeling about his importance, once again someone from the community in Charleston, SC living in North Augusta, SC has helped. We have lost a lot of history, but with community we can recapture quite a bit. I think about what we have captured here: freeman, education, the trade of carpentry, a legislator, AME Church, preacher.
How I Found Laura Johnson (abt. 1864-1927) and Who She Married
These are my great grandparents, Andrew Johnson and Jane Smith Johnson. I have spent quite a bit of time researching them and their children, but some I have not found besides here in this 1880 Census. At first, I thought Laura Johnson was Lula Johnson Vance, wife of my great grandfather, Rev. Lafayette Franklin Vance. Have you ever tried to find a female family member and only knew her birth name?
Discovering Historical Records Up Close and Personal
Greenwood County Courthouse. SC, Robin R. Foster, Feb. 2014 I spent the first eight years of my move to South Carolina in Columbia researching in the archives, libraries, and getting to know cousins there. I have worked my way back to the 1800's in my research....
Rev. Simon Miller (1819-1875), a Presiding Elder and a Freeman, Served His Community
In looking for Rev. Simon Miller from the historic newspaper article with Richard Harvey Cain (1825-1887), I admit I had to start from scratch. When I wrote Richard Harvey Cain (1825-1887) Served in South Carolina Senate, I knew I would try to find out more on Rev. Simon Miller because he was the one who chosen Secretary of that Conference. Little did I know I would find how important he was.
Richard Harvey Cain (1825-1887) Served in South Carolina Senate in 1868
Richard H. Cain, member of the United States House of Representatives I trust you followed along with our series on the Bishop William H. Heard where we proved researching him could also bring forth many resources that would also document other African Americans....
African American Genealogy: The Dothan Eagle Has Notice of A.M.E. Conferences
I want to really encourage those of you with Alabama ancestry that you need documentation for to search the Dothan Eagle in Dothan, Dale County, Alabama. I heard from James Morgan III again last week. He let me know that there was another article in the Dothan Eagle that documented Bishop William H. Heard
African American Genealogy: Is There a County Record of My Ancestor Voting in Georgia?
Yesterday we identified one place your ancestor might have been recorded as voting in Georgia in the blog post Did Your African American Ancestor Register to Vote in Georgia, Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1868? In this post you could be led to another place to find him, Georgia, County Voter Registrations, 1856-1909. All colors of people are available in this database, but this might be one of the first times your ancestor was recorded by name because it contains the names of emancipated people.
Did Your African American Ancestor Register to Vote in Georgia, Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1868?
After the Civil War, Georgia was divided into forty-four districts of three counties. To register, a voter had to take the oath of allegiance to the United States government and to swear he had never supported the Confederate States of America. Over 95,000 white and over 93,000 African-American voters became registered in the Georgia, Reconstruction Registration Oath Book, 1867-1868. They can be searched at FamilySearch.org.