Project Conclusion

Sadly, this is my final blog post as the project ended on August 15th. I have learned so much, met so many amazing people, and had an incredible time rediscovering freed African Americans, and their stories, from such an important time in American history. The lives and stories of African Americans in this country and the struggles they faced in the past, as well as the present, are an intrinsic part of America's historic quilt and our Nation's public narrative. These men and women single-handedly built most of the South, all without any recompense. Before the end of the Civil War when slavery was abolished it was only at the will of their "masters" that they were released, but this was a rarity and only a dream for most enslaved people. The names found in this project were of people who came from as close as Kentucky to as far away as South Carolina to live their lives as free members of society. While working on this project I decided to create a Story Map based on my findings. The map is broken down into individual counties and allows the viewer to see from where the freed men, women, and children were coming. The story accompanying the map also goes a little more in-depth than I have provided in this blog.

Working papers for the project.

After completion, the total number of names of Free Blacks from the counties of Champaign, Clark, Greene, Logan, and Montgomery equaled 427. There must have certainly been more, but, unfortunately, those records have been either lost to time or remain hidden from me. The county with the highest number of records was Greene County, revealing 184 Manumission, Emancipation, or Freedom Paper records. Logan County was a close second with 163 records.

The flags of America, Ohio, and Logan County over a county building.

The county with the least amount of records, surprisingly, was Montgomery County. I was only able to find the names of 14 free Blacks for Montgomery County, which is a considerably low number. Speaking with the Tina Ratcliff, Records Manager for the Montgomery County Records Center and Archives, led me to the conclusion that the lack of records could be due to the flooding that downtown Dayton was subject to prior to proper dam placement, plus the Great Flood of 1913. Just above Montgomery County was Clark County with 28 records.

Downtown Dayton seen from the observation point at Woodland Cemetery.

Once again, I would like to thank the Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board (OHRAB) for allowing me to work on this incredible project. I would also like to thank the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the grant they awarded OHRAB to make this project possible.
I hope you all enjoyed this journey as much as I did. Thanks for reading and be good!

Week 10: WSU's Archives - Montgomery County

This week I headed back to Wright State University's Dunbar Library to search Montgomery County Township records in their Special Collections and Archives. WSU's Special Collections and Archives holds many local government records for counties that do not have an archival repository. However, their most famous collection is the Wright Brothers Collection. Seven sections of materials concerning the Wright Brothers are housed in the archives including photographs, phonographs, family papers, technical manuscripts, awards, and more.

Special Collections and Archives reading room.

But it was the township records, not the Wright Brother Collection, I was there to see. I looked through 13 Justice of the Peace minute books for the townships of Van Buren, Clay, German, Jackson, and Perry.

A page from a Van Buren Township Justice of the Peace minute book.

I found some interesting entries in the minute books. Women taking their husbands to court for abuse, bastardy cases, indebtedness cases, and even the occasional attempted murder charge. I also found that someone had a case of the doodles when bored.

A page in a township book showing mathematics and doodles.

I also found a practice sheet of paper for someone practicing their handwriting. It read, "Begin in youth to fix virtuous habits in the mind."

Paper used for handwriting practice.

Unfortunately, for all the pages I thumbed and entries I read, my search for Manumission records came up empty. It seems that the photocopied handful in the Montgomery County Records Center and Archives might be the only ones that have survived. The lack of records is disheartening as is the fact that the only Manumission records in existence were found in the back of a stray animal book. It is hard to see people, human beings, treated that way. Although it could be that the records were lost in the Great Flood of 1913 or even thrown away after the end of the Civil War when African Americans no longer needed to register as free people. We may never know the answer.
Well, that is all I have for this week. I hope you all enjoyed and please join me next week when I make my final post. It has been an incredible adventure, so please don't miss out on the finale.
Thanks, and be good!

Week 9: Montgomery County

Montgomery County was created from parts of Ross and Hamilton Counties in March of 1803, and is named after Revolutionary War General Richard Montgomery. Montgomery County, whose seat is Dayton, was once home to several famous people and industries such as: The Wright Bicycle Shop, owned and operated by Wilbur and Orville Wright; The National Cash Register Company (NCR), opened by John Patterson; Ohio Governors James Cox and Charles Anderson; African American poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar; Orville Wright; John Patterson; Charles F. Kettering; and many, many more. Perhaps the most historically memorable moment for Montgomery County, and Dayton, was the Great Flood of 1913.

Downtown Dayton as seen from the lookout at Woodland Cemetery.

The Great Flood is well outside the parameters of my research, however. This week I was in downtown Dayton at the Reibold Building to search the Montgomery County Records Center and Archives, located on the 6th floor, for traces of free Blacks in the county. The Montgomery County Archives consists of two floors - the 6th and the 9th - the 6th floor being where the general records are as well as the archivist, Tina Ratcliff, and her extraordinary team.

Inside the Montgomery County Archives.

I began my search in the deed records. The vast amount of deed records housed in the archives in unsurprising considering how populated, and how industrialized, Dayton became once the Miami and Erie Canal was complete thus connecting Dayton to Cincinnati. While the deed records had been carefully transcribed I found no entries for Blacks being freed via deed so I began searching the Clerk of Court minute books.

Inside the Montgomery County Archives.

I scoured through page after page of minute books and found nothing. Tina Ratcliff, archivist for Montgomery County, gave me some advice as to where I might find some entries, telling me that I should check individual township books. She also mentioned that anything could have happened to Montgomery County's Black and Mulatto Registry, including being destroyed in the 1913 flood. Once again, I needed to make my way back to Wright State University's Special Collections and Archives.

Before I left, however, Ms. Ratcliff pulled out an archival box from a shelf and sat it down on a table in the reading room. In it was some historical documents, a probate record for John Dillinger (not THE John Dillinger), a couple of photographs, and a photocopy of a stray animal record book. I read the small, tattered label on the photocopied cover and realized the book's importance. The label read, "Stray Book A No. 1 & Record of Free Negros Montgomery Common Pleas."

Montgomery County Common Pleas Stray Animal and Free Negro Record.

Scribbled in the back of the book like an afterthought was the names of fourteen African Americans who had come to the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas to enter their names as free Blacks. All these men and women had come from different parts of Virginia between 1804 and 1805, right after the county was created, and were choosing to make their homes in Montgomery County, Ohio.

A page inside the registry.

As heartbreaking as it is to see the names appear in a stray animal registry, it is comforting to see them appear at all. Well, that's all I have for this week. I hope you enjoyed, and please join me next week as I make one final return to Wright State University's Special Collections and Archives.

Thanks, and be good!

Week 8: WSU's Archives - Champaign, Clark, and Logan County

This week I headed to the Champaign County Clerk of Court's office and Wright State University's Special Collections and Archives located in Dunbar Library. If you'll remember from last week, I had to check WSU's microfilm for Clark County Court of Common Pleas records as well as locate the Black and Mulatto Register for Logan County. I also had set up a meeting with the Champaign County Clerk of Courts to gain access to their storage location to look for original Manumission and Emancipation records. I will start the blog post for this week with where I started - Champaign County.

Champaign County Court House.

The Clerk of Court for Champaign County, Penny S. Underwood, was a great help during the records search for Champaign County. She set me up with her intern, Hannah, who let me look through all the records I wanted and even helped me with the locations of some of the journals I could not find. Due to a couple of fires, especially one that started in the records room and spread to the rest of the court house, there were not a lot of records to look through. However, I did find an original Manumission record for a Black man named Barry from 1809. While that was the only original paper Manumission record I found, I am pleased to say that the rest of the Clerk of Court journals had already been recorded on microfilm and can safely be viewed at a variety of locations.

Metal probate boxes charred from a court house fire.

Application for a certificate of freedom for Barry.

Next on my list was to return to Wright State University to search their archives for the Logan County Registry and to look at microfilm for Clark County. Sadly, I was unlucky in the microfilm search, but the Logan County Black and Mulatto Register was beautiful to see. The Logan County book lists 132 names with a date span of 1824 - 1857.

Manumission record for Eli Wilkins.

Manumission record for the Banks family.

There were two very interesting records included in the Logan County book. First, there was the record of all the enslaved people Emancipated from George C. Mendenhall of Guilford County, North Carolina. In all, 28 people were granted their freedom upon Mendenhall's death. There was even a tiny photograph of the Mendenhall home in the folder where the book is kept.

Home of George C. Mendenhall ca. 1810. Photo courtesy of Fred Hughes.

The second, and most fascinating record from the book was the Manumission record of a man named Everett Byrd. Collin W. Barnes, a Justice of the Peace in Northampton County, North Carolina, certified that Everett Byrd was a "free man of color" and that he had known Mr. Byrd's mother and grandmother. Mr. Barnes stated, "[A]s to his freedom this is, nor can be, no manner of doubt as he descended from a white woman who was his grandmother."

Excerpt from the Manumission record for Everett Byrd.

These 132 names are only the tip of the iceberg concerning Logan County, however. The County is certainly famous for having the shortest street in America and America's oldest concrete street, but there is another, far more important piece of history for which Logan County is famous - its ties to Abolitionists and to the Underground Railroad. If you ever head anywhere in Ohio that takes you through, or close to, Logan County, be sure to check out the Logan County History Museum and ask about Logan County's role in the Underground Railroad.

That's all I have for this week. I hope you all enjoyed and come back next week when I visit the Montgomery County Records Center and Archives.

Thanks, and be good!

Week 7: Logan County

This week, I traipsed around Bellefontaine in Logan County, Ohio, searching for Manumission records. Logan County was founded in 1818 and is named after Revolutionary War Colonel Benjamin Logan. Bellefontaine is the county seat as well as the largest city in Logan County.

Flags of Logan County, Ohio, and America.

Logan County Courthouse.

Pineapple fountain in front of the courthouse.

Bellefontaine is also home to America's shortest street, McKinley Street, and America's first concrete street, Court Avenue. Although cars are no longer driven down Court Avenue, it is still well-maintained by the City of Bellefontaine.

America's oldest concrete street, Court Avenue.

My first stop in Logan County was to the Recorder's office to search the deed records from any bills of sale or freedom papers.

Exterior of the Logan County Office Building which houses the Recorder and the Auditor's offices.

Interior of the Logan County Recorder's office.

I searched through a multitude of indexes from 1818 until 1863 and saw some interesting things. A man named Job Davis had sold land to "Nobody," Simon Kenton sold and acquired different lands, and I saw a man with the last name Starbuck buying and selling a lot of land. Unfortunately, there were no Manumission records to be found at the Recorder's office, so I made my way to the Logan County Library.
Libraries are always great sources of information no matter what you're looking for. Like most of the libraries that I have visited, the Logan County Library has a genealogy/local history research room. Anyone can do research in it, all you have to do is check in at the desk and they will unlock the door for you. Two employees set me up in the room and provided a lot of African American historical files for me to go through to help in my journey. An interesting item they had was a photocopied book titled, "Register of Black, Mulatto and Poor Persons in Four Ohio Counties 1791-1861." This book was great as it had a lot of names of freed Blacks in Logan County that I could use in my search.

Book cover from Logan County Library.

Another interesting item they had was a newspaper clipping reporting that freed Blacks living near the Indian Lake area had been stricken with malaria. It seems that one John W. Warwick of Amherst County, Virginia, freed 300 of his slaves in 1850, bought land for them near Indian Lake, and gave them enough supplies for a year. The land that Warwick purchased, however, turned out to be infested swamp land. The article states that one-sixth of the population at the Indian Lake settlement contracted malaria and "died within a short time."

Newspaper article from the Logan County Library.

While the article gave me the name of an emancipator, John W. Warwick, I still had no actual Manumission or Emancipation records. I decided to head to the Logan County Historical Center.

Logan County Historical Center, Bellefontaine, Ohio.

The Logan County Historical Center is a museum, archive, and genealogy center all rolled into one. While waiting for the archivist to take me to the archives, I walked around the museum and found a room dedicated to the Underground Railroad and the Logan County Abolitionists who helped Blacks escape slavery in the south. The docents were all incredibly friendly and knowledgeable, I highly recommend going!
The archives are located on the second floor, with the genealogy room across the hall. I was able to search through a township journal and a common pleas docket, but names continued to elude me. I did learn that Logan County had a Free Black and Mulatto Registry that was microfilmed and the original stored at Wright State University's Special Collections and Archives, so I will be going back there shortly to view the original document.
So that's all I have for this week. I hope you all enjoyed and tuned for next week when I revisit the Champaign County Clerk of Courts office and Wright State University for the Free Black and Mulatto Register of Logan County.
Thanks, and be good!

Week 6: Clark County

I continued my search in Clark County this week, visiting the county offices in Springfield. The first place I went was to the Clark County Heritage Center. The Heritage Center is located in Springfield's old City Hall and Marketplace building on South Fountain Ave. The building itself is 13,000 sq. ft. and features a museum, Un Mundo Café, meeting rooms and rental spaces, the Huenke Family Farm Store, the Fisher Family Library and Archives, the Springfield Arts Council, and office spaces for United Way of Clark County and Clark County Veteran's Support Services.

Clark County Heritage Center

The Fisher Family Library and Archives is located on the second floor. The library was actually closed on the Tuesday I went, but their lovely archivist, Natalie Fritz, allowed me to come up and search their probate records for manumission, emancipation, and freedom paper records. 

Fisher Family Library and Archives

Fisher Family Library and Archives

The archives had a wide variety of Clark County, and Ohio, history including books, microfilm, and other reference material. They have the original probate court indexes, but also have them typed out so patrons can better read the names and cases. The typed indexes are also less awkward to handle and peruse as the original books are oversized and very heavy. While looking through the indexes, I made a discovery. There was an entry for a man named William H. Williams who was emancipating his slaves in 1860. 

Index entry for William H. Williams.

Not only did the Heritage Center have the entry in their original index book, but they also had both documents from probate court in their archival storage.

William H. Williams emancipation documents.

Williams set free five enslaved people from Kenton County, Kentucky on the 29th of November, 1860: Morris, Nancy, Mary, Alexander, and Robert Wilson.

While I was scanning the indexes for more records, Mrs. Fritz was searching the storage room for another court record she had remembered seeing. It was a deed of emancipation that had been donated to the Heritage Center whose donor and donation information had been lost over the years. The record was from one Polly Bell of Augusta County, Virginia, who emancipated 22 enslaved people in October of 1849. 

Deed of Emancipation from Polly Bell to 22 enslaved people.

All though these records were all the Fisher Family Library and Archives had, they were phenomenal finds. Done for the day, I packed up and headed to the Clark County Clerk of Courts office to check for records at the Court of Common Pleas.

Clark County Court of Common Pleas.

The employees of the Clark County Clerk of Courts office were exceptionally friendly. I had called the day before to let them know who I was and what I was looking for so they wouldn't be surprised. They were very helpful and let me look through whatever books I wanted. I was a little disheartened to note that they were missing a lot of physical records from before the 1900s, however there are microfilmed copies at Wright State University's Special Collections and Archives, so I will be making a trip back there soon.

Luckily the Clerk of Courts office did have a complete index to common pleas cases from 1819 to 1852. While scouring the index, I found an emancipation entry.

Deed of emancipation for "Ralph."

The entry was a deed of emancipation from A. Givens to a man named Ralph. I asked one of the employees if I could see the book the complete record was in, but it unfortunately was not found in their storage room. Hopefully I will be able to find the complete record on microfilm at Wright State - we will see!

That's all I have for Clark County until I can get to Wright State and hit up their microfilm collection. I hope you all enjoyed and stay tuned for next week when I travel up to Logan County.

Thanks, and be good!

Week 5: Clark County

I began my journey to Clark County this week with a lovely trip to Springfield. Clark County, Ohio became a county in 1818 and is named after American Revolution General George Rogers Clark. Clark County was originally just parts of Greene, Champaign, and Madison Counties before it was officially partitioned off as a separate county. When the National Road was completed, Springfield, the county's seat, found itself at the end of that road thus creating plentiful opportunities for the young county.
It was a hot and humid day, so I decided that it might be nice to visit the Clark County Recorder instead of strolling around the historic downtown. Both the Recorder and the Auditor are located in the same building on North Limestone Street next to the courthouse. The reference room was filled with deed and mortgage records, records of mechanics liens, partnerships, and mortgage releases. It was two stories!

Recorder and Auditor Offices.

First floor of the record room.

Second floor of the record room.

The employees at the Recorder's Office were incredibly helpful and showed me exactly where everything was that I wanted to look through.

I started looking through the deed indexes to see if I could find anything that was labeled "BoS" (bill of sale), "Emcptn" (emancipation), or "Fdom Pprs" (freedom papers). I found one entry for a bill of sale, but it was just that - a bill of sale between a father who is giving his land to his son. 

I also found a few names who were marked as free Blacks on the 1830 census, but those were all just land and lot deeds. I did take a picture of a peculiar name that made me smile, however.

Deed record for Cindarilla Hauke.

A deed record for a woman named Cindarilla Hauke stood out from the pages filled with mostly men's names. While I did not find any Manumission records this week, Cindarilla certainly made me glad that I was looking. 

I hope you enjoyed this week's post and stay tuned while I continue my search in Clark County.

Thanks, and be good!

Week 4: Champaign County

I continued my search in Champaign County this week with a visit to the Champaign County Historical Museum. The museum contains a lot of artifacts concerning the history of Champaign County and its people, but, unfortunately, they didn't have any court records in which I might peruse. Regardless, I enjoyed my visit and talking with the staff who keep the museum alive.

Champaign County Historical Museum

Since there were no court records at the historical museum, I called the Champaign County Clerk of Courts to see if I could gain access to their physical minute books instead of going to the library to scan through microfilm. The Clerk of Courts was not in so I left a voicemail and spoke with her the next day. She was very nice, but will be out of town next week, so she will get back in touch with me about meeting up to see their records.
Since I couldn't see the original records, I went back to the library to view the last remaining rolls of microfilm for probate court. I spent 6 hours scanning microfilm and thought I had run out of luck when I found an entry at the bottom of the second-to-last book. The entry was for a man named Francis Rinoe (possibly Rinse), who had appeared in court to enter his name and the names of his entire family!

Minute book record for Francis Rinoe and his family.

The entry reads:
"This day Francis Rinoe a Mulatto man applies for permission to enter of record the names of himself and family. To wit Francis Rinoe and Rachel his wife - David Rinoe - Phellis Rinoe [-] Susan Adams wife of Lewis Adams - Francis Rinoe Junior [-] Joseph [M...] Rinoe - Robert Rinoe - Anna Rinoe - Lewis Rinoe - Rosanna Rinoe - Abraham Rinoe - agreeably to the statute in such case made and [illegible]."
That's all I have for now for Champaign County until I hear back from the Clerk of Courts. I hope you all enjoyed and be sure to come back next week when I explore Clark County.
Thanks, and be good!

Week 3: Champaign County

Week three at Champaign County turned out great. My first stop was at the Champaign County Recorder to search their deed records for Manumission papers.

Champaign County office buildings.

Deed books at the Champaign County Recorder's Office.

Because Black people were considered 'goods', slave owners who came to the northern states to emancipate their enslaved people could pay for their freedom through the County Recorder's office. There were a lot of different ways the Recorder could notate this, and it was usually with a short abbreviation. However, I found an emancipation record in the deed book that clearly stated, "Emancipation from A. Vanmeter." Abraham Vanmeter had noted in his will that he wanted his slaves to be freed upon his death provided there was no crop out at the time. If there was a crop, however, Vanmeter stated, "[T]he said slaves shall be kept together and work as usual until the crop is secured." He also noted that they would receive one-third of the earnings from the crop for their trouble.

Emancipation entry in a Champaign County deed index.

I went through every deed index from between 1803-1863, but that was my only find at the Recorder's Office. Afterward I hit up the Champaign County Library's Local History Room.

Rows of Champaign County history books in the Local History Room.

The Local History Room at the Champaign County Library was great. There is no attendant, so if you need help you have to ask the information desk. It is a small room with lots of local history, microfilm, newspapers, magazine transcripts, and local church and cemetery records. It is a great, quiet place for doing research. While I was perusing the books looking for African American history, I came across a book called "Black Legacy" by Sheila J. Farmer Clay. Ms. Clay made references to Manumission papers found in Clerk of Court minute books. Guess where I headed next?

"Black Legacy" by Sheila J. Farmer Clay.

Champaign County Court House

If you guessed the Clerk of Courts Office, you guessed right! The ladies working in the Domestic Division on the third floor were very nice and let me come in the back to do some research in their index books. In a folder labeled "Index to Estates Prior to 1858" I found three mentions for freedom papers. The individuals for whom the freedom papers were given were William Russell, Eliza Rector, and Daniel Rector. I was incredibly excited to find a trace of these papers. I showed the entry to one of the workers but, unfortunately, she could not locate the actual records. It was quite a bummer not to be able to see the actual case file and papers, but at least there is evidence of these people obtaining their freedom!

Three entries for freedom papers in an estate index.

Sadly, there were no more entries in the estate index for freedom papers. I tried to get access to the physical minute books, but was told they were at an off-site area and that they were heavily damaged. I am going to put in a formal request to see them next week, but for the time being I went back to the Champaign County Library Local History Room.

Microfilm readers at the Champaign County Library.

Back at the Local History Room I discovered that Champaign County's Court of Common Pleas minute books had all been microfilmed. I decided to look through the books page by page, via film, since I was denied access to the original copies. I started with the earliest book, around 1809, and went through six volumes before I decided to head home for the day. I was pleased that I did because within those six volumes, I found five entries! I was elated!

Manumission record for "Barry, a [N]egroe man."

Manumission record for "Lewis, a man of color."

Manumission record for Richard and Gracy Stanup.

Needless to say, I am going to try again to get access to the original records. If not, I can still scan through microfilm until I document them all. I hope everyone enjoyed my findings this week and you all join me next week while I continue my search in Champaign County.
Thanks, and be good!