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Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865 to 1872

Freedmen's Bureau Records

After the Civil War, the Freedmen's Bureau helped newly freed people reunite with family, secure wages, testify against violence, legalize marriages, and go to school. Its officers wrote down what they saw: criminal cases, labor disputes, reports of outrages, marriages, and letters from families still searching for one another. Every case below comes from transcribed Bureau record books held by the National Archives, and every name we read is published here for free, forever.

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Bank account registration

May 17, 1870 · Limestone Co. · Alabama

Ellcy DonaldSpot JonesJohnDelphyCesarMarsellaMaryChristiana

Ellcy Donald registers for an account with the Freedmen's Saving and Trust Company.

The record

Record for : Ellcy Donald Date and No. of Application : May 17, 1870 Name of Master : Name of Mistress : Plantation : Mr. Spot Jones Height Age and Complexion : 50, Brown Father (John) or Mother (Delphy) ? Married ? Not living. Name of Children : 5, Cesar, Marsella, Mary, Christiana (only children named) Regiment and Company : Place of Birth : Virginia Residence : Limestone Co. Occupation : Cook REMARKS : I have no bro. nor sisters that I know of.

Enslavers named in this record

Mr. Spot Jones
National Archives Microfilm Publication M816 "Registers of Signatures of Depositors in Branches of the Freedmen's Saving and Trust Company 1865 - 1874"
View the original record book

Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, National Archives. Transcriptions from the Freedmen's Bureau Online.