Some suggestions!

You should have found some family information by now using the links above, if not start at the links below or go back to the list of lists.

Make calls to the older relatives you know and find a way to visit or get the photos and documents you want. If you can get all the known family photos scanned into your records or put with your FamilyTree online it helps the whole family and you can let all of your family know the URL to see them in. Then scan documents and add those. Other relatives will want to also load what they have.
 
Ask questions of what they know. You will find lots of twists and plots in the family if you have relatives to talk to, I didn't have any living relatives or siblings so it made it challenging but I now have a lot of wonderful finds and photos, etc.

If an older relative is reluctant to help you, give or even mail with a return stamped envelope a family group sheet. But the trick is to enter him or her on the sheet being much older than they are and make one of her husbands relatives a sister or brother. Mix it up, they can't stand it and will want to get that corrected. Just pay dumb a bit. It works every-time.  

Keep in mind sometimes African Americans changed their surnames a couple of different times. They will settle on it, usually  by the 1870 census. Hopefully the family has a member with an unusual first name because you can search just for that and make a 'hit'.  Also almost all African-American families are multi-generational in the household. That is the same for poorer White and Native American families. BUT black families spread out the titles, such as Uncle, who may not be an Uncle, but just a boarder in the household. In those days families and widows would rent out a room to one or more boarders and 

The last released Census is the 1950. You can interview or dig through records enough to recognize your family in the 1950 Census then move back. The first census was in 1790 but only gave the names of the head of the family and sorted the sexes and the ages in a checklist.
Make notes on the various fields beside your family , it gives more information, like owning their farm or share cropping etc.In the 1930's it even asked them if the family has a radio. The 1900 Census asks how many children were born and how many living. You need that information! It asks questions if they can read or write.
 Use the Census' to make a tree, on paper or in your computer.

There is not a 1890 census. It burned, but some tiny parts of it are around; the agricultural census is there and also a set showing veterans. You need a system to keep track of what you have already searched. If you are using your own computer you can save the digitized images. But if you are at a library, get a thumb drive and store your information on it unless you intend to print all the findings.

This paper pile can grow to over a thousand papers though so you need a system so you don't end up with piles of loose papers and can't find anything. It is a good to decide soon how you will keep your genealogy. You can use just a notebook and add some printouts, or you may prefer. If you will work in all paper copies, then keep a spiral notebook to keep your current list of what you have checked and notes to take online or to a library to search from.

I have been a FamilySearch Center Director for year and while it is nice to imagine lovely notebooks on each of your families, it can take a huge amount of time. I advise that while you are in the research mode, it eats up time, wait till you have searched everything found on this page.
If you print things out or take lots of good notes, give the paper a page number (write it lightly in pencil); put them in  a 3 ring binder and just add the next page after it. Don't bother to sort by family or by time period. Keep that spiral research notebook with an explanation of page 1 and 2 and so on. It makes them find- able until later when you fix your permanent lovely genealogies. You will  want to make a little note on the sheets or printout that tell you what library, book, article you got it from or what website if it doesn't show up on the printout.

You don't need a computer program for genealogy but it is nice. An Article about them here.
I use Rootsmagic because it is interactive with FamilySearch.org website. It makes it easy to share info back and forth in it.  (But, mostly older genealogist choose the software approach and I am old and I also hang onto paper notebooks!)

You can make a login to FamilySearch.org and enter your family into the Family Tree . It is a non commercial website, its free and super protected. You can not only put family members in the tree but you and other people can add sources to them, photos and stories. It also allows you to print out charts, pedigrees and fan charts.
You can share the URL (web address) with relatives and share photos that way also.
The majority of younger people I know just type things into the FamilyTree on FamilySearch.org, and it leads to a lot more information being added by more people as time goes. You have to find your style:)
If you need to get help understanding how to use it, go to a FamilySearch Center and they will tutor you.

(If you go to a FamilySearch center to work and get help in, then all printouts are free and they will help you find a lot of information. They have a lot of genealogy subscriptions available for free there.  There is no charge to go to a family Search Center. Check Here to see where the nearest one to you there are thousands of them.

However I want to warn you, if you choose another website, like Ancestry or MyHeritage.com they have drawbacks. Because they are paid subscription (over a $100 dollars a year usually) they are expensive, only you can upload a file and make any changes. In FamilyTree at FamilySearch someone can come and add info and it grows. Also a commercial website can close without warning, like FamilyTree Maker did. It can just evaporate overnight. (No matter where you put your info be sure to keep backups).
Hope this helps to get you off and running.
Susan Hawkins

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Next; take a piece of paper and make a time line that shows the year and where they are found in records. You can add information that will help you track them, such as penciled in page numbers in the 3 ring binder that were referenced above. that way that persons page can be referenced.
After that add other information, such as military service on the line and perhaps a line when each child is born and marriages. (I call that my 'thinking sheet. It helps me to think of the records and where they might be for any time period).

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Go back to the 1870 census. That is the key year for African-Americans. When you Have that year in your hand you need the special resources I have listed below.
First step then is to look and compare the 1860 census to your family. Are they found in the 1860 census?
If they are that means they are not slaves but Freemen or Freedmen. Freedmen were slaves and have been freed, and Freemen are not slaves. Their records will be the same as White and Native Americans situation with a few other resources listed below in the Links.

The way it was!

If a Freedman or a Freeman lived in an area with many African - Americans they usually had to register in an office that kept a register of Freemen so if they were in a situation where someone picked them up as runaway slaves they would contact that office to get things sorted out correctly. They could prove it.
When a Freeman moved to a different state or colony they carried a letter that they got at their courthouse telling all the details so they can be entered into the new places register. They are very interesting and the letters are sometimes still in the courthouse records.
Some Registers have survived and they are being transcribed and they are going up at FamilySearch also. Many of them are already available on sites like the State libraries of various states.

Freemen also had their own fraternal Lodges and clubs, Churches and Schools and other things like workers Guilds and they paid taxes, bought land, etc.
If one of your ancestors disappear in the 1860 Census and other common records, then they likely in were en-slaved. Look again and check each answer on the census', they had answered where they and their parents were born. Consider surnames, could their former owners be where they got their surname? 
(By the way the surname 'Freeman' is noting people who were enslaved in the really old days in eastern Europe. (Slavic Countries-Slavic means slaves.)

Look for any hints to find where they are and who their owner was. The owners' life and history needs to be charted. When ever the owner moved, his slaves did too, they also inherited slaves in wills and bought slaves so the 'who' 'where' when' of their lives will help and may be the only source for their records as you go back in time.

Some states have Slave Census' (1850 & 1860), they list the owner and ask questions about how many slaves they have, their ages. You want to make a match in ages and sex to match the family you are researching.  Don't forget the time span and some of the younger children perhaps were not born yet and won't be seen much till 1870. However be sure to follow the Freeman's bank and other related materials. I have left a lot of links to data that may hold your family members.
Also after the War in 1867, they made a Voters Registration and that catches most adult males.

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Keep bookmarks on what you like the best.

Ancestry is expensive, but you can go to a FamilySearch Center to use it for free. Some public libraries will have it but it is expensive even for a library.

You can use a library addition of ancestry from home this way.
Ask your local library for a login to the TexShare Databases. It is free to Texans but you need a login from your local library. Usually it only needs the name of the library and its postal zone.

Otherwise the public libraries have the login and the URl for your state. The URL for Texas is and you can click on Resources A -Z and also you set what library you have.

Ancestry and Heritage Quest is part of the free databases. However FamilySearch usually has the same information in various databases so you want to explore all of them. Free is nice! Of course you can't use all parts of Ancestry but any data is great especially from home in your pajamas and free!
All states have a similar set of databases and if you have school children in the house they have a login the school gives them you can use. It is given to the children to help with homework.

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You should bookmark this for later research.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/African_American_Digital_Bookshelf

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Check all the states you need and note the other categories along the right side of the pages.

Texas Records, FamilySearch WIKI

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Churches

Example of the type of pages you need to look for searching google.

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/african-american-churches

Historic Black Churches of Fannin County

https://archive.org/details/blackchurchesint0000mcqu

Union Baptist Church Record and Roll Book 1906-1908 Fannin Co TX

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_African_Americans_in_Houston

Change the city in the address and see if you can find another page for an area you are interested in, such as Dallas.

County Records in the State Library
 
( Lets you know what official records remain. County Clerk's offices will have copies also but they cost a lot. Better to find online digital sources, FamilySearch and Ancestry for instance.) These are the local counties of Grayson and the counties around it. People who lived near the county line can have records in another county.

Fannin County , Grayson County, Collin County and Cooke County.

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Another source; Watch the FamilySearch.org catalog for the places you are interested in. The county records are going online there. But it is slow, they have over 6 million microfilms! You can use the online versions, many are not indexed but the books themselves have indexes in them.  Grayson County has less than other counties but Texas info is increasing.

This is the Grayson County Catalog page:

https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/catalog/results?q.place=Grayson%2C%20Texas%2C%20United%20States

They are loading the states slowly and the east states have more items than Texas Counties but its growing, so check back every few months or so for new additions. Check the various places you need.

*There is a trick though, If you find the record you want marked with a camera symbol or  a warning triangle on it (as opposed to just a camera symbol) it means the film is available online to view only at a FamilySearch Center, it is a restriction made by some county clerks offices.

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Some counties have put some early 1900's school records online. Not Grayson, yet.

Scholastic family census records Anderson Co. (births, ca. 1910-1933; filed, 1930- 1947)

Scholastic census records, Bastrop County, Texas : 1918-1950

Scholastic census records, Brown County, Texas

Scholastic census records, Cooke County, Texas

Scholastic census records, Galveston County, Texas

Scholastic census records, Leon County, Texas, 1935-1938

Scholastic census records, 1925-1947 (Kaufman Co)

Scholastic census records, 1907-1942 (Llano Co)

Scholastic census records, Milam County, Texas, 1899-1950

Scholastic census records, Navarro County, Texas, 1928-1947

Beaumont colored schools, 1880-1926 Orange Co, TX

Scholastic census records, Parker County, Texas ( many missing. 1917)

Scholastic census records, Robertson County, Texas, 1929-1937

Scholastic census records, 1861-1946 (Van Zandt Co)

Scholastic census, 1908-1947 : miscellaneous family records (Washington Co)

All of Oklahoma ( 1895-1992) and Mississippi (1850-1892, 1908-1957) are online! FamilySearch.org and check other states.

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U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016  use this at a library if they have it, otherwise go to a FamilySearch Center. You may find some photos of your relatives.

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1265/     

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Some children may seem to 'disappear' from the Census and other records.You might think they had died but you might find them here. More and more records are coming forward to check the state schools and other types of hospital. If a child had a problem or looked 'embarrassing' to the family. they often were sent to the state hospitals or 'schools'

Annual reports of the Institute for Deaf, Dumb and Blind Colored Youths of the State of Texas  list names of residents up until about 1920.

Additional registers from 1925-1965 are part of our Institute for Deaf, Dumb and Blind Colored Youths of the State of Texas records 

Notes; In 1887, the 20th Legislature created the Institute for Deaf, Dumb and Blind Colored Youths of the State of Texas. In 1930, black orphans began to be admitted to the newly designated Deaf, Dumb and Blind Asylum for Colored Youths and Colored Orphans. Three more name changes followed: in 1943, to the State School for Deaf and Blind Negro Children; in 1947, to the Texas Blind, Deaf and Orphan School; and in 1965, to the Texas Blind and Deaf School (finally placed under the Texas Education Agency). With desegregation in 1966, black students were merged with white students in the Texas School for the Blind and the Texas School for the Deaf, respectively.

https://www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/local/index

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If you have heard that you have a Native American in your family or you trace your lines to Oklahoma. Check the Freedmens' databases, sorted by tribe. Native Americans owned slaves at the same rate as Whites and many of them came into North Texas. See were they lived in Oklahoma because it might give clues to what tribe they are affiliated with.

Map of Oklahoma Indian Nations

https://upfront.scholastic.com/content/dam/classroom-magazines/upfront/issues/2018-19/012819/p10-11-oklahoma/UPF012819-Oklahoma-map-popup.jpg

US Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 Search Engine

https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/2761958

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1059/

1900 Territorial Census search engine, put Indian Territory for place.

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1325221

American Indian Records, National Archives

https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans

Ancestry Indian Records search engine, see bottom of the page

https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/nativeamerican/#collections

Oklahoma Historial Society Research Center

https://www.okhistory.org/research/index.php

Federal Writers Project; Slave Narratives Vol 13 Oklahoma

https://www.loc.gov/item/mesn130/

FamilySearch has a guide if you find your person is a tribal member.

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Military:

Confederate Indigent Families Lists.(There were African Americans in the Confederate Army and Navy)

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Locations etc.
Examples -Odds and ends in Texas. Run searches for new materials in any state you are researching in. Also remember in each state is a state library and most have online digital collections to search online for free.

Viewing the Past Through Different Lenses: The African American Legacy in the Lower Brazos Valley

County Books; Check the online libraries for various books about families and county, State histories.
FamilySearch.org has a wonderful library with millions of books. And another is HathiTrust.org also Archive.org. Put names of the schools, places and family names.

Google books, not the same as the regular online search that google pops up.  https://books.google.com/

Check the Books section of Grayson County TXGenWeb

History of Negroes of Limestone County

Lots of books , just takes searching time. Remember once you find a slave owner search for books about that family.

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Texas Supreme Court Case Files Custom Search

Some cover court cases for all kinds of crimes and other cases and settling papers for estates during the Plantation times.

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Freedmen. Finding records after the Civil War.

history links- Freedmen in Texas after the Civil War -  https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/freedmens-settlements

Schools:

Read about the Freedmens' bureau. They set up schools in various states right after the Civil War, Texas had less of them but they have a search engine. Check the states you need. Plus not all people who were serviced through the Freedman's bureau were black. about 1/2 or more in some states were white and Native American. It was for people destitute after the war.

United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Superintendent of Education and of the Division of Education, 1865-1872

The following data collections are included free only for Texans via Ancestry.com:

• 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, 1875-1954

• 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)

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* delayed birth certificates are ones made for people after the fact.  Many people had no birth record but if they need one to get a job or serve in the military or get a Social Security card in the mid 30's, they had to get a witness and proof to prove their birth. 

US, Georgia — County Delayed Birth and Death Records, 1870-1960

US, Texas, Harrison County–Delayed Birth Records, 1860-1933

Virginia Slave Birth Index, 1853-1866

Registers of Free People of Color  ( These are being uploaded in FamilySearch)

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/United_States,_Registers_of_Free_People_of_Color_-_FamilySearch_Historical_Records

Free People of Color in Louisiana

https://louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/fpoc-p16313coll51:collection

Register of free persons of color; slave records ( affidavits of people bringing slaves into the state of Georgia) 1818-1836

https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/285617?availability=Family%20History%20Library

There are several more for Georgia, in the FS catalog search box. "Keywords' Register of free persons of color

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Freedman's Bureau

United States, Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1417695

Freedmen's Bureau

https://mappingthefreedmensbureau.com/maps/

This map helps you find the Agency you want. You click on it and it takes you to a book on Microfilm at FamilySearch. The index is in the first pages of the Book.

Note the side box on the Home page that has a link to the Slaves and Freedmen of Indian Territory.

Texas Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1870

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1989155

US States Freedmen's Bureau, Records of Freedmen, 1865-1872 This search

Engine covers most of their papers.

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2721171

US Freedmen's Bureau Claim Records 1865-1872, including pension, bounty and pay claims etc

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2432941

US Freedmen's Bureau Labor Contracts, Indenture and Apprenticeship Records 1865-1872

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2475025

US Freedmens Bureau, Records of Freedmen Complaints 1865-1872

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2492627

US Freedmen's Bureau, Freedmen's Court Records, 1865-1872

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2515865

United States, Freedmen's Bureau Marriages, 1861-1872

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1414908

Search Marriages- Ancestry

https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1231

US Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Superintendent of Education and the Division of Education. 1865-1872

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2427894

United States, Freedmen's Bureau Hospital and Medical Records, 1865-1872

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2432992

United States, Freedmen's Bureau Records of Persons and Articles Hired, 1865-1872

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2515868

United States, Freedmen's Bureau Ration Records,1865-1872

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2431759

Alabama 1866 Census including Colored Citizens

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1915987

List of Microfilms of original records digitized by our digitization Partner.

https://www.archives.gov/digitization/digitized-by-partners

Fugitive Slave Case Files, 1850–1860

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/279005

United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Assistant Commissioner, 1865-1872

North Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Assistant Commissioner Records, 1862-1870

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1803698

Confederate Slave Payrolls, 1874–1899

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/719477

War Department Collection of Confederate Records, 1825–1927

Case Files of Attorneys, Agents, Pensioners, and Others Relating to the Prosecution of Pension Claims and the Investigation of Fraudulent Practices, ca. 1862–1933

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2538355

United States, Freedmen's Bureau Marriages, 1861-1872

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1414908

Cohabitation Records

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Cohabitation_Records

Settled Case Files for Claims Approved by the Southern Claims Commission, 1871–1880

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/566157

Disallowed Claims Files, 1871–1880 Not on internet yet.

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/562207

Southern States % of population Slave Map

https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3861e.cw0013200/?r=0.009,0.309,0.543,0.309,0

https://slaveryintexas.org/items/browse?sort_field=relevance&submit_footer-search=submit&search=&page=1

Read the Narratives in the National Archives

https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-federal-writers-project-1936-to-1938/about-this-collection/

Read Texas Narratives;

https://www.loc.gov/item/mesn161/

Photo collection of the Texas Narratives;

https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-federal-writers-project-1936-to-1938/?fa=location:texas

List of Narratives and photos;

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35381/35381-h/35381-h.html

https://www.usgenwebsites.org/TXMatagorda/slave_database_1.htm

https://www.usgenwebsites.org/TXMatagorda/aa.htm

Pay attention to the References down on the page.

https://www.usgenwebsites.org/TXMatagorda/slave_database_4.htm

Rootsweb databases; small slave database, includes some photos.

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ilissdsa/text_files/database_intro2.htm

Database of Slaves who are 100+ and over, 47 from Texas

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~ajac/genealogy/slave100up.htm

Examples of Library archives

https://digital.houstonlibrary.org/gregory African American History Research Center

Texas State Archives Commission website example https://www.tsl.texas.gov/arc

Processed manuscript and Photograph Collections; https://www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/findingaids/msfindingaids.html

Example of finding aids: https://tsla.sirsi.net/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/57/28/1209/X?user_id=WEBSERVER

Portal to Texas History -search for documents

https://texashistory.unt.edu/search/?q=slave+papers&t=fulltext&fq=dc_type%3Atext

Portal to Texas History- Plantations

https://texashistor.unt.edu/search/?q=plantation&t=fulltext&sort=&fq=dc_type%3Atext

Briscoe Center for American History

https://briscoecenter.org/research/

https://briscoecenter.org/research/online-reference-tools/subject-guides/slaves-and-slavery-resources/#general

Plantations in Texas

https://briscoecenter.org/search-gcse/?q=plantations+in+texas

Collection of slave papers

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/3460246

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Take a look at the types of records from slavery.

http://dlas.uncg.edu/petitions/petition/11583702/

Digital Library on American Slavery. The Race and Slavery Petitions Project contains detailed information on about 150,000 individuals, including slaves, free people of color, and whites, extracted from 2,975 legislative petitions and 14,512 county court petitions, as well as from a wide range of related documents, including wills, inventories, deeds, bills of sale, depositions, court proceedings, amended petitions, among others. Buried in these documents are the names and other data on roughly 80,000 slaves, 8,000 free people of color, and 62,000 whites, both slave owners and non-slave owners. http://dlas.uncg.edu/
 
Petition Examples; http://dlas.uncg.edu/petitions/petition/11584107/
 
http://dlas.uncg.edu/petitions/petition/10380901/
 
https://dlas.uncg.edu/petitions/petition/11282904/
 
http://dlas.uncg.edu/deeds/deed/DC.WAS.AW47.45.1/
 
http://dlas.uncg.edu/petitions/petition/11678203/

http://dlas.uncg.edu/petitions/petition/11583801/

http://dlas.uncg.edu/petitions/petition/11584015/

http://dlas.uncg.edu/petitions/petition/11583805/

https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15052coll5/search

https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=009658604346347940610%3A_lcqct1bmnw&ie=UTF-8&q=Slavery

https://www.hnoc.org/virtual/purchased-lives/new-orleans-slave-market-south

United States Slave birth records

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/3418453

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2021/02/19/black-families-slavery-dna-oral-histories/4094494001/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/study-reveals-brutal-genetic-legacy-slave-trade-180975423/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/clotilda-the-last-american-slave-ship-found-in-alabama

Slavery Era Insurance Registry  https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/150-other-prog/10-seir/

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Out of Africa -Slave voyages and history of slaves. This website has a great wealth of databases for the early slave trade.

ges.org/voyage/maps#introductory

https://www.slavevoyages.org/voyage/about#methodology/introduction/0/en/

https://www.slavevoyages.org/american/database

https://www.thoughtco.com/trans-atlantic-slave-trade-timeline-4156303

Short Biographical sketches of African American Legislators in the 1800’s. https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/forever/index.html

by Alphabet https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/forever/biographies/page1.html#A

Distribution of Slaves in 1860

http://www.texasslaveryproject.org/about/

Largest Slaveholders of 1860 (Southern US) https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~ajac/genealogy/

Northeast (US) Slavery Records Index

Slave Archival Collection; a few Texas Slaves are in the index. The Index covers Southern US

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ilissdsa/text_files/database_intro2.htm

Database of Slaves covered by insurance

http://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/150-other-prog/10-seir/

Afro-American Sources in Virginia: A Guide to Manuscripts, by Michael Plunkett

http://www.virginia.edu/~press/plunkett/mfp.html

Slave Voices, a museum exhibit of the Duke University Special Collections Library http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/slavery/

Southwestern Historical Qarterly Search Engine- Try finding the owners families and articles about the plantation you seek.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/explore/collections/SWHQ/

Southern States % of population Slave Map

https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3861e.cw0013200/?r=0.009,0.309,0.543,0.309,0

Narratives, remember some of them are females and have lost the surname you might be looking for.

Texas Slave Narratives;

https://slaveryintexas.org/items/browse?sort_field=relevance&submit_footer-search=submit&search=&page=1

Read the Narratives in the National Archives

https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-federal-writers-project-1936-to-1938/about-this-collection/

Read Texas Narratives;

https://www.loc.gov/item/mesn161/

Photo collection of the Texas Narratives;

https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-federal-writers-project-1936-to-1938/?fa=location:texas

List of Narratives and photos;

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35381/35381-h/35381-h.html

https://www.usgenwebsites.org/TXMatagorda/slave_database_1.htm

https://www.usgenwebsites.org/TXMatagorda/aa.htm

Pay attention to the References down on the page.

https://www.usgenwebsites.org/TXMatagorda/slave_database_4.htm

Rootsweb databases; small slave database, includes some photos.

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ilissdsa/text_files/database_intro2.htm

Database of Slaves who are 100+ and over, 47 from Texas

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~ajac/genealogy/slave100up.htm

Plantation Records and more. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/African_American_Slavery_and_Bondage

Examples of Library archives

https://digital.houstonlibrary.org/gregory African American History Research Center

Texas State Archives Commission website example https://www.tsl.texas.gov/arc

Processed manuscript and Photograph Collections; https://www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/findingaids/msfindingaids.html

Example of finding aids: https://tsla.sirsi.net/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/57/28/1209/X?user_id=WEBSERVER

Portal to Texas History -search for doucments

https://texashistory.unt.edu/search/?q=slave+papers&t=fulltext&fq=dc_type%3Atext

Portal to Texas History- Plantations

https://texashistory.unt.edu/search/?q=plantation&t=fulltext&sort=&fq=dc_type%3Atext

Briscoe Center for American History

https://briscoecenter.org/research/

https://briscoecenter.org/research/online-reference-tools/subject-guides/slaves-and-slavery-resources/#general

Plantations in Texas

https://briscoecenter.org/search-gcse/?q=plantations+in+texas

History of Fort Bend County

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b725335

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.082928577

Books

From Virginia to Texas, 1835. Diary of Col. Wm. F. Gray, giving details of his journey to Texas

and return in 1835-1836 and second journey to Texas in 1837, with pref. by A. C. Gray printed for the information of his descendants

Colection of slave papers

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/3460246

Out of Africa -Slave voyages and history of slaves. This website has a great wealth of databases for the early slave trade.

ges.org/voyage/maps#introductory-

https://www.slavevoyages.org/voyage/about#methodology/introduction/0/en/

https://www.slavevoyages.org/american/database

https://www.thoughtco.com/trans-atlantic-slave-trade-timeline-4156303

Short Biographical sketches of African American Legislators in the 1800’s. https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/forever/index.html

by Alphabet https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/forever/biographies/page1.html#A

Largest Slaveholders of 1860 (Southern US)

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~ajac/genealogy/

Slave Archival Collection; a few Texas Slaves are in the index. The Index covers Southern US

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ilissdsa/text_files/database_intro2.htm

Database of Slaves covered by insurance

http://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/150-other-prog/10-seir/

Afro-American Sources in Virginia: A Guide to Manuscripts, by Michael Plunkett

http://www.virginia.edu/~press/plunkett/mfp.html

Slave Voices, a museum exhibit of the Duke University Special Collections Library http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/slavery/

Southwestern Historical Quarterly Search Engine- Try finding the owners families and articles about the plantation you seek.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/explore/collections/SWHQ/

Black Genesis: Resource book for African American Genealogy

https://archive.org/details/blackgenesisreso0000rose/mode/2up

Black Roots - A beginners Guide

https://archive.org/details/blackrootsbeginn00burr/mode/2up

African American Genealogical Sourcebook

https://archive.org/details/africanamericang0000unse/mode/2up

In Black and White Vol 1 A Through L by Mary Mace Spradling

Can’t find it on web, look in local libraries

In Black and White Vol 2 M Through Z by Mary Mace Spradling

https://archive.org/details/inblackwhitegu02spra/mode/1up?view=theater

In Black and White Supplement

https://archive.org/details/inblackwhitesupp0000spra/page/n5/mode/2up

General Search for her name in Archive.org

https://archive.org/search?query=Mary+Mace+Spradling&sin=TXT&page=5

Between Slavery and Freedom (free people of color)

https://archive.org/details/betweenslaveryfr0000winc

You need to book mark this page for reference ; https://www.archives.gov/research/census/online-resources

Free Negro Registers Virginia Library system

https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/collectionDiscovery?vid=01LVA_INST:01LVA&collectionId=81122757580005756

Free African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina from the colonial period to about 1820 Vol 1

https://archive.org/details/freeafricanameri0001hein/mode/2up

Free African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina from the colonial period to about 1820 Vol 2

https://archive.org/details/freeafricanameri0002hein_q5j3

FamilySearch “United States, Registers of Free People of Color”, watch it grow!

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/United_States,_Registers_of_Free_People_of_Color_-_FamilySearch_Historical_Records

Us FamilySearch booksearch for more ;

https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/?navigation=default&perpage=50&page=1&search=freemen&fulltext=1&bookmarks=0&refine%5BAccessLevel%5D%5B%5D=Public&sort=_score

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Use the Wiki to see how court records are arranged by state:

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Virginia_Court_Records

https://freeafricanamericans.com/

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/49161/?o_lid=0004042099&o_sch=Affiliate+External&o_xid=0004042099&ranEAID=4042099&ranMID=50138&ranSiteID=c0eYRM2iuLA-D6iYG4jFHunGYQpuq7d5Zg

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/49158/?o_lid=0004042099&o_sch=Affiliate+External&o_xid=0004042099&ranEAID=4042099&ranMID=50138&ranSiteID=c0eYRM2iuLA-8yCKUF8_XLpcRsbD9RCL3Q

https://louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/fpoc-p16313coll51%3Acollection

http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/fbr/

https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/antebellum-emancipations-and-free-people-of-color

http://www.african-nativeamerican.com/

http://african-nativeamerican.blogspot.com/

https://www.youtube.com/aywalton

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Map of the 13 colonies, depicting both the number of slaves in each colony

in 1770 and the percentage of enslaved Africans in regards to the total

population. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

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Slavery Sources 1600-1810

https://www.slavevoyages.org/

https://www.hnoc.org/virtual/purchased-lives/great-forced-migration

https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/slave-ship-manifests.html

https://www.archives.gov/atlanta/finding-aids/slave-manifests/charleston

https://library.brown.edu/cds/slaveryandjustice/browse.php?verb=seeall

https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15052coll5/search

https://library.brown.edu/cds/slaveryandjustice/browse.php?verb=seeall

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade - Database

https://www.slavevoyages.org/voyage/database

https://www.slavevoyages.org/voyage/database#tables

https://informationwanted.org/search?query=texas&submit_search=Search&query_type=keyword&record_types%5B%5D=Item

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Thomas Sowell -Educated, brilliant, historian, educator, economics professor, and philosopher. His studies on history and society are wonderful. While watching the films below, check the side bar and see more films with his work. Also he did some good films about Scot-Irish Settlers and lays in on the line! There are many others about the history in this country and as well as modern subjects.

Anytime you can just put his name in Google, but to find his films and narrated books on the open YouTube, just put his name is the YouTube search and there are always good choices, always check the right hand sidebar for more! I love his reactions about today's problems. I follow his films about Africa today too as it is part of the end times and what is happening there barely makes on on any news.

14 films YouTube anywhere from 3 min to 19 min. All about different aspects of Slavery. All worth seeing.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7s6piXiFK-Q5PoPxMQ2maPPIwcBX7ssF

Facts about Slavery Never Taught in School

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyPWjjWs7-w

The End of Slavery explained Part 1 time 20:59 very interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVyM47hOdLE

The End of Slavery Explained Part 2 time 8:37

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRiKFjhlEcQ

I used George Washington in a law example for Dower Law. Many people have used him so so wrong in writings and talks about slavery. Please watch this. It is short and fills in the gaps of his story. People take it all out of context and call him a hypocrite George Washington and his slaves - time 4:30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BWIZYkIxUg

He also has a great film about slavery and James Randolph time 4:52 minutes.

James Randolph is someone that tried and tried to get people to stop slavery. He even went to England and met with people and was a very apt writer and speaker. Lots and lots of modern history books and people giving speeches about slavery totally take it all out of context and call him a hypocrite. Know your history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rB8m28pQTw

A film about what happened when his slaves were free! 14:33 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFGo0O-tVms

https://www.youtube.com/c/SowellExplains is a YouTube Channel that has so many other subjects you will enjoy. All of them short films.

Susan Hawkins
©2025

If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message.

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