Finding My Ancestors

In earnest, I have been researching my ancestors for about 15 years. After all of this time, I have become somewhat anxious about publishing my findings not only for what the information would do for my family, but because my research process would undoubtedly help other researchers.

Honestly, I had lately put the search for our family's slaveholder(s) out of mind, reasoning that this information would be difficult to obtain and that it would likely take many more years of searching. Wouldn't you know that I would stumble upon this specific information while looking for something else.

I was at the National Archives recently looking for any information I could find on the contraband camp where my ancestors lived during the war. I also wanted to get some information on two special orders that accompanied my second great grandfather's detail in the spring of 1865. I found very little at the D.C. branch on either of these subjects though I thoroughly examined all records outlining special orders.

At the National Archives, I was assisted by archivist and African American Specialist Reginald Washington. He pointed me to (RG 105)M1914 (Dept. of Mississippi) and M1911 (Dept. of Tennessee). While I gathered various related information in the records of the second, the first proved earth-moving for me.

I hadn't expected...

Somewhat mechanically, I scrolled through Roll #4 of M1914, which included a "Register of Freedmen." The register itself listed the name, age, and former occupation of the freedman or woman, as well as the name and residence of the former owner! That's a lot of information. Possibly, I had overlooked the compiler of this register, which was unnumbered and undated.

My ancestors were/are included in this register, and there is no way of describing the intensity of my feelings upon seeing their names listed. I was surprised, unsettled, and am still more or less in a state of shock. My first reaction was denial. This couldn't possibly be them, I thought. I've come to feel that records legitimate people by acknowledging their existence and importance. Someone thought it important, for various reasons including bureaucratic ones, to take down the names of the freedmen and women, as well as other pertinent data.

The process of my recovery and acceptance that, yes, my ancestors' names had been recorded began with reading them over and over again. This was an affirmation of sorts.

More specifically, I was surprised and delighted to see my second great grandmother at the head of her family's list. I was delighted because I'd only before seen her name one time, as it was, on the death record of her youngest child, and then only her first name had been given--"Nancy." In my family, people had forgotten my second great grandfather's name long ago also even though he has a prominently marked grave in the church/family cemetery. So, having this new information about Nancy, whom no one remembers, completes this family circle. However, the father of the children listed in the register--Sam, Robert, Mary, and Walker--is not included. That would be Daniel Walker Williams (danielwalkerwilliams.blogspot.com), who enlisted with the USCT in 1863. I can only reason that he was not included in this registry because it was compiled after his enlistment, at which time he would have been included instead in the muster roll. In any case, Grandmother Nancy's presence at the camp provides new information. Before finding her on the registry, I had thought that she and Grandfather Daniel had been separated, on different plantations, and this does remain a possibility. But it seems more likely that they traveled to the camp at Memphis together, and it is nothing short of a blessing that they have all but one of their children with them. The presence of the youngest in 1863, who would have been around 3 years old then, remains a mystery.

Finally, a word about the slave owner. Numerous records have proved that our family resided in Marshall County, Mississippi before the war. On a Freedmen's Bank record, Grandfather Daniel reported having been raised there. Death certificates of the children listed in the register prove the same. Before finding them, however, on the registry, I had searched high and low for a Marshall County slaveowner with Williams and/or Walker as surname. As common as these names are, I have found many, but had not yet proved that we had been "with" any of them. Needless to say, finding the name of their last owner, William Hull, has opened many new avenues to explore.

As I continue to process this new information, there will be new posts concerning the nature of this kind of search into the past. But for now, let me say that this fourth generation descendant of Daniel and Nancy Williams is quite moved that they chose to seek the Union lines when they passed through Marshall/Benton/and Tippah counties in late 1862. I can almost picture them gathering their things, what little they had, maybe running for their lives. And I thank them that they began this march toward freedom so that I would hardly be able to fathom what it would feel like to list an "owner."