The Complete
Research Guide

I. The 10-Step Research Protocol

1. 1
   Build a complete timeline back to your earliest known ancestor

   Use family records, vital records, and census records from 1940 backward. Record every known fact: names, dates, locations, and any family stories about origins. Identify the earliest ancestor you can document. This becomes the starting point for everything else.

2. 2
   Locate your ancestor in the 1870 census (FamilySearch, free)

   The 1870 census is the essential starting point — the first federal census in which formerly enslaved people appear by name. Note the county, state, neighbors, and ages of every household member. Search all spelling variants of the surname. If you cannot find the ancestor in 1870, search 1880 and work backward from there.

3. 3
   Examine 10 census pages before and after your ancestor's household

   List all surnames of landowners and neighbors in the surrounding pages. Formerly enslaved people frequently settled near the families who enslaved them after emancipation. Any surname appearing repeatedly in proximity to your ancestor is a strong candidate for a former enslaver. This is known as the "FAN Club" method — Family, Associates, and Neighbors.

4. 4
   Search the 1860 slave schedule for slaveholders of the same surname (FamilySearch, free)

   Find white households listing enslaved people matching the age, sex, and color of your 1870 ancestor (subtract 10 years from their 1870 age). Search the 1850 slave schedule as well (push back another decade). Also search all white families in the same county whose surname appears near your ancestor in the 1870 census — any of these could be the former enslaver.

5. 5
   Research the slaveholder's full family — parents, siblings, children, in-laws

   Search white family census records 1790–1870. County histories. Church records. Probate records. Enslaved people passed between family members through inheritance (named in a will), marriage (given as a gift to a newlywed daughter), and gifts during the slaveholder's lifetime. The person holding your ancestor in 1860 may not be the same person who held them in 1840 or 1820.

6. 6
   Search estate inventories, wills, and probate records for named enslaved people

   County courthouses; state archives; Ancestry estate files. Estate inventories are the single most likely place to find the actual names of enslaved individuals — because courts required specific identification of property. In Mississippi: Mississippi Department of Archives & History (mdah.ms.gov). In NC: NC State Archives (archives.ncdcr.gov). In Virginia: Library of Virginia (lva.virginia.gov). Also search the Digital Library on American Slavery (dlas.uncg.edu) — 17,000+ petitions with named enslaved people.

7. 7
   Search Freedmen's Bureau labor contracts (1865–1872) at FamilySearch

   Labor contracts frequently name both the formerly enslaved person AND their former enslaver. Marriage registrations often confirm slavery-era relationships. Hospital and ration records sometimes include family details. The 32 Freedmen's Bureau collections on FamilySearch are free. The DiscoverFreedmen.org portal allows simultaneous keyword search across all collections.

8. 8
   Check Freedman's Bank records for former enslaver information (ancestry.com/freedmens, free)

   Bank account applications from 1865–1874 asked depositors to name their parents, siblings, spouse, children, employer, and former enslaver — creating the richest possible family constellation document from the immediate post-emancipation period. For this lineage: search the Holly Springs MS and Memphis TN branches, which served Marshall County and surrounding areas.

9. 9
   Search "Information Wanted" ads and WPA Narratives

   Information Wanted ads (informationwanted.org) name formerly enslaved people, family members they sought, and former owners as geographic reference points. WPA Slave Narratives (loc.gov) include first-person accounts that name specific owners, plantations, and counties. For this lineage: search the Mississippi and Tennessee WPA volumes for mentions of Faulkner/Falkner, Nevills, Harris, Pinkston, Webb, or Ross as former owner names or place references.

10. 10
    Take or compare DNA tests to identify genetic cousins with documented trees

    AncestryDNA, 23andMe, or FamilyTreeDNA autosomal testing can identify cousins who are descendants of the same enslaved household. If a white Faulkner/Harris/Gates descendant shares significant DNA with you, that may confirm which specific branch of the family your ancestor was enslaved by. The Harris Surname DNA Project and the Faulkner/Falkner DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA are important resources.

II. Free Databases — Complete Directory

III. State Archives — State-by-State Directory

IV. DNA Research Strategy for African American Genealogy

Understanding What DNA Results Mean

DNA ethnicity estimates are statistical comparisons to reference populations — not exact measurements. They tell you the probable geographic origins of DNA segments, not individual ancestors. For African American genealogy, DNA has two primary uses:

1. Ethnicity estimates — point to geographic regions where African ancestors were taken from (matching the transatlantic slave trade departure ports documented in SlaveVoyages.org)
2. DNA matching — connecting with cousins who share documented family trees, potentially identifying which enslaving family your ancestor was part of

Actionable DNA Strategies

• The "White Family Test" — Ask a documented descendant of the proposed slaveholding family (e.g., a Faulkner, Harris, or Gates family descendant) to take an autosomal DNA test. Shared long identical DNA segments can confirm the connection — the amount of shared DNA can help estimate how many generations separate you from the common ancestor. This strategy is used regularly on PBS's Finding Your Roots.
• Triangulate matches — If multiple DNA cousins all share a common ancestor surname in their documented trees, that surname is a strong candidate for an enslaving family.
• Harris Surname DNA Project — One of the largest surname DNA studies ever conducted. If you carry the Harris surname, participation can help identify the specific branch of the Harris slaveholding family connected to your ancestry.
• Y-DNA testing (males only) — If you are a direct paternal line descendant of a formerly enslaved person, Y-DNA testing can sometimes match to descendants of the enslaving family whose male line continues in the direct paternal line today.
• African haplogroup research — The specific haplogroup from Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA testing can sometimes be matched to specific ethnic groups or regions of Africa, supplementing the ethnicity estimate evidence.

V. Complete Citation List — All Sources Across This Blog