What Are Pre-Bureau Records?
Pre-Bureau Records refer to records created before the formal establishment of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen,
and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen’s Bureau) in March 1865. These records were created before the establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau. As a result, they provide an early glimpse into African American life that is vital for
genealogical research.
Created by Union Army authorities, military superintendents, and relief organizations, these records reveal hou emancipation unfolded on the ground. They document the struggles, resilience, and survival strategies of freedpeople as they sought food, shelter, employment, education, and legal recognition in Union controlled areas.
Superintendent of Contrabands
(1861-1866)
The Union Army’s policy of treating escaped enslaved individuals as “contrabands of war” (first declared at Fort Monroe, Virginia, in 186l by General Benjamin Butler) set the foundation for these records. Superintendents of Contrabands were appointed in occupied regions to organize relief and manage the influx of freedpeople.
Types of Pre-Bureau Records
- ➡️ Descriptive Pamphlets - offering context and detailed inventories of the records
- ➡️ Court Records - documenting early legal matters involving freedpeople
- ➡️ Labor Contracts - agreements that shed light on work, wages, and conditions or employment.
- ➡️ Indenture & Apprenticeship Records - contracts binding children or adults to labor arrangements
- ➡️ Ration Records - lists of freedpeople receiving food, clothing, and supplies.
Pre-Freedmen's Bureau Records
The Pre-Freedmen’s Bureau Records M1905 – Louisiana, | M1913 Fort Monroe, Virginia, | M1914 – Mississippi,
preserve the earliest federal and military efforts to assist enslaved people before the official
establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau in March 1865. Overseen by Superintendents of Contrabands and local military authorities, these records document the first attempts at providing food, shelter, work opportunities, medical care, and legal protections for freed people during and immediately after the Civil War.
These collections are invaluable for genealogists and historians because they record names, contracts, complaints,
rations, medical reports, and management during the early years of freedom.
| Pre-Bureau M1905 | ||||||||
| Louisiana | ||||||||
| Roll | Film # | Location | Desc | Link | ||||
| 2 | 007641597 | Provost Marshal General of Freedmen | Registers of Conscripts, Volume 2 (132) 1864-1866 | Open | ||||
| 7 | 004139955 | Freedmen's Hospital New Orleans | (M1483), Register of Contrabands in Corps D'Afrique General Hospital October 1863 - September 1864 | Open | ||||
| 7 | 007641596 | Provost Marshal General of Freedmen | Complaints, Feb-Mar 1863, Volume 1 (138), Oct-Dec 1864, Jan-Dec 1865 | Open | ||||
| 7 | 007641596 | Provost Marshal General of Freedmen | Registers of proceedings in freedmen’s court, Nov 1864-Oct. 1868 | Open | ||||
| 8 | 007641597 | Provost Marshal General of Freedmen | Register of refugees, Volume (142), 1864-1867 | Open | ||||
| 8 | 007641597 | Provost Marshal General of Freedmen | Registers of Conscripts, Volume 1 (131), 1864-1868 | Open | ||||
| 8 | 007641597 | Provost Marshal General of Freedmen | Registers of Conscripts, Volume 2 (132), 1864-1866 | Open | ||||
| 8 | 007641597 | Provost Marshal General of Freedmen | Registers of Conscripts, Volume 3 (133), 1864-1865 | Open | ||||
| 9 | 007641597 | Provost Marshal General of Freedmen | Accounts, 1859-1866 | Open | ||||
| 10 | 004139958 | Assistant sub assistant commissioner for Iberville and West Baton Rouge Parishes and Predecessors | Miscellaneous Records, 1864-1868 | Open | ||||
| 22 | 007641617 | Surgeon in Chief (Report) | Weekly and Monthly Reports of Sick and Wounded, Aug 1864-June 1867 | Open | ||||
| 25 | 007641620 | Surgeon in Chief (Report) | Morning Reports of the Assistant Surgeon at Birney Plantation Jan. 1864-Feb. 1865 | Open | ||||
| 27 | 007641622 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Register of Letters Received and Endorsements Sent and Received Volume (88) July 1864-July 1865 | Open | ||||
| 29 | 007641649 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Freedmen’s Employment Registers, Volume 1 (91) Apr 1864-Jan 1865 | Open | ||||
| 29 | 007641649 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Freedmen’s Employment Registers, Volume 2 (92) Apr 1864-Jan 1865 | Open | ||||
| 30 | 007641648 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Registers and Payrolls of Freedmen Employed on Plantations Ascension 1864-67 | Open | ||||
| 35 | 007641625 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Registers and Payrolls of Freedmen Employed on Plantation: Iberville, Jefferson, Lafayette, Madison, Natchitoches, 1864-1868 | Open | ||||
| 36 | 007641626 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Registers and Payrolls of Freedmen Employed on Plantation: Point Coupee, Sabine, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, 1864-1868 | Open | ||||
| 37 | 007641627 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Registers and Payrolls of Freedmen Employed on Plantation: St. James 1864-66 | Open | ||||
| 38 | 007641628 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Registers and Payrolls of Freedmen Employed on Plantation: St. John de Baptiste, St. Martin, St. mary, Tensas, 1864-1868 | Open | ||||
| 39 | 007641624 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Freedmen’s labor contracts, Volume (93) Sep 1863-Dec 1864 | Open | ||||
| 39 | 007641624 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Registers and Payrolls of Freedmen Employed on Plantations: Terre Bonne, West Baton Rouge, West Feliciana, 1864-1868 | Open | ||||
| 40 | 007641607 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Labor Contracts (agreements with Freedmen) Ascension and Assumption 1864-68 | Open | ||||
| 44 | 007641605 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Labor Contracts-Agreements with Freedmen (East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Franklin, Iberville, 1864-1868 | Open | ||||
| 51 | 007641639 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Labor Contracts-Agreements with Freedmen (West Feliciana and Winn 1865-1868; Miscellaneous Agreements, 1864-1868 | Open | ||||
| 52 | 007641638 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Cash Account Books, Volume 1 (97) 1864-1866 | Open | ||||
| 52 | 007641638 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Daily Record of Cotton Picked on the Corondolet Plantation, Volume (121) Nov.-Dec. 1863 | Open | ||||
| 52 | 007641638 | Subordinate office (plantation department) | Register of Payrolls of Freedmen on Plantations, VOLUME (96) Undated | Open | ||||
| 57 | 007641633 | Algiers (Agent and Assistant Sub Assistant Commissioner) | Miscellaneous Records, Nov 1864-Nov 1868 | Open | ||||
| 57 | 007641633 | Algiers (Agent and Assistant Sub Assistant Commissioner) | Registers of Black Persons, Undated | Open | ||||
| 68 | 007641657 | Carrollton (Agent and Assistant Sub Assistant Commissioner) | Tax receipts, 1864 | Open | ||||
| 71 | 007641660 | Donaldsonville (Agent) | Records of Industrial Farm at Miles Taylor Plantation, Volume (268) Apr 1864-July 1865 | Open | ||||
| 77 | 007641666 | Franklin (Agent and Assistant Sub Assistant Commissioner) | Court Records, Jul 1864-Nov 1867 | Open | ||||
| 79 | 007641668 | Greenville Colony (Superintendent) | Register for Contrabands, Jul 1862-Dec 1863 | Open | ||||
| 83 | 007641687 | McHatton Home Colony | Register of Arrivals and Departures, Volume (159), 1864-1865 | Open | ||||
| 87 | 007641683 | Millikens Bend (Provost Marshal and Assistant Sub assistant Commissioner) | Court Records, May-Dec 1864 | Open | ||||
| 87 | 007641683 | Millikens Bend (Provost Marshal and Assistant Sub assistant Commissioner) | Register of rations received at the Van Buren hospital for Freedmen Volume (343), Jan.-Mar. 1864 | Open | ||||
| Pre-Bureau M1905 | ||||||||
| Louisiana - Registers of Black Persons | ||||||||
| Roll | Film # | Location | Desc | Link | ||||
| 27 | 007641622 | Subordinate office (Plantation Department) | Registers of Black Persons, Volume 1 (110) A-B, Undated | Open | ||||
| 27 | 007641622 | Subordinate office (Plantation Department) | Registers of Black Persons, Volume 2 (111) C-D, Undated | Open | ||||
| 28 | 007641623 | Subordinate office (Plantation Department) | Registers of Black Persons, Volume 3 (112) E-F, Undated | Open | ||||
| 28 | 007641623 | Subordinate office (Plantation Department) | Registers (cont.), Volume 4 (113 G-H, Undated | Open | ||||
| 28 | 007641623 | Subordinate office (Plantation Department) | Registers (cont.), Volume 5 (114) I-J, Undated | Open | ||||
| 28 | 007641623 | Subordinate office (Plantation Department) | Registers (cont.), Volume 6 (115) K-L, Undated | Open | ||||
| 28 | 007641623 | Subordinate office (Plantation Department) | Registers (cont.), Volume 7 (116) M-N, Undated | Open | ||||
| 29 | 007641649 | Subordinate office (Plantation Department) | Registers (cont.), Volume 8 (117) O-P, Undated | Open | ||||
| 29 | 007641649 | Subordinate office (Plantation Department) | Registers (cont.), Volume 9 (118) Q-R, Undated | Open | ||||
| 29 | 007641649 | Subordinate office (Plantation Department) | Registers (cont.), Volume 10 (119) S-T, Undated | Open | ||||
| 29 | 007641649 | Subordinate office (Plantation Department) | Registers (cont.), Volume 11 (120) W-Z, Undated | Open | ||||
| 73 | 007641662 | Donaldsonville (Agent and Assistant Sub Assistant Commissioner) | Registers of Black Persons, Undated | Open | ||||
| 98 | 007641672 | Rost Home Colony | Records of Births and Deaths, Volume (161) Feb-Nov (No Year) | Open | ||||
| Pre-Bureau M1913 | ||||||||
| Fort Monroe, Virginia | ||||||||
| Roll | Film # | Location | Desc | Link | ||||
| 74 | 004151196 | Drummondtown (Assistant Subassistant Commissioner) | Census of White and colored Poplulation of Accomack County Volume 1 (154) 1864 | Open | ||||
| 75 | 004151197 | Drummondtown (Assistant Subassistant Commissioner) | Miscellaneous Records 1864-68 | Open | ||||
| 110 | 004151340 | Madison Courthouse (Assistant Subassistant Commissioner) | Circulars and General and Special Orders Received, Jan. 1865-Aug. 1868 | Open | ||||
| 114 | 004151355 | Fort Monroe (Department of Negro Affairs, 1863-1865; Departments of Virginia and Virginia and North Carolina | Letters, Orders and Telegrams Received by Lt. Col. J.B. Kinsman, General Superintendent, Nov. 1863-Sept. 1864 | Open | ||||
| 115 | 004151356 | Fort Monroe (Department of Negro Affairs, 1863-1865; Departments of Virginia and Virginia and North Carolina | Accounts of Lt. Col. Frank J. White, Superintendent, Fourth District, Negro Affairs, Oct. 1864-June 1865 | Open | ||||
| 115 | 004151356 | Fort Monroe (Department of Negro Affairs, 1863-1865; Departments of Virginia and Virginia and North Carolina | Census of people helped by the government at Fort Monroe, Virginia One Volume Undated | Open | ||||
| 115 | 004151356 | Fort Monroe (Department of Negro Affairs, 1863-1865; Departments of Virginia and Virginia and North Carolina | Labor Contracts 1864 and 1865 | Open | ||||
| 115 | 004151356 | Fort Monroe (Department of Negro Affairs, 1863-1865; Departments of Virginia and Virginia and North Carolina | Letters, Orders, and Telegrams (cont) Oct.-Dec. 1864 | Open | ||||
| 115 | 004151356 | Fort Monroe (Department of Negro Affairs, 1863-1865; Departments of Virginia and Virginia and North Carolina | Letters Received by the Superintendent, Feb.-Apr. 1864, apr. 1865 | Open | ||||
| 115 | 004151356 | Fort Monroe (Department of Negro Affairs, 1863-1865; Departments of Virginia and Virginia and North Carolina | Quartermaster Accounts of Money and Materials Disbursed to Government Plantations, One Volume Apr. 1863-Feb. 1865 | Open | ||||
| 115 | 004151356 | Fort Monroe (Department of Negro Affairs, 1863-1865; Departments of Virginia and Virginia and North Carolina | Records Relating to the Issuance of Rations, Volume 1 (201) 1863-1865 | Open | ||||
| 116 | 004151357 | Fort Monroe (Department of Negro Affairs, 1863-1865; Departments of Virginia and Virginia and North Carolina | Miscellaneous Records 1863, 1864, and 1865 | Open | ||||
| 147 | 004151417 | Norfolk (Subassistant Commissioner, 1st district) | Register of Leased Property in Norfolk County and Portsmouth, Volume (349) 1864-1866 | Open | ||||
| 149 | 004151419 | Norfolk (Subassistant Commissioner, 1st district) -Onancock | Register of Contracts, Volume (371) Dec. 1864-Apr. 1865 | Open | ||||
| 161 | 004152411 | Princess Anne (Assistant Subassistant Commissioner) | Accounts Relating to Expenditures on Government Farms, Volume 1 (369), 1863-1865 | Open | ||||
| Pre-Bureau M1914 | ||||||||
| Mississippi | ||||||||
| Roll | Film # | Location | Desc | Link | ||||
| 1 | 007681108 | Office of the General Superintendent of Freedmen | Orders and Circulars Issued and Received, Oct 1863-May 1865 | Open | ||||
| 1 | 007681108 | Office of the General Superintendent of Freedmen | Letters sent by John Eaton, General Superintendent of Contrabands Volume (74) Feb.-Dec 1863 | Open | ||||
| 1 | 007681108 | Office of the General Superintendent of Freedmen | Miscellaneous Reports from Subordinate and Staff Officers, Dec. 1863-July 1865 | Open | ||||
| 2 | 007681109 | Office of the General Superintendent of Freedmen | Records on Renting and Leasing of Abandoned Property, 1864-1865 | Open | ||||
| 3 | 007681110 | Office of the General Superintendent of Freedmen | Records on Renting and Leasing of Abandoned Property, 1864-1865 | Open | ||||
| 4 | 007681111 | Office of the General Superintendent of Freedmen | Lists of Pupils in Schools at Vicksburg, Volume (289) Jan-May 1865 | Open | ||||
| 4 | 007681111 | Office of the General Superintendent of Freedmen | Miscellaneous Records | Open | ||||
| 4 | 007681111 | Office of the General Superintendent of Freedmen | Records on Renting and Leasing o(cont.) 1863-65 | Open | ||||
| 4 | 007681111 | Office of the General Superintendent of Freedmen | Register of contracts, Volume (287) Feb-Sept 1865 | Open | ||||
| 4 | 007681111 | Office of the General Superintendent of Freedmen | Register of Freedmen, Volume (Unnumbered) Undated | Open | ||||
| 4 | 007681111 | Office of the General Superintendent of Freedmen | Register of rations issued, Volume (76) Jan-Oct 1864 | Open | ||||
| 4 | 007681111 | Office of the General Superintendent of Freedmen | Registers of rations issued to freedmen and planters, Volume 1 (286) 1865-66 | Open | ||||
| 5 | 007681112 | Medical Director and Inspector | Letters received by the medical director, Feb 1864-June 1865 | Open | ||||
| 5 | 007681112 | Medical Director and Inspector | Letters Sent and Orders Issued by the Medical Director, Mar. 1864-June 1865 | Open | ||||
| 5 | 007681112 | Medical Director and Inspector | Morning Reports of Freedmen's Hospitals in Department Volume 1 (291) Mar. 1864-May 1865 | Open | ||||
| 5 | 007681112 | Medical Director and Inspector | Register of Requisitions for Medicines and Supplies, Volume (301), 1863 | Open | ||||
| 5 | 007681112 | Medical Director and Inspector | Registers of Patients, Volume 1 (292), Aug 1863-July 1864 | Open | ||||
| 5 | 007681112 | Staff Officers (Assistant Superintendent) | Letters received, June-Nov 1864 | Open | ||||
| 5 | 007681112 | Staff Officers (Assistant Superintendent) | Register of letters received, Volume (73) Jan-June 1865 | Open | ||||
| 5 | 007681112 | Staff Officers (Assistant Superintendent) | Special orders issued, Volume (75) May 1864-June 1865 | Open | ||||
"Why These Records Matter for African American Genealogy"
The Pre-Bureau Records (M1905 Louisiana, M1913 Fort Monroe, and M1914
Mississippi) provide rare. Firsthand records of the transition from slavery to freedom. They reveal the earliest federal and military attempts to assist newly freed populations before the Freedmen’s Bureau was officially formed.
For African American genealogical research. these records
- ➡️ Identify names and details of formerly enslaved individuals.
- ➡️ Show early employment. family arrangements. and community structures.
- ➡️ These records reveal how emancipation unfolded on the ground. For example, they document the struggles, resilience, and survival strategies of freed people.
- ➡️ Provide evidence of the resilience and agency of freed people navigating freedom.
- ➡️ Ration Records -lists of freed people receiving food, clothing, and supplies.