The Exploration of Family
By Barbara Barksdale
President, Friends of Midland

Starting at the beginning of the voyage, the best place to obtain information would be to look into ship records. Unfortunately, because of translation difficulties and the history of forced name changes, many Africans were not listed with their native names. Ship records, known as manifests, contain information about where each ship docked, how many persons were on board, descriptions of those to be sold and other vital information. These records can be found in the archives of states such as Virginia, Georgia, and New York and even in Pennsylvania.

As life in America progressed, the African can be found in bills of sale, land deeds and wills deeding them over to the next owner. This information could contain their new names, with descriptions that would include age, level of color, size, purchase price and other notable remarks. The remarks may describe special abilities, such as, "good worker," "kitchen" or "field hand," "works well with animals" or "spoke good English," and may include notes as to whom they were sold. This information also may be located at the state archives and in some cases, the county archives. Collectors, private museums and personal family histories are other places to seek vital information. Another area that we should not forget about are Native American records, especially in the southern states. Runaway slaves would seek refuge among the Indians and in some cases were slaves for them.

Along comes the great war of America, the Civil War, and with it begins better documentation of the African-American who participated in obtaining freedom. Muster rolls, pay records, pension records, and death records for this war and any other later military involvement, such as WWI and WWII, can be located at the county, state and federal levels of the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Other areas of research that are a must are birth, baptism, marriage and divorce records, newspaper articles, and finally death and burial records. Many times these records will contain universal information. They could have the first and last name, perhaps a middle initial, age, color--which could be described as "Black," "African," "African-American," "Negro," "Colored," and "Mulatto" --and if you are knowledgeable about your own family, it might also list members who were white. The records could include an address or just a state at the time the event was taking place and more importantly the name of the parent(s) or next of kin. Church records hold a vast amount of history, as well as school and college records. Organizational records, church groups, committees, the Masonic Temple, Elks, fraternities and any other functional organization that caused people to gather would be a valuable source of information.

Oral history, storytelling and old pictures can hold a lot of information that is often overlooked. Check out the details, which could cause you to dig deeper. When you start digging, use every means available, especially the Internet; this method  will get you into doors that are only a click away.

Last, but not least, is the wonderful world of the cemetery. Cemeteries hold the tablets of time. If you know that your family came from a precise area, visit the local cemetery, making sure that you ask for the oldest cemetery in the area. Many are hidden, forgotten or just totally wiped out. If you are able to visit, hopefully there will be an office with burial records on site. If not, ask for the person or group in charge.  They may have some knowledge of who is buried there, and where. If you are visiting on your own, walk around and take note of the section of the cemetery that you are visiting. Note the family plots and oldest headstones. Look for the names that you have already listed for your research and if you find a name, make note of the headstone location. Take a picture or rubbing of the headstone. Most headstones have the first and last name, birthday and date of death or the age including the years, months, and days. Some will include the spouse's name (wife of, husband of or child of).

Methods of research are endless and they cannot all be listed here. This is a start into the exciting world of genealogy. Start with yourself and work back into time, back to the docks of America and the shores of Africa. Black History--American History--is just waiting for you to explore, document and salvage for future generations.

For questions or comments about Midland Cemetery please contact us at Friends of Midland, PO Box 7442, Steelton, PA 17113 or [email protected].