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

What is in This Collection?

The collection consists of an index & images of registers for 67,000 people who opened accounts in the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company. This is NARA microfilm publication M816 Registers of Depositors in Branches of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company. The records are from Record Group 101 Records of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The registers identify those who opened accounts. Because the Freedman’s Bank was required by law to protect the interests of depositors’ heirs, the branches collected an enormous amount of personal information about each depositor and his or her family when the account was opened. The registers cover approximately the years 1865 to 1874.

Each register book consists of printed forms, with information for four depositors on each page. The registers are arranged chronologically by the date the account was established and then numerically by account number. Many numbers are missing, a few are out of order, and some blocks of numbers were never used. Many registers seem to be missing.

The Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company was established and incorporated by an act of Congress on March 3, 1865, as a banking institution in Washington, D.C., primarily for the benefit of freed slaves and former African American military personnel. It was commonly called the Freedman’s Bank; however, it was not under the supervision of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen’s Bureau).

In 1874, overwhelmed by the effects of the Panic of 1873, mismanagement, abuse, and fraud, the Freedman’s Bank closed. Congress appointed a three-member board and later the Comptroller of the Currency to oversee the affairs of the bank. The Comptroller was made commissioner exofficio, and he submitted annual reports to Congress. The Freedman’s Bank final report was made in 1920. Contrary to what many of its depositors were led to believe, the bank’s assets were not protected by the federal government. While half of the depositors eventually received about three-fifths of the value of their accounts, others received nothing. Well into the 20th century, some depositors and their heirs were still seeking reimbursement for the remaining portions of their accounts. Depositors included about 67,000 African Americans, or about two percent of the former slave population. In addition, thousands of non–African Americans made deposits at the bank. These people were primarily immigrants who were born in the British Isles, Scandinavia, and Continental Europe. Depositors listed the names of close relatives. All together, the records lists about 480,000 names.

Freedman's Bank Branches

About the Freedmen's Bureau

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was established in the War Department in March of 1865. It was commonly called the Freedman’s Bureau and was responsible for the management and supervision of matters relating to refuges, freedmen, and abandoned lands. The Bureau assisted disenfranchised Americans, primarily African Americans, with temporal, legal and financial matters, with the intent of helping people to become self-sufficient. Matters handled included the distributing of food and clothing; operating temporary medical facilities; acquiring back pay, bounty payments, and pensions; facilitating the creation of schools, including the founding of Howard University; reuniting family members; handling marriages; and providing banking services. Banking services were provided by the establishment of the Freedman’s Saving and Trust Company, or Freedman’s Bank. The Bureau functioned as an agency of the War Department from approximately June 1865 until December 1868. In 1872, the functions of the Bureau were transferred to the Freedmen’s Branch of the Adjutant General’s Office.

The Bureau assisted over one million African Americans, including many of the nearly four million emancipated slaves, which was over 25% of the population of former slaves in America. The records identify those who sought help from the Bureau at the end of the Civil War. Most supplicants were freed slaves, some of which were military veterans. In addition, a few veterans who were not African Americans also sought help from the Bureau. Freedmen’s Bureau records are usually reliable, because the records were supplied through first-person correspondence or the recording of a marriage.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Related National Archives Collections

Dividend Payment Record Books

• Dividend Payment Record of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company, 1882-1889. NAID 566993
• Atlanta
• Alexandria, Augusta
• Beaufort, Baltimore
• Charleston
• Jacksonville, Lexington, Lynchburg
• Macon
• Natchez, Nashville, New Berne
• New York
• Norfolk
• Richmond
• Savannah
• St. Louis, Shreveport, Tallahassee
• Vicksburg

Related Collections

• Finance and Accounting Records of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company,1870-1908 NAID 567353
• Mail Registers of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company,1872-1884 NAID 567309
• Lost Deposit Book Questionnaires and related Records Received by the Commissioners of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company and by the Comptroller of the Currency as Ex Officio Commissioner, 1870-1914 NAID 2538264
• Index to Deposit Ledgers for the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company , 1865 - 1874. NAID 566979
• Loan and Real Estate Ledgers and Journals of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company,1870-1916 NAID 567231
• Loan and Real Estate Ledgers and Journals: Loans, 1870-1871 NAID 74893066
• Loan and Real Estate Ledgers and Journals: Loans, 1870-187 vol 13 or 14 NAID 74893092
• Loan and Real Estate Ledgers and Journals: Ledger Balances, 1872-1876 Vol 14 of 14 NAID 74889422
• Loan and Real Estate Ledgers and Journals, 1871-1974 vol 1 of 14 NAID 74889422
• Loan and Real Estate Ledgers and Journals: Mailing List, 1899-1916 Vol 7 of 14 NAID 74891156
• Loan and Real Estate Ledgers and Journals, 1872-1874 vol 8 of 14 NAID 74891232
• Loan and Real Estate Ledgers and Journals: Loan Journal - A, 1871-1873 Vol 12 of 14 NAID 74892564
• Loan and Real Estate Ledgers and Journals: Loan Ledger - A, 1870-1878 Vol 11 of 14 NAID 74892330
• Loan and Real Estate Ledgers and Journals: Loan Journal - B, 1873-1878 Vol 4 0f 14 NAID 74890167
• Loan and Real Estate Ledgers and Journals: Ledger - 2 - Commissioners, 1877-1881 Vol 5 of 12 NAID 74890672
• Loan and Real Estate Ledgers and Journals: Real Estate Loan Book - C, 1872-1885 Vol 3 of 14n NAID 74889963

Related Articles

• Morna Lahnie Hollister. Using Freedmen's Bank Registers to Trace Enslaved Families: A South Carolina McFall Example. National Genealogical Society Quarterly. 99 #2 (June 2011): 125-132. FS Library 973 B2ng
• Robert Scott Davis, Jr. Documentation for Afro-American Families: Records of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company. National Genealogical Society Quarterly FS Library 973 B2ng
• Sharon Batiste Gillins.Researching the Records of the Freedmen's Bank NGS Magazine 50 #2 (April - June 2024):26-32.

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You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for United States, Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874.

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

In addition to individuals, African American churches, private businesses, and beneficial societies also maintained accounts. Such accounts usually list the names of leaders, owners, or officials of those institutions.

Collection Content

Sample Image

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  1871 Signature Register