No Land . . . Only Slaves!

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"No Land . . . Only Slaves!"

Latest Update 16 March 2006 . . . NOW AVAILABLE: Volume 15: Cass County, Texas . . . & . . . Volume 16: Navarro County, Texas.

"No Land . . . Only Slaves!"

A Different Look at Deeds

Using Deed Records in Doing Black Genealogy

No matter the race or ethnicity, genealogical research is basically the same for all Americans at the earliest stage. We gather all the available material we can find from family members, family bibles, vital records and census indexes. The genealogist then searches through Deed Indexes for the names of their ancestors to establish their places of residence and their migratory patterns. But once the black genealogist takes his research beyond the 1870 US Federal Census he often hits a brick wall. It is at this point that the laws governing the eras and the areas in which they lived make researching those ancestors such a challenge. Valuable information is often missed because of the difficulty they face, for Deed Records are indexed by the name of the conveyor & conveyee only. There are a wealth of names within these records which are only found by reading through each deed record, in each deed book, in each county, in each state. (Talk about a daunting task.) It is our hope that the No Land . . . Only Slaves! series will make this research easier.

I have heard it said that the best way to eat an elephant is bite-by-bite; we have made the Ark-La-Tex slave deeds our elephant. With the completion of No Land . . . Only Slaves! ; Volume 1 (Bossier Parish) we took that first bite. The completion of No Land . . . Only Slaves! ; Volume 2 (Cliaborne Parish) was the second bite; Volume 3 (Caddo Parish) was the third . . . etc. We are now working on Volumes 17 & 18. We will not stop there. The No Land . . . Only Slaves! series will continue until we have completed the entire Ark-La-Tex region. (We have already had people asking "When are you going to do Mississippi"; and "Georgia?" Who knows; we may end up with an entire herd of elephants.)

Things to Remember About Reading Old Documents:

Spelling of all names in early records depended on the scribe, in these records it is the court clerks. Check the names for all conceivable variations in spelling as well as "nicknames". For instance, Mandy on one record could be called Mandi on another, or even Amanda or Ami or Amy on still others. Abraham could be Abram, or Abe or Ab. Be flexible and creative with spellings as you conduct your research.

Ages can not be relied on for accuracy. Ages were often judged by appearance, such as "about 20-25 years old." The age may have been estimated or declared as 23 years old on one record and 5 years later they are sold as being 25. Another possibility is that they were often unknown.

Human error is always a possibility when reading old documents and during the editorial process. Though we did strive for accuracy in our work each "generation" of a record allows for a greater margin of error. The original document (generation 1) was copied by clerks into the record books (gen.2), then other clerks often abridged or retyped the records into other books (gen.3). Then we read the records and type it into a database (gen.4) and transfer it to a word processor (gen.5) and we then edit our work (gen.6). When you copy the information to your records there have been 7 possibilities for error. Historians and Genealogists should use indexes and abstracts as a tool to locate information, but should then look up the origninal record to verify it's accuracy.

The originals often contain brief physical descriptions. Many records detailed relationships, often entire family groups, including father, mother and children. Descriptions of skin color were usually included . . . copper, yellow, black, light, dark, or "griff". Several records mentioned prior owners, height or temperament. Some refused to warrant the slave as "free from prohibitory vices".

A world renowned genealogist and scholar, Mr. Loyd Bockstruck, curator of the Genealogical Library Department of the Dallas Public Library, often says: "If THEY found it, YOU can find it". Don't be content with finding a name in this work, go to the original. You can obtain a photocopy of these records by contacting the Parish Clerks office and giving them the registry and/or book and page number. You may find there a key that will unlock your genealogical treasure chest.

In our Deed Abstracts you will find . . . .

. . . "No Land . . . Only Slaves!"

Each Volume is available in two formats:

a Hard-backed Library Binding
and
a Soft-bound Taped Binding.