Researcher Deloris Williams - How Do I Research My Enslaved Ancestors?

Slavery Research should not be done until after you have done all of the research backwards in time from yourself through your parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc., arriving at your ancestor who was born prior to 1865, and found first at least in the 1870 Census in the U.S.

Have some information to help do the research. Don't go into research blindly, you must have Names and Locations, at the very least.
so I created my instructions online where they are easily reached and can be followed at your own pace.

Please note that while we may refer many times to North Carolina, these instructions can be used for researching any of the States!

DON'T LOOK FOR YOUR ANCESTORS BY JUST SEARCHING FOR PLANTATIONS!

There is no such thing as a one-stop place to look for Plantation names, although there may be pages on the internet where various such websites may exist, those are limited to only the knowledge of the website owner and whatever has else has been contributed to it. For example, the NCGenWeb has a PLANTATIONS OF NORTH CAROLINA website which are from documents found in Slaveowners records, but be advised, it is not all-inclusive, and only has files for families which have been researched. So while it is extensive, I advise you to do further research in order to verify that any of the names are truly the ones from your own families.

YOU MUST RESEARCH YOUR FAMILY USING THE NAMES YOU HAVE FOUND BORN PRIOR TO 1865.
And while there are a number of collections being called "Slave Records", it's a good idea to look through them, but don't expect them to contain everything you need. Not everything or every name or every record is included in any collection. Also when looking for slave names, don't expect that just because you find someone who happens to have the same name as your ancestor, that it is yours. Do further research to prove it.

Continue reading Deloris Williams guidelines for researching your enslaved ancestors here: https://www.ncgenweb.us/ncstate/files/research-aa.htm?fbclid=IwY2xjawTMu7FleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE0VHpOS1hPM2JKOW1UTHNjc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHoAZG8f-2nUP0L5iMEwx3YVlAn7qAcsZjfXNhiNJ8thROdejCl7U1PUHRGj1_aem_YffsBJhVupGKv9ULAG3WTA