Taking Your First Steps Around the 1870 “Brick Wall” in African American Research
For African Americans who were enslaved until the 13th Amendment was passed in 1865, the 1870 census was the first federal census to name them. Since the slave schedules of the 1850 and 1860 censuses only referred to slaves by tick marks, sex, and age, connecting the people identified in 1870 to their pre-emancipation identities is a notoriously difficult challenge. It’s so difficult that relatively few researchers attempt it. But there are methods for moving past this brick wall.
The Atkins and Carter families were enumerated together in Butler Township, Edgefield County, South Carolina, in the 1870 census:
Joseph Atkins, 50, m, m, farm laborer, born in SC, cannot read or write
Violet Atkins, 45, f, b, keeping house, born in SC, cannot read or write
Emma Atkins, 12, f, b, farm laborer, born in SC, cannot read or write
Wade Atkins, 8, m, b, at home, born in SC, can read and write
Frances Carter, 40, f, m, farm laborer, born in SC, cannot read or write
Allen Carter, 15, m, m, farm laborer, born in SC, cannot read or write
William P. Carter, 13, m, m, farm laborer, born in SC, cannot read or write
Savannah Carter, 11, f, m, farm laborer, born in SC, cannot read or write
Church P. Carter, 9, m, m, at home, born in SC, can read and write[1]
The question that arose for an Atkins descendant was “How can I find out if the Carters listed in the Atkins household are related?” It’s a good question. While the 1870 census enumerated every household member, it did not articulate the relationship of each member to the head of household as the censuses for 1880 and later did. So how do we go about answering that question?
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About Author
Aaron Goodwin
Aaron is a genealogist and house historian specializing in New York City research across all time periods, from the Dutch colonial era to the 20th century. His book, New York City Municipal Archives: An Authorized Guide for Family Historians, won the National Genealogical Society’s 2017 Award for Excellence: Genealogical Methods and Sources. He is also editor of NGS Monthly, former contributing editor of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, and former editor of the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine. In 2011, he received the American Society of Genealogists’ Scholar Award.
Hi Aaron,
Thanks for posting about a major challenge in researching African Americans. I would respectfully disagree with your perspective about Violet and Frances being siblings. Color, as stated in the censuses, as we know, is highly subjective. More importantly, color is not indicative of blood relationship. African Americans can vary widely in skin color, even full siblings. Nevertheless, I appreciate the illustration of the importance of estate records in this research.
Kind regards,
Robyn
https://www.reclaimingkin.com
Ms. Smith is correct. In the African American families complexion is subjective. Whole siblings can be characterized ass “B” or “M.” This is quite prevalent in my family as well as others that I research. The article does provide useful tools for researching and connecting the dots before 1870.
AKAshton