A path to your enslaved ancestors
Research before 1865 requires a different approach. Begin with the state where your ancestors were held (from the first arrivals of the 1600s to Emancipation), then work backward from the 1870 census — the first to name formerly enslaved people.
Georgia
Statehood 1788 · Deep South
Georgia held one of the largest enslaved populations in the Deep South. Coastal rice districts and inland cotton counties kept detailed plantation records, and county courthouses retain rich probate and deed series.
Slavery Research Institutions
Where to Search Georgia Records
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Key Records
- County Court of Ordinary — wills, estate inventories & appraisements, guardianship records
- Superior Court deed books (bills of sale, deeds of gift, mortgages of enslaved people)
- 1850 & 1860 Slave Schedules
- Plantation journals & daybooks (births, deaths, work assignments) in manuscript repositories
- Freedmen's Bureau records and 1864–1866 Georgia freedmen registers
Research Tips
- Rice-coast estates (Savannah, Liberty, McIntosh) often kept named birth/death lists — seek plantation papers.
- Check the Georgia Archives (Morrow) and the Hargrett Library at UGA for private collections.
- Loyalty oaths and tax digests can place enslavers in a specific county and year.
National Resources, 1600s to Emancipation
Databases that cover every state, from the Atlantic crossings to the search for family after freedom.