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.
Louisiana
Statehood 1812 · Deep South
Louisiana had French, Spanish and American slave regimes. New Orleans was the largest slave market in the United States, receiving people by ship from the Upper South through the coastwise trade. French and Spanish notarial acts and sacramental records often name enslaved people with their African origins.
Slavery Research Institutions
Where to Search Louisiana Records
Open a pre-filled Louisiana search on each repository. You don't need an account to start.
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Key Records
- New Orleans notarial acts (sales, mortgages, manumissions): Notarial Archives Research Center
- Inward slave manifests for the Port of New Orleans, 1807–1860 (NARA RG 36)
- Catholic sacramental registers (baptisms, marriages, burials) naming enslaved people
- Parish succession (probate) records and inventories
- Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy database, 1719–1820 (over 100,000 named people)
Research Tips
- Search under both French/Spanish and anglicised spellings of names and parishes.
- Louisiana uses parishes rather than counties, and probate is called a 'succession'.
- If an ancestor was sold 'down the river', match the manifest's shipper with Upper South sellers.
National Resources, 1600s to Emancipation
Databases that cover every state, from the Atlantic crossings to the search for family after freedom.