William Morris Meanes of Hillsborough County Florida

Hello Mr. Meanes ,

Thank you for posting your question on History Hub!

A couple of great beginning resources are the National Archives’ ‘African Americans and the Federal Census, 1790–1930’ (PDF) and the National Archives webpage, 1860 Census Records.  The Federal Census of 1850 and 1860 included the “Slave Schedules” which is a list of all enslavers and the number of people, their sex, and age of those enslaved there.  It does not include names but if you know the rough age of an ancestor by the 1870 or 1880 census, you can narrow down which family enslaved them with this information.  Because these records are faded, please see the following charts for 1850 (PDF) and 1860 (PDF) to see the details that were captured.  These records are searchable on both FamilySearch and Ancestry (many libraries have subscriptions).  Please see the FamilySearch article ‘United States Census Slave Schedules’ for more information.  

You may also consider exploring records of The Freedmen's Bureau.  This federal agency assisted refugees and freedpeople in civil matters such as marriage, travel to reunite with family, disputes with employers, establishing savings accounts, education, and more.  

For more suggestions, we suggest that you review the FamilySearch Research Wiki page on African American Genealogy.

For general advice, we suggest reading the web page How to Begin Genealogical Research, the History Hub Blog Suggestions and Advice for Family History Researchers, and the FamilySearch Blog Beginning Genealogy: How to Get Started the Right Way.

Please see Resources for Genealogists for an overview of National Archives records commonly used for genealogical research. The most popular records for genealogy include military service records, military pension application records, census records, ship passenger arrival lists, and land entry records (for federal lands only). 

Additional guidance and lists of resources are provided on the Archives Library Information Center Genealogy page, the FamilySearch Research Wiki, the Library of Congress pages on Frequently Asked Questions: Local History & Genealogy and Local History and Genealogy Research Guides, and the webpage of the National Genealogical Society.

The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics website tells how to obtain birth, death, marriage, and divorce records from state and territorial agencies. For more information and resources on vital records please visit our Vital Records webpage.

If you can provide more information about what that you already know, what you are seeking to learn, and where you have already searched, there may be persons in our community who are able to give more specific advice.

We hope this information has been helpful!