Many African-American family historians reach a roadblock in their ancestral search when they get to 1870. Many are left trying to find a former slaveowner when their ancestors were slaves. Many are heard saying, for instance, "My great-great grandmother's name was ____________. Family tradition says she came from somewhere in Virginia, but we do not know where. Or how often have African-American researchers been told, "When you get back far enough, your research will take you back to Virginia or the Carolinas."

Some underutilized record sources and information may help many African- Americans reach back another generation or so in their quest for family history. Ship manifests were legally required by an Act of Congress when the United States abolished international slave trade in 1807, and became effective January 1, 1808. Each owner/shipper and the ship's master had to attest and swear by signature that none of the slaves were being imported into the United States from a foreign country. Slaves on the manifests were listed by name, sex, height, and complexion, leaving a useful record. The owner/shipper, agent, or consignee's name, and sometimes their residence are given. As well as this information, the name of the vessel, Ship's master and the port of embarkation are provided. Many of the slaves are listed with a surname. Deaths of slaves on board are recorded and any other unusual circumstances concerning a given slave might be noted.

We know that as an agricultural decline hit the Upper South states (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, the Carolinas and parts of Georgia), slaves were moved or exported in great numbers to the Lower South states (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas). The fertile lands of the Lower South were becoming the Cotton Kingdom, and Louisiana needed workers for her sugar plantations. Many of the slaves were transported overland, but great numbers were shipped by sea.

There are records that document this interregional, or domestic, slave trade. Records such as the bills of sale, account books, sales books, advertisements for slave sales, court records and sales, correspondence of traders and agents are specifically useful, but may require arduous searching to find. A more readily available and useful source are the Inward Slave Manifests that were kept on slaves being transported and traded from the Upper South to the Lower South by coastal waterways and sea. Instead of sending slaves overland, many were exported from eastern coastal cities of the Upper South by sea to New Orleans. Ports such as Alexandria, Charleston, Baltimore, and Apalachicola were active slave exporting centers. These cities and others were the headquarters for traders and agents that had firms and slave pens supplying the market with services to expedite slave trading.

The Inward Slave Manifests that are still in existence for the Port of New Orleans from 1807-1860 have been microfilmed by the National Archives in Washington, D. C. Only those for the Port of New Orleans have been microfilmed. The records are those of the U. S. Custom Service, Record Group 36. This set consists of 25 microfilm rolls (1151 feet) of manifests for ships arriving in New Orleans from ports on the Eastern seaboard and Gulf Coast. Also, there are outward manifests from New Orleans that consist of 12 rolls of film totaling 1536 feet of film.

The Inward Manifests are now being transcribed for Afrigeneas by volunteers and some African-American genealogical societies. Four of the rolls are presently online for perusal on the Afrigeneas website.

Finding an ancestor or connection on these manifests provides African-Americans family historians another avenue in their search. The manifests could also be useful for the Caucasian family historian that had ancestors involved with migrating from the Upper South with slaves or involved in the slave trade. A thorough Introduction and Background are provided by Dee Parmer Woodtor on the Slave Data link at http://www.afrigeneas.com. The site is well worth the hit.