Family archive: Freedmen's Bureau

In 1865, following the U.S. Civil War, many formerly enslaved people were forced into labor agreements to continue working on the plantations where they were enslaved. This was the start of many sharecropping agreements. The Freedman's Bureau maintained these contracts, because they supervised and managed "all matters relating to refugees and freedmen, and of lands abandoned or seized during the Civil War." ?

My ancestors, David & Priscilla Strother, were once enslaved by Sarah Strother in Darlington County, South Carolina. After gaining their (somewhat) freedom, they committed to working on the Strother plantation until at least January 1866. This is their labor contract from the South Carolina Freedmen's Bureau.?

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This is Edward Strother, my great grandfather (father of my dad's mom). Edward was David's Strother's nephew.?

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#ancestors #blackhistory #education #sharecropping #freedmensbureau #southcarolina #history #slavery #freedom