Ancestry.com Access A subscription is needed
Family Search version is free but have to create an account: https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/3161105
If you’re searching for a specific enslaved individual, please note that their names are generally not listed, except in rare instances. To browse the records, enter the names Preston, Hoge, or Wade (all enslavers), and then navigate through the document.
https://docsouth.unc.edu/church/cromwell/cromwell.html
The First Negro Churches in the District of Columbia, John W. Cromwell, 64-106 p., Lancaster, Pa.; Washington, D. C.
The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Inc., 1917
From the Journal of Negro History 7, no.1 (January 1922), 64-106.
Call number E185 .J86 v. 7 1922 (Davis Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Many names associated with Montgomery County, Virginia: Anderson, Bell, Green, Hunter, Johnson, Muse, Saunders, Stewart, Taylor, Walker
Odd Fellows as well as the history of the establishment of churches in the District of Columbia.
Symbols hold significant importance for members of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (GUOOF).
By the early 1900s, the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows had gained significant popularity, with both men and women joining its secret societies. This benevolent group was established in Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Pulaski, Virginia to improve their communities by providing charitable support to orphans, the sick, and the poor.
Symbols hold significant importance in education and as visual reminders for members of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (GUOOF) for several reasons:
This Currier & Ives of New York 1881 print illustrate the common symbols which the order’s members would recognize and hold dear.
Collection of Morticians, Undertakers, Funeral Home Directors in Southwest Virginia
Collection of Morticians, Undertakers, Funeral Home Directors in Southwest Virginia
Library of Virginia Collection Search for newspapers of the area
Title: The Church News, Available online: Feb 1934 (only one edition), Place of publication: Roanoke, VA
Title: Southern Workman, Available online: 1 January 1872 – 1 July 1939 (811 issues), Place of publication: Hampton, VA
The Index of census returns, registers, and lists of freedmen is overseen by the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau. Established in 1865 after the American Civil War, its responsibilities include supervising relief efforts such as education, healthcare, food, clothing, refugee camps, marriage legalization, employment, labor contracts, and ensuring back pay, bounty payments, and pensions.
Family Search records are free but registration is required.
United States Freedmen’s Bureau, Records of Freedmen – FamilySearch Historical Records
What is available:
The transcription project is done by the public and not complete.
A helpful explanation and timeline is provided on page 9 of this document, hosted by Family Search. “Records of the Field Offices for the State of Virginia.”
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DWR3-MLN?view=index&action=view
September 2, 1862: “President Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that as of January 1, 1863 “all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”” (Library of Congress)
January 1, 1863: President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation
April 9, 1865: Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox, ending the Civil War.
Juneteenth, 1865 – Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American of History & Culture
In 1872, a 13-volume compilation of reports and testimonies, including those from previously enslaved individuals, documented a Congressional committee’s investigation into the Ku Klux Klan and other insurrectionary movements in the former Confederate states.
In 1872, a 13-volume compilation of reports and testimonies, including those from previously enslaved individuals, documented a Congressional committee’s investigation into the Ku Klux Klan and other insurrectionary movements in the former Confederate states.
While Virginia is absent from this congressional report, the testimonies offer valuable insights into the beliefs, attitudes, misconceptions, and misdirections surrounding the mistreatment of newly freed people residing in the former Confederate states.
Montgomery News Messenger, 21 October 1965
“Lucy M. Hairston, daughter of Mr. And Mrs. John W. Hairston of Cambria, graduated March 5 from the Lucy Addison High School-Burrell Memorial Hospital School of Practical nursing.
Miss Hairston is a 1962 graduate of Christiansburg Institute. Mr. Hairston is an employer of N & W railroad, at Schaffer’s Crossing, Roanoke.
Miss Hairston is presently employed at Burrell Hospital”
In Blacksburg, Virginia, the Independent Order of St Luke shared the same building with the Grant United Order of Odd Fellows, Tadmore Light 6184, located in New Town. That order’s copy of the Constitution and By-laws may be lost to history, but the Queen of Sheba Council’s 1921 version is fortunately accessible. This document highlights the significance of mutual aid within the framework of the function of the Order of St Luke.
Independent Order of St. Luke. Queen of Sheba Council No. , Randall K. Burkett, Lucy Emanuel, and Amos M. Gailliard. Constitution And By-laws of Queen of Sheba Council No. 1307, I.O. of St. Luke, Organized January 28th, 1921, White Plains, N.Y. [White Plains, N.Y.]: [The Council], 1921.
During the Jim Crow era, white-owned firms refused to grant disability and life insurance to the black community. In response, IOSL provided weekly sickness and disability benefits as well as funeral assistance for its members starting in 1895. Similar to contemporary insurance companies, it offered various premium options. Mrs. Walker’s effective leadership in membership drives bolstered the organization’s finances, enabling prompt payment of death claims and reduced premium costs.
Members who wished to receive financial support in the event of being sick or disabled, paid monthly dues into the Sick Benefit fund. The Sick Committee manages the implementation of this benefit. The member could receive no more than $35/year. That equates to about $t00 in current value.
Degree Ritual of the Independent Order of St Luke
National Museum of African American Art and Culture
BLACKSBURG [VIRGINIA] ODD FELLOWS RECORDS, 1902-1969 (MS1988-009)
This is the last will and testament of Charles Black (1796-1853), son of John Black (1755-1845) and nephew of William Black, namesake of the Town of Blacksburg, Virginia. Charles died 1853 and his will was proved in Montgomery County, by Rice D. Montague, Clerk.
Quote: “I give her [my beloved wife Rhoda Black] my negro woman Eliza to dispose of all as suits her, and my two boys Daniel and Andrew I desire that she will dispose of Daniel and Andrew to my sons John & Edward, on condition that they pay to Kezia Francisco $750.00. dollars and to Ann T. Black $550.00 dollars.”
Rhoda McDonald Black (1805-1859), wife and mother of Keziah Black Francisco (1830-1903), Ann Taylor “Nannie” Black (1837-1903), John Black A. (1831-1899), and Edward Black (1835-1912).
Much of Charles and Rhoda Black’s land becomes part of Virginia Tech campus after the death of Charles and Rhoda.
George Mills is noted as “After the war an old servant George Mills by name….” in Nannie Francisco Porter’s , daughter of Keziah Black Francisco.
The 1850 Slave Schedule for Montgomery County does not name the people held against their will and provide a documentation of the slave owners. Charles Black’s will notes three people, a woman and two men, not four as noted below. No proof yet, but perhaps Eliza is the one listed female. Daniel and Andrew are likely one of these three people.
Alexander Black is the brother of Charles Black.
In 1853, one of Charles Black’s enslaved men reportedly died from apoplexy. This explains why his will only mentioned two men and one woman.
Gathering African American History 