The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, (Mormons), released a CD of the records from the Freedom's Bank, a bank established for freed slaves that operated for almost ten years and then failed. These records contain data that will allow blacks to trace their ancestry back through slavery and on to Africa. I ordered the CD and plan to see how far I can trace my ancestry.

Is this a good thing for Africian Americans? Is the LDS Church to be commended for getting this information in a usable form? (These records have been availabe for years but were unsearchable until the LDS Church put them into searchable data bases and made it avbailable.

Blessings Pastor Paris

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2001

Answers

Sorry Pastor Paris,

I didn't see your post with this information. I tried searching for my ancestors and discovered that many of the family (burial) records were kept at the church. Which often was burned or destroyed. I also learned that we must search court house records as well (bill of sale for property).

I think that some of the information will be painful for some people. Because like myself (who has a lot of European blood), I am not sure how the slave masters families will react to their new found relations.

Do you know of other resources for searching for our roots?

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001