Going to School

It was through school records that I looked for genealogy information.  In previous posts, I made some connections in the Brumfield tree. In the segregated post-Civil War south, racial designations of colored and white are present in many records. School records were not an exception. The geographic locality of many families can often be found by race in the school records. I have started my research with Pike County, Mississippi school reports.

This division of races has helped me find information. The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandon Lands established from March, 1865 to April, 1872   was established to help impecunious survivors of the Civil War.  The Freedman’s Bureau helped launch early schools. Pre-Civil War laws precluded slave education which increased dependency on the slaveholder.  Literacy allows autonomy that is beyond the physical ties of slavery. 

1870 CENSUS

County	COLORED POPULATION		COLORED MALES 10-14 WHO CANNOT WRITE	COLORED FEMALES 10-14 WHO CANNOT WRITE	COLORED MALES 15-20 WHO CANNOT WRITE	COLORED FEMALES 15-20 WHO CANNOT WRITE	COLORED MALES 21 AND OVER WHO CANNOT WRITE	COLORED FEMALES 21 AND OVER WHO CANNOT WRITE
PIKE	5,312	363		340	292	336	872	945

 Many families including their children had signed labor contracts and initially did not attend school.  The necessities of life food, clothing, and shelter were the priorities at that time. I, however, was able to find family trees and branches in later school records.    

1870 CENSUS

County	COLORED POPULATION	COLORED MALES ATTENDING SCHOOL	COLORED FEMALES ATTENDING SCHOOL
Pike	5,312	33	45