The
one major brick wall in black African American genealogy is events before
1870. In my search for my family roots, I have looked for names, locations and relationships
with other families. Possibly through this search, I might find more information about my family. I have found families who lived in Mississippi and Louisiana
who married or were neighbors of my ancestors. Following the end of the Civil War in May, 1865
freedmen signed labor contracts to earn a living. In the reviewing the Mississippi Archives for
Pike County, Mississippi, I found the Edmund Downs family.
|
Name
|
Age
|
Planter
|
Date
|
|
Greene
|
16
|
Bacut? , Levy
|
10/12/1865
|
|
Edith
|
18
|
Bacut?, Levy
|
10/12/1865
|
|
Matilda
|
24
|
Bacut?, Levy
|
10/12/1865
|
|
Sarah
|
28
|
Bacut?, Levy
|
10/12/1865
|
|
Courtney
|
15
|
Bacut?, Levy
|
10/12/1865
|
|
Charles
|
17
|
Bacut?, Levy
|
10/12/1865
|
|
Caroline
|
35
|
Bacut?, Levy
|
10/12/1865
|
|
Edmund
|
35
|
Bacut?, Levy
|
10/12/1865
|
 |
| Edmund Downs Freedmen labor contract |
How do I know this is the Edmund Downs Family? I will show evidence that this is the Downs Family in Part 2
