Genealogical study is not always an exact science. When dealing with people who lived and died, many long before the first typewriter was invented, we rely on archives and paper trails to lead us to their stories. Many of the records referenced in our research, including census records, slave schedules, military draft cards, wills, deeds of sale, death certificates, and more, were handwritten at the time they were recorded. Our work is imperfect just as the records are in imperfect condition, and often what should be a lowercase “t” looks more like a lowercase “l” on a paper record that is over a hundred years old.  

For African Americans, the history of racial inequality touches almost everything, including genealogical records. For the Africans who were brought to this continent and enslaved, stripped of their tribal and family names, and given the surnames of their white enslavers, finding documentation can be a long and arduous process. Before the Civil War, there were almost no documents listing the names of Black enslaved persons. Often, the best we can do is find the people we are looking for listed on “Slave Schedules” under the name of their white enslavers, or in the wills or property deeds of enslavers, where they happen to list the age, sex, color and, in rare cases, the names of the humans they kept as property. Sometimes our work returns incredible finds. Other times we hit a brick wall or the paper trail runs out.  Because of this our research is ongoing, with hundreds of names currently being researched that are not yet on our Confirmed Persons list.

(Click here to learn more about the resources and documents used to establish evidence of internment.)

Many hands and eyes have poured over the records made available to us by local and government agencies as well as local and statewide libraries, and genealogy researching websites. We have done our best to come together to cross reference and interpret these records with all possible accuracy. Every hour of research is done in hopes of finding out as much as we can about these beloved souls who lived, loved, worked, died, and are laid to rest in the place we now call home. This work is ever-evolving, as we come across additional records and interpret them, correcting clerical mistakes made in regards to dates and spelling when necessary. In many cases, we see emancipated persons declaring themselves for the very first time by choosing a different surname or changing the spelling of the name that was given them by their white enslavers. Sometimes this name change was filed as soon as freedom was acquired and, for others, years down the road as they started a family. 

The land that holds these souls sits silent and seemingly vacant. But our research has shown us, if the soil could speak, it would tell of stories as varied and rich as the Black experience in America. Despite the oppression and injustice many of these persons inevitably faced, we hear from the community and see in the paper trail how these individuals showed incredible strength and resilience, each working to build a rich life and legacy. Some were born into slavery and died enslaved, never tasting the freedoms that their descendants eventually would. Some lived in cramped slave houses on their enslavers properties while others lived in the block of land between Grover St., Mississippi, and Morse, where the enslaved were forced to live and curfewed to return at the end of each work day.

We see laborers in the reconstruction era, working as servants for the same people who had enslaved them in hopes of saving up enough money to experience all of the benefits emancipation had promised them. We see a flood of marriages following emancipation, as those who had given themselves in sacred partnership before God were finally permitted to be recognized by the legal system as married citizens. Still others were building lives and families in the era of Jim Crow, seeing “whites only” signs in shop and restaurant windows on the historic Liberty square while finding a welcoming home of their own. Our research with local narrative uncovers a hopeful and rich African American community, finding refuge and purpose in creating deeply personal cultural gathering places of their own for worship, recreation, communion, and education. We have heard stories of heroes and sheroes, of those who inspired younger generations to hold their heads high and pursue justice and a brighter future. We see community leaders and pioneer families, gardeners, preachers and washerwomen. We see families blossoming and children growing up to continue the family lineage.

To list all the ways these souls lived and died would take up tens of thousands of pages. There is no singular narrative in the histories left behind by this beloved community. Many of their names and stories have gone unknown until this moment. Many of their descendants have lived and raised families elsewhere, all over the nation. Some of these families have stayed, investing even more life and legacy in the community of Liberty, honoring the lives their ancestors worked to procure for them. We cannot know everything about a life, but we are grateful for what we do know. We continue to work so these names and stories are never again lost, always honored, and forever remembered. 

To read a more comprehensive account of African American history in Liberty, click here.