3 Record Sets: Puerto Rican Enslaved Ancestors

Registro Central de Esclavos, 1872

Have You Researched Your Puerto Rican Enslaved Persons?

Many genealogists are unaware that enslaved people in Puerto Rico can be traced by name using Spanish colonial records created in the years leading up to abolition. To begin this research, it is essential to understand three interconnected record sets, created at different stages of the abolition process.

Three Key Record Sets for Researching Enslaved People in Puerto Rico

1. Cédulas de esclavos

•  Individual identity documents
•  Issued before the abolition-era enumeration
•  Often include physical descriptions, ownership, residence, and sometimes parentage

2. Empadronamiento General de Esclavos

• Local enumeration of enslaved people
• Conducted primarily circa 1871–1872, with earlier local enumerations (including 1867)
• Organized by jurisdiction, plantation, or household

3. Registro Central de Esclavos (1872)

• Centralized compilation of enumeration data
• Used for emancipation administration and compensation
• Captures enslaved people at the edge of freedom

These records are not redundant; they work together.

The Registro Central de Esclavos (1872)
For genealogists researching enslaved ancestors in Puerto Rico, the Registro Central de Esclavos (Central Registry of Slaves), created in 1872, is one of the most important, and most overlooked, record sets documenting slavery on the island just before slavery was abolition.

This registry was compiled one year before slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico, making it a rare snapshot of enslaved individuals, their owners, and family relationships at the very edge of freedom.

When Did Slavery End in Puerto Rico?
Slavery in Puerto Rico officially ended on March 22, 1873, when the Spanish Cortes passed the Abolition of Slavery Act for Puerto Rico.

However, emancipation was conditional:

• Formerly enslaved people were required to work for their former enslavers for three additional years
• Or purchase their freedom through a state-regulated compensation system
• The system functioned more like indentured labor than true freedom

Important clarification:
The Moret Law (1870) did not abolish slavery outright. Instead, it granted limited freedom to:

• Children born to enslaved mothers after 1868
• Enslaved people over age 60
• Enslaved people who served the Spanish state

True, unconditional emancipation, without forced labor or compensation, came only after these transitional requirements expired.

Why the 1872 Registry Matters
The Registro Central de Esclavos was created as part of Spain’s effort to inventory enslaved people before emancipation. It was used primarily to manage compensation claims by slaveholders.

For genealogists, this registry is invaluable because it may include:

• Full name of the enslaved individual
• Town or municipality
• Place of birth (often Africa, the Caribbean, or Puerto Rico)
• Name of the enslaver
• Legal status
• Age, sex, and physical description
• Family relationships (parents, spouses, children)
• Notations made as emancipation approached

In many cases, this may be the only surviving document that names an enslaved ancestor before freedom.

Locating These Records
Records of the Spanish Colonial Government of Puerto Rico, including the Registro Central de Esclavos (1872), are preserved as part of:

• Puerto Rico (Territory under Spanish occupation, 1509-1898
• Office of the Governor of Puerto Rico

These records are held by the National Archives and Records Administration and are also accessible in part through FamilySearch.org, Puerto Rico Slave Registers, 1859–1880

Although Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory in 1898, Spanish-era records remained intact and were later incorporated into U.S. archival custody.

Note: These records are not fully digitized. Many are poorly indexed

Reading the 1872 Registry
The 1872 registry page shown above demonstrates the bureaucratic language of slavery:

• Individuals are listed as property, yet paradoxically described in deeply human terms:
• family, origin, and physical traits
• Columns reflect ownership and legal control rather than personhood
• Marginal notes may reveal changes in status as emancipation approached

This tension makes the registry both painful and powerful to work with.

The Registro Central de Esclavos (1872) is not just a list; it is a threshold document, capturing lives in the final moments before a legal transformation that was incomplete, conditional, and deeply unequal. For descendants, it can be the first moment an ancestor appears by name. 

Related Record Set: Empadronamiento General de Esclavos

Prior to the creation of the 1872 Registro Central de Esclavos (centralizaed registry), Spanish colonial authorities conducted a general enumeration of enslaved people known as the Empadronamiento General de Esclavos. This census-like record documented enslaved individuals by jurisdiction, plantation, and household. It often lists family relationships and physical descriptions.
Some surviving examples date to 1867, while others reflect the 1871–1872 enumeration phase immediately preceding abolition.

These census-like records often document enslaved individuals by:

• Jurisdiction
• Plantation or household
• Family relationships
• Physical descriptions

Why the New York Public Library Has These Records 
The New York Public Library collected Spanish colonial records as part of its global legal, colonial, and abolition-era documentation efforts, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 
This mirrors the record collections of:

• Cuban slavery records in Boston
• Brazilian manumission records in Paris
• Haitian colonial records in Spain and France

Digitized examples of the Empadronamiento General de Esclavos (1867) are preserved in the NYPL collections and can provide critical pre-abolition context, particularly when used alongside the 1872 registry.

Puerto Rican descendants may also want to scour the NYPL Digital Collections, including holdings at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, for registered slave records.

Case Example: Empadronamiento / Cédula Record
Slave Registry: Lucía, described as mulata and creciendo (still growing), was enslaved by Teodosio González, a resident of Utuado, Barrio de Caguana, Arecibo. Although her father is not named, her mother was Juana de Frecia. 

This type of individual record, whether a cédula or local empadronamiento entry, provides the personal detail that later feeds into the centralized 1872 registry.

Cédula Record

Why Genealogists Cédulas and the 1872 Registro Central de Esclavos?

These records work together.

• Cédulas tell us who someone was
• The 1872 Registro Central de Esclavos tells us where they stood when slavery ended

Together, they allow families to be traced across emancipation.

5 Research Pro Tips
Researching enslaved ancestors in Puerto Rico is complex but possible.
If you are researching Afro-Puerto Rican or enslaved ancestors:

1. Search pre-1873 church records alongside the registry
2. Track enslavers forward into 1873–1880 labor contracts
3. Look for surname adoption patterns after emancipation
4. Pair registry entries with Spanish civil records and municipal censuses
5. Do not assume freedom in 1873 meant independence; many families remained tied to former owners for years

This research reminds us that emancipation was not a single date, but a long, contested process.

6 RESEARCH TIPS: FRENCH & INDIAN WAR

If you’ve hit a brick wall before 1776, this conversation is for you.
Before asking who your ancestor fought for, ask what shaped their life first. For many families, the answer lies in the French & Indian War.

The French & Indian War (1754–1763) shaped migration, land ownership, military experience, and family survival long before independence. Ignoring it can leave entire chapters of your ancestor’s life unexplored.

WHY THIS WAR MATTERS FOR GENEALOGISTS

This conflict occurred before the United States existed. As a result, it produced no federal pensions, no centralized service files, and no standardized documentation.

Those fragments explain:

• sudden migrations into frontier regions

• unexplained land ownership

• gaps in tax, church, or court records

• later Revolutionary War service

For genealogists, this war is not optional context; it is foundational.

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS

“My ancestor wasn’t old enough.”
If your ancestor served in the Revolution, they were often shaped by this earlier war.

“There are no records.”
There are records, just not where most people look.

“It only involved soldiers.”
The war affected civilians, families, Native nations, and enslaved people alike.

6 RECORD SETS THAT CAN BE LOCATED:

Muster Rolls

1. Colonial Muster rolls
2. Payroll  (see below)
3. Council Records
4. Orderly books
5. Diaries, Officers
6. Pension Records, which may be found in Revolutionary records or local repositories

PLACES TO BEGIN WITHOUT BECOMING OVERWHELMED

You don’t need to become a military historian to research this war effectively. However, start by adjusting your expectations:

• Look beyond traditional “military records”

• Expand timelines backward

• Read later records carefullyespecially pension narratives

• Consider land and migration as consequences of service

Note: Recognize service when it isn’t labeled.

1. State Archives & Libraries (i.e. MA State Archives)

2. Library of Congress: Letters, George Washignton Papers, etc.

3. FamilySearch: keyword "French and Indian War" 

4.  Historical and Genealogical Societies: family genealogies, records and community compilations

The key is learning how to recognize service when it isn’t labeled.

AFRICAN AMERICANS  AND INDENTURED SERVANTS ALSO SERVED 

"Father or Master," Massachusetts

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR RESEARCH

The French & Indian War explains why many ancestors seem to appear “out of nowhere.”
It accounts for silence, movement, and transformation in colonial families.

Once you understand this war, Revolutionary War research becomes clearer, not harder.

This topic is explored further in the latest episode of Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen, where we discuss:

• why this war is overlooked

• where evidence hides

• how genealogists can reset expectations

2026 Happy New Year

 

To our readers, listeners, donors, and sponsors, thank you for walking beside us. Every story shared, every brick removed, and every life honored happens because you believe history matters.
Here’s to another year of blogposts, voices, ancestors, and legacies remembered

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5 Definite Reasons to Use School Records

School records follow our ancestors from as early as five years old. Sure we an see them in their first census but the information is limited. Name, age, parents, some or all of the siblings depending on the birth order. Early census also share their education level. But, census do not reveal the whole story, and we can't be sure the informant to the Census Taker was accurate. Except in 1940 Census, we aren't even sure who provided the information. 

Collaborating Data
Since genealogists use collaboration to uncover facts, and to uncover mistakes in records, I wonder why so few ferret out vital School Records.  These are primary records, contemporary records, that shares your ancestor from abt 5/6 years old to 18.  

1.  Need a birth date?

2.  Need parents' names and siblings?

1939 School Enrollment, Kemper MS. 

Put Norms Aside

All research is not clean. It's complicated and the researcher must think out of the box. Ask "would that be possible."  The answer is probably YES, regardless of the seemingly absurdity of the question.

3.  Need to Identify An Abandoned Child 

Was this abandoned child Helen, my mother?  That's what a client asked. He knew his mother was raised by the Cannon family, but no one knew her birth name until we turned to school records. These school records married with court records solved this mystery. 

Helen went to second grade using the Cannon surname. However, she was never legally adopted. 

Of course, the question then was "How did the Cannon's get Helen?"  Yes, we turned to the following

1) research on the children's orphanage/institution

2) research on the Cannon's

3) research on the court records and the judge's practices

Bracing Helen further, we uncovered her legal name when she registered earlier for Kindergarten while in a children's institution. 

4.  Need to Release A Historical "Untruth Assumption"
Sure, I could have just said a false assumption, but the assumption that all schools were segregated before Brown vs. Topeka is an argument I refuse to have anymore.  My entire paternal grandfather's family integrated schools in Kansas, as did my mother's family, as seen below in 1890.  Aunt Pearl, as known to the family, had perfect attendance in 1890, Coldwater, Kansas. And she kept all of her school records.

5.  Need to Prove African Americans Attended Non-HBCU Schools

This is just one more Untruth Assumption. It is assumed that since Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) were in America as early as 1837,  Cheyney University, PA , that black students were compelled to attend them.  Yet, extant records prove this assumption to be false.

African Americans were attending non-segragated schools and since at least 1799 when John Chavis is on record of attending Liberty Hall Academy in VA. Alexander Twilight, though, is the first African American to be awarded a bachelor's degree in 1823 - Middleburg College, VT. 
***Just a Name Dropping Note: Kathleen Brandt also took 9 hours toward her Master's Degree at Middleburg in the 1980's. 

Early emancipated African Americans may have been educated in free state schools. The Moseley children of Jackson, Mississippi, were emancipated by their white father William O. Moseley. They were sent to Ohio, a free state, to be privately educated and to attend Oberlin Prep School (1870-1872).

(Moseley family has been DNA and papertrail proven.)

School record research is your homework for this Holiday Season! 

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Podcast

   

5 Research Tools to Serial Killers in the Tree

Library of Congress: The Kelly Mass Murderers

Uncover Your Killer Kin
Before the FBI, before fingerprinting, and long before anyone coined the phrase “serial killers,” which was not until the 1970's, there were mass murderers or lust murderers, or Jack the Ripper. 

Our killer - kin left trails of violence that stretched across the wild west in the late 1700's while they travelled between American territories and states. The Harpe Brothers terrorized frontier travelers from Kentucky to Tennessee. Serial Killers often vanished under new names. They just blended into the frontier. But it wasn't just the wanderer. There were early women serial killers like Delphine LaLaurie, a wealthy socialite in 1830s New Orleans who tortured and killed enslaved people in her attic. And let's not forget the first serial killer of Wyoming, before it was a state, Polly Bartlett.

The list is long and your chance of learning of one in your community, crossing the path of your ancestors, or your ancestor being guilty of being a serial killer is not far-fetched.

Why?
Because all 50 states in the United States have had at least one notorious or unidentified serial killer operate within its borders. 

Sometimes they acted alone. Sometimes it was family and friend's "pasttime" like the Bloody Benders of Kansas, who lured travelers to their inn in the 1870s. They left, the area living the grounds filled with ....hmmm "parts", "human body parts.

Newspapers.com, 1873

This was not unique to America, even though our serial killer per capita is impressive. Serial killers, some women, like Mary Ann Cotton, an English woman, was suspected of poisoning over 20 people for insurance money.

Not My Ancestor! Are you sure?
This is a topic that genealogists wish to ignore. It goes beyond that "black sheep" in the family. And, it is true. Not everyone had a bonafide serial killer in the family. But some did have murders. Let's leave that topic for later

Just because your ancestor wasn't the serial killer, were they a victim of one? Have you checked the Court Record in a community for the timeframe that these killers took action? More than once have I found ancestral connections (for clients, not mine) in court record books. Serial killers often lived in the neighborhood. They were the friendly smile at the local mart, they were the dairyman. Your ancestor may have held the clue to solve the issue of missing persons in the community!

Finding Clues in the Records
Researchers may uncover hints in the following 5 records:

1. Court Records
2. Coroner’s inquests listing unidentified bodies.
3. Penitentiary registers with aliases or “unknown origins.”
4. Court dockets describing sensational trials.
5. Newspaper reports used vivid 19th-century language like “dastardly deed.”

Where to Get Started

If you are looking for a serial killer in your ancestor's community, you probably already have folklore, newspaper articles, or a suspicious hunch that drives you to learn more on the disappearance of people in your ancestor's community.

Let's consider what resources will assist: 

Search newspaper archives for crime reports (Chronicling America, GenealogyBank).
Visit county courthouses for trial records or indictments.
Check state archives for prison or asylum rosters.
Investigate coroners’ inquests - they often name witnesses or relatives.
Review cemetery databases for unmarked graves or unknown burials.

Leads to your Killer Kin

• Victims in unmarked graves

• Ancestors who went missing

• Unknown children connected to violent offenders

• People who changed their identities after crimes

• Consider DNA testing with forensic opt-in option. GEDmatch, FTDNA are the leading tools for cold cases. Using mtDNA, Y-DNA, autosomal testing, and forensic genealogy platforms like GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA, cold cases from the 1700s - 1800s are being revisited

  Forensic genealogy allows scientists and descendants to identify remains from the 1800s.
  Using Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA, or autosomal matches, we can:
  

  • Reunite unknown victims with their families.
  • Confirm, or refute legends of criminal ancestors.
  • Match skeletal remains to known family lines from early settlements.

5 Research Tips

1. Killer.Cloud: birth months, states, and female serial killers
   This list isn’t just trivia; it gives the family historian data to analyze. Genealogists can use birth months and timelines to track aliases, movements, and identity gaps when studying criminal ancestors.

2. Library of Congress Early American serial killers
   The Library of Congress even has a summary of early killers. This is a great resource for genealogists looking for context.

3. Online and Local Newspapers
   Newspapers.com, GenealogyBank, Chronicling America

4. Court and coroner’s inquests
   Be sure to also look at guardian records that my provide additional court data. 

5. State archives and  penitentiary registers
   Remember, women prisoners may have been placed in homes or in an adjacent county/state.

"Happy Holidays" doesn't seem right to sign off with this post. But, wishing you a happy holiday anyway!

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Podcast

5 Places to Find Newly Freed Ancestors

“Freedom was not delivered in a single moment,

it was legislated, 

debated,

and recorded in ink,

 state by state.”

Freedom Before the 13th: The State Story
When we think of emancipation, most of us picture the 13th Amendment, ratified 6 December 1865 when the federal decree officially abolished slavery across the United States. But, freedom wasn’t born in one stroke of national law. In the year before the amendment, several states, especially the border states caught between Union and Confederate lines, rewrote their constitutions to acknowledge the newly freed men, women, and children within their borders.

For family historians these moments shaped when and where the papertrail of freedom began for our ancestors.

Border States Lead the Way

Register of free negroes, Missouri

Maryland: November 1, 1864
Maryland became the first border state to abolish slavery by popular vote, adopting a new constitution that took effect 1 November 1864.

Research tip: Manumission lists, early voter rolls, and 1864 – 1865 labor contracts mark this transition. Many newly freed families appear in records of the Maryland State Archives and the U.S. Freedmen’s Bureau.

 
Missouri: January 11, 1865
A state convention abolished slavery “forever” without compensation. The change preceded the 13th Amendment by nearly a year.

Records: Missouri emancipation affidavits, “Negro Registers,” and petitions for loyalty oaths are housed at the Missouri State Archives and the State Historical Society of Missouri.

West Virginia: February 3, 1865
Though slavery was limited when West Virginia separated from Virginia in 1863, the legislature passed a complete abolition act two years later.
Records: County courts recorded freedom registrations and apprenticeship contracts for minors.

Tennessee: February 22, 1865
A Union-backed constitutional convention declared slavery “forever prohibited.”
Records: Freedmen’s Bureau Nashville District files contain the earliest post-slavery family and labor agreements.

Arkansas: March 1864

Under Lincoln’s “10 Percent Plan,” Unionist Arkansans drafted a constitution abolishing slavery while the war still raged.
Records: Early 1864 – 1865 state militia lists and Freedmen’s Bureau documents detail the shifting labor system.

 
Virginia (Restored Government): March 10, 1864
Unionist delegates meeting in Alexandria abolished slavery for Virginia’s occupied territories long before Lee’s surrender.
Records: U.S. Colored Troops enlistment records for Virginia often follow this declaration.

Reconstruction Rewrites: 1865–1868
After Appomattox, emancipation was written into law again and again as Confederate states sought readmission to the Union. Each new constitution confirmed what the war had already made inevitable.

Holdouts and Delays
Not every state was ready to embrace freedom’s ink. These state constitutions retained outdated slavery language for decades.

• Delaware rejected the 13th Amendment in 1865 and didn’t ratify it until 1901.
• Kentucky refused until 1976, though the amendment applied federally.

Where to Find the Records

1. State Constitutional Convention Journals 
   Available through many state archives (e.g., Maryland State Archives, Missouri Digital Heritage).
2. Freedmen’s Bureau Records (1865 – 1872)
   Document early contracts, marriages, rations, and disputes.
3. County Court Records (1864 – 1868)
   Apprenticeships, loyalty oaths, and “Negro Registers.”
4. Local Newspapers 
   Announcements of new conventions and voter registrations.
5. State Militia Rolls and Voter Lists
   Many newly freed men appear in 1865 – 1868 militia or electoral documents.

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Podcast   

Outspoken Ancestors: Political Resistance & Sedition

Congressman Matthew Lyon, Library of Congress

One of the longest sentences to explain why our ancestors
were such advocates for their fellow citizens. 

Let's open one of our nation’s most politically charged record sets: the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. The term Sedition Act may  sound distant, but for genealogists, it left a fascinating paper trail. Passed under President John Adams, the Sedition Act criminalized public criticism of the U.S. government. This effectively made newspaper editors, printers, and outspoken citizens targets for prosecution. While it expired in 1801, its short-lived enforcement stirred up a storm that can still be traced in our family records, migrations, and local histories.

How It Touches Genealogy Research
For genealogists, history’s laws don’t just shape nations, they shape the records we search. The Sedition Act may have expired in 1801, but it lives on in the traces our ancestors left behind: altered oaths, sudden moves, silenced presses, and handwritten pleas for mercy.

Every act of censorship, every trial, and every protest created documents that now lie in our archives waiting for us to uncover the stories of those who dared to speak up.

1. Immigrants Under Scrutiny
The Sedition Act was part of a package that included the Alien Acts, which lengthened the residency requirement for citizenship from 5 to 14 years. If your ancestor arrived in the 1790s or early 1800s  (especially from Ireland, France, or Germany), their naturalization might have been delayed or recorded differently.

Look for:

• Declarations of Intention and Certificates of Naturalization (1798–1808)

• Alien Registrations and Deportation Notices in U.S. District Court Records

• Local newspapers reporting on new oaths of allegiance

These records often list birthplaces, witnesses, and even personal statements about loyalty.

2. Printers, Editors, and Political Prisoners

See Case Study Below: Congressman Matthew Lyon

Some of the earliest “muckrakers” in America found themselves in jail under the Sedition Act. If your ancestor was a printer, journalist, or pamphleteer, this law may explain gaps in their records or sudden relocations.

Research clues include:

• Court dockets and indictments for “seditious libel” (especially in Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts)

• Prisoner lists or marshals’ ledgers

• Mentions in newspapers like Aurora General Advertiser or Gazette of the United States

The case of James Thomson Callender, a Scottish immigrant and outspoken editor jailed under the Act, is just one example of how dissenters’ names still appear in archival documents.

3. Family Migrations and Political Fear
Families linked to accused individuals often fled Federalist-leaning communities, moving westward into Kentucky, Tennessee, or the Ohio Valley.

You might find:

• Abrupt moves between 1799 and 1802

• Changes in occupations (editors becoming teachers, merchants, or farmers)

• Shifts in how surnames were recorded. Sometimes they were anglicized to avoid attention

These subtle clues can lead you to untold family stories about courage and conviction.

4. Reading Between the Lines of Community Records

The Sedition Act years deepened the divide between Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans. Local histories and petitions often reflect that tension. Your ancestor’s political leanings might surface in:

• Voting lists and tax rolls

• Petitions for pardons or amnesty

• Letters or church minutes discussing “loyalty” or “disorderly conduct”

These sources reveal not just who your ancestors were, but what they stood for.

Case Study:  Congressman Matthew Lyon
The “Spitting Lyon” of Vermont and Kentucky

Library of Congress: Congressman Matthew Lyon

Matthew Lyon, an Irish-born immigrant, Revolutionary War veteran, printer, and U.S. Congressman, was one of the most famous Americans prosecuted under the Sedition Act of 1798. But, your not so ancestor may have also been prosecuted under the umbrella of this law also. 

Born in County Wicklow, Ireland, Lyon arrived in Connecticut in 1764 as an indentured servant. He later settled in Fair Haven, Vermont, where he published the Scourge of Aristocracy and The Republican Magazine. In 1798, Lyon was indicted for publishing “malicious writings” against President John Adams.

His Crime
Lyon had accused Adams of “an unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, and selfish avarice.” For that, he was:

• Tried and convicted under the Sedition Act,

• Fined $1,000, and

• Imprisoned for four months in Vergennes, Vermont.

Genealogy and Archival Clues for Lyon

Record Type	Repository / Link	What You’ll Find
Trial Records (1798)	U.S. District Court for Vermont, National Archives (Record Group 21)	Indictment, jury lists, witness statements
Presidential Correspondence	Founders Online (search “Matthew Lyon Sedition Act”)	Adams & Jefferson letters referencing his case
Newspapers (1798–1801)	Chronicling America, GenealogyBank, or Accessible Archives	Trial coverage and editorials
Petitions for Pardon	Library of Congress Manuscript Division	Requests to President Adams for leniency
Migration & Land Records	Kentucky Land Grants (KY Secretary of State)	Deeds and land patents after relocation west
Census Records	1800 Vermont, 1810 Kentucky	Household listings reflecting his move

Yet, from jail, Matthew Lyons won re-election to Congress, becoming a symbol of political resistance. After his release from Vermont prison, Lyon moved west to Kentucky (then the frontier), where he founded new presses and continued his political work. This was a move typical of outspoken Jeffersonian migrants of that era

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