A. The major challenge facing anyone researching African-American ancestors is finding them during their years in slavery. This applies to those who were free before the Civil War and those freed by the Civil War. Since many African-Americans free before the Civil War were former slaves, your research strategy for finding pre-Civil War and post-Civil War free ancestors is basically the same. Different research strategies come into play when you start looking for ancestors in slave records.

Because you have information that indicates your ancestors were free before the Civil War, your search for them as free people would start from the date of the research you have, and move backward through records typically used in genealogical research. That includes federal, state and local government records such as census, marriage, land, probate, tax and any other private records that may have been recorded in your ancestors' names.

You also may find pre-Civil War documents that apply specifically to free people of color. Included among these are manumission records, free black registers, guardianship records and special tax records. Some county courthouses keep these among probate or deed records; others file them separately. These may provide clues to where your ancestor came from before acquiring their freedom. When you can no longer trace your ancestors in free records, you'll have to identify their slaveholder in order to search for them as slaves. For more information, look for the book A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your African-American Ancestors. Also check out these African-American research Web sites:

• Afrigeneas
  
  
• FamilyTreeMagazine.com African-American Toolkit
  
  
• The Freedmen's Bureau Online 
  
  
• The National Archives' Guide to African-American Genealogical Resources