Occupation on U.S . Census Records

DedricOwens1

I'm from Louisiana and after starting my research, I believe I may have found my great grandparent,, grandparents and great great grandparents . The occupation shown on the US Census was farmer (and laborer) for the men and servant for the women. It also states that they were all born in Louisiana. Could this possibly indicate they were slaves?

Gail Swihart Watson

So you do not indicate which year the census was taken. If it was one of the 2 censuses prior to the Civil War which named household members, ie 1850 and 1860, then no. If they were named they were not enslaved. Enslaved were counted, but not named, on a separate register in those years. If you have reason to believe they were African American ethnicity and were named, then they were free persons of color.

Now looking at your question from a different light, let's say you are looking at the 1870 census. ALL enslaved had been freed at that point. Are you asking whether or not it is possible that if they are working for people in 1870 were they enslaved by the same people in 1860? That is very hard to tell. I do not know Louisiana records so I can't tell you how to look for collections which named enslaved. If you were talking about Virginia, I could. There were detailed birth and death records for all people in Virginia, including enslaved, starting in 1853. The fields in those registers are just as detailed as the modern birth and death certificates, and included names and birth or death dates of enslaved, father and mother, informant as well as the owner. If you knew of a Virginia ancestor who was born or died during the years 1853--1865, you might find their name and thus their owner. You probably need to clarify your question.

Robert Lindsey Helmig

My take on this is that if the women were listed as servants, who would they be servants to if not a slave owner? Now another possibility to think about comes to mind; if this was after the 13th Amendment of 1865, people of color were “technically” free but since the former slaves had few to no resources to establish themselves independently, many contracted with a local landowner - probably the same landowner who held them slaves - to labor in his fields. They were given a land partial to farm for themselves but contractually they were required to give a large share of their crops back to the landowner. In reference to your ancestors, I believe this explains why the men were identified as farmers or laborers and the women as servants. She likely kept on doing what she had been doing before Emancipation, and may have fallen under the same contract as her husband. The whole Emacipation/Reconstruction era continued on longer than most people realize. For example, In Mississippi, despite several Supreme Court rulings, the schools weren’t fully desegregated until 2016, 151 years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

As a side bar to this, I lived in Louisiana for five years. It and Mississippi are fascinating places and New Orleans and Vicksburg will always have my heart. I hope this information helped.

Warm Regards,

Robert Helmig