The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands was a federal agency created by the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, passed on March 3, 1865. Also known as the "Freedmen's Bureau," this agency was responsible for aiding refugees of the Civil War, especially the formerly enslaved, in the areas of education, employment, and health care. Meant to last for only one year after the war, the Bureau was operational from June 1865 to
December 1868. Contracts usually specify the dates of the expected employment, the occupation of the employee, expected wages and housing arrangements, and any rent that is to be paid to the employer.
Though the federal government generated these records, a few localities retained possession of these records in their courthouses after the dissolution of the Freedmen’s Bureau.

Descriptions included in this dataset are drawn directly from the original documents and may contain language which is now deemed offensive.

Indentures of apprenticeship are composed of indentures binding out "free negroes", often children, to learn a particular trade or craft. These indentures may be written agreements between the family of the apprentice and those responsible for the indentured. Or, these documents may be generated by local agencies such as
the Overseers of the Poor, binding out orphans or those who are considered a burden to the Commonwealth.
The indentures of apprenticeship contain the name of the person or institution binding out, the person to whom bound, the name of the person being indentured, the length of the apprenticeship, and the responsibilities of the person taking on the indentured.

The data in this collection is drawn directly from the historical documents and may contain language that is now deemed offensive.