Mormons to Release Records on Ex-Slaves
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The Mormon Church will release a CD-ROM containing records from a post-Civil War bank used by ex-slaves, offering many blacks a first chance to trace their family histories, church officials in Salt Lake City said.
Before the Civil War, documents were not kept on blacks, making it much more difficult for blacks to trace the history of their relatives than it is for whites.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has long compiled exhaustive genealogical data.
At its height, the Freedman’s Savings & Trust Co. had 72,000 clients, information about employment and entries about children and siblings.
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