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African American History of Frederick County, Maryland
FrederickRoots* exists to serve as a resource for researching the history of the African American families of Frederick County, Maryland. Particular emphasis is placed upon the small farming communities of the County. Over the years, our work has revealed that most of the families of these communities have their roots in slavery. A primary mission of this site is to trace those roots back to the first slave who was freed, identifying his or her owner, location, and documents of manumission**.
While a wealth of resources are available for tracing the roots of white families, the sources for black families are much more limited. Some information is accessible, but much is buried. Census records are less complete, official documents are less detailed, and birth/death data are fragmentary. The information on this site is intended to fill a critical gap, and can provide a beginning point for those wishing to learn about the black families of the County. In addition to a genealogical database, the sit