The Bureau of Refugees, Freemen, and Abandoned Lands, often referred to as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was established on March 3, 1865. The duties of the Freedmen’s Bureau included supervision of all affairs relating to refugees, freedmen, and the custody of abandoned lands and property. These documents come from the Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of North Carolina, Series 20: Records Relating to Lands and Property.
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There are three unbound series relating to property. The largest is the monthly statistical reports of lands under Bureau control, July 1865–December 1868, with some undated reports at the end of the series. These chronologically arranged reports were made by subordinate officers to the Assistant Commissioner, and there are a few of the Assistant Commissioner's summary reports interfiled in the series. The reports list the owner, county, boundaries, date and how gained, date and how lost, why held, total acres, acres cultivated, buildings, and remarks on the property.
A brief series of miscellaneous land reports, March 1865–November 1868, lists plantations and buildings rented or abandoned and under custody of the Bureau. These are arranged chronologically.
Another brief series contains deeds for schools and churches and some leases of lands. These date 1866–1870 for the most part, but there are three from 1862–1863. They are chronologically.