Confederate Quartermaster Records

Enslaved Labor Payrolls

During the Civil War, the Confederate government forced enslaved men to build its fortifications, depots, and rail lines, then paid the people who claimed to own them for the labor. These payroll sheets are among the few records that name individual enslaved people, often by first name only, alongside the enslaver who collected their wages. Every payroll here comes from the National Archives series "Confederate Quartermaster and Corps of Engineer Payrolls for Enslaved Labor," and every name we read is published here for free, forever.

New names appear as each payroll is read and transcribed. If a name you seek is not here yet, it may still be waiting in an unread payroll.