Bank Records Aid in Slaves History By DARLENE SUPERVILLE .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - A young boy is stolen away from Africa, sold into slavery, left to fend for himself after winning his freedom in the Civil War. Buried in the 1870 bank record for 20-year-old George Thompson is much more than the dry stuff of deposits, withdrawals, dollars and cents. His life story unfolds in a new collection of records from the Freedman's Bank that offers glimpses into a period in America's history when blacks moved from slavery to citizenship. ``Doesn't know father or mother's names or brothers and sisters. Was stolen away from Africa, thinks when he was about 15 years old,'' says the record for Thompson, who worked as a driver for a doctor and deposited his money in the bank's New York branch. Created by President Lincoln in 1865, mostly to help freed slaves after the war, the Freedman's Bank folded within a decade, costing depositors some or all of their savings. More than a century later, the surviving records are making it easier for many Americans to search out their pasts. The bank records tell when and where an account was opened and, in most cases, list the depositor's age, address, occupation, military history - even height and complexion. Names of former slave owners were sometimes listed, too. ``Has two moles under the right eye. Widow. Rents from Mrs. Crawley,'' reads part of the May 1869 notation on the bank card of Mary J. Green. David Tavis, who opened an account in the Washington branch in September 1866 with $10, is described in precise terms. ''5 ft. 4 in. Dark,'' his record says. The files also note when a depositor ``signed own name,'' suggesting some could read and write. Unsure, perhaps, of how they'd fare on their own, some depositors left explicit instructions on how their savings should be handled. Sarah Nugent, born free in Charles County, Md., and the mother of William Henry, put $20 into a new account in Washington in March 1868. ``I desire that whatever money I may have in the bank in case of my death to be paid to my son above named,'' said Nugent, who lived near what is now Washington's Foggy Bottom neighborhood. Not all the bank's depositors were black. Whites, often immigrants from Germany, Ireland and Italy, trusted the Freedman's Bank with their savings, too. Other account holders were natives of Africa and the West Indies. Irish native Isaac Williamson, 59, a tinsmith in New York City, was excited about opening an account in late 1871. ``Is too nervous to write his name,'' his bank card noted. A new CD-ROM arranges the nearly 480,000 names from the bank's 37 branches in 17 mostly Southern states to show relationships among depositors, including names of spouses, parents, children and grandchildren - all valuable leads for genealogists Researchers say the disk is important because the records, which are housed at the National Archives, aren't well organized. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons, spent 11 years, with help volunteered by Utah prison inmates, extracting and linking the names before releasing the disk for sale in February. The church, which teaches that family ties continue beyond the grave and encourages members to trace their roots, collects genealogical data from around the world and maintains a database of more than 400 million names, which is available on the Internet. The disk already is saving amateur genealogists like Hollis Gentry a lot of leg work. Gentry, 37, began her research 25 years ago after the publication of ``Roots,'' in which Alex Haley traced six generations of his family back to West Africa. She found a great-great uncle - self-employed shoemaker and Civil War veteran Daniel Langley - after countless hours searching records at the Archives. Comparing her library notes against the disk, Gentry unexpectedly found another great-great uncle with just a few computer-mouse clicks as she sat in her one-room apartment, surrounded by rows of reference books and binders stuffed with information about long-ago relatives. St. Paul Langley, a brother of Daniel, opened an account at the Norfolk, Va., branch of the Freedman's Bank in 1873 for an organization called the Young Juvenile Samaritans. He served on its banking committee. ``Prior to that I had no information indicating that he had money in the bank,'' Gentry said, marveling at the ease of her computer-assisted search. ``It'll make it a whole lot easier and a lot faster to locate a record if one exists.'' On the Net: Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society: http://www.rootsweb.com/(tilde)mdaahgs Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: http://www.lds.org Freedman's Bank: http://www.ustreas.gov/curator/freedmans/index.html National Archives: http://www.nara.gov/genealogy National Genealogical Society: http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/index.htm Buying and downloading the records: http://www.familysearch.org AP-NY-04-02-01 0113EDT Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.