14 March 2014
"This database includes approximately 3,400 names found in governmental records involving the servitude and emancipation of Africans and, occasionally, Indians in the French and English eras of colonial Illinois (1722–1790) and African-Americans in the American period of Illinois (1790–1863). The Archives extracted the names of servants, slaves, or free persons and masters, witnesses, or related parties from selected governmental records to produce this database. After searching the database, researchers can see an abstract of the record by clicking the record number of the appropriate entry."
How great would it be if every state had a database like this one?
(For some other databases of particular value to African American research—and how to cite them—see QuickSheet: Citing Online African-American Historical Resources, https://www.evidenceexplained.com/magento/.)