In 1865, toward the end of the Civil War, Congress established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, also known as the Freedmen’s Bureau.

The Bureau assisted in the reconstruction of the South and aided newly freed African Americans in their transition to freedom. It operated in all 15 southern and border states, including Washington, DC. The Bureau helped build schools, reunited families, provided health and legal services, and legalized marriages.

In North Carolina, one of the bureau’s most protracted fights were its’ efforts to end apprenticeship contracts where black children worked for white families after slavery. It took the enforcement of a new state law in 1867 to end this practice by officially making such contracts null and void. The state’s Freedmen’s Bureau also led a vaccine campaign in the fight against smallpox.

In October 1865, Jacob and Monemia appealed to the Freedmen’s Bureau for help regaining custody of Millie and Christine. Mary A. Smith, the last enslaver of the McCoy family, refused to emancipate the twins – separating them from their family for eight years. Smith coerced the McCoy’s into signing a contract stipulating the twins remain with her for five years, promising the twins' parents part of the profits from their performances.

The Bureau ordered Smith to appear for trial with the twins in November 1865. When she appeared without the girls, Bureau agents suspected Smith planned to smuggle Millie and Christine to Europe if the court ruled against her. Smith was promptly arrested.

Bureau Agent Clinton A. Cilley ruled that Millie and Christine should be able to negotiate their contract with Smith. The ruling also enabled the twins’ father Jacob to enforce fair payments and terms. 

Citing that Millie and Christine had been instructed in reading for seven years, Cilley later reversed his decision stating “I have revoked my order requiring the children to be returned to their parents, being confident that they will be so restored as soon as the question of their possession is settled." 

Millie and Christine remained in Smith’s custody and continued to perform across the country and in Europe.  This story highlights the shortcomings of the Freedmen's Bureau in protecting the rights of African Americans.  

Photographs are reproductions of originals from the State Archives of North Carolina 

Letters from the Freedmen’s Bureau North Carolina Assistant Commissioners Records