The lifestyles of African Americans in Lancaster city

The lifestyles of African americans in Lancaster city during the period of 1820-1849 can be easily researched.  During this time period there was an ordinance in Lancaster city that required all African -Americans in the city to register with the mayors office.  The mayors office in turn
compiled a journal together. This journal was titled The Negro Entry Book.

The Negro Entry Book has been used as a reference to research several topics that deal with the
history of Africans Americans.  The book could be used as a directory to look up a certain African American  who is said to have lived in Lancaster during the time period of the journal.  The journal entry book could also be used as a guide to show where certain persons lived and worked.  The most interesting  and common use of the entry book is to research and study the employment of African Americans during that time period.

The Entry book clearly shows one evident fact and that is the African American community of
Lancaster was flourishing. The book list several people with a variety of occupations.  Some of the people in the book had two and three trades besides their main occupation.  The professions were very diverse they included laborers, farmers, weavers, waiters, coach drivers, maids, and the list goes on and on.  Like the iron industry in Berks county during these periods the chimney business was also very helpful in increasing the number of middle class blacks during this period. The chimney sweep trade was a fast growing trade because of the high demand for the service.  Several African Americans saw this as their chance for better employment.  The records in the entry book show that  there was a significant number of people in the profession and many others who came to Lancaster to learn the trade or work as a chimney sweep.  African Americans used this profession to their advantage because they knew that this was a much needed service so they took apprentices and passed the trade down.

The Lancaster Entry book is also good for it's records of the family structure during the time
period. The African Americans were to tell where they lived and who else resided with them when filing at the mayors office.  In the Entry book you will notice things such as one family having a live-in cousin, aunt or another family member  outside of the intermediate family.  Another not so uncommon thing was to see that several of the people lived with their employers there are several entries of this kind.

These are just a few things that are in the entry book. Although the purpose of this book probably was not for such fascinating purposes it is a great book to browse through or study. A lot of the history  about the everyday life of African Americans in Lancaster during this period is in the Negro Journal Entry Book.  This Book is a great starting point for any research on the life of African Americans in Lancaster city.