Research on formerly enslaved people is difficult by its very nature because enslaved people were classed as property prior to the Civil War and faced the challenges of marginalization in the segregated society that developed after the War. Crucial to uncovering information on enslaved people prior to emancipation is studying their lives as freedpeople after for clues as to who their families were and who their former owners might have been. As with any family, clues regarding identity, relationships, and ownership during slavery, are often uncovered as the result of applying the FAN principle and piecing together potential family groups.