Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Augusta County (Va.) Volume of Free Negro and Slave Records, 1866. Augusta County (Va.) Reel 242, Local government records collection, Augusta County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

The microfilm copy of these records was generated by The Library of Virginia's Imaging Services Branch.

Historical Information

Augusta County was formed from Orange in 1738 and its first government established in 1745.

The Virginia legislature passed an act on 27 February 1866 to legalize the marriages of former slaves who had been cohabiting as of that date and provide for the legitimization of their children. See Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1866-1867, Chapter 18, An act to amend and re-enact the 14th section of chapter 108 of the Code of Virginia for 1860, in regard to registers of marriage; and to legalize the marriages of colored persons now cohabiting as husband and wife.

The federal Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands directed the Assistant Superintendents of the states to order the county clerks to make a registry of such cohabiting couples and their children. See Circular No. 11, dated 19 March 1866, in Orders, Circulars, Circular Letters, and Letters of Instruction, vol. 2 (1866). Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Virginia, 1865-1869. Miscellaneous reel 3880, Library of Virginia. National Archives microfilm M1048 (reel 41), Record Group 105.

Scope and Content

Augusta County (Va.) Volume of Free Negro and Slave Records, 1866 contains three separate records in one volume. The first is a List of Quarter Masters Stores et cetera at Wisewell Barracks and Hospital (1865), the second is a register of former slaves registering their marriages and their children as provided for by the change to Virginia's marriage law (1866), and the final a list of indentures of minor freed children (1866).

The List of Quarter Masters Stores et cetera at Wisewell Barracks and Hospital (1865) is found on pages 3-7 of the volume. It records the number of heating stoves, shovels, fire pokers, pieces of zinc, fire axes, and other items relating to stoves and stove equipment found in the various rooms and offices of the Wisewell Barracks and hospital. Wisewell Barracks was a Union Civil War encampment established at what are modern day 7th and P streets in Washington, DC.

The bulk of the volume on pages 10-105 is composed of lists of the "Names of Freedpersons who have reported themselves as married by the state law of Virginia passed February 27, 1866" and by lists of the "Names of Children of Freedpeople who have reported" (both 1866). The lists of registering couples records a register number, the date of registration, the names of the husband and wife, their ages and places of birth, the occupation of the husband, their current residence, and a notes column for additional notations such as the death of one of the parties. The lists of children records a register number, the name of the father and the names and ages of the children that he recognized to be his. The lists of children are interspersed regularly thoughout the lists of registering couples. Sometimes the names of the children names are included in the notes column of the marriage lists. There is no index.

The final pages of the volume, pages 300-301 (pages 106-299 are missing) are a register of Indentures of Minor Freed Children (1866). The listing includes a register number, date of the resistration, name of the child, sex, age in years and months, to whom bound, county of residence, trade or occupation to be taught, amount of money to be paid to the child at the close of the indenture, and the name of the witness to the indenture.

Related Material

Additional Augusta County Free Negro and Slave Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm" found on the Library of Virginia web site.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Augusta County (Va.). Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African Americans--Employment--Virginia--Augusta County.
• African Americans--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Freedmen--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Indentured servants--Virginia--Augusta County.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Equipment and supplies.

Geographical Names:

• Augusta County (Va.)--History--19th Century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Birth registers--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Indentures--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Marriage records--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Marriage registers--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Registers (lists)--Virginia--Augusta County.

Added Entry - Corporate Name:

• United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands.

Adjunct Descriptive Data