A Guide to the Caroline County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Caroline County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife, 1866 Caroline County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Caroline County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife, 1866 Caroline County (Va.) Reel 78

A Guide to the Caroline County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Caroline County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife, 1866

A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Microfilm reel number: Caroline County (Va.) Reel 78


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Processed by: Sarah Nerney

Repository
The Library of Virginia
Microfilm reel number
Caroline County (Va.) Reel 78
Title
Caroline County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Caroline County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife, 1866
Physical Characteristics
1 microfilm reel ( 24 p.) and digital images
Collector
Caroline County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Location
Library of Virginia
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Patrons may also use digital images with searchable transcription available through the Library of Virginia's Virginia Memory website.

Preferred Citation

Caroline County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Caroline County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife on 27th February 1866. Caroline County (Va.) Reel 78, Local Government Records Collection, Caroline County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

This record was loaned for microfilming by the Caroline County clerk of circuit court. The microfilm was generated by OCLC through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program under the accession number 43748.

Digital images were created by the Library of Virginia's Photographic and Digital Imaging Services. Photolab number 08_1036_23-46.

Historical Information

Caroline County was formed from Essex, King and Queen, and King William counties in 1728. Additional parts of King and Queen County were added to Caroline in 1742 and 1762.

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. 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. 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.

Most loose records and deed books prior to 1836 and will books prior to 1853 were stolen, mutilated, and/or destroyed by Union troops who ransacked the courthouse in May 1864. A near-complete run of order books exists.

Scope and Content

Caroline County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Caroline County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife on 27th February 1866. Also commonly called Caroline County (Va.) Cohabitation Register. This register records the name of the husband, his age, place of birth, residence, occupation, last owner, last owner's residence, name of the wife, her age, place of birth, residence, last owner, last owner's residence, name of children whith the ages of each, and the date of commencement of cohabitation. There is no index.

Related Material

See the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available at Virginia Memory.

For more information and a listing of lost records localities see Lost Records research note .

Additional cohabitation registers are available digitially with searchable transcriptions through the Library of Virginia's Virginia Unntold: the African American Narrative website.

Index Terms

    Corporate Names:

  • Caroline County (Va.). Circuit Court.
  • Subjects:

  • African Americans -- Employment -- Virginia -- Caroline County.
  • African Americans -- Virginia -- Caroline County.
  • Freedmen. -- Virginia -- Caroline County.
  • Slaveholders -- Virginia -- Caroline County.
  • Geographical Names:

  • Caroline County (Va.) -- History -- 19th century.
  • Genre and Form Terms:

  • Local government records -- Virginia -- Caroline County.
  • Marriage records -- Virginia -- Caroline County.
  • Marriage registers -- Virginia -- Caroline County.
  • Added Entry - Corporate Name:

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

Significant Places Associated With the Collection

  • Caroline County (Va.) -- History -- 19th century.