Culpeper County (Va.) Marriage Register (Colored), 1866

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Culpeper County (Va.) Marriage Register (Colored), 1866. Culpeper County (Va.) Reel 55, Local government records collection, Culpeper County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Summary

Creator:
Culpeper County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Culpeper County (Va.) Marriage Register (Colored), 1866. Culpeper County (Va.) Reel 55, Local government records collection, Culpeper County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Culpeper County (Va.) Marriage Register (Colored), 1866, is a volume that contains the same kinds of information as that found in a cohabitation register and a register of children of parents who had ceased to cohabit. The volume is divided into three slightly different sections with an index at the beginning that gives the page and line number for each indexed individual. It is also commonly called the Culpeper County (Va.) Cohabitation Register.

pp. 1-14 lists the line number, date and place of marriage, full name of parties married, ages, place of birth, residence, name of parents, occupation of husband, and married by. All couples listed were noted to be "Married by the Law of 1866."

pp. 15-19 lists the line number, name of child, age, place of birth, residence, last owner, last owner's residence, residence of father, father's age, father's last owner, name of mother, mother's age, mother's residence if alive or noted if dead, mother's last owner with residence, and signature of father.

pp. 20-21 lists the line number, name of husband and his age, place of birth, residence, occupation, last owner, last owner's residence; name of wife and her age, place of birth, residence, last owner, last owner's residence; names of children with the age of each, and the date of commencement of cohabitation.

Biographical / historical:

Culpeper was formed from Orange County in 1749.

The Virginia legislature passed an act on 27 February 1866 to legalize the marriages of former slaves and provided for the legitimization of children of couples no longer cohabiting as long as the father recognized the children to be his. 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 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.

Acquisition information:
This item was microfilmed by the Library of Virginia's Imaging Services Division.
Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
1 microfilm reel