Rappahannock County (Va.) Registry of the Colored Persons in Accordance with Circular No. 11, 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

Summary

Creator:
Rappahannock County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Rappahannock County (Va.) Registry of the Colored Persons in Accordance with Circular No. 11, 1866, is also commonly called the Rappahannock County (Va.) Cohabitation Register. This register follows the Rappahannock County (Va.) Register of Marriages, 1853-1939, in the same volume. The register records the date and place of marriage (town or county), full name of husband and wife, age and condition before marriage (single or widowed), places of birth, places of their residence on the 27th of February 1866, parents' names, occupation of husband, names of former wives, and the names of children of those wives recognized. There is an index at the beginning of the cohabitation register (but following the Register of Marriages, 1853-1939) by husband and wife name.

This registry of the colored persons was taken by Second Lieutenant Jacob Roth, Veteran Reserve Corps (VRC) and Assistant Superintendent, Bureau of Refugees Freedmen and Abandoned Lands for the Sub-district County of Rappahannock, VA. A note at the front of the register states that the register was returned to the Rappahannock clerk's office on June 9, 1869.

Biographical / historical:

Rappahannock County was formed in 1833 from Culpeper County.

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.

Acquisition information:
This item was microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah at the Rappahannock County Courthouse, Washington, Virginia.
Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
1 microfilm reel (19 images)