Caroline County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Caroline County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife, 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:

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.

Summary

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

Background

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.

Biographical / historical:

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.

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.

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
1 microfilm reel ( 24 p.) and digital images