PUBLIC "-//Library of Virginia//TEXT (US::Vi::vi03838::A Guide to the Washington County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Washington County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife, 1866 February)//EN" "vi03849.xml" A Guide to the Washington County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Washington County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife, 1866 February 27 Washington County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Washington County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife, 1866 February 27 Digitool record number 000048409 Sarah Nerney Library of Virginia © 2013 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.

Conditions of Use

Machine-readable finding aid derived from MARC record, created by Sarah Nerney, 20 May 2013 Description is in English 2013-11-21 Converted to schema conforming EAD by dtd2schema.vh.xsl. A Guide to the Washington County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Washington County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife, 1866 February 27 A Collection in the Library of Virginia Digitool record number 000048409 Sarah Nerney

Library of Virginia 2013 Sarah Nerney Library of Virginia Descriptive Summary The Library of Virginia Washington County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Washington County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife, 1866 February 27 Digitool record number 000048409 Library of Virginia Digital images. English Washington County (Va.) Circuit Court. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Patrons are to use digital images with searchable transcription available through the Library of Virginia's Virginia Unntold: the African American Narrative website.

Preferred Citation

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

Acquisition Information

This item was loaned for duplication to the Library of Virginia by the circuit court clerk of Washington County. Accession number 50562. Digital images were created by Backstage Library Works, Bethlehem PA. Photolab number 13_1068.

Historical Information

Washington County is the first locality in the United States known to have been named for George Washington. It was formed from Fincastle County in 1776, and a part of Montgomery County was added in 1777.

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.

Scope and Content

Washington County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Washington County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife on 27th February 1866. Also commonly called Washington 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 with the ages of each, and the date of commencement of cohabitation.

Adjunct Descriptive Data Related Material

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: Washington County (Va.) Circuit Court. Subjects: African Americans -- Employment -- Virginia -- Washington County. African Americans -- Virginia -- Washington County. Freedmen -- Virginia -- Washington County. Slaveholders -- Virginia -- Washington County. Geographical Names: Washington County (Va.) -- History -- 19th century. Genre and Form Terms: Local government records -- Virginia -- Washington County. Marriage records -- Virginia -- Washington County. Marriage registers -- Virginia -- Washington County. Added Entry - Corporate Name: United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.