PUBLIC "-//Library of Virginia//TEXT (US::Vi::vi04046::A Guide to the Hanover County (Va.) Marriage Register of Freedmen living in Hanover County, Virginia, who were married by the Act passed by the Legislature of Virginia, February 27th, 1866)//EN" "vi04046.xml" A Guide to the Hanover County (Va.) Marriage Register of Freedmen living in Hanover County, Virginia, who were married by the Act passed by the Legislature of Virginia, February 27th, 1866 Hanover County (Va.) Marriage Register of Freedmen living in Hanover County, Virginia, who were married by the Act passed by the Legislature of Virginia, February 27th, 1866 Hanover County (Va.) Reel 61 Sarah Nerney Library of Virginia © 2009 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.

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Machine-readable finding aid derived from MARC record, created by Sarah Nerney, 16 October 2009 Description is in English 2013-11-21 Converted to schema conforming EAD by dtd2schema.vh.xsl. A Guide to the Hanover County (Va.) Marriage Register of Freedmen living in Hanover County, Virginia, who were married by the Act passed by the Legislature of Virginia, February 27th, 1866 A Collection in the Library of Virginia Hanover County (Va.) Reel 61 Sarah Nerney

Library of Virginia 2009 Sarah Nerney Library of Virginia Descriptive Summary The Library of Virginia Hanover County (Va.) Marriage Register of Freedmen living in Hanover County, Virginia, who were married by the Act passed by the Legislature of Virginia, February 27th, 1866 Hanover County (Va.) Reel 61 Library of Virginia 1 microfilm reel and digital images. English Hanover County (Va.) Circuit Court. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions. Digital images with searchable transcription available through the Library of Virginia's Virginia Memory website.

Preferred Citation

Hanover County (Va.) Marriage Register of Freedmen living in Hanover County, Virginia, who were married by the Act passed by the Legislature of Virginia, February 27th, 1866, Hanover County (Va.) Reel 61. Local government records collection, Hanover County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

This item was microfilmed by the Library of Virginia's Imaging Services Division.

Digital images were created by the Library of Virginia's Photographic and Digital Imaging Services. Photolab number 10_0019.

Historical Information

Hanover County was formed in 1720 from New Kent 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.

Most county court records, particularly deeds, wills, and marriage records, were destroyed by fire in Richmond on 3 April 1865, where they had been moved for safekeeping during the Civil War. The circuit court records were not moved to Richmond and were relatively unscathed. Consequently, there is a strong run of common law papers and chancery papers after 1831 that were generated by the circuit superior court of law and chancery and its successor, the circuit court.

Scope and Content

Hanover County (Va.) Marriage Register of Freedmen living in Hanover County, Virginia, who were married by the Act passed by the Legislature of Virginia, February 27th, 1866, contains similar information as that found in a cohabitation register. Recorded are date and place of marriage, full name of both parties, age and condition before marriage (year, single or widowed, slave or free), place of birth, place of residence, names of parents of both parties, occupation of husband. Marriages are recorded for the years 1816-1866.

Adjunct Descriptive Data Related Material

Additional Hanover County Marriage Records and Vital Statistics can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Additional cohabitation registers are available digitially with searchable transcriptions through the Library of Virginia's Virginia Memory website.

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

See The Chancery Records Index to find the chancery records of additional Virginia localities.

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