Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

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

Preferred Citation

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

Acquisition Information

This record was loaned for microfilming and digitization by the Wythe 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 43969.

Inkjet prints and digital images were created by the Library of Virginia's Photographic and Digital Imaging Services. Photolab number 09_0345_001-008.tif.

Historical Information

Wythe County was named for George Wythe, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and chancellor of Virginia in 1789 when Wythe County was formed from Montgomery County. Part of Grayson County was added in 1825.

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

Wythe County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Wythe County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife on 27th February 1866. Also commonly called Wythe 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. The collection exists as inkjet prints, microfilm, and digital images with a searchable transcription through the Library of Virginia's Virginia Memory website.

Related Material

Additional Wythe 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 Untold: the African American Narrative website.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Wythe County (Va.). Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African Americans -- Employment -- Virginia -- Wythe County.
• African Americans -- Virginia -- Wythe County.
• Freedmen -- Virginia -- Wythe County.
• Slaveholders -- Virginia -- Wythe County.

Geographical Names:

• Wythe County (Va.) -- History -- 19th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Free negro and slave records -- Virginia -- Wythe County.
• Local government records -- Virginia -- Wythe County.
• Marriage records -- Virginia -- Wythe County.
• Marriage registers -- Virginia -- Wythe County.

Added Entry - Corporate Name:

• United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands

Adjunct Descriptive Data