Cohabitation Records (Marriage Records)

Collection Status: Open for Transcription

Transcription Difficulty Rating: Intermediate

About the Collection

In March 1866, the General Assembly passed “An Act Concerning Negroes and Persons of Color or of Mixed Blood,” which included a statute that enslaved people who had been living together as man and wife during slavery were now considered to be legally married. Called cohabitation bonds, these were filed with the register of deeds and were retroactive, legitimizing the marriages of former enslaved peoples. Typically included was the name and age of the bride and groom and the length of time they had been married. Some counties include the name of the enslaver and/or the number of children the couple may have had. While in the original records cohabitation bonds are sometimes named as such, for many marriage records we cannot determine the race of the couple. In some instances, other marriage records from 1866 may be included in the collection that do not specifically include the term “cohabitation.”

How to Help Transcribe Documents

The transcription conventions, or “rules,” are located at the bottom of every page in the transcription view.

For more information, check out our Transcription Guide, Handwriting Guide, or the FromThePage transcription demo video.

When transcriptions are finalized and exported out of FromThePage, they will be added to the digitized items in the North Carolina Digital Collections. Here are a few examples of what that looks like! These are real transcriptions finished by TranscribeNC volunteers just like yourself. Click the word Transcript below the image of the item to view the transcription.

• Constitution, 1776
• Local Draft Board Records, Macon County
• Appalachian Training School

About Us

The State Archives of North Carolina collects, preserves, manages, and provides access to information that protects citizen rights, documents North Carolina history and culture, promotes transparency, and encourages stewardship of government records.

Thank you for helping us improve public access to historic documents and materials through your transcription efforts.

For more information, please visit the State Archives website.

Questions?

Contact our transcription archivist - Please be sure to fill out the subject field as specifically as possible.