In March 1866, the North Carolina General Assembly passed an act establishing a means for formerly enslaved people to ratify their marriages.  Such persons were to appear before justices of the peace, who would collect certain details of their cohabitation during slavery and record them in the County Clerk’s office. Freedmen faced misdemeanor charges if they failed to record their marriage by September, 1866, a deadline later extended to January 1, 1868.

Wilson County’s original cohabitation register is said to be held in the Register of Deeds office, but I have not found it there. Brooke Bissette, Director of Exhibits at Wilson’s Imagination Station, recently found that East Carolina University’s Joyner Library has a copy of the cohabitation register on microfilm and is creating a print volume to be shelved in the Local History and Genealogy Room at Wilson County Public Library’s main branch.

I present the register in series, with transcription:

• Henry Newsom and Fannie Newsom, March 24
• John Barnes and Della Barnes, March 24
• Stephen Lipscomb and Maria Lipscomb, March 24
• Arch Barnes and Venice Farmer, March 24
• Jim Farmer and Jennie Williams, March 26
• Richard Pender and Mahaly Williams, March 26
• Jacs. C. Woodard and Pleasant Farmer, March 28
• Lewis Bynum and Delia Bynum, March 31
• Dock Applewhite and Clara Barnes, March 31
• Robert Bynum and Caroline Barnes, March 31
• Washington Farmer and Waitey Harris, March 31
• Will Farmer and Mary Sharpe, March 31
• Thos. Woodard and Silva Woodard, March 31
• Mordecai Barnes and Ann Barnes, March 31
• Jerry Pender and Eliza Bridgers, March 31
• Peter S. Kimes and Cherry Sharp, March 31
• Washington Forbes and Pattie Forbes, April 3
• Miles Morgan and Rebecca Morgan, April 4
• Ned Armstrong and Eliza Whitehead, April 4
• Isham Mercer and Mary Mercer, April 4
• Jason Pender and Mary Taylor, April 4
• Edwin Woodard and Deby Barnes, April 4
• Alfred Rice and Emma Baley, April 4
• Isaac Kent and Cherry Peel, April 5
• Green Ruffin and Tama Ruffin, April 5
• Guilford Bynum and Pleasant Barnes, April 7
• Robbert Ellis and Harriet Bynum, April 7
• Samuel Barnes and Francis Barnes, April 7
• Henry Peacock and Sofronia Edmondson, April 7
• Daniel Barnes and Eany Peacock, April 7
• Wilie Etheridge and Mary Thomas, April 7
• Dick Barefoot and Easter Barnes, April 7
• Mike Barefoot and Caroline Jordan, April 7
• Ceasar Pittman and Hester Pittman, April 7
• London Woodard and Penny Laster, April 10