Freedmen's Bureau Marriage Records
The Freedmen’s Bureau helped newly freed people legalize their marriages.
After the Civil War, the federal government established a War Department agency to help Americans transition from slavery to freedom. The Freedmen’s Bureau (1865–72) issued rations, operated hospitals and helped establish schools and unite families. It worked to resolve labor disputes and negotiate labor contracts. It also presided over and documented marriages between freed couples.
Unions between enslaved couples were not legally sanctioned or protected. Couples could be separated by sale to other plantations. After 1865, new state laws recognized marriages of enslaved couples. With the help of Army chaplains and civil clergy, the Freedmen’s Bureau led the drive to legitimize these unions, issuing tens of thousands of marriage certificates. These records are an invaluable source of information for historians, social scientists, and genealogists.
Alfred and Antoinette’s wedding in Napoleonville, Assumption Parish, Louisiana, was among the first to be documented by the Freedmen’s Bureau. This certificate is dated March 6, 1865, just three days after the Bureau was established by an act of Congress.
Marriage Certificate for Alfred Wiggins and Antoinette Marvigne, March 6, 1865. Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
Alfred and Antoinette’s wedding in Napoleonville, Assumption Parish, Louisiana, was among the first to be documented by the Freedmen’s Bureau. This certificate is dated March 6, 1865, just three days after the Bureau was established by an act of Congress.
Marriage Certificate for Alfred Wiggins and Antoinette Marvigne, March 6, 1865. Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
According to this marriage certificate, Isaac and Catherine Kelly lived together as husband and wife for three years but were separated when one of them was sold to a different enslaver. A handwritten note on the preprinted form reads, “These parties have been separated by sale once and have again assumed the marriage relation since the war.”
Certificate of Matrimony for Isaac and Catherine Kelly of Nashville, Tennessee, May 12, 1866. Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
According to this marriage certificate, Isaac and Catherine Kelly lived together as husband and wife for three years but were separated when one of them was sold to a different enslaver. A handwritten note on the preprinted form reads, “These parties have been separated by sale once and have again assumed the marriage relation since the war.”
Certificate of Matrimony for Isaac and Catherine Kelly of Nashville, Tennessee, May 12, 1866. Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
This record documents freedpeople’s marriages in North Carolina for the quarter ending on September 30, 1865.
Register of Marriages, September 30, 1865. Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
This record documents freedpeople’s marriages in North Carolina for the quarter ending on September 30, 1865.
Register of Marriages, September 30, 1865. Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
Additional Online Resources:
- Educator Resources: The Freedmen's Bureau
- NARAtions Blog: Virginia Freedmen's Bureau Marriage Records Online
- History Hub: Using NARA's Descriptive Pamphlets for Freedmen's Bureau Research
- Prologue Magazine: The Freedmen's Bureau Preservation Project
- Prologue Magazine: Freedmen's Bureau Records: An Overview
- African American Heritage: The Freedmen's Bureau