Context for Record Type: A cohabitation register, or as it is officially titled, "Register of Colored Persons Cohabiting Together as Husband and Wife on 27th February 1866," was the legal vehicle by which formerly enslaved men and women legitimized both their marriages and their children. During enslavement, enslaved people were considered property by Virginia law. While many enslaved people entered into non-sanctioned marriages, these were neither recognized legally nor protected from enslavers who separated spouses at will. In 1864, Governor Francis Pierpont recommended that the General Assembly of the Restored government of Virginia pass a law "requiring the clerk of each county or corporation court to keep a book, in which, at the joint request of a negro man and woman, who have heretofore been living as man and wife, he shall register their names and the date of their marriage." On February 26, 1866, the General Assembly passed an act legitimizing marriages between enslaved people and the children that resulted from them. These records contain extensive information including the names of the husband and wife, as well as their ages, place of birth, residence, occupations, previous enslavers, previous enslaver's city or county residence, the name(s) of their children, the children's ages, and the date of commencement of cohabitation.

Locality History: Augusta County was named for Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, who married Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, and was the mother of King George III. It was formed from Orange County by a statute of 1738 that stipulated that when the population was large enough the new county government would begin to function. The county court first met on 9 December 1745. The county courthouse is in Staunton, and the county administrative offices are in Verona.