Cohabitation Register – The UncommonWealth

Sometimes You DO Find a Needle in a Haystack: The Augusta Co. Cohabitation Register

Cohabitation registers are among the most important genealogical resources for African-Americans attempting to connect their family lines back through the murky past to their enslaved…

Sarah NerneyJuly 29, 2015

A Wedding, a Death, and a Pension: Charles and Sarah Butler’s Story

Portsmouth, Virginia, occupied by the Union army, was the scene of a wedding in November 1863. The happy couple was Charles “Charley” Butler, a private…

Bill BynumJune 3, 2015

Archives Conservation Digital Projects

Henry County Cohabitation Register Update

The conservation of the original pages of the Henry County Cohabitation Register has recently been completed. Previously, only a poorly and confusingly microfilmed version of this…

Sarah NerneyFebruary 25, 2015

Archives Digital Projects

Henry Co. Cohabitation Register and African-American Naming Practices

The Library of Virginia has completed the digitization and transcription of the last of the cohabitation registers in its possession, the Henry County Cohabitation Register, 1866.…

Sonya ColemanFebruary 26, 2014

Archives Digital Projects

Washington and Scott Co. Cohabitation Registers Now Online

The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce the addition of Scott County and Washington County to the cohabitation register digitization project. This project, via the Virginia…

Sarah NerneyJune 7, 2013

Archives Digital Projects

Surry Co. Cohabitation Register Goes Digital!

The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce the addition of Surry County to the cohabitation register digitization project. This project, via the Virginia Memory website, aims to…

Sarah NerneyJuly 18, 2012

Archives Digital Projects

Cohabitation Registers Added to Digital Collection

The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce the addition of records from Fluvanna, Goochland, and Montgomery Counties to the cohabitation register digitization project. This project,…

Sarah NerneyDecember 9, 2011

Conservation Digital Projects

See Montgomery County’s Cohabitation Register Conserved!

The staff at Montgomery County’s Circuit Court Clerk’s Office recently rediscovered the county’s cohabitation register, one of the most valuable records used for African American…

Dale DulaneyMay 2, 2011

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections The Stacks

What’s New in the Archives

Interested in what’s new in the archives at the Library of Virginia? You can find out in two reports compiled quarterly by LVA staffers: The Library of Virginia…

Roger ChristmanAugust 16, 2010

Local Editorial Contemplates Smyth County’s Cohabitation Register

Editor's Note: The following editorial is reprinted here courtesy of the Smyth County News & Messenger. It originally ran 28 July 2010. A team from…

Guest ContributorAugust 9, 2010

Archives Digital Projects

Solid Genealogical Gold

Genealogists researching enslaved African Americans face serious challenges. Records that exist for the free population do not exist for the enslaved since slaves were considered…

Sarah NerneyJune 23, 2010