Wayne County,
Tennessee
Freedmen Marriages
20 April 1866 - 26 January 1867
Transcribed and input by Robyn N. Smith.
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, often referred to as the Freedmen's Bureau, was established in the War Department by an act of March 3, 1865. The Bureau supervised all relief and educational activities relating to refugees and freedmen, including issuing rations, clothing and medicine. The Bureau also assumed custody of confiscated lands or property in the former Confederate States, border states, District of Columbia, and Indian Territory.
The names appearing in the following list represent those marriages that were legalized in Wayne County, Tennessee, by the Freedmen’s Bureau in the years 1866-1867. These records were found in a binder entitled "Contracts" and viewed at the National Archives in Washington, DC. The people listed are former slaves, newly freed, who needed to have their unions legally recognized. Most of these couples were located in the 1870 Wayne County, Tennessee census.
For more information see the Freedmen’s Bureau and the National Archives and Records Administrations (NARA) article, Freedmen's Bureau Records: An Overview.
This information was copied by Robyn N. Smith at the National Archives in Washington D.C. on the date of December 12, 2003.
Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Tennessee Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Land, 1865-1869 National Archives Record Group 105 Field Office Records for Wayne County-Contracts This listing shows: Name of Couple Date Recorded Cyrus Sinclair and wife Mary April 20, 1866 Robert Colwell and wife Pleasant April 20, 1866 Robert Pointer and wife Sintha(?) May 7, 1866 Harry Kerns and wife Charlotte (?) May 7, 1866 Alfred Sinclair and wife Annie May 7, 1866 George Mellane and wife Leahy (?) May 7, 1866 Gabriel Montague and wife Margaret May 7, 1866 Claburne (?) Burns and wife Evaline May 7, 1866 Henry Robinson and wife Minerva May 7, 1866 Harry Burns and wife Filis May 8, 1866 Bristol Pointer and wife Nelly(?) May 8, 1866 James Wiley and wife Hanah May 8, 1866 Joseph Rope and wife Elizanne May 12, 1866 Elis Wilson and wife Eliza May 12, 1866 Franklin Hilton and wife Alsinda May 12, 1866 Saul Baker and wife Amanda May 15, 1866 Governor Blunt Rouch and wife Eliza May 15, 1866 Lewis Elliot and wife nancy May 14, 1866 Robin Johnson and wife Sintha May 17, 1866 Alfred Moore and wife Lotty May 17, 1866 Major Gregg and wife Charity May 18, 1866 Isaac Young and wife Leola (?) May 11, 1866 Wiley Lignor and wife Nancy June 4, 1866 Jack Tall and wife June June 4, 1866 Fill Culp and wife Amy June 4, 1866 Simoon Cook and wife Elizabeth June 5, 1866 Amos Montague and wife Elizabeth May 12, 1866 Moses Biffle and wife Lillien? July 9, 1866 Henry Montague and wife Sarah July 9, 1866 Samuel Midelton and wife Judah August 16, 1866 Zack (?) Montague and wife Sarah August 16, 1866 Lawney (?) Pointer and wife Nareisa August 16, 1866 Saul (?) Tyra (?) and wife Mary August 16, 1866 Ninny Tyra and wife Francis August 16, 1866 Samuel Dilah and wife Catherine August 16, 1866 Squire (?) Brumley and wife Susannah August 24, 1866 Robert Smith and wife ElizaJane August 30, 1866 Henry Mery and wife Culdona August 28, 1866 Henry Moten and wife Mariah August 28, 1866 James Wade and wife Sarah August 28, 1866 Aaron Fowler and wife Mary August 28, 1866 Henry Montague and wife Sarah August 28, 1866 Benjamin Eliott and wife Mary October 1, 1866 Alin Grimms and wife Easter October 1, 1866 Alexander Grimms and wife Lolly October 11, 1866 Gilbert Hunter and wife Agga October 1, 1866 Joseph Witherspoon and wife Caroline October 1, 1866 Charles Montague and wife Mary October 1, 1866 Alin Fowler and wife Dilphia October 1, 1866 Calvin Montague and wife Henrietta January 26, 1867 Robert Williams and wife Elizabeth January 26, 1867