Chap. 18.—An ACT to amend and re-enact the I4th section of chapter
108 of the Code of Virginia for 1&60,in regard to Registers of Mar-
riave; and to legalize the Marriages of Colored Persons now cohabit-
ing as Husband and Wiie.

Passed February 27, 1868.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the four-
teenth section of chapter one hundred and eight of the Code
of Virginia for eighteen hundred and sixty be and the same
18 hereby amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows,
to wit:

Ҥ 14. Henceforth, it shall be the duty of every minister
or other person celebrating a marriage, and of the clerk
or keeper of the records ‘of any religious society which
soleminizes marriages, by the consent of “the parties, m open
congregation, at once to make a record of every marriage
between white persons, or between colored persons, solemn-
ized by or before him, stating in such record whether the
persons be white or colored, and, within two months after
such marriage, to return a copy thereof, si¢ned by him, to
the clerk of the county or corporation in which the same is
solemnized. The clerk issuing any marriage license shall at
the time require and ascertain, from the party obtaining such
license, a certificate setting for th, as near as may be, the date
anil place of the proposed marriage; the full names of both
the parties; their ages and condition before marriage
(whether single or widowed); the places of their birth and
residence; the names of their parents, and the oceupation of
the hushand.”

2. That where colored persons, before the passage of this
act, shall have undertaken and agreed to occupy the relation
to each other of husband and wife, and shall be cohabiting
together as such at the time of its passage, whether the rites
of marriage shall have been celebrated between them or not,
they shall be deemed husband and wife, and be entitled to
the rights and privileges, and subject to the duties and obli-
gations of that relation in like manner as if they had been
duly married by law; and all their children shall be deemed
legitimate, whether born before or after the passage of this
act. And when the parties have ceased to cohabit before
the passage of this act, in consequence of the death of the
woman, or from any other cause, all the children of the
woman, recognized by the man to be his, shall be deemed
legitimate.

3. This act shall be in force from its passage.

Chap. 18.—An ACT to amend and re-enact the I4th section of chapter
108 of the Code of Virginia for 1&60,in regard to Registers of Mar-
riave; and to legalize the Marriages of Colored Persons now cohabit-
ing as Husband and Wiie.

Passed February 27, 1868.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the four-
teenth section of chapter one hundred and eight of the Code
of Virginia for eighteen hundred and sixty be and the same
18 hereby amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows,
to wit:

Ҥ 14. Henceforth, it shall be the duty of every minister
or other person celebrating a marriage, and of the clerk
or keeper of the records ‘of any religious society which
soleminizes marriages, by the consent of “the parties, m open
congregation, at once to make a record of every marriage
between white persons, or between colored persons, solemn-
ized by or before him, stating in such record whether the
persons be white or colored, and, within two months after
such marriage, to return a copy thereof, si¢ned by him, to
the clerk of the county or corporation in which the same is
solemnized. The clerk issuing any marriage license shall at
the time require and ascertain, from the party obtaining such
license, a certificate setting for th, as near as may be, the date
anil place of the proposed marriage; the full names of both
the parties; their ages and condition before marriage
(whether single or widowed); the places of their birth and
residence; the names of their parents, and the oceupation of
the hushand.”

2. That where colored persons, before the passage of this
act, shall have undertaken and agreed to occupy the relation
to each other of husband and wife, and shall be cohabiting
together as such at the time of its passage, whether the rites
of marriage shall have been celebrated between them or not,
they shall be deemed husband and wife, and be entitled to
the rights and privileges, and subject to the duties and obli-
gations of that relation in like manner as if they had been
duly married by law; and all their children shall be deemed
legitimate, whether born before or after the passage of this
act. And when the parties have ceased to cohabit before
the passage of this act, in consequence of the death of the
woman, or from any other cause, all the children of the
woman, recognized by the man to be his, shall be deemed
legitimate.

3. This act shall be in force from its passage.