Alabama Cohabitation Records

United States &gt; Rural Records of the Southern United States &gt; Cohabitation Records &gt; Alabama

Alabama State Law
Section 1: Be it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in convention assembled, That all marriages between freedmen and freedwomen, whether in a state of slavery or since their emancipation, heretofore solemnized by any one acting or officiating as a minister, or any one claiming to exercise the right to solemnize the rites of matrimony, whether bond or free, are hereby ratified and made valid, provided the parties are now living together as man and wife; and in all cases of freedmen and freedwomen who are now living together recognizing each other as man and wife, be it ordained that the same are hereby declared to be man and wife, and bound by the legal obligation of such relationship.

1866 Alabama State Census
Alabama created a state census in 1866 which can be used as an equivalent to the cohabitation registers. Both "white" and "colored" enumerations are included together in the record itself. The top of each page identifies which enumeration you are reviewing.

See also:
Rural Records of the Southern United States