About the Natchez District Marriage Records of 1866-1867

The Adams County Colored Marriage Records of 1866 - 1867 are an important piece of Mississippi Reconstruction history. The creation of this record set was a direct response to a series of Reconstruction Laws passed by the federal government that were designed to integrate African-Americans into full American citizenship. Through the Freedman's Bureau, thousands of marriages were documented between the newly emancipated blacks. In response to the challenge of documenting this new population, in 1867 in Mississippi passed a law requiring these marriages to be documented at the local level. In Adams County, Mississippi there were over 300 marriages recorded in 1866 and 1867 in the Natchez Freedman's Bureau district.
These marriage records were not held by the Freedman's Bureau in their RG105 or record subset M1907 which covers records and correspondence of the Freedman's Bureau Natchez District. These were a rare find and these transcriptions are the first of their kind for this record set. The scope of this record set includes African-Americans who lived in and around Adams County, MS during Reconstruction in the years 1866 - 1867. Currently these marriage records are housed at the Circuit Clerk's office in Adams County, Mississippi.