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 The law of Virginia[26] provided that persons of color living as husband and wife on February 27, 1866, whether or not any ceremony had been performed, should be considered as lawfully married and their children legitimate. If they had separated prior to that date the children of the woman, if recognized by the man to be his, were nevertheless legitimate. West Virginia[27] had practically the same law, except the latter clause about recognition by the father.

Illinois,[28] as late as 1891, passed a statute to legalize slave marriages and legitimate the children thereof. But this law did not apply to a voidable slave marriage in another State, disaffirmed by a subsequent legal marriage before the enactment of the statute.[29] A similar decision under a similar statute was rendered in Ohio[30] in 1883. These decisions would indicate that a slave marriage was valid only if there was no subsequent marriage of either party to a third person In 1876, New York[31] recognized as valid slave marriages contracted in slave States with the consent of the master.

MARRIAGES BETWEEN SLAVES AND FREE NEGROES

Statutes relative to marriages between free Negroes and slaves are not numerous. Presumably, the term "persons of color" included both Negroes born free and those who had been slaves. A Tennessee court,[32] in 1882, held that the formal marriage of a free Negro and a slave, with the consent of the master, followed by a cohabitation for years, was a valid marriage and entitled the woman to dower.