Mr. and Mrs. Bunel
While many slave couples formed lasting bonds during their enslavement, slave marriages had no legal foundation or protection. The abolishment of slavery not only meant citizenship but the ability to have legally recognized marriages without fear of the loss of a spouse through sale. The Bureau helped facilitate and record marriages. This is the marriage record of Reuten Bunel and Esther Seurs.
National Archives, Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
- Freedmen's Bureau Records: An Overview
- Sealing the Sacred Bonds of Holy Matrimony - Freedmen's Bureau Marriage Records
- ARC Gallery: African Americans
- ARC Gallery: Civil War