Francis v. Tazewell

Citations

• 120 Va. 319
• 91 S.E. 202
• 1917 Va. LEXIS 110

Syllabus

<p>1. Slaves—Legitimacy of Children—Annulment of Marriage.—The act of February 27, 1866, Code of 1904, section 2227, declared that: “Where colored persons prior to February 27, 1866, agreed to occupy the relation * * * of husband and wife, and were cohabiting together * * * at that date, whether the rites of marriage had 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 obligations of that relation in like manner, as if they had lawfully married; and all their children shall be deemed legitimate, whether born before or after said date. And where the parties had ceased to cohabit before February 27, 1866, 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.” Under these provisions, where a man and woman, both slaves, agreed to occupy the relation to each other of husband and wife and in pursuance of that agreement cohabited together prior to February 27, 1866, the subsequent abandonment after the passage of the act, of the woman by the man for unfaithfulness could neither dissolve the marriage nor affect the legitimacy of the children of the marriage.</p> <p>2. Slaves—Legitimacy of Children—Annulment of Marriage.— Neither husband nor wife, nor indeed both acting in concert, could by abandonment or other act dissolve the bond of the pre-existing marriage. But if that were possible, or even if the marriage had been dissolved by a decree of a court of competent jurisdiction in a suit brought for that purpose, it could in no wise have affected the legitimacy of the children.</p> <p>8. Slaves—Act of February 27, 1866—Concubinage.—The statute does not apply to cases where the cohabitation is a purely meretricious connection. There must have been a bona fide agreement, express or implied, between the parties to live together as man and wife.</p>