<P> Under slavery, most marriages had been informal, as slaveholders refused to acknowledge slave marriages and they were not legally recognized, although planters often presided over marriage ceremonies for their slaves . After the war, the Freedmen's Bureau performed numerous marriages for freed couples who asked for it . As many husbands and wives had been separated during wartime chaos, the Bureau agents helped families in their attempts to reunite after the war . The Bureau had an informal regional communications system that allowed agents to send inquiries and provide answers . It sometimes provided transportation to reunite families . Freedmen and freed women turned to the Bureau for assistance in resolving issues of abandonment and divorce . </P> <P> The most widely recognized accomplishments of the Freedman's Bureau were in education . Prior to the Civil War, no southern state had a system of universal, state - supported public education and prohibited slaves and free blacks from gaining education . Former slaves wanted public education while the wealthier whites opposed the idea . Freedmen had a strong desire to learn to read and write; some started schools at refugee camps; others worked hard to establish schools in their communities even prior to the advent of the Freedmen's Bureau . </P> <P> Oliver Otis Howard was appointed as the first Freedmen's Bureau Commissioner . Through his leadership the bureau set up four divisions: Government - Controlled Lands, Records, Financial Affairs, and Medical Affairs . Education was considered part of the Records division . Howard turned over confiscated property including planters' mansions, government buildings, books, and furniture to superintendents to be used in the education of freedmen, and provided transportation and room and board for teachers . Many Northerners came south to educate the freedmen . </P> <P> By 1866, northern missionary and aid societies worked in conjunction with the Freedmen's Bureau to provide education for former slaves . The American Missionary Association was particularly active, establishing eleven colleges in southern states for the education of freedmen . The primary focus of these groups was to raise funds to pay teachers and manage schools, while the secondary focus was the day - to - day operation of individual schools . After 1866, Congress appropriated some funds to operate the freedmen's schools . The main source of educational revenue for these schools came through a Congressional Act that gave the Freedmen's Bureau the power to seize Confederate property for educational use . </P>

Who led the work of the freedmen's bureau