NOTES ON EARLY MARRIAGES
Many of these notes were quoted from Wingfield’s
“Marriage Bonds of Franklin County, Virginia”
MARRIAGE BOND (or license) DEFINITION
A Marriage Bond (or license) was given as a guarantee that there was
no legal or moral reason why a couple should not be
married, and that the man was capable of providing
support for himself and his wife; usually not a cash bond, but a
guarantee that could be enforced. Such a bond was at
times given by the man about to be married, along with
another person, or could be entirely by others.
MARRIAGE BOND FORM
The regular form of a marriage bond was as follows:
"Know all men by these presents, That we (usually filled in with name of
groom and one other man), are held and firmly bound unto the Commonwealth of
Virginia (bonds sometime given to the Governor) in the just and full sum of One
Hundred and Fifty Dollars, the true payment whereof, well and truly to be made,
we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators, jointly and
severally, firmly by these presents. Sealed with our seals and dated this
_____ day of _____.
"The conditions of the above obligation is such, That whereas the above
bound ___________, hath obtained from the Clerk of the County Court of
___________, a license for his intermarriage with ___________, of said
county. Now if there shall be no lawful cause to obstruct said marriage,
then the above obligation to be void, else to obtain in full force and virtue.
_________________________________
_________________________________
(Signature of Bondsmen)
The date on the above document would be the date the
bond or license was applied for. If we don’t have the Ministers Return
with the date of the marriage we use this date for the marriage date.
Sometime the form would read (bride’s name) daughter of
(father’s name) or (grooms name) son of (father’s name).
But this was not always true.
If the bride or groom was under 21 years of age the parent would have to submit
a written note saying they had the permission of the parent to marry.
BANS OF MATRIMONY.
The giving public notice or making proclamation of a matrimonial contract, and
the intended celebration of the marriage of the parties in pursuance of such
contract, to the end that persons objecting to the same, may have an
opportunity to declare such objections before the marriage is solemnized.
A ban had to be published for three Sundays or Holy
Days, in the parish church, before the couple was married. The
marriage fee under banns was ¼ as much as the fee under license.
Ministers of the Established church were at liberty to
celebrate marriages under the authority of both banns and license (or
bonds). Banns constituted a legal substitute for a license (or
Bond). Marriages under licenses (or bonds) were recorded in
the office of the County Clerk – those under banns were recorded in the Parish
Register. So, all marriages were not evidenced by Marriage Bonds filed
with the County Clerk. The marriage fee under banns was just
one forth as much as the fee under license (bond). So, it is reasonable
to suppose that many couples were married by banns.
Not many copies of the Parish Registers were delivered
to the office of the secetary of the dominion as the
law required. So we face the fact that many of the early marriage records
are irrevocably lost.
If we have the Ministers Return with the date the marriage
took place then we use the Ministers Return.
The license form was changed on April 7, 1858,
according to Wingfield’s “Marriage Bonds of Franklin County, Virginia”.
After this no marriage bonds or banns were given.
The new form was as follows:
“Certificate to obtain a Marriage License”
Having applied to the Clerk of the __________ Court of ________
for a Marriage License, and being requested, I make the following Certificate
as required by the Act of the General Assembly, passed April 7, 1858.
Date of marriage_______________________________________________
Place of marriage______________________________________________
Full names of parties married____________________________________
Age of husband________________________________________________
Age of wife____________________________________________________
Condition of husband (widowed or single)_________________________
Condition of wife (widowed or single)_____________________________
Place of husband’s birth________________________________________
Place of wife’s birth____________________________________________
Place of husband’s residence_____________________________________
Place of wife’s residence_________________________________________
Names of husband’s parents______________________________________
Names of wife’s parents_________________________________________
Occupation of husband_________________________________________
Given under my hand this ____day of _________, 18__
_____________________________(name of husband)
Within two months after the marriage shall have taken
place, the Minister solemnizing the same must certify the fact to the Clerk of
the Court.
On March 15, 1861, an Act was passed requiring that
Certificate to obtain a Marriage License, and Certificate of Minister
solemnizing same, be annexed to the license itself.