Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

No microfilm copy available. Volume is available to the public.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Marriage Licenses and Ministers' Returns, Volumes 1-4, 1785-1853. Local Government Records Collection, Augusta County Court Records, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These xerox and typewritten copies were compiled and created from the original court records found in the Augusta County Circuit Court Clerk`s Office.

Historical Information

Augusta County was formed in 1738 from Orange County. Because the region was sparsely inhabited, however, county government was not actually established there until 1745. The county was named in honor of Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, wife of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, and mother of George III.

Prior to 1853, when the Commonwealth began recording vital statistics, Virginia marriages were recorded at the county or city level. Beginning in 1661, in order to be married by license, the groom was required to go before the county clerk and give bond with security that there was no lawful reason to prevent the marriage. The license, issued then by the clerk, was given to the minister who performed the service. Written consent from a parent or guardian was needed for individuals younger than twenty-one years.

Until 1780, marriages could be performed only by ministers of the Established Church, who were required by law to record marriages in the parish register. In 1780, dissenting ministers(only four per county from each sect) were first permitted to perform marriage ceremonies. Ministers' returns were required by law beginning in 1780, so all marriages from that date would be of record in the county court clerk's office--thereby creating an official record. Some ministers adopted a custom of making collected returns--a list of marriages performed within a period of time such as a year or several years.

Scope and Content

Ministers' Returns, Volume 1, 1785-1820, records the returns made by individual ministers of marriages performed within the county. Some returns took the form of lists which record the date of marriage and names of both parties. Other returns took the form of registers which record the date of marriage, the names of both parties and by what authority married--a license or "by publication"(also known as marriage banns.) Marriage Banns, published in the parish church where the couple lived, constituted a legal substitute for a marriage license prior to 1848. Volumes 2-4, 1820-1853, record marriage licenses as well as ministers' returns.

Arrangement

Chronological.

Related Material

Additional Augusta County Marriage Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm" found on the Library of Virginia web site.

Access Terms

• Augusta County (Va.)--History.
• Augusta County (Va.).Circuit Court.
• Christian sects--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Clergy--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Marriage licenses--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Marriage records--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Marriage--Virginia--Augusta County.
• Ministers' returns--Virginia--Augusta County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data