Library of Virginia
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Use microfilm copy, Accomack County (Va.) Reel 114.
Accomack County (Va.) Marriage Register, 1774-1807. Accomack County (Va.) Reel 114, Local government records collection, Accomack County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219
Volume is a manuscript compilation prepared by notable Virginia genealogist, Stratton Nottingham. Due to the poor condition of the original marriage records and the lack of a register in the Circuit Court Clerk's Office, the court clerk contracted with Mr. Nottingham to compile the register. The Virginia State Library (now the Library of Virginia) received a copy of the register under the accession number 19874.
Microfilm Reel 114 was generated by the Genealogical Society of Utah while filming at the Accomack County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.
Accomack County was formed from Northampton County about 1663. The county gained a small part of the southern end of Smith's Island from Somerset County, Maryland in 1879, after the United States had approved boundary changes between Virginia and Maryland settled in 1877. The county was named for the Accomac Indians, who lived on the Eastern Shore at the time of the first English settlement in Virginia. The word means "on-the-other-side-of-water place."
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.
The original marriage records, from which this volume was compiled, were created by the County Court.
Accomack County (Va.) Marriage Register, 1774-1807, records the dates of marriage bonds, the dates of the marriage license, the names of the groom and bride, the monetary amount of the marriage bond, the sureties for the marriage bond, the couple's date of marriage and the minister performing the ceremony. Typically, a marriage register is based on ministers' returns. Marriages between free persons of color are noted on pages 4-6, 11, 14, 24, 37, 40-41, 44 and 50. Marriages between racially mixed individuals are noted on pages 16 and 46. A slave marriage is noted on page 24. The volume was originally titled "Marriage Bonds, 1774-1806."
Arranged alphabetically by groom's surname.
Additional Accomack County Marriage Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm"
A published volume, by Stratton Nottingham, entitled "Marriage License Bonds of Accomack County, Virginia" is found in the Library of Virginia's collection.
This volume is currently housed at the Library of Virginia's State Records Center.