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Preferred Citation

Floyd County (Va.) Marriage Bonds, Marriage Register No. 2 and Index, 1831-1863. Local government records collection, Floyd County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

The negative photostatic copies of the marriage bonds, register and one copy of the index were compiled and created by the Virginia State Library's (now the Library of Virginia) Archives Division, under the accession numbers 24492 and 24676a and 24676b, from the original records and volume found in the Floyd County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.

The typewritten copy of the index was compiled and created by the Virginia State Library's (now the Library of Virginia) Archives Division, under the accession number 24676b, from the original records and volume found in the Floyd County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.

Historical Information

Floyd County was formed from Montgomery County in 1831, and part of Franklin County was added in 1873. The county was named for John Floyd, governor of Virginia from 1830-1834.

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 bond was pledged, with two or more sufficient securities (or witnesses), but no money was exchanged. The license, issued then by the clerk, was given to the minister who performed the service. The practice of bonding was discontinued in 1849, although in some communities bonds were pledged into the 1850s. This practice insured against legal action should the marriage not take place, if either party declined to go through with the union, or if one of the parties was found to be ineligible for marriage--if either the bride or groom was already married or was underage and lacked approval to wed.

According to Virginia law, individuals under the age of twenty-one needed the consent of a parent or guardian to marry. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, officials were especially concerned about females under the age of 16 marrying without consent. County clerks were not authorized to issue a marriage license without certificate (permission) from the parent, master or guardian. In the nineteenth century, a parent or guardian could give consent verbally to the clerk of the court, or provide written consent in front of one to two witnesses; the consent was then delivered to the county clerk.

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 permitted to perform marriage ceremonies. In order to have a record of all marriages, ministers were required to sign a certificate to be filed with the county clerk. Initially, ministers sent marriage certificates to the clerk every three months. 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. Beginning in 1784, marriage certificates were returned annually. The law was rarely enforced, and ministers' returns were sometimes late, incorrect, incomplete and in many instances, not made at all. County clerks compiled a register of marriages based, in part, on ministers' returns.

The original marriage records, from which these volumes were compiled, were created by the County Court.

Scope and Content

Floyd County (Va.) Marriage Bonds, Marriage Register No. 2 and Index, 1831-1863, consists of five separate volumes. The Marriage Bonds are divided into 2 volumes, Part 1 (1831-1836), pages 1-204 and Part 2 (1837-1843), pages 205-430. These volumes record the original bonds of marriage between a bride and groom within the county. These volumes also contain original marriage certificates and ministers' returns issued by individual ministers and marriage consents. In compiling these volumes, the Library's staff gathered all original marriage bonds, certificates, ministers' returns and marriage consents borrowed from the Circuit Court Clerk's Office and numbered each individual item by year and then gave each item a second number within that year (additional attachments to the main record number were given the letters a or b.) When making the negative photostatic copies of these original materials, only the front side of the item was copied. The individual marriage certificates are an exception. The names of both parties and the date of marriage are included on these documents. Leaves 400-430 record additional items found for 1831-1842.

Marriage Register No. 2, 1843-1863, is divided into 4 sections. The first section, pages 1-27 (indexed as pages 431-459), 1831-1846, consists of a list of marriages within the county. The names of both parties and the date of the marriage are included. The second section, pages 28-42 (indexed as pages 460-489), 1846-1850, include a more detailed listing of when the marriage certificate was received by the county clerk, the names of both parties, the date of the marriage certificate, the date of the marriage and the name of the person by whom married. The third section, pages 43-95 (indexed as pages 490-552), 1850-1863, consists of a list of marriage licenses issued by the county clerk in Floyd County. These licenses are recorded by month, day and year. The fourth section recreates Marriage Register No. 1, 1831-1842, which heretofore was lost or destroyed. This register is based on the original marriage bonds, certificates, consents and ministers' returns found in the Marriage Bonds volumes. The names of both parties and the date of their marriage are included. This section also includes names and dates omitted from Marriage Register No. 2, covering the dates 1843-1853. This volume contains a partial internal index--organized by the groom's surname.

Index to Marriage Bonds and Marriage Register No. 2, 1831-1853, is comprised of two copies of the same volume. The index is arranged alphabetically by last name and first name of bride or groom, A-Z. The index is grouped according to consent, bond, license or minsters' return. The index includes variant spellings of surnames and covers all of the marriage bonds volumes but only pages 431-509; 553-565 (1843-1853) of the marriage register volume.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically, except as noted.

Related Material

The original volume of Marriage Register No. 2, 1843-1863, was microfilmed by The Genealogical Society of Utah, on April 15, 1953, while filming in the Circuit Court Clerk's Office. Pages 125-137 (Indexed as 553-565) do not appear on this copy as these pages were added later by the staff of The Virginia State Library. This volume, Reel 12, can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia.

Additional Floyd County Marriage Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm"

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Floyd County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Clergy--Virginia--Floyd County.
• Marriage--Virginia--Floyd County.

Geographical Names:

• Floyd County (Va.)--History--19th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Indexes (reference sources)--Virginia--Floyd County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Floyd County.
• Marriage bonds--Virginia--Floyd County.
• Marriage certificates--Virginia--Floyd County.
• Marriage consents--Virginia--Floyd County.
• Marriage records--Virginia--Floyd County.
• Marriage registers--Virginia--Floyd County.
• Ministers' returns--Virginia--Floyd County.

Added Entry - Corporate Name:

• Floyd County (Va.) County Court.

Adjunct Descriptive Data