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Preferred Citation

Loudoun County (Va.) Marriage Bonds, Consents, Ordination Bonds and Index, 1772-1852 (bulk 1785-1852). Local government records collection, Loudoun County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

This negative photostatic volume was created by the Virginia State Library's (now the Library of Virginia) Archives Division, under the accession number 23697, from the original marriage bonds, consents and ordination bonds lent by Loudoun County's Circuit Court Clerk.

Two negative photostatic indexes and a typewritten index were also created by the Virginia State Library's (now the Library of Virginia) Archives Division from the original records lent by the county's Circuit Court Clerk.

Historical Information

Loudoun County was formed from Fairfax County in 1757. The county is named for John Campbell, fourth earl of Loudoun, who was commander of British forces in North America during the early part of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1756 to 1759.

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.

The original bonds and consents, from which these volumes were compiled, were created by the County Court.

Scope and Content

Loudoun County (Va.) Marriage Bonds, Consents, Ordination Bonds and Index, 1772-1852 (bulk 1785-1852) is comprised of negative photostatic copies of original marriage bonds, consents and ordination bonds. The volume is divided into three sections. The first section, pages 1-4, records marriages found in the Account Book of David Griffith (Accession number 23609) who was minister of Shelbourne Parish during those years. This section covers the years 1772-1775. The second section presents the marriage bonds and consents. These records, which cover the years 1786-1799, are found on pages 5-175. The bonds and consents indicate the names of the parties intending to marry.

The third section records the ministers' ordination bonds. These bonds, given to individual ministers, were issued to those ministers qualified to administer the ordinance of marriage. As these bonds specified, the individual minister of a specific denomination "shall perform the duties of a minister in celebrating the rites of matrimony." This section covers 1785-1852 from pages 176-234. On Loudoun County (Va.) Microfilm Reel 93, pages 1 and 2, an individual in the clerk's office abstracted these ordination bonds--including the name of the minister, the minister's denomination and the date of the minister's ordinance. An additional negative photostatic copy of the index is found at the beginning of this volume.

An Index to Marriage Bonds, Consents and Ordination Bonds, 1772-1852 (bulk 1785-1852) was created as a separate negative photostatic volume. This volume is arranged alphabetically, A-Y, by both the bride's and groom's surnames. "See also" indicates variant spellings of these surnames. An additional typewritten copy of the index is also found in this volume.

Related Material

Additional Loudoun 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:

• Loudoun County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Christian sects--Virginia--Loudoun County.
• Clergy--Virginia--Loudoun County.
• Marriage--Virginia--Loudoun County.

Geographical Names:

• Loudoun County (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Account books--Virginia--Loudoun County.
• Indexes (reference sources)--Virginia--Loudoun County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Loudoun County.
• Marriage bonds--Virginia--Loudoun County.
• Marriage consents--Virginia--Loudoun County.
• Marriage records--Virginia--Loudoun County.
• Ordination bonds--Virginia--Loudoun County.
• Organization bonds--Virginia--Loudoun County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data