A Guide to the Rockbridge County (Va.) Marriage Register and Processioners' Book, 1779-1830 Rockbridge County (Va.) Marriage Register and Processioners' Book, 1779-1830 Barcode number 1140181/Rockbridge County (Va.) Reel 48

A Guide to the Rockbridge County (Va.) Marriage Register and Processioners' Book, 1779-1830

A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Collection numbers: Barcode number 1140181/Rockbridge County (Va.) Reel 48


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Repository
The Library of Virginia
Collection numbers
Barcode number 1140181/Rockbridge County (Va.) Reel 48
Title
Rockbridge County (Va.) Marriage Register and Processioners' Book, 1779-1830
Physical Characteristics
1 v. ; 1 microfilm reel
Collector
Rockbridge County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Location
Library of Virginia
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Use microfilm copy, Rockbridge County (Va.) Reel 48.

Preferred Citation

Rockbridge County (Va.) Marriage Register and Processioners' Book, 1779-1830. Rockbridge County (Va.) Reel 48, Local government records collection, Rockbridge County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

This volume came to the Library of Virginia, under the accession number 37357, in a transfer of court papers from Rockbridge County.

Microfilm Reel 48 was generated by the Genealogical Society of Utah while filming in the Rockbridge County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.

Historical Information

Rockbridge County was formed from Augusta and Botetourt Counties in 1778, and another part of Botetourt was added in 1888. The county was named for Natural Bridge, an exceptional rock formation located in the county.

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. Once the marriage service was performed, the minister submitted a return to the county clerk. The county clerk recorded these returns along with other marriage records, such as bonds, certificates and licenses, in a marriage register. Written consent from a parent or guardian was needed for individuals younger than twenty-one years.

"Processioning consisted of a person or persons appointed by the vestries (later the county court) meeting with the land owners and walking their property boundaries with them and remarking their lines and corners. At least one other person, preferably an adjacent land owner, would accompany the owner and the processioner. Perhaps this "processioning" of people walking the boundaries is the basis for the term "processioning." The objective of this practice seems to have been to prevent boundary disputes between adjacent land owners by renewing and maintaining survey marks. However, most of the marks used were temporary items such as trees and bushes. Processioning was not done annually, nor was the entire county done at the same time. Usually processioning was done by militia districts, or some other governmental subdivision of the county."

The original marriage records and land records, from which this volume was compiled, were created by the County Court.

Scope and Content

Rockbridge County (Va.) Marriage Register and Processioners' Book, 1779-1830, is divided into two separate sections with different record types. The first section, 1782-1830, is a marriage register. This register, prepared by the county court clerk, records the names of both parties married, the date of the marriage--by day, month and year and name of person by whom married. Of note, a receipt for a peddlar's license, issued in February 1816, is found between notations for marriages in August 1823 and November 1823. The pages of this section are unnumbered and there is no index for this section.

The second section which covers pages 1-15 is a processioners' book. This book records the walking and making of property boundaries and dates from 1779-1806. Information includes for whom the property was surveyed, the date of the survey--either by month, day and year or year, month and day, the number of acres surveyed and the situation (location of the property by geographic landmarks.) Sometimes, the property description was very detailed. There is an internal index to this section. It is arranged, A-Y, by the surname of the individual for whom the land was originally surveyed. The volume was originally titled, "Record of Marriages and Surveys, 1779-1830."

Related Material

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

For an excellent description of processioning lands, consult "A History of Early Spotsylvania" by James Roger Mansfield, pages 80-81 found in the Library of Virginia's book collection.

Index Terms

    Corporate Names:

  • Rockbridge County (Va.) Circuit Court.
  • Subjects:

  • Clergy-Virginia--Rockbridge County.
  • Marriage--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
  • Real property--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
  • Geographical Names:

  • Rockbridge County (Va.)--History.
  • Genre and Form Terms:

  • Land records--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
  • Local government records--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
  • Marriage records--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
  • Marriage registers--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
  • Processioners' books--Virginia--Rockbridge County.
  • Added Entry - Corporate Name:

  • Rockbridge County (Va.) County Court.