Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

For Marriage Licenses, 1827-1850, use microfilm copy, Mathews County (Va.) Reel 38.

Preferred Citation

Mathews County (Va.) Marriage and Vital Statistics Records, 1827-1904, undated. Mathews County (Va.) Local government records collection, Mathews County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

Barcode number 1121441 is a negative photostatic volume created and compiled, under the accession number 26273, by the Virginia State Library's (now the Library of Virginia) Archives Division from original items lent and eventually purchased from Robert Van Cleef of Richmond, Virginia.

The microfilm copy of Barcode number 1121441, Mathews County (Va.) Reel 38, was generated in-house by the Virginia State Library & Archives' Microfilm Section.

The remaining records came to the Library of Virginia in transfers of records from Mathews County Circuit Court Clerk.

Processing Information

The majority of these records have been flat-filed and arranged chronologically. The marriage licenses, 1827-1850, were compiled into a negative photostatic volume, which was subsequently microfilmed.

These records were processed by G. Crawford, C. Freed, S. Walters, and Library of Virginia staff.

Encoded by C. Freed: August 2008; Edited by V. Brooks: July 2025.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type: 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.

Similarly, laws requiring the recording of births and deaths in Virginia were enacted as early as 1632, when a law directed ministers or churchwardens in each parish to present a "register of all burialls, christenings, and marriages" yearly at the June meeting of the court. A similar act passed in 1659 stated that "enquiries are often made for persons imported into the collonie, of whose death no positive certificate can be granted for want of registers." Few records survive from these early decades.

In 1713, the General Assembly noted that earlier acts had "for a long time been disused" and once again directed the recording of births and deaths by the minister or clerk of each parish. A return made the same year noted that the list of births and deaths was not complete since many parishes failed to make returns "for tis a thing so new to the people that neither they care to Register their Births and Burials, nor are the Parish Clerks yet brought into a regular method of transmitting them."

The recording of vital statistics continued to be an ecclesiastical function throughout the colonial period. With the disestablishment of the Anglican church after the American Revolution and the rise of other religious denominations, the record-keeping process for vital statistics fell more and more to the individual family. By the mid-nineteenth century, however, medical science began to recognize the advantages of accurate birth and mortality information in controlling and treating communicable diseases. Pressure from local and national health organizations and medical professionals resulted in the passage of vital statistics registration laws. Virginia was one of the earliest states to pass such a law.

A law requiring the systematic statewide recording of births and deaths was passed by the General Assembly on April 11, 1853. Every commissioner of revenue registered births and deaths in his district annually, at the same time personal property subject to taxation was ascertained. The commissioner recorded births and deaths that had occurred prior to December 31st of the preceding year and returned the record to the clerk of court by June 1st. Information was obtained from heads of family, physicians, surgeons, or coroners. The law imposed penalties for failing to furnish or collect the information.

The clerk of court in each locality entered the information supplied by the commissioner into registers and prepared an accompanying alphabetical index. A copy of each register was forwarded to the Auditor of Public Accounts. The law went into effect on July 1,1853, and continued until 1896, when an economy-conscious legislature repealed the recording provisions.

There was no statewide recording of births and deaths between 1896 and 1912. Several metropolitan areas continued to keep records of births and deaths for all or part of the period between 1896 and 1912. Systematic statewide registration began again in June 1912.

Locality History: Mathews County was named for Thomas Mathews, of Norfolk, the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates when it was formed from Gloucester County by a statute passed on 16 December 1790 to take effect on 1 May 1791.

Most records were burned in Richmond on 3 April 1865, where they had been moved for safekeeping during the Civil War.

Scope and Content

Mathews County (Va.) Marriage and Vital Statistics Records, 1827-1904, undated, consists of marriage licenses, marriage registers, marriage licenses to be recorded, marriage license authorizations, and registers of births and deaths.

Marriage licenses, 1827-1850, found on Mathews County (Va.) Reel 38, contains original licenses obtained by residents of the county from the county clerk. These licenses were then issued to Reverend William Armistead Billups, a Methodist minister, who was to perform the service. Once the performed the marriage ceremony, however, he did not return the licenses back to the county clerk but instead, he kept them in his private possession. Eventually, these licenses were purchased from a private vendor and became part of the Virginia State Library's (now the Library of Virginia) Personal Papers Collection.

Along with the date of the license, the name of the bride and groom are also included. An internal index to the volume was created. The index is arranged alphabetically by both the surname and the first name of the bride and groom. A copy of the back of the license was made to capture additional relevant information such as the date of the marriage ceremony and the minster performing the ceremony. The Archives Division staff, in compiling this volume, numbered the front and back of each individual license--first by year and then sequentially within that year. The backs of the licenses were indicated by a small letter (a). Due to the incomplete nature of the items originally lent, ther are no licenses for the years 1836-1838.

Arrangement

For descriptive purposes, the collection has been divided into two series:

Related Material

Miscellaneous Reel 894, accession number 31561, provides the most comprehensive coverage on the marriages performed by Reverend William A. Billups. This microfilm reel combines the original marriage licenses of Reverend Billups with a typed transcript of additional marriages performed by the reverend as well. Combining previous accession numbers 31362 and 25377, this film created a complete record of the marriages that he performed between 1827-1850.

A volume, entitled "Mathews County Virginia Records," by Jane Goodsell contains a complete listing of all marriages performed by Reverend William Armistead Billups from 1827-1850. There are numerous circulating copies of this volume available.

Mathews County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Mathews County Court Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Database found at the Library of Virginia web site.

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

See the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available at Virginia Memory.

Adjunct Descriptive Data