How I encountered Marriage Bonds in my research John Moore November 2016

Marriage Records “In 1660-61 the [Virginia] law requiring a bond was first enacted. Because of a scarcity of ministers, the colony required that all persons wishing to be married by license must go to the county court clerk and give bond with sufficient security (usually $150 by the 19th century) that there was no lawful cause to prevent the marriage. The license was then prepared by the clerk and presented to the minister who would perform the ceremony.” The bondsman or surety was to be “able and known.” Often, this person was a brother or uncle to the bride, not necessarily a parent. The rich and established uncle was an excellent candidate for bondsman. The bondsman could be related to the groom, but from what we have seen, that situation would occur less often. In Tennessee, three documents were created at the time of a marriage. - The first was the marriage bond. - The second was the license, wherein the court authorized the marriage, and the official signed the back to show that it had been performed. - The ledger where the clerk copied some information from these two sources is known as the official marriage record, and is often the only surviving part of the record. The groom had to assure the State that he was able to be legally married (was not already married to someone else, under age, or ineligible because of close blood relationship, etc.) This assurance was given in the form of a bond for a certain amount of money. The friend or relative signed as the groom's security on the bond, commonly known as becoming a bondsman. If indeed the groom had been sued for violating the marriage contract, the bondsman would have had to pay any legal damages if the groom defaulted. No money actually changed hands at the time the bond was issued. This bonding procedure was used across Tennessee and in other southern states in the 19th century. source: http://www.tngenweb.org/law/bond.htm

Marriage record types Locating all available marriage record types increases the chance of learning additional information—including confirmation that the marriage actually took place, the names of parents or witnesses, or the religion of one or both parties to the marriage. Marriage License Surety Bonds Marriage Certificate Marriage Court Marriage Search in Newspapers, City Directories, etc. Source: http://genealogy.about.com/od/marriage_records/fl/types-marriage-records.htm

How I encountered the Marriage Bond Record While going through the steps in my Research Plan, a key question was to confirm a change in surname shortly after the Civil War. Research Cycle or GPS ( Genealogical Proof Standard)

Gordon => Moore The name change from Gordon to Moore by my grandfather is documented in Oral History. The GPS requires more than “Momma said so”. In our research plan we start with what we know, search primary/secondary records, review and evaluate data gathered, and once satisfied, “publish” our results.

The Search…….. The answer to the name change could be in almost any type of record; marriage, military, school, probate, land, freedman’s bureau; who knows. I got a break, when the query results for my grandmother’s marriage records seemed to indicate that she married my grandfather twice, but with different last names. While I was excited to get confirmation that indeed the name was changed. Marrying twice just didn’t seem realistic.

The Review………… Prior to reviewing the source documents, I thought Grandpa married Grandma twice, once after he changed his name. As an intermediate Family Historian, I critically reviewed the source documents. I learned that the earliest document is a Marriage Bond, and the second document is the Record of Marriage. In the time between the Marriage Bond and the Marriage License Grandpa had decided to change his last name to facilitate the reunion with his siblings.

Enough Information? In the late 1800’s how would a Black Man go about changing his name? I’d heard about Freedman’s Bureau Records; a reasonable search didn’t yield anything. Many other courthouse records could be searched, probate, land records, poll tax, etc. Additionally, Newspapers and Directories were searched in vein.

Next Steps………. Recall “Locating all available marriage record types increases the chance of learning additional information (i.e. the name of the bondsman)”. While more information can be obtained from a more exhaustive and comprehensive search, I am just Confirming a Oral History [Your family has more information on your family than any repository.] Source: http://www.genealogytoday.com/articles/reader.mv?ID=399

Publish, Publish, Publish Document activities for yourself and those that follow. Disseminate your findings as widely as you can. Presentations to Genealogy groups (CIGS). Post to websites. Create a Online Family History website. Write in journals and/or draft a family history book.

Questions, comments, concerns….