Arlington County (Va.) Marriage Register, 1853-1879

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888

Summary

Creator:
Arlington County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Arlington County (Va.) Marriage Register, 1853-1879, records the date and place of marriage, the full names of both parties, the age and condition of both parties before marriage, their places of birth, their places of residence, the names of their parents, the occupation of the husband, the name of the minister performing the ceremony and any additional remarks (such as references to consent.) By 1860, the date of the marriage license is also listed. A consecutive numbering system was used for each entry on each page of the register. There are numerous references throughout the volume to both Free African American and African American marriages. Sometimes, the religious denomination of the parties was noted as well--especially in the 1850's when the county had a large influx of Irish immigrants.

Biographical / historical:

Arlington County was originally named Alexandria County. The county was formed from a portion of Fairfax County that Virginia in 1789 ceded to the federal government for use as the site of a new national capital. In 1801, the area officially became part of the District of Columbia, although Contress named it Alexandria County. By an act of 9 July 1846, Congress returned the county to Virginia, and the General Assembly extended the commonwealth's jurisdiction over the region effective 20 March 1847. The county's name was changed by an act of assembly passed 16 March 1920 to Arlington, the name of the Custis family mansion (the home of Robert E. Lee), which is located in the county.

In 1853, the General Assembly passed a law requiring the systematic statewide recording of vital statistics. The marriage register, still compiled by the county clerk, from ministers' returns and other original marriage records, became more standardized and comprehensive.

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

Acquisition information:

This item came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Arlington County.

Microfilm Reel 24 was generated by the Genealogical Society of Utah while filming in the Arlington County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.

Microfilm Reel 93 was generated by the Virginia State Library and Archives (now the Library of Virginia) Microfilm section while filming in-house.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically by day, month and year.

Physical location:
State Records Center - Archives Annex, Library of Virginia
Physical description:
1 v. (118 p.) ; 2 microfilm reels