Henrico County (Va.) Marriage Registers Nos. 2 and 3, 1853-1920

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:
Henrico County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Henrico County (Va.) Marriage Register No. 2, 1853-1897, is a list of marriages celebrated in the county and recorded by the county clerk. The following information is found: the date and place of marriage, the full names of both parties, the age and condition of parties before marriage, their birth places, their places of residence, the names of their parents, the occupation of the husband, the name of the person performing the marriage ceremony and any remarks associated with the marriage such as the race of the couple or the minister's denomination (beginning in 1859). The entries are numbered consecutively within a given year. The volume indicates an influx of immigrants from Ireland, Italy and Germany into the City of Richmond beginning in 1853 and continuing until the 1890s. Free African and African American marriages, 1854-1897, are noted in the remarks section and later with an abbreviation or (c) next to their names. A marriage certificate, dated 1863, from a local minister is found on page 10. An internal index, A-Z, is unnumbered. This index is arranged alphabetically by the groom's surname according to the page number in the volume. Register No. 2 is also found on Microfilm Reels 89 and 196.

Henrico County (Va.) Marriage Register No. 3, 1897-1920, is a list of marriages celebrated in the county and recorded by the county clerk. The volume includes the same information as Marriage Register No. 2 except for some informational additions and deletions. Additional information includes the date of the marriage license and the race of the parties (whether white or colored.) Unlike the previous volume, the minister's denomination is not noted and there is no internal index. This register is found only on Microfilm Reel 196.

Biographical / historical:

Henrico County was one of the eight original shires, or counties, first enumerated in 1634. The county was named for Henry, Prince of Wales, eldest son of James I.

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, bacame more standardized and comprehensive.

The original records, from which this register was compiled, were created by the County Court.

Recognized in 1634 as an original shire. All county court records prior to 1655 and almost all prior to 1677 are missing. Many records were destroyed by British troops during the Revolutionary War. Post–Revolutionary War county court records exist. Almost all circuit superior court of law and chancery and circuit court records were destroyed by fire during the evacuation of Richmond on April 3, 1865, during the Civil War. The county’s circuit court held its sessions at the state courthouse in Richmond.

Acquisition information:

Marriage Register No. 2, 1853-1897, came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Henrico County.

Marriage Register No. 3, 1897-1920, was microfilmed by a private vendor working in the Henrico County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.

Microfilm Reel 89 was generated by the Genealogical Society of Utah while filming in the Henrico County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.

Microfilm Reel 196 was generated by a private vendor working in the Henrico County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
2 v. (401 leaves); 2 microfilm reels.