Greensville County (Va.) Marriage Register and Vital Statistics Records, 1781-1896

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

Extent:
7 vol.; 4.58 cubic feet(6 boxes)
Creator:
Greensville County (Va.) Circuit Court
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Greensville County (Va.) Marriage Records and Vital Statistics Records, 1781-1896, consists of both marriage records and vital statistics records for the locality.

The marriage records, 1781-1896, consist of largely progressed material including marriage registers, minister returns, marriage bonds, and index to marriage registers.

The vital statistics records, 1854-1896, include a register of births and birth and death registers.

Biographical / historical:

Context for Record Type

Marriage Records

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.

Birth and/or Death Records

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 burials, 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: Greensville County was formed from Brunswick County on 28 November 1780. The county court first met on 22 February 1781. Subsequent additions were made from Brunswick (1787) and Sussex (1802) Counties.

Acquisition information:

Marriage Register, 1781-1853 and Index came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court records from Greensville County in 1938 under accession 21286.

Index of Marriage Register, 1781-1853 [photostat] came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court records from Greensville County in 1953 under accession 24011

Marriage Register, 1781-1853 [photostat] came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court records from Greensville County in 1963 under accession 25867

Marriage and vital statistics records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court records from Greensville County in 2023 under accession 53810.

Remaining material came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Greensville County in an undated accession.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged

  • Series I: Marriage Records, 1781-1869
  • Series II: Vital Statistics Records, 1854-1896

Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
.