Virginia, Orange County Marriage Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
The collection consists of a name index and images of marriage registers for Orange County, Virginia for the years 1757 to 1938.

It includes Certificates to Obtain a Marriage License, Marriage Bonds and Consents, Marriage Licenses, and Marriage Returns. The records are arranged by volume and year range. The type of record and time period varies between counties. Marriage records were generally well preserved, although fires, floods, or other disasters may have destroyed some records.

The earliest marriage bonds and licenses were usually handwritten on loose papers that were later bound into lettered volumes. Some marriage records had multiple entries on each page, while others had single records per page.

For a list of film numbers currently published in this collection, select the Browse.

Record Content
Information usually found in marriage records:


 * Date and place (county) of marriage
 * Name and age (in years, months, and days) of husband
 * Name and age (in years, months, and days) of wife
 * Marital status of each
 * Husband's birthplace
 * Wife's birthplace
 * Names of husband's parents
 * Names of wife's parents
 * Residence of the husband
 * Residence of the wife
 * Name of person performing the marriage

Later records may also include the following:


 * Birthplace(s) of bride and groom
 * Occupation(s) of bride and groom
 * Number of times previously married
 * Witnesses to the marriage
 * Residence of witnesses

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know the following:


 * The name of the person at the time of marriage.
 * The approximate marriage date and place.

Search the Collection
To search the collection fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination.

As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line video at FamilySearch Search Tips.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s marriage record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. For example:


 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence to locate church and land records.
 * The name of the officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties.
 * Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom, this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. *The information in marriage records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800s.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one marriage record to another record.
 * The marriage date, place, and residence of the bride and groom are relatively reliable. Other information, such as age or birthplace, is dependent on the knowledge, memory, and accuracy of the informants, usually the bride and groom.

If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, try the following:


 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Search for the marriage record of the marriage partner if known.
 * Check for a different index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

For a summary of this information see the wiki article: United States, How to Use the Records Summary (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Related Web Sites
Free Virginia Marriage Records Online

Related Wiki Articles

 * Orange County, Virginia
 * Virginia
 * Virginia Vital Records
 * Virginia Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Citation For This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.

The above citation refers to the original source of the data and images published on FamilySearch.org Historical Records. It may include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.