This work presents marriage records for Essex County, Virginia for the period 1884 to 1921. It continues publication of marriage records after those by this compiler and Suzanne P. Derieux for the period 1850-1883. The major difference here is that the format is condensed to include only the pertinent data rather than reproducing the printed form of either the marriage register, marriage license, or related record pieces.
The critical notice to users is that Marriage Register 1, that is titled and runs 1804-1921, contains for the subject period the data for when the marriage was planned. That said, the procedure was that when the groom and bride applied for a marriage license, the court clerk recorded the planned information in the register. This included statistics about the parties: their marital status, age, race, place of birth, place of residence, and the names of their parents. At that time the couple was issued a license that was to be completed by an officiating minister with the actual date of marriage, place of marriage, and signed by the officiating minister. This actual information was not updated in the previously-created register. Because of this, there is routinely a difference between the register information and the license information.
Data are presented in a standard sequence that is similar to what is found in the register: name of parties, groom to bride; notation as to race when non-white, i.e. (C) for colored or (F) for free, etc.; date of marriage (planned if no marriage license survives, else updated from license); place of marriage; page and line of Marriage Register 1 in which the data are found; ages of the groom and bride; marital status of the groom and bride; place of birth of the groom and bride; place of residence of the groom and bride; parents of the groom and bride; occupation of the groom; minister officiating the marriage; and remarks, if any, including notation of parental or guardian consent.
Several facsimile reprints of original marriage documents and an index to full-names, places and occupations add to the value of this work.
2021, 8½x11, paper, index, 252 pp
