I found something very interesting/funny in the Revolutionary War pension records. The records were from the 1820's and 1830's and usually filed by the wife of the veteran. On two of the Campbell pension records, the wife claimed to have been married on a certain date; however, when the state checked the county clerk's office in Amherst Co. for the marriage record, it couldn't be found. So, they had to have another witness appear, in both cases, to confirm the couple's marriage date. My point being, even in the 1820's, records which were only 40 to 50 years old at the time were already missing from the county clerk's index. Nearly 200 years later, we're lucky to have access to as many records as we do. I believe John's marriage record was one of these cases, according to the pension. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Photos – Showcase holiday pictures in hardcover Photo Books. You design it and we’ll bind it!

Regarding the missing marriage bonds for many marriages in old Amherst County, I was reminded to read Lenora Higginbotham Sweeny's accounting in her book AMHERST COUNTY, VIRGINIA IN THE REVOLUTION: INCLUDING EXTRACTS FROM THE "LOST ORDER BOOK" 1773-1782: "Several times we visited Amherst and searched for the missing volumes but to no avail.....In any event, it was only to hear again the old story that "The Order Book covering the Revolutionary period had either been destroyed or carried away during the Civil War." Somehow I could never accept this statement, and decided to make a diligent search for it under the seats of the Court Room, where I had been told by Miss Vera Joyner, Deputy Clerk of Amherst County, books and papers thought to be of no importance had been stored when the new Court House was built. After moving stacks of old ledgers and papers covered with the accumulated dust of years, peering through the misty cobwebs, lo! I spied "THE LOST ORDER BOOK!" With it was found a mass of papers containing, among other things, marriage bonds, unrecorded deeds and wills and a number of chancery suits of the eighteenth century." Note--marriage bonds. Further in her preface, Ms. Sweeny tells about "papers scattered on the floor of the outbuilding mixed with plaster and mortar....I found three marriage bonds...." These are two examples of the old records being tossed aside or scattered about by the "keepers of the records in old Amherst"! We are, indeed fortunate to have any records at all to research! Frances Campbell DID state in her application for pension that she and John Campbell were married in 1779. Shirley Craft Descendant of John and Frances (Wright?)Campbell, John and Susannah (Wright)Massie, Notley Warren and Frances (Dillard) Maddox, John and Sarah (?) Bowling ---- all of Amherst County, Virginia -----Original Message----- From: Steven Campbell [mailto:stevencampbell2@yahoo.com] Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2006 7:45 PM To: CAMPBELL-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [CAMPBELL] Amherst Marriage Index I found something very interesting/funny in the Revolutionary War pension records. The records were from the 1820's and 1830's and usually filed by the wife of the veteran. On two of the Campbell pension records, the wife claimed to have been married on a certain date; however, when the state checked the county clerk's office in Amherst Co. for the marriage record, it couldn't be found. So, they had to have another witness appear, in both cases, to confirm the couple's marriage date. My point being, even in the 1820's, records which were only 40 to 50 years old at the time were already missing from the county clerk's index. Nearly 200 years later, we're lucky to have access to as many records as we do. I believe John's marriage record was one of these cases, according to the pension. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Photos - Showcase holiday pictures in hardcover Photo Books. You design it and we'll bind it! ============================== New! Family Tree Maker 2005. Build your tree and search for your ancestors at the same time. Share your tree with family and friends. Learn more: http://landing.ancestry.com/familytreemaker/2005/tour.aspx?sourceid=14599&ta rgetid=5429