I have had a some question RE marriage bonds and my cousin sent this to me from another list off hand from my experience with Owen Co., KY marriage records I would say this applies to KY also hope this helps someone Barbara PS Have not had time to scan the marriage index for the ladies yet my computer crashed last week and I spent all week piecing it together. REMEMBER ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR RECORDS I lost some mail and a few bits and pieces but recover in good shape and thank goodness I CC some of my cousins on a lot of the mail I get. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Form the TN Roots-L list D. Cox wrote: > The information below comes from my experience in working with the original > marriage records of Davidson Co. I cannot say with certainty that what I have > learned applies to all TN counties. > > Apparently the marriage bond requirement was a NC law, as marriage bonds were > given to the court in Davidson Co., at least as early as 1788. This is the > earliest year for which an official marriage record exists in Davidson county > and it is a bond. > > The bond was a guarantee or promise that the couple had a legal right to be > married. That is to say, the couple was of age, that neither was already > married to someone else and that there was no other reason why they could not > be married according to law. In the early days, the bride was required to be > a resident of the county in which the marriage license was applied for. > > The bond was usually signed by the groom and by the person who had obligated > themselves to pay the bond if it became necessary to do so. This person has > been commonly referred to as the bondsman. This was often a relative of the > bride or groom, sometimes a friend. There is sometimes, more than one > bondsman and there are instances in which the groom did not sign the bond, > only the bondsman. I have found evidence that there may have been > professional bondsmen as well. I do not know that any portion of the bond had > to be paid unless the couple violated the law. > > In early marriage records for Davidson Co., one often finds a bond, but no > license, as the person performing the marriage was apparently not compelled by > law to return them to the court. In about 1816, the licenses began to be > returned to the court with regularity. > > Beginning in 1838, TN law required each County Clerk to record the issuance > of a marriage license and the return of the license, in an official "marriage > book". Some enterprising County Clerks went ahead and recorded the earlier > marriages, also, as happened in Davidson Co. In most cases however only the > loose record remained for marriages which occurred before 1838. Many of these > were destroyed by neglect or vermin or time. Some, I am hopeful, are in a > box, in a remote corner waiting to be found. This is one of the reasons many > of you cannot find a marriage record for your ancestors even though you know > they were married in TN.