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Start Over Subjects Free African Americans--Marriage--Virginia--Essex County.

Essex County (Va.) Ministers' Returns, 1850-1854

Essex County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Essex County (Va.) Ministers' Returns, 1850-1854, records the returns made by individual ministers within the county. Returns in this volume, prior to 1853, record the names of the parties, the date of the marriage ceremony and the minister's name and denomination. As part of the return process, ministers filed marriage certificates with the county clerk. These signed documents certified that a minister had performed the actual marriage ceremony between the named individuals on a certain date. By 1853, more information was included in lists or certificates from the individual ministers such as the status or the condition of the parties, the ages of the parties, where the parties resided, their places of birth, names of their parents and the occupation of the groom. Marriages between free persons of color are noted in 1853 and 1854 (pages 5 and 9.)

  1. Library of Virginia

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