1836 marriage bond of Edgar Allan Poe and Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe

A marriage bond was a type of surety bond guaranteeing that two people were legally available to marry each other, free of complications like being legally underage,[1] having too close a genetic relationship,[1] having other extant marriages, etc.[2] A marriage bond is legally distinct from a marriage license or a marriage certificate, although all three types of records are used in genealogical research as evidence of marriage.[2] Marriage bonds are also not to be confused with marriage contracts or prenuptial agreements.[3] Marriage banns were similar in practice although usually lacked the explicit financial guarantees.[4] The person who co-signed the marriage bond was called the guarantor, security, bondsman[5] or surety,[2] and was often a relative of the prospective groom or bride.[5] Most marriage bonds have an amount of money listed but "no money literally changed hands at the time of posting the bond" rather that was a penalty amount "if an impediment to the marriage was found."[6] The dates of marriage bonds may not (and likely do not) correlate with the actual date the marriage was performed. In some cases a bond document exists but no actual wedding ever took place.[3]

Marriage bonds were used in Great Britain and colonial North America.[2][6] In parts of Great Britain, those who wanted to circumvent a reading of the banns for the traditional three weeks could apply for a marriage license, which required an allegation of legality and/or a bond.[7] The use of marriage bonds in many British counties ended in 1823.[8][7] Upper and Lower Canada required marriage bonds if the wedding was to be performed by someone other than a Catholic or Anglican officiant.[9] Some southern and mid-Atlantic U.S. states carried the colonial practice of using marriage bonds forward into the mid-1800s.[2][6] Knox County, Tennessee had a $1250 required surety until 1929.[10]

Marriage by bond occurred in Spanish colonial Texas.[1] In this case the bond surety was a guarantee that a couple would be legally married, as was required by law, by a Catholic priest when one visited nearby or when the couple traveled to a settlement with an established church. Thus, marriage records in early Texas sometimes have a notation to the effect of "previously married by bond" and/or may have two entries for the same couple: their bond-marriage date and their certified marriage date.[11][12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "10 Types of Marriage Records for Family History Research". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Back to the Basics with Marriage Records Part 1: Marriage Bonds". Family Locket. 2022-12-11. Archived from the original on 2023-01-28. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  3. 1 2 Morgan, George G. (2018-11-24). "How to Read and Understand Marriage Bonds". Family Tree Magazine. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  4. ↑ SHUE, KEVIN (2007-08-24). "IT'S ALL RELATIVE: On good terms with historic marriage verbiage". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  5. 1 2 "Marriage Bonds: A Closer Look at Marriage Records #2Ancestral Findings". June 25, 2021. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 Dehler, Tamie (2007-08-11). "Genealogy: Think of a marriage bond as an intention to marry". Terre Haute Tribune-Star. Archived from the original on 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  7. 1 2 "What is a marriage bond?". Who Do You Think You Are Magazine. Archived from the original on 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  8. ↑ "MARRYING BY LICENCE: MARRIAGE BONDS AND ALLEGATIONS" (PDF). York.ac.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-02-26. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  9. ↑ Canada, Library and Archives (2013-03-19). "Marriage Bonds, 1779-1858 - Upper and Lower Canada". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  10. ↑ "Knox County marriage index, 1901–1950 | Knox County Public Library". www.knoxcountylibrary.org. Archived from the original on 2023-03-12. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  11. ↑ Livingston, Ronald Howard. "Marriage Banns, Marriage Bonds, and Marriage by Bond". history.brazoriaresearch.com. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  12. ↑ Hans W. Baade, Form of Marriage in Spanish North America , 61 Cornell L. Rev. 1 (1975) Available at: http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/clr/vol61/iss1/1
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