Virginia Marriage Records, including Ministers’ Registers and Diaries

Curry, Cora C. “Marriages Performed by Rev. Paul Henkel in Rockingham, Shenandoah, Augusta, and Botetourt Counties Virginia and other Localities,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly 12 (1923-24): 30-31; 9 (1920-21): 46-47.

Harter, Mrs. Bert. “Some Marriages of the Rev. Paul Henkel, 1790-1810,” Virginia Genealogist 17 (1973): 243-45.

“Marriages 1755, 1781-94, Performed by Reverend John Brown from the Staunton
Spectator,” Vol 43 #26 (18 Dec 1866).  FSLibrary #1490899, item 10.  Item 13, typescript reprint.

Vogt, John, et al, Marriage Records in the Virginia State Library: A Researcher’s Guide. Athens GA: Iberian Publishing Company, 1988.

West, Klaus, trans. Shenandoah Valley Family Data 1799-1813 from the Memorandum Book of Pastor Johannes Braun. 1978. Manuscript volume discovered 1972 by the German Reformed Church in Virginia.

Look for genealogies and family histories in libraries where you research. And no matter the location of the library, always check to see what they have on Virginia. Amazing finds show up in places where you least expect a Virginia item to be. Authors and publishers catalogs or special bookstores you frequent while shopping or on trips. Or at genealogy conferences, vendors will have a new Virginia book that may catch your eye. Or a used book that other searchers have passed by.

Look especially for family histories written by people no one has ever heard of—their first and often only book, one into which they have put their whole heart. Use older printed works as an index to sources which may no longer survive. Older family histories and genealogies compiled before the Internet age have a lot to recommend them. Remember they were published before publication on paper became so expensive.

One such example is: William Everett Brockman, Orange County Families and their Marriages: A Supplement to and Including Virginia Wills and Abstracts. A Genealogy of Colonial Virginia Families with a Thousand Marriage Bonds to 1800. Minneapolis MN: Burgess Publishing Co., 1949. Brockman is not a surname that I am currently researching (although a close friend of mine has the surname in her ancestry). The 1,000 marriage bonds to 1800 are what you want–so check the index for names in Orange County that you are tracing—and copy the entries for each of your names.

This strategy works especially well for burned counties, counties formed later from the original county, and families that are constantly on the move who may not stay put until the census enumerator comes by. Older works were published when the costs were reasonable to print full transcriptions of the documents. Today, we settle for short abstracts or just a citation, because each page is counted separately and charged. A mention in passing of the very name you are seeking, however, can save you endless hours of research. Your favorite Virginia genealogist, Arlene Eakle http://arleneeakle.com

PS And if you are lucky enough to have a digital device which can capture any name or word, you’ll find names and marriages of interest in many selected volumes as well.

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