Marriages 1827-1897

Before these publications were compiled, the only index to early Tazewell marriages was in the Tazewell County Clerk’s office.  Marriages were only indexed by groom—according to just the first letter of the surname (not even in alphabetical order!).

The marriages are listed by the grooms’ alphabetical surname.

A second index lists the brides in alphabetical surname order. After locating a bride's name, the researcher turns to the groom's name in the earlier section to find the corresponding date of marriage and the name of the official.

A third index lists the presiding officials in alphabetical surname order. Information about the official such as county location of the official and the religious affiliation of the ministers was gathered from the marriage records and other sources.

In most cases, only one spelling of an official's name was used for this index even though there were many different spellings used in the original records.

Researchers should keep in mind that all indexes are limited in accuracy because of the varied interpretations of hand-written squiggles and scrawls of the original recorder of the information—some of which was done approaching two hundred years ago. However, that does not make this work any less useful or valuable.

Volumes 1-3 (1827-1877) give the names of the bride & groom, date, and the name of the official.

Starting with Volume 4 (1878) the marriage records started including much more information for most marriages such as age, occupation, birthplace, the location of marriage, witnesses, etc.  All information on the marriage application is listed.

We are extremely grateful to Tazewell County Clerk Duane Gray's office for permission to transcribe these early marriage records.

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