Marriage Index: West Virginia, 1863-1900

This index provides data about around 177,000 people who tied the knot from 1863 to 1900 in certain counties of West Virginia.

Information was collected from the following West Virginia counties:

  • Barbour
  • Jackson
  • Roane
  • Boone
  • Kanawha
  • Summers
  • Brooke
  • Lewis
  • Taylor
  • Calhoun
  • Marion
  • Tyler
  • Clay
  • Marshall
  • Upshur
  • Doddridge
  • Mason
  • Wayne
  • Fayette
  • Nicholas
  • Wetzel
  • Gilmer
  • Pleasants
  • Wirt
  • Greenbrier
  • Raleigh
  • Wyoming
  • Hampshire
  • Randolph
  • Harrison
  • Ritchie

Before West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, most of its counties had already been established and were subject to the same laws as other Virginia counties. In 1853, Virginia mandated that county clerks maintain marriage registers and grant marriage licenses. People who requested a license between May and June of 1863 may have their records appear in both Virginia and West Virginia. It is possible, but uncommon, for a marriage license to have been applied for in Virginia but recorded in West Virginia.

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