DESCRIPTION:

When planning to marry, the prospective groom took out a bond from the clerk of the court in the county where the bride had her usual residence as surety that there was no legal obstacle to the proposed marriage. On file in the North Carolina State Archives are 170,000 marriage bonds, covering the years 1741-1868. These records were abstracted by the Works Progress Administration. Most of the bonds contain the following information: groom's name, bride's name, date of bond, bondsmen, witnesses. For those with ancestors in early North Carolina, this will be a helpful database.