Marriage Bond – The Library of Virginia

Peter M. Howell – Caroline M. A. Pankey
Marriage Bond – The Library of Virginia

by Don Taylor

I have long known of the marriage of Peter M. Howell to Caroline M. A. Pankey. Ancestry.Com Virginia Marriages has a reference to it.  I also recently encountered a book, Marriage Records 1749-1840 Cumberland County Virginia compiled by Katherine B Elliott, at the Georgia Room at the Cobb County Public Library. It too is an index but had more information than the Ancestry.Com index. So, I wondered what else might be in the actual records. Besides this, it would be wonderful to upgrade the quality of my sources from two and three stars to four stars with copies of actual documents. 

I called the Cumberland County, Virginia, Clerk of Court’s office. A lovely woman there informed me that they no longer had the records.  They had been sent to the Library of Virginia.  I should be able to get a copy through them. I contacted them via their website and indicated:

The Cumberland County Courthouse indicated that I should contact you. I am looking for any documents regarding the marriage of Peter M. Howell and Caroline M.A. Pankey, 11 June 1829 in Cumberland County.

They replied back in just a day that copies of a specific record may be ordered by using the Archives Record Request Form. The link to this printable form is found below.  Prepayment of the appropriate nonrefundable service fee for each request is required.

I looked at the form and thought holy-moly, $25.00 for them to search and they don’t guarantee that they will find it.  Then I saw, “or, microfilm copies may be borrowed from the Library of Virginia through the interlibrary loan service of local public libraries.  You will need to request the following reels:

Cumberland County  Microfilm Reel 42	ILL	Marriage Bonds, 1822-1830, No index.
Cumberland County  Microfilm Reel 69	ILL	Abstracts of Marriage Bonds, 1749-1853 – Females (D-V), unpaged.
Cumberland County  Microfilm Reel 68	ILL	Abstracts of Marriage Bonds, 1749-1853 – Males (P-Z), unpaged.

Well, the Abstract of marriage bonds for Males is the wrong microfilm for Peter M. Howell and I had an abstract already.  But the Marriage Bonds, Reel 42 looked fantastic; just what I want to see.  

I printed out the information, headed to my local library, and submitted an interlibrary loan request. The folks there didn’t think it would be accepted as they hadn’t ordered reference microfilm via interlibrary loan before but they would try.  A couple of weeks later the library called, they had finally contacted the Library of Virginia and learned how to order it. Another week or so later the microfilm arrived. 

I tried looking at it on my local library’s reader, however, the image adjustment wasn’t working.  I was extremely pleased that they allowed me to take the microfilm out to the Family History Center.  I went there. The wonderful folks there helped me get set up view the film and to be able to print to JPG.  I started looking; no index meant slow going, then I found a date marker, 1823. I zoomed ahead to the 1829 marker and began reading.  About 50 pages into 1829 I found the information I was looking for. First permission to marry note, both sides of an envelope that probably held the money for the bond, and the marriage bond.  

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The Finding:

To Mr. Woodson, Clerk of Cumberland County  Sir this is to authorize you to issue  license to Peter M. Howell to intermarry with  my daughter Caroline,, M,, A,, Pankey 
Thomas Pankey
Elizabeth Ann Lyall [or Loyall]
Alexander Langhorne [or Langhorse]
Pleasant F Agee

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Peter M Howell.
To ?? M. S. Bond 
The Governor
1829 June 11th

Sworn to before and in due form
by Pleasant F Agee the
11th day of June 1829
L S Tunnally [????] 

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Know all men by these presents, that we Peter M. Howell and Pleasant F. Agee are held and firmly bound unto Wm. B. Giles Esquire, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the just and full sum of One Hundred and Fifty dollars, current money, to be paid to the said Governor for the time being, and his successors in office: to which payment, well and truly to be made, we do bind ourselves, and each of us, our heirs, executors and administrators, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents. Sealed with our seals, and dated this 11th day of June 18 29.

The Condition of the Above Obligation is such, That whereas there is a Marriage shortly intended to be had and solemnized between the above bound Peter M Howell and Caroline M. A. Pankey daughter of Thomas Pankey of this county:

Now, if there be no lawful cause to obstruct the said Marriage, then the above obligation to be void, else to remain in forceCaroline M. A. Pankey

Sealed and delivered in the presence of
L S Vunnally [?????]
Peter M Howel
Pleasant F Agee

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Thanks to The Library of Virginia; they are an awesome resource and are on my list of preferred sources.