Taylor Marriages

Who married whom, when and where is obviously important to genealogy. In keeping with the author's belief that context matters, this page provides some background & resources

Taylors & Associated Families

The author has extracted some records from compilations of marriages and marriage bond records. These include:

A Brief History of
North Carolina Marriage

Colonial Era

North Carolina residents who wished to marry in the 1600s had a problem:

Only ministers of the Church of England were allowed to perform the ceremony and there were so few of these clerics in the northern (Albemarle) part of the Carolina Colony that marriage by a minister was almost impossible.

This led to a parallel marriage system; the Assembly of Albemarle passed "An Act Concerning Marriages" in 1669 to allow civil officers to perform marriages if there were no ministers in the community. The couple were required to take three or four witnesses to the Governor or a Council member for the ceremony.

{See http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/140/entry & http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/141/entry.}

In 1715, the Lords Proprietors, with the the General Assembly advising and consenting, again acknowledged that only the Church of England should perform marriages. But, they also authorized magistrates “to join persons together in Marriage in such parishes where no Minister shall be resident.” Before marrying, the future bride and groom had to purchase a license or have the county clerk publish public announcements (banns) in the county where the bride lived.

The parallel authorities of the Church of England and the magistrates to solemnize marriages continued even after North Carolina became a Crown Colony in 1729.

The "Bond" System, 1741

A 1741 revisiting of marriage procedures maintained the parallel system, but now required ministers to read banns on three consecutive Sundays and certify that no objection had been received.

If the prospective bridegroom preferred to obtain a license for a civil marriage, the clerk of the bride’s county of residence could issue it, after securing from the bridegroom a bond for £500 — a significant sum for cash-strapped Carolinians. {We often see relatives or friends putting up the marriage bond.}

Civil & Religious Authorities in Conflict

As the number of non-Anglican residents increased and new churches were born, other denominations wanted their ministers to perform marriages. Civil authorities had no objections, so long as the fees were collected. But, the C of E strenuously protested infringement of its monopoly.

Locals in Conflict with Governor

By 1771, the practice of local clerks to print their own forms and deposit the money in county treasuries or their own pockets became too much for Governor William Tryon to tolerate longer. He had the Assembly pass acts to prohibit all but the official forms.

We do not know how prevalent the "hiding" of marriages from the Colonial Governor was in Craven, but we find very few records of marriages before 1780 — indicating local compliance with the 1771 law came slowly.

Post-Revolution

The winds of religious freedom blew toward marriage, too; anti-British sentiment doomed the official pretense of Anglican monopoly. Laws of 1778 provided that “all regular ministers of the Gospel of every Denomination,” as well as Justices of the Peace were “empowered to celebrate Matrimony…” The bond system gained in popularity as well.

When the present Constitution was ratified in 1789 and shortly afterward the "Bill of Rights" consisting of the first 10 amendment to the Constitution (the first of which guaranteed religious freedom) being married by a minister of one's choosing was enshrined as a basic right.

A side note is that North Carolina initially opposed the federal Constitution because it did not contain a listing of individual rights. Tarheels were mollified only after a Bill of Rights was promised.

Lists

The information here is taken from that submitted by Gloria Taylor & Martha Newborn Marble on the "Old Dobbers" site. We've added notes, where additional information has been developed, and re-organized by date. For the pure & undiluted version, see http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~paday/dobbers/taylors_craven_marr.html.

For our version, go here.

There is a more complete list (all surnames) of Craven County marriages by "Lady Valois" here. This same information has been arranged by date and divided into decades here.

Also, the author has extracted some Taylor & related records from compilations of marriages and marriage bond records. These include:

Murphy & Beauchamp {Craven County. NC == Marriages of Craven County 1851-1908 & Marriage Bonds 1773-1868 Murphy, Jo Ann Ernul & Beauchamp, Eula Pearl}

To search an online index, visit the Craven Public Library's site here.