OLD RECORDS IN THE SOUTHERN STATES

IN THE SOUTH the records of births and deaths were not required by law to
be kept. The exception to this rule would be in those localities where the
Church of England was the established state church, which was the case in a
few localities along the Atlantic coast. The ministers of these Colonies
made a record of baptisms, marriages and burials in the parish register the
same as in England. A very large part of the Colonists were dissenters, and
had nothing to do with the established church, and when the church was
divorced from the government, the minister made a record, or not, just as
he felt inclined. There was no uniform method adopted to care for these
records, and many of them were lost.

The Historical Societies are perhaps the best informed organizations now as
to whether any such records exist in their respective states.

FAMILY BIBLES and FAMILY CEMETERIES are the principal sources of recorded
information regarding births and deaths. The family bible with pages
between the old and the new Testaments for recording births, deaths, and
marriages, was the cherished possession of the families able to afford this
treasure. It was the family heritage and in it were recorded the family
records. Brides were customarily presented with a bible in which entry had
been made of the earlier generations. With the generations succeeding the
Civil War, the family bible has almost ceased to be.

THE EARLIER SETTLERS buried their dead in family graveyards. These were
usually located near some trees and often out in the middle of a field.
Many of the farms where the family graveyards were located, have passed
into the hands of strangers. If the graves have not already been plowed
under by the modern farmer, with his tractor, they are in nearly all cases
in a sad state of neglect. The headstones are no longer standing and the
marks and inscriptions are vanishing. THE CHURCH CEMETERY WAS A LATER
DEVELOPMENT.

MARRIAGE BONDS were required by law, in some of the older states, for
marriages not performed by the established church. A young man who wished
to marry had to find some one with property who would go with him and sign
a bond for five hundred or a thousand dollars, guaranteeing that there was
no impediment to this marriage. This resulted in many common law marriages
without the formalities of the law or the established church, and the
recording by this church of the births as being bastards. Many of them were
not such at all but were born of parents who lived in bonafide wedlock, but
who could not afford the fees demanded, or were dissenters and did not care
to conform to what they thought were unnecessary requirements.

IN MOST ALL THE COUNTIES OF THE SOUTH, there is a record of marriage
licenses, well indexed and well preserved.

THE ORIGINAL LAND GRANTS were recorded by the state, usually by the
secretary of the state. There was no law reguiring later deeds to be
recorded, and many of them were never recorded, the original deed being
kept by the owner. So it is not always possible to go to the public records
and find all the owners of a piece of land.

THE ORIGINAL WILLS were filed with the county court and a copy was made so
it is possible to refer to all wills. In many of the states the old records
such as wills, marriage bonds, deeds, and other records are bing collected
and placed in the Archives at the state capital for safety. They are
usually indexed and are available to the public for research. This makes it
very convenient for the genealogist who need not travel over the state for
records which are now in one room.

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