> On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 5:41 PM, Bill Davidson <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > >> If one man was a witness on a marriage bond in 1798 in VA, and >> another man provided surety on that same marriage bond, from that >> information alone, can one determine which man was the father of the >> bride (assuming that one of the men was, in fact, the bride's father)? You can't make any assumption about either. The surety was often (but not always) a relative of the bride or the groom, but could be father, brother, uncle, cousin, brother-in-law, etc. As for the witness, check your county records to see who the County Clerk and Deputy Clerk were, as I've found both listed as witnesses on marriage bonds. Ann --- Ann Avery Hunter Winston-Salem, NC To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html