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Sarah, A marriage bond was a common thing years ago all over the country - not just in Marshall Co, AL. I found the following on another genealogy source. Although it talks about Tennessee, it would apply basically the same anywhere. Hope this helps you understand it better - it helped me !! Rick
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Marriage Bonds and Licenses
"In 1660-61 the [Virginia] law requiring a bond was first enacted. Becaue of a scarcity of ministers, the colony required that all persons wishing to be married by license must go to the county court clerk and give bond with sufficient security (usually $150 by the 19th century) that there was no lawful cause to prevent the marriage. The license was then prepared by the clerk and presented to the minister who would perform the ceremony."
The bondsman or surety was to be "able and knowne." Often, this person was a brother or uncle to the bride, not necessarily a parent. The rich and established uncle was an excellent candidate for bondsman. The bondsman could be related to the groom, but from what we have seen, that situation would occur less often.
In Tennessee, three documents were created at the time of a marriage.
The first was the marriage bond.
The second was the license, wherein the court authorized the marriage, and the official signed the back to show that it had been performed.
The ledger (book that all the marriages are recorded in) where the clerk copied some information from these two sources is known as the official marriage record, and is often the only surviving part of the record.
Charles A. Sherrill, Tenn. State Library & Archives; has furnished the following information on this subject according to his understanding of the material he has read.
The groom had to assure the State that he was able to be legally married (was not already married to someone else, under age, or ineligible because of close blood relationship, etc.)
This assurance was given in the form of a bond for a certain amount of money. The friend or relative signed as the groom's security on the bond, commonly known as becoming a bondsman.
If indeed the groom had been sued for violating the marriage contract, the bondsman would have had to pay any legal damages if the groom defaulted.
No money actually changed hands at the time the bond was issued.
This bonding procedure was used across Tennessee and in other southern states in the 19th century.
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