Amherst County was formed in 1761 from Albemarle County, although no marriage records have been found of an earlier date than 1763. Mr. Sweeny's abstracts consist principally of marriage bonds and minsters' returns, with upwards of 4,000 entries. Men are listed alphabetically by surname, followed by the full name of the woman and the date of the marriage bond or minister's return and the names of parents, sureties, and officiating ministers. For maximum convenience women's names are separately indexed. Supplementary information provided with each entry includes the names of consenting parents or guardians (if either of the parties was under age) and an indication whether either or both of the parties had been previously married.
Mr. Sweeny's wife, Lenora Higginbotham Sweeny, was herself an untiring researcher in the records of Amherst County. It was she who uncovered the list of Amherst County marriages for the years 1815-1821 that is appended to the body of this volume. Arranged similarly to the earlier marriages, it is followed by a separate name index prepared for her booklet's original publication in 1961. Mrs. Sweeny has also transcribed a list of the subscribers for the building of St. Mark's Church in Lexington Parish (Amherst County) in the year 1788, and she has copied a number of tombstone inscriptions found in a family cemetery at Winton, Amherst County, which includes the tombstone of Patrick Henry's mother.
