At a Court held for Augusta County, Virginia on Monday April the 22nd 1816:
Anna
Bittle orphan of Joseph
Bittle
being upwards of 14 years
of
age appeared in court & with
the
approbation of the court made
choice
of Jacob Fifer for her Guar-
dian
whereupon the said Fifer
with
John Shelly his secy entered
into
and ackd bond in the penalty of
$300
conditioned as the law requires
which bond is ord
Augusta County, Virginia
Order Book 35, page 212
It was wonderful to finally find Anna Bittle’s father, Joseph Bittle, in an official court record. Joseph Bittle’s origins are another puzzle but that is for another day.
Anna chose her soon-to-be husband, Jacob Fifer, to be appointed her legal guardian. A Find-A-Grave photo of her tombstone let me know she was born June 6, 1795. A little math calculation revealed Anna’s age was 20 years, 10 months, and 16 days on April 22, 1816. She was just a few months shy of her 21st birthday when she no longer would be considered a minor.
When Jacob and Anna wed, Jacob Fifer was not 21 years old either. His father, George Fifer, presented a written consent to the Augusta County, Virginia Court:
April the 22nd 1816
Mr
Clerk Sir these few lines is to Certify that
I
George Fifer Sen’r have Consented that
my
Son Jacob is to be lawfully married
To
M’s Anna Bittle given from under my hand
Test
John Shelly George Fifer
Augusta County, Virginia
Marriage Bonds, Book 15, 1815-1816
Jacob Fifer had more business in the courthouse that day when he and Samuel Cramer obtained a bond permitting Jacob and Anna to marry:
KNOW all men by these presents, that we Jacob Fifer and Samuel
Cramer are held and firmly bound unto Wilson C. Nicholas Governor of Virginia and his successors, for the use of the Commonwealth, in the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, to which payment well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents, sealed with our seals and dated this 22nd day of April A. D. 1816
The condition of the above obligation is
such, that whereas a marriage is shortly intended to be solemnized between the
above bound Jacob Fifer bachelor and Anne Bittle spinster of Augusta County, if
therefore, there shall be no lawful cause to obstruct the said marriage, then
the above obligation to be void, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.
Signed,
sealed and delivered}
In
the presence of }
Vincent Tapp Jacob Fifer
Samuel Cramer
Augusta County, Virginia Marriage
Bonds, Book 15, 1815-1816
1. Eliza Jane born Dec. 2,
1816, Mount Solon, Augusta County, VA, married Henry Harman Jan. 13, 1834,
Augusta County, VA, died July 23, 1895, probably Rockingham County, VA
2. Joshua Fifer born 1817 or
1818, died June 13, 1821, buried Parnasses, Augusta County, VA
3. Joseph Fifer born 1819,
married Louisa A Quisenberry, died March 26, 1879, Leyburn’s Mills, Rockbridge
County, VA
4. Margaret Fifer born Dec.
1821, married Henry Kiracofe April 15, 1841, Augusta County, VA
5. James M. Fifer born 1831
Augusta County, VA, died Oct. 19, 1856, Stuarts Mill, Augusta County, VA
6. William Fifer born 1832
Mossy Creek, Augusta County, VA, died May 28, 1853, South River District,
Augusta County, VA
7. Ellis Fifer born 1833
