This index represents marriage records for not only residents of the District of Columbia, but also neighboring Virginia, Maryland, and elsewhere. The compiler found numerous instances where both the groom and bride resided more than a hundred miles away. The primary source of information in this work was the bound marriage records books maintained in the D.C. Office of Public Records (D.C. Archives). This index lists names of bride and groom, place of residence if known, date of marriage (or license), book number and page number. Approximately 12,500 marriage licenses were issued between these dates. Of these, 4,700 marriages involved non-white persons.

The base source for these data is a typewritten index for the period 1866-1980, which provides the date a marriage license was issued, names of the parties, and the location of the record in an original record (book, page, entry/line number). When possible, the license issue date has been replaced with the date of marriage. An asterisk (*) indicates data that differ between sources. Preference is given to the license information because it was created before the register. The compiler has added to these index entries: (1) data from marriage licenses or certificates, 1853-1903, and various marriage registers for the period 1871-1975; (2) the surname of a widowed bride's father in parenthesis, if given; (3) and place of birth and/or place of marriage if not in King and Queen County. If the marriage date is not found, the date given is when the marriage license was issued, and is followed by "L". Entries are arranged alphabetically by the groom's surname and include: Name of Groom, Name of Bride, Marriage or License (L) Date, and Source or Bk.-Pg.: No. An index of bride's names completes this work. 2021, 81/2x11, paper, alphabetical, index, 182 pp