Places to Search
Marriage Records
"Weddings are among the happiest of occasions in people's lives. They often bring family members together who may not see each other often. As a result, information that is recorded in different places may provide you with just the details you need to locate an ancestor you otherwise may be unable to pinpoint." - George G. Morgan
State Resources for Locating Marriage Records
Original marriage records can often provide you with more information, such as the names and birthplaces of the bride's and groom's parents, addresses of the bride and groom, information about previous marriages, and witnesses' names.
|
Birth records, marriage records, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection. |
IL, IN, KY, OH, TN, 1720-1926 Marriage Index
| This data set contains marriage information from five midwestern states for approximately 738,000 individuals. |
AL, GA, SC, 1641-1944 Marriage Index
| This data set contains marriage information from selected areas of Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina for approximately 379,000 individuals. |
MD, NC, VA, 1624-1915 Marriage Index
| This data set contains records of marriages that occurred in select Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia counties. |
AR, MO, MS, TX, 1766-1981 Marriage Index
| This data set contains indexes to marriage records for selected counties from 161 counties in four states: Arkansas (11), Mississippi (83), Missouri (24), and Texas (82). |
FreeBMD
FreeBMD is an ongoing project, the aim of which is to transcribe the Civil Registration index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales, and to provide free Internet access to the transcribed records. It is a part of the FreeUKGEN family, which also includes FreeCEN (Census data) and FreeREG (Parish Registers). The recording of births, marriages and deaths was started in 1837 and is one of the most significant resources for genealogical research. The transcribing of the records is carried out by teams of dedicated volunteers and contains index information for the period 1837-1983. More information...
Additional Information
Marriage Records
by Kathi Sittner
Marriage records usually remind us of the recent documents created by the state boards of health or bureaus of vital statistics. These documents often contain detailed information about the couple and their parents; whether the bride and groom have previously been married, their places of birth and current residence, their occupations, their parents' names and birth places, and the couple's signatures.
Clues in Marriage Records
by George G. Morgan
Marriages can be cause for great joy and celebration within families because the binding of two families together provides the opportunity for closer familial ties and, in some cases, the combining of family fortunes. From a genealogist's perspective, a marriage is another life event at which documents are created. However, few researchers really examine the marriage documents and use them as clues to locate other records
Your Search for U.S. Marriage Records
by Sandra H. Luebking, FUGA
If you are seeking marriage records, your search will be made easier if you know the types of records created for various periods, the circumstances peculiar to regions, and the jurisdictions responsible for maintaining the records of marriage and enforcing the laws that surround them.
Catholic Marriage Records: Discovering an Immigrant's Place of Origin
by George Ryskamp
Tracing immigrant ancestors from the Americas back to Europe challenges the researcher to find the link to a specific place of origin, usually a small town or village in the mother country. Before the appearance in the United States of detailed passenger lists beginning in 1896, a variety of documents—such as naturalization decrees, censuses and journals—can be consulted with varying success for making that linkage.
Records Made Before the Fact — What Can They Tell Us?
by Donn Devine, CG, CGI
Members of the upper classes often preferred marriage by license, considering it more prestigious. Marriage by license indicated that they could afford the fee and enabled them to avoid being lumped with common folk in the weekly announcements of intended marriages. When people of modest means married by license, time was often a factor. Banns were usually required to be announced at several successive Sabbath-day services, which presented problems in rural churches served by itinerant clergy who did not visit them on a weekly basis.