Types of Marriage Records

Consent Affidavits - The minimum legal age for marriage varies from one place to another. While some jurisdictions have required consent regardless of age most demanded consent affidavits from a parent or legal guardian only for those under the minimum age—usually twenty-one for males, eighteen for females. Sometimes a parent or guardian appeared with the underage person and gave verbal permission. The record will show that the parent was present and was known to the clerk but may not record the name. A detailed, printed consent form was part of the marriage license in a few localities.

The father of the underage person usually gave consent, especially in the South. When a mother has given consent, the father was likely deceased. When both parents were deceased, the legal guardian granted permission to marry. If the guardian is related to the person getting married, their relationship may be stated.

Consent documents are found in town and county jurisdictions throughout the United States, but they are more numerous in the South and former frontier regions, where early marriages were encouraged.

Declarations of Intent

Declarations of intent to marry have been required in one form or another in all colonies and states from colonial times. The practice may have been abandoned in a particular place for a period of time, only to be reinstated later. There are many types of declarations of intent, both written and oral.

Banns

The publishing of banns was a church custom during the colonial period. Banns were usually read in church on three consecutive Sundays (sometimes during public meetings); in some areas, they were posted in public places as well. Their purpose was to give local residents the opportunity to state their objections to a marriage.

Intentions

These records were similar to banns but were filed with the town or county clerk. Not generally read aloud, they were posted in public places for a prescribed period of time to give others the opportunity to voice objections to the union. Many intentions filed in New England have been published.

Bonds

Marriage bonds were not required by all colonies or states but have been common in the South. Bonds were posted prior to the issuing of the required marriage license in some states and were the sole documents required in others. Bonds were posted by the groom alone or with a second person, usually the father or the brother of the bride, to defray the costs of litigation in the event the marriage was nullified.

Bonds were posted in the jurisdiction where the marriage was to take place, often in the bride’s home county. These bonds, the only marriage records maintained in some jurisdictions, were usually annotated with the marriage date after the ceremony. It was rare for a marriage not to take place within a few days of the posting of the bond, even though many bonds do not bear the annotation. Although the missing information could mean that the marriage did not take place, more often it reflects poor record keeping or failure of the justice or minister to report the marriage to local officials.

Contracts

Marriage contracts are relatively uncommon. They were usually drawn up when one or more of the parties was wealthy or an heir to wealth and wished to protect the inheritance rights of heirs.

Marriage contracts have also been used in second marriages. Property left to a widow by her first husband could be protected with a marriage contract. Such documents guarantee the distribution of property to the children of the first husband. Without such a contract, the property inherited at the death of the first husband became the property of the second husband at the time of marriage. He could dispose of that property as he desired, without provision for his stepchildren. Marriage contracts are recorded among marriage records, filed in the court records, or with the deeds.

Marriage contracts were widely used in Louisiana during the colonial period. Under civil law, the French and Spanish used formal marriage contracts to protect their property, regardless of their social position or wealth. These documents are of unequaled value in genealogical research because they list extended family relationships and often the place of origin of the French immigrant ancestor.

Marriage Licenses

Marriage licenses are the most common marriage records in the United States. They are issued by the appropriate authority prior to the marriage ceremony, and they have come to replace the posting of banns and intentions. Marriage licenses, which grant permission for a marriage to be performed, are returned to civil authorities after the ceremony.

Applications for marriage licenses have been required in some jurisdictions in addition to or in place of bonds. Applications are often filled out by both the bride and groom and typically contain a large amount of genealogical information. They may list the full names of the bride and groom, their residences, races, ages, dates and places of birth, previous marriages, occupations, and their parents, names, places of birth (state or country), and occupations. Recent laws require health certificates attesting to the absence of diseases that could be passed on to children.

For most locations, marriage license applications can be found for periods beginning after the Civil War. Indiana, Wisconsin, and Utah counties maintained them earlier. The application form does not include the marriage date.

Marriage licenses exist in varying forms. A standard form generally asks for the names of the bride and groom, their residence at the time of application, the date the marriage was performed, the date the license was issued, the place of the marriage, and the name of the person performing the marriage ceremony.

Certified copies of marriage records are certified to be correct, but there is a possibility of error in any typescript. It is best to request photocopies when you write a town or county clerk.

Marriage Ledger

On completion of the ceremony, the signed license is returned to the clerk or ordinary for recording. The date and the name of the officiating clergy or other official are added to the license book, and entries are made in the bride and groom indexes of marriages. (These are often compiled at a later date in alphabetical sequence.)

Marriage Certificates

Marriage certificates are given to the couple after the ceremony is completed and are thus usually found among family records. There are exceptions, however. The bride and groom usually receive a marriage certificate for their family records containing similar historical information, signatures of witnesses, etc.

Marriage Registers and Returns

Colonial and state governments have required that marriages performed within their jurisdictions be reported to civil authorities. The town or county clerk then compiles marriage registers, though these registers are rarely complete. Those who officiated at marriages in rural areas were often reluctant to travel the distances required to comply with the law. Sometimes, also, ministers’ records were lost or destroyed before the marriages were properly reported. Itinerant preachers, who crossed jurisdictional boundaries, rarely registered marriages at all. Couples sometimes obtained a license, filed a bond, or made applications in one jurisdiction and then married in another, but ministers filed returns only in their own counties. Still, marriage returns are the only documents that provide evidence that the marriage actually took place.

Marriage registers differ from one jurisdiction to another. Some required only the names of the couple and the date of the marriage. Registers are normally arranged in chronological order by year, though there can be overlap in registers that were infrequently updated.

Some registers exist in the absence of licenses. This is true for registers in Virginia and West Virginia after 1853, which provide the marriage date, minister, names of the parties, their ages, places of birth, residences, parents, and occupations. Many of these registers have been transcribed.

Most marriage registers are compiled from written returns submitted by ministers and justices. The lists are copied into the register by a clerk and are thus subject to transcription errors.

Not all marriage returns were entered into a register. Some were simply noted on the license or bond; others were written on scraps of paper filed loosely in the clerk’s office, either in alphabetical order or by the first letter of the groom’s surname. Most loose returns have been microfilmed for easier use.

Engagement Announcement

Newspapers today still publish a limited number of engagement announcements. In earlier times, though, when newspaper space was at less of a premium and less expensive, a couple or their families might publish a notice of engagement. The couple’s names, the names of their parents and other family members, the couple's places of origin, their educational institutions, their religious affiliations, and other details might be included.

Newspaper Marriage Announcement

Newspaper announcements were not uncommon in earlier times. Some larger ones for more prominent society figures might include photographs and extensive details of the ceremony, names of family members and ceremony attendees, and announcements of the couple's plans for honeymoon and residence. Less prominent couple's marriage announcements might be smaller but can often contain details of the wedding; names of family members, attendees, and officiating clergy; and other pertinent facts.