Know What You’re Asking Of Government Records Clerks

One of the first things we are eager to do as beginning genealogists is to write the county courthouse and ask for the marriage licenses of our ancestors.

All too often, we’re disappointed with a negative reply. Perhaps I can help you understand why that happens.

It will really help to think about the procedure and the steps involved with completing the necessary paperwork.

Think back to when you prepared for your own marriage.

First, you visited the courthouse. You paid the fee and filled out a marriage application. This helped you to obtain a license. It was a piece of paper authorizing any person of proper authority to marry the two persons whose names appeared on it.

You took this license to your priest, minister or justice of the peace, and he recognized the legitimacy of the document and exercised his authority to marry you.

Remember having to sign something right after you were married? You both signed the license, acknowledging that you had used the license within the designated time period and did indeed get married.

The license was returned to the courthouse, becoming part of the marriage return. Then a marriage certificate was issued to you. Perhaps the clerk in the courthouse entered the information of your marriage in a marriage register book. This same procedure took place for your ancestors. The actual physical paperwork might have differed, and the procedure might have been somewhat different, but basically the process was the same.

Sometimes the clerk had a big two-part license book. The skinny part on the left was like the application, and was filled out with all sorts of personal information about the bride and groom. The larger right-hand part was the actual license that was issued to the couple. This particular register is a gold mine if you can find one!

Another piece of paperwork was the marriage consent form. If the bride or groom was underage, a parent had to sign to give consent.

In Southern states, a marriage bond had to be posted. This was official notice of a sum of money posted by somebody knowing the bride (usually her father) which would go to her in the event of a divorce.

A similar link in this chain of paperwork, but one that isn’t usually found in the courthouse, is the posting of intentions or banns. In some churches, the couple had to post banns for several weeks in a row to notify one and all of their intention to marry so that anyone opposing the marriage had time to speak up. This paperwork usually is found in the church records.

The paperwork changed as the years went by. During one period, the county may have kept very little, and then years later (under a different clerk) may have kept everything. These documents are most certainly not side-by-side on the shelves in the courthouse! They could be in different rooms or even down in the basement, and sometimes different ones have been converted to microfilm.

Some records may never have ended up in the courthouse, such as the marriage certificates. Those may have stayed with the couple.

I have mentioned nearly a dozen different kinds of marriage-related documents.

The marriage application is potentially the best source of family information. The marriage license just gives the names and ages of the bride and groom. The marriage certificate just says that he and she got married. The banns, bonds and consents all give family information tidbits, but never as much as does the application.

So after this review, what will you be asking for in the future? The marriage application! But if you write and ask specifically for the marriage application for such-and-such a year, and applications don’t exist for that decade, then the clerk isn’t fibbing to say “we don’t have the record.” But they may well have some other marriage documents, and that’s the point. When you write in the future, do not just ask for one specific marriage document. Instead, phrase your question: “May I have a photocopy of any marriage documentation you might have showing the marriage of so and so?”

This question might cause clerks to groan, because they are being asking to check several different places to answer just one letter. The clerk may well be too busy to do this for you, and your letter might get shuffled to the bottom of the pile more than once.

A better avenue to success would really be to visit the courthouse yourself - after you have done your homework and know exactly what the courthouse does and doesn’t have, and for what years. You accomplish this by writing or calling the courthouse and asking these specific questions, or by using any of several different reference books found in most genealogy libraries.

If a personal visit is impossible, then consider hiring somebody living in that county to go and do the work for you. The small fee you’d have to pay for an hour or two of somebody’s time might save you money in the long run, and would certainly be worthwhile if it resulted in success. You can locate an agent by contacting the genealogy society in that county. You can find those addresses in reference books in any genealogical collection.

Today’s tips

Ruth McMahon has indexed the death records of Detroit, Wayne Co., Mich. for the years 1868-1897. She will check for a name for $2, plus a SASE. Write her at 8232 Beacon Lane, Northville, MI 48167-9418.

There is no charge to register for the “Surname Director for Arkansas Ancestors.” The directory will sell for a small fee. Send a long SASE for more information and a registration form to Arkansas Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 908, Hot Springs, AR 71902-0908.

Those working on Hungarian ancestry might wish to contact the Hungarian Genealogical Society, c/o Kathy Karocki, 124 Esther St., Toledo, OH 43605-1435. This group offers a newsletter, publications, and translation services.