Can’t Find A Marriage Record For Your Ancestor? 3 Reasons Why!
Can’t find a marriage record for your ancestor? Boost your genealogy research with these places and resources you might have checked yet!
I’ve looked….and looked…..and looked. I still cannot find it!
“It” is the marriage record for my 3rd great grandparents! As I once again set out to tackle the brick wall of Joanna Barrett, I wonder what I have missed. I know I am missing a clue. I can’t put my finger on it, but my “genealogy gut” – that genealogy 6th sense – is telling me I’m missing something important. I’ve learned to listen to it!
[Okay, I have to ask. Does anyone else have a “genealogy gut”? :)]
3 Reasons Why We Cannot Find a Marriage Record For An Ancestor
As new genealogy researchers or genealogy researchers starting on a new family line, we are told to find the birth, marriage and death records and dates for our ancestors. After all, these records often hold lots of genealogical pertinent information including names of parents and other family members.
But, let’s face it. Finding that marriage record for an ancestor can be quite a challenge.
Why is that exactly?
1.The courthouse burned [flooded, blew away, insert any natural disaster here].
The destruction or loss of a county’s records is unfortunate, but did occur far more often than we like to think. I research a lot in the southern states where we tend to find a number of “burned counties”, and when a record is gone, well, it’s just gone.
What do you do when the marriage records did not survive? You do have some options!
First, just because a courthouse had a fire or is referred to as a burned county, do not assume all of the records were destroyed. Check anyway! Yes, chances may be slim you will find the record you are looking for, but do not chance missing a surviving record because you assumed nothing survived.
Alternately, look for non-county governmental records. In other words, look for records and resources not kept in the courthouse.
Church records are a good example for this. Seek out church marriage records or even newspaper accounts of an ancestor’s wedding.
Perhaps happily ever after was not the couple’s future, so check the divorce records. Early divorce records could be found at the state level records. For example, early North Carolinians wanting a divorce had to petition the state’s general assembly. [Read more about finding your ancestor’s divorce records.]
2. The couple married across the border.
Consider if your ancestors crossed the county, state or country’s border to get married. Do not assume the couple got married in the county where they lived. A number of reasons could exist for crossing a border to get married.
First and foremost, what was the easiest place for a couple to get to in order to get married? Here’s an example:
I have ancestors who lived in Surry County, North Carolina. Surry County is in the foothills of North Carolina (and absolutely gorgeous!). For some of my ancestors to get married they needed to cross a large river to get to the Surry County courthouse. In early spring that river ran high and fast due to melting snow from higher up in the mountains. Or if that winter and spring were especially rainy, that river was tough to cross!
But….. getting to the courthouse in Carroll County, VA did not require crossing a river and was a safer trip if a bit longer.
So, put yourself in your ancestor’s shoes. Think about what they needed to do to get married. How far would they have to go? What type of land would they have to negotiate? Were they breaking with a family tradition of some sort? Our ancestors did things for a reason and uncovering their reasons or motives, will help you find what you are looking for.
2a. They got married in a “Marriage Mill” or a “Gretna Green”
Your ancestors were in LOVE ? , but their families may not have been happy about it.
The couple felt their only option was to elope and get married in a destination where no one knew them. Yep, my great grandfather broke his original engagement and headed across the state line to marry my great grandmother! [I really wish I knew the rest of that story!]
Or maybe the requirements to get married were cumbersome in the couple’s home state. Age requirements, medical tests, and parental consent were just some of the impediments over the years to a couple getting married.
What the couple needed and wanted was a quick and easy way to married. The “industry” of marriage mills was born.
Marriage mills are those places where couples can go for a quick and easy marriage. You may hear of these areas as “Gretna Greens”. Gretna Green, Scotland (just across the English border) became a popular destination in the 1750’s for English couples to marry and became one of the early marriage mills.
We see similar examples though more modern in the U.S. Las Vegas is a popular destination for couples to marry, but a marriage mill does not have to be a large city. Other examples in the United States include Dillon, South Carolina for couples from North Carolina. Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada was a Gretna Green for New York and New York was a Gretna Green for Ontario. Other American examples include St Joseph, Michigan and Lake County, Illinois.
Find many more U. S. Gretna Greens on FamilySearch’s Wiki.
Genealogy Tip: Seek out the locations of an area’s Gretna Green and check for your ancestor’s marriage record there.
3. The couple did not actually get married!
Sometimes we have to talk about the elephant in the room. Or the family tree!
As genealogy researchers we must take our blinders off and consider all possibilities. Did your ancestors actually get married?
The couple you are researching may not have actually gotten married. No marriage. No record.
The couple may have lived together. They may have even had children together, but never actually got married. Sarah Talley Blanks (b. ~1800) of Halifax County, Va never married Langley Talbot despite having a long term relationship over 50 years. As a widow, Sarah would have lost her property to Langley if she married him and well, Langley had gambling issues. She may have loved him, but she was not letting him handle her money.
Maybe you have an ancestor who was a young widow with a small child, but no marriage record could be found. Sometimes, women chose to call themselves a widow who was deemed more acceptable in society than a woman who had a child out of wedlock.
Consider all the possibilities.
Love was (and is!) a complicated thing and no less so for our ancestors. Family expectations, burned courthouses, and unconventional domicile arrangements makes trying to find a marriage record difficult at times.
Having Trouble Finding Other Vital Records?
Maybe you have found that marriage record, but are struggling to find your ancestor’s birth record. Try the options in this video:
You will also find help in this blog post Find Alternatives To Vital Records When Birth Records (& Others) Cannot Be Found .
23 Comments
Joetta McCallister
West Virginia isn’t listed. It I’ve seen many go to old County, KY and Gallia County, OH especially in the 1885 and later marriages.
My 2x grandfather Dolliver Reese Holley, divorced from his first wife (huge surprise) and from Kanawha County, WV, married his second wife , Mary E. Armstrong, in Gallia County, OH in 1889.
I found his close relative William Tackett, also from Kanawha County, marrying his wife Elizabeth Pauley in 1839 in Gallia County.
I’ve wondered the travel logistics, the why but haven’t quite gotten that figured.
Elisa
My husband’s parent when to Oakland Md to get married, it was close to the WV border.
I would check there first. Also the WVU campus library has a great section on family history.
LisaL
Good to know about the WV campus library. Thanks!
Jackie
Gallia County was an elopement site for Kanawha county. It was a quick and easy boat ride on the OHio River. My great-great-grandparents eloped there.
Janelle Holmes
There is another possibility. Quite often we can find Bonds but no other record of a marriage. On the frontier or backwoods areas, you might be lucky to even find a bond. Many couples never got an actual marriage license after posting the bond. In fact, some never got married afterwards, at all. Many couples are shown in Meeting House records with intent to marry but no actual record of these marriages shows up later, although sometimes, it will be proclaimed by the Quaker Meeting that so-and-so attend the marriage (I guess to make sure it went through or to prevent unforeseen circumstances).
Donna Wakeman
Another possibility, for marriages in the South during Reconstruction, was that there was no civil recordation of marriages because there was no civilian administration. This was true for my great-grandparents in Louisiana in January 1869. Their marriage was attested to by witnesses in a later law suit.
LisaL
Great reminder!
Nancy Whalen
I found the marriage record for my immigrant grandparents in the Civil War Pension Records from NARA. After my grgrgrandfather died my grgrgrandmother needed to supply proof that she was married to him. Would never have found this as they lived most of their life in Southern
New Jersey and they got married in Ellenville, NY up in the Catskills region of New York.
Shelley Stoye
My grandparents were born in the years following the Civil War – grandmother from Waco, Texas, and grandfather from Rochester, New York. I’ve tried til the cows come home to find out anything about how they met, and where they married. I’m assuming it may have had to do with the fact that they would have been on opposing political views.
Mike Callahan
I’ve got one from the days of vaudeville. The head of the company and his leading lady
were reported to be married. His mother-in-law even appeared on stage and wrote about her daughter and son-in-law. Nowhere can I find a record of marriage. I believe it was common for
such people to pose as being married because the head of the company had to pay for all costs associated with the tour. Posing as married saved the cost of a room and didn’t raise eyebrows when sharing a room.
Cute side note. One vaudeville theater had a standing policy that there were to be NO mother-in-law jokes. It was standing policy and strictly enforced. The manager loved his mother-in-law and thought it was terrible when they were made the butt of a joke. Since this vaudeville company included the mother-in-law as part of their act, the manager had to make a special exception so the show could go on.
LisaL
This is fascinating. I was not aware of the that practice with vaudeville.
Carol
My ancestor, Elbridge Keniston, was supposedly married to Nellie Farwell, but I’ve never found a marriage record. They were born and lived in New Hampshire. They have four children together, the last born died at least than a year of age. Nellie died at age 24 of consumption (TB). In the will of Nellie’s mother, the mother states that “Be it know that to my daughter Nellie Farwell Keniston I do not give anything either to her or her heirs”. This leads me to believe that Nellie perhaps married Elbridge against her mother’s wishes or they never married but simply lived together. I would be curious to hear other ideas and/or suggestions.
Sara N Martin
I was not aware St. Joseph, MI was a Gretna Green. Thank you! That might explain my great-grandparents marriage in Michigan. For my family in Champaign County, IL, most of them went to Fountain County, IN to get married. So many, in fact, I created a template to transcribe the marriage records. They asked so many questions on that record that I love a Fountain County marriage. Of course, not all the info they gave the JP is accurate!
Adele
When we got married, we did so without telling my family, as I was living with my maternal grandparents in a different provence. They knew but not my parents and siblings. It was to be a private wedding.
My husband to be and I with our two friends that were standing up with us arrived at our church ready to walk down the isle when my grandparents arrived. I was so shocked as we had told no one to come including them. However it was a thrill to have Grandpa walk me down the isle.
Now he is in a nursing home due to a brain injury and does not talk very much, but he talks about how he met me and tells everyone that we got married soon after.
In fact it was the last day of high school. Ten months later. He picked up the longstemed roses for me and came to my grandma’s house, picked me up and we went to the church.
I love all the stories and help you give us. I have found marriages in Ontario records and Bonds.
Gail Pivonka
I love your posts and the information that you share, but the many, many popups are driving me very crazy as I might miss something ? Is there any way to get a clearer view of your posts ?
Gail
Joanne
I have found all of the marriage records for my American ancestors because they were Philadelphia Catholics, so I could look them up in the records of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. FamilySearch has marriage license applications and certificates for Philadelphia after 1885, so you can also get birth dates of the spouses. The ones from 1917-1950 are not indexed, but they are easy to find if you get the license number, and these are indexed. This set also has parents’ names and places of birth and occupations, so totally worth hunting down. Underage people often went across the bridge to Camden, NJ to marry. Some also went to Delaware. Elkton, MD was also a popular marriage mill. I was elated to find my grandparents’ marriage record because it included the name of my grandmother’s biological mother, who died shortly after she was born, and my mom never knew her name. My mom got married on the same date as her mother and grandmother! Her parents were married at the height of the Spanish flu pandemic, something we can truly appreciate today.
Marilynn
A peculiar situation existed in the Danish West Indies, which was eventually purchased by the U.S. and became the U.S. Virgin Islands. My mother was the 11th and last child, born on St. Croix. She and the sister before her were the only children whose birth certificates were not marked “illegitimate,” as my grandparents did not marry until the U.S. took possession. My grandfather was a Scots Irish immigrant and my grandmother was an island native and a mixed blood descendant of African slaves. I can only surmise that either the law or the prevailing custom did not allow inter-racial marriage. However, the child was always given the father’s surname (assuming the father was known) and he was listed on the birth certificate along with the mother’s name. When it comes to genealogy, keep an open mind to ANY possibility.
Stacy Ryan
I definitely. have a “genealogy gut!” In searching for one of my 4x GGFs, James Ryan of Newcastle, New Brunswick, Canada, I read about *a* James Ryan, tavern owner, who was murdered in “The Fighting Election” of 1843. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and my whole body tingle as if to say “pay attention!” I saw it as a clue to pursue, and lo and behold! Through a variety of other evidence I learned this is, indeed, MY James Ryan! Now I’m in pursuit of HIS marriage record…either somewhere in Canada or Ireland prior to 1823. 🙁
Kathryn Mann-Fisher
First, a little off subject, but Happy Anniversary! I found the marriage license for my great-grandparents, Oscar O. Johnson and Anna Anderson. They were married in Denver in 1895. I’m had always wondered why they went to Denver to get marry when they lived in Illinois? After reading your article, I think I may now know why. My great-grandfather’s family had money and my great-grandmother worked for his family as a servant, she was a poor immigrant from Sweden. I’m guessing the Johnson weren’t happy about their son marrying the maid.
Shirleen Reese
Lisa, I wish you would write a blog post about marriages & their subsequent annullments. I’d like to know what type of records exist, if any, for these situations. I think many would find this interesting.
Brady Fitts
I have a family member who was a Rev. War veteran from Halifax County, VA. He and his wife went to Caswell County, NC, to get married about 1810. A member of his family went with them as a witness, who passed away not long after. After the husband passed away, his widow applied for a pension as a widow of a Rev. War Soldier. During the application, a request for the Clerk of Courts in Caswell to show proof of the marriage. He returned a letter indicating there wasn’t a record of the wedding. He further stated that the Justice of the Peace that had married them had not reported any marriage and that he had left the area to areas unknown. She had to get friends and her pastor to go before the Halifax County Clerk of courts to say that she was the wife and had not remarried. She earned her pension as a widow after several years.
LisaL
Oh, wow! What an interesting story! Thankfully, she got your widow’s pension.
Kathryn S Lanier
Hello and thank you for these tips to consider. I/m seeking marriage records (or any info, really) for an ancestor in the hope of learning her maiden name. How do I learn if there were records but they were lost? The marriage would have taken place around 1740 in South Carolina. I’ve had great luck with records from South Carolina but not with this one ancestor. Thank you.