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== Marriage Records == | == Marriage Records == | ||
Marriage records usually date from the formation of each county and are found in the County Clerk's Office in each county. Marriages can exist as early as 1788, as the first law regulating marriages was passed by statutes of the Northwest Territory. The statute required: 1) banns to be read 15 days before marriage, 2) the male to be 17 years old and 3) the female to be 14. By 1800, marriage licenses were manditory.<ref>Eichholz, Alice, Red Book: American State, County, and Towns Sources (Provo, UT: Ancestry, 2004), page 199.</ref> | Marriage records usually date from the formation of each county and are found in the County Clerk's Office in each county. Marriages can exist as early as 1788, as the first law regulating marriages was passed by statutes of the Northwest Territory. The statute required: 1) banns to be read 15 days before the marriage, 2) the male to be 17 years old and 3) the female to be 14. By 1800, marriage licenses were manditory.<ref>Eichholz, Alice, Red Book: American State, County, and Towns Sources (Provo, UT: Ancestry, 2004), page 199.</ref> | ||
Marriage records prior to the late 1800s usually include only the names of the couple, the date of the marriage and sometimes the date of the license, the officiant's name, the county of marriage, and occasionally the names of witnesses. Late in the 19th century, more detailed marriage application forms were being used. Depending on the time period, they may include the names of the parents of the bride and groom, including their mothers' maiden names, occupations and residences for the bridal couple and their parents, whether the bride and/or groom had been married previously and how the previous marriage(s) ended (death or divorce). Often the marriage application also had a section where the parties were asked to attest that they were of legal age, were not insane, whether the groom could support a family, and similar questions. | Marriage records prior to the late 1800s usually include only the names of the couple, the date of the marriage and sometimes the date of the license, the officiant's name, the county of marriage, and occasionally the names of witnesses. Late in the 19th century, more detailed marriage application forms were being used. Depending on the time period, they may include the names of the parents of the bride and groom, including their mothers' maiden names, occupations and residences for the bridal couple and their parents, whether the bride and/or groom had been married previously and how the previous marriage(s) ended (death or divorce). Often the marriage application also had a section where the parties were asked to attest that they were of legal age, were not insane, whether the groom could support a family, and similar questions. | ||
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