Marriage Records
by Lisa
South, Certified Genealogist
I was a
nineteen year old bride to be and my fiancé had
just arrived home on leave from the military for
our wedding. We walked into the courthouse in our
hometown to apply for our wedding license and were
told we could not get married on the date we had
set because we did not have enough time to post
banns. The invitations were out and my groom's
leave was short - and did I mention I was young? I
became a puddle of tears on the floor repeating
the words "What's a bann? What's a bann?"
During the course of our country's History, a
plethora of marriage documents have been created.
These include banns, applications, bonds,
certificates, consent notices, intentions,
licenses, proclamations, register entries and
returns. Each of these can be very useful for the
genealogist on the trail of an elusive ancestor,
so it's a good idea to become familiar with all of
them.
Banns & Proclamations - these were
usually ecclesiastical records. The couple had to
post banns (an announcement of their upcoming
marriage) for two or three consecutive Sundays.
This allowed a person to register a protest if
they knew of some reason the marriage should not
take place. When banns were posted, the couple was
not required to give the minister a license or
bond to perform the ceremony. The minister was to
report the information about the marriage to the
county or town office.
Intentions - These will be found in New
England. They are similar to the banns but are
civil records. The couple's intention to marry was
usually recorded in the town meeting book for two
or three weeks. If there was no protest, the
marriage could take place without needing a
license.
Consent to Marry - when an under-aged
bride or groom was involved (the legal age changed
over time) you may find a "consent to marry"
document on file. This was usually given by the
father (genealogists love a document that gives
the name of the father!) If a mother signed the
consent form, it probably means the father was
deceased.
Marriage Bond - This was a written
guarantee that no financial impediment to the
marriage existed. It would have been supplied by
the intended bridegroom alone or with a second
person - usually the father of the bride.
Register Entry and Return - when a
couple applied for a marriage license, it was
entered into the court house register. After the
ceremony was completed, the minister or official
would "return" that information to the court house
where it was entered into the register. It is
usually just a date that follows the application
information. Too often, novice genealogists list
the date the license was issued as the marriage
date, when in fact it is the second date (the date
registered on the "return") that is the actual
marriage date.
Most of these records merely indicate that a
marriage was being planned - only three records
actually prove that a marriage took place: a
marriage return entered into a civil record, a
marriage recorded in a church record or a marriage
certificate. If you can not find one of these
three, but find banns, bonds etc., it's a good bet
(but not positive proof!) that the marriage did
take place.
By the way, through the kindness of the
officials in the court-house and some fancy
planning, our marriage did take place before my
husband's leave was over and I can prove it.
You'll find the record in the Register Entry and
Return records!!
