More Living Columnists

• Dolores Sanchez Badillo: The view from the fenceline
• Mary Penner: Learning about your past is an awesome journey
• Steve Brewer: Goofy fads can hold fond memories for families

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

It's Valentine's Day, and every year happy couples line up at chapels, churches and courthouses to get hitched. Whether it's a platinum wedding or an economy affair, the marriage ritual is something the newlyweds have in common with the vast majority of their ancestors.

Back in the old days, weddings could be quite simple. In some cultures, when a couple wanted to marry, the man went to the woman's home, escorted her back to his home, and so began their married life. That was it — cheap, convenient and no elaborate wedding details to sweat over.

Fortunately for genealogists, religious leaders and government bureaucrats didn't tolerate these casual customs for long. They put a stop to haphazard marriage customs and laid down rules and regulations; consequently, the old institution of marriage developed a paper trail.

When you're hunting for marriage records, brush up on the local customs and rules regarding marriage. Different ethnic groups, different cultures, different religions, different governments, even different social classes all had their own rules.

If your ancestors followed the rules, you will often find marriage-related documents in church records or civil records, or perhaps, if you're lucky, in both.

As for church records, most religions have their own regulations for marriage. One of the most common religious practices involves publishing marriage banns.

Banns, which announced the upcoming marriage, generally were proclaimed or posted in churches (and sometimes elsewhere in the community, too) three times before the marriage occurred.

Banns gave the locals an opportunity to object to the impending nuptials. Some might object if the potential bride and groom were already related somehow, or others might cry foul if one of the intended had the awkward circumstance of already being married to someone else.

Government records might also include banns. Some governments still require banns even today. But in America, more typically, you will find marriage licenses.

The license provides the government's seal of approval to the union. After the wedding, the person who performed the marriage generally supplied the government, often represented by the county clerk, with the pertinent details of the happy occasion.

Marriage licenses, most widely used in the United States after the Civil War, often contain vital information about the couple.

Marriage licenses generally reveal the names, ages and residences of the bride and groom, as well as the marriage date and location and who performed the ceremony.

Some marriage licenses include birth dates and birthplaces of the couple. The names of witnesses to the marriage could be on the license as well. This is handy because the witnesses were often family members.

As always, be cautious when looking at original documents. Many of our ancestors fibbed their way into marriage, stretching the truth most often about their ages.

One license I looked at recently showed the bride's age as 18; however, all other records suggest she was 15. Another record declared that the groom was 24 when he was really 38.

Also, be suspicious if the groom's age is 21 and the bride's is 18. That might just mean they were of legal age to marry.

Look for both church and government marriage records at the local level first. County clerks usually have the government records, but you also might find marriage records in the probate court. Church records, if not with the church still, may be at the local historical society or even the local library.