North Dakota, County Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States North Dakota

What is in the Collection?
This collection consists of a name index and images to county marriage records acquired from local courthouse records in North Dakota from 1882-1925. A small portion of the records are in poor condition with fragments of the original document remaining and some names partially visible. Images in this collection appear in some county records chronologically and alphabetically in others.

This collection will eventually include all counties in North Dakota and is being published as images and records become available. Records currently include the counties of:

Digital Folder Number List
This collection contains a digital browse. Clicking on the "Browse through images" link on the collection page will take you to a list of digital film numbers. The list does not contain any description of the content of the film. The following table lists the contents of each set of images. The SHSND # column gives the microfilm number assigned by the State Historical Society of North Dakota. The Record Series is the number assigned to this record set by the State Historical Society.

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of North Dakota marriages, click here.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Marriage Licenses may contain the following information:
 * Name of groom and bride
 * Maiden name of bride
 * Ages of groom and bride
 * Parents’ names
 * Date of marriage
 * Names of officiator and witnesses
 * Race of groom and bride
 * Marital status of groom and bride

Early marriages (before 1886) in North Dakota were not required to be registered but some were filed with the city clerk where the marriage occurred or where the bride or groom resided. A copy of a marriage certificate was presented to the married party if they requested one.

A federal law in 1887 required officiators to file marriage certificates in the county probate court. A state law in 1890 changed the place of filing to the county courts, implemented use of an Application for Marriage License, and requirement for the Judge of the County Court to keep a marriage record book. In later years, marriage licenses were issued and registered in the county clerk offices and sometimes in the office of the county treasurer.

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate date of marriage.
 * The county where your ancestor married.
 * The name of the intended spouse.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: ⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the "County" category ⇒ Select the "Record Type, Date Range and Volume" category which takes you to the images.

Look at each index or image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the record relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s marriage record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Marriage records sometimes note witnesses or bondsmen. In some cases, witnesses or bondsmen were relatives of the bride or groom. Remember to note those individuals because they may help identify the extended family.
 * Use the ages of the bride and groom to estimate their birth years.
 * Couples were usually married in the locality where one or both parties were from. Search records from that locality for other information about the family such as marriages of siblings or the bride or groom’s birth records.
 * Sometimes marriage records note the names of the bride and groom’s parents. Use this information to extend your pedigree a generation.
 * Occupations were often the best way to differentiate between individuals of the same name. Note the occupations listed to ensure that you have identified the correct individual as your ancestor.
 * Marriage was often times both a religious and a civil contract. Search for records created by both jurisdictions because they may provide different information.
 * If the officiator of the marriage was a minister, you may be able to determine to which religion or congregation your ancestor belonged. This information can lead to more records about the family
 * If no age is listed try to determine the legal age of marriage for that jurisdiction. This will provide a minimum age for your ancestor at time of marriage.
 * Many marriage forms state that the bride and groom were of a certain age (commonly 21 or 18 years old). This may not be your ancestor’s age but a statement that the couple is of legal age to marry.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they were married, then try searching the records of a nearby locality.
 * If the bride and groom were from different localities try searching the records of both places for the marriage record. It was common for a couple to be married in the bride’s home town.
 * Because marriage could be either a civil or religious event, try searching both church and civil records for the couple’s marriage record.
 * Sometimes marriage records for a particular locality are missing. Try searching newspapers for an announcement of the marriage.
 * When a widow was applying for her deceased husband’s military service, she frequently had to prove that she was married to the soldier. This was often done by sending a copy of the marriage certificate, county marriage register, or page from the family bible. Because marriage records for a locality may be missing, the widow’s pension application may be the best place to locate marriage information.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation: