Michigan Marriage Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Style Guide
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Collection Time Period
This collection covers marriages for the year 1868 through 1925.

How to Use the Records
Marriage records are the best source for validating the date and place of marriage. They are also one of the best sources of individual information. The age listed can be used to determine birth dates. The place of residence and occupation lead you to other records that may have information on parents and siblings.

Record Description
Marriage records were handwritten on preprinted pages with multiple entries to a page.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts found in Michigan marriage records are:


 * Name of bride and groom
 * Date of marriage license
 * Age of bride and groom
 * Race of bride and groom
 * Residence of bride and groom
 * Birthplace of bride and groom
 * Name of bride and groom’s father
 * Occupation of bride and groom

Later records also include the following:


 * Maiden name of bride and groom’s mother
 * Number of times previously married
 * Date of marriage
 * Place of marriage
 * Name of person performing the marriage
 * Witnesses to the marriage
 * Residence of witnesses

Record History
An 1805 law required registration of marriages with the clerk of the local district court. In 1867 an additional law required the counties to send copies of the records to the Office of the State Registrar. A very high percentage of marriages that took place in Michigan were recorded by civil authorities.

Why This Record Was Created
Counties in Michigan recorded marriages to safeguard the interests of the wife and other legal heirs.

Record Reliability
The date is very reliable. Other information depends upon the knowledge and reliability of the informants (usually the bride and groom). Only a few deliberately provided false information.

Related Web Sites
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Related Wiki Articles
Michigan Vital Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections

Please add sample citations to this article following the format guidelines in the wiki article listed above. Examples of citations:


 * United States. Bureau of the Census. 12th census, 1900, digital images, From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: September 29, 2006), Arizona Territory, Maricopa, Township 1, East Gila, Salt River Base and Meridian; sheet 9B, line 71
 * Mexico, Distrito Federal, Catholic Church Records, 1886-1933, digital images, from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: April 22, 2010), Baptism of Adolfo Fernandez Jimenez, 1 Feb. 1910, San Pedro Apóstol, Cuahimalpa, Distrito Federal, Mexico, film number 0227023
 * Department of Vital Records, Lansing, Michigan, Marriage record. From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org), April 23, 2010. Frank Albert Bergman m. Elizabeth Francis Mason, 05 Jan 1869, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, vol. 2, page 252, record number 1028.

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Style Guide
For guidelines to use in creating wiki articles that describe collections of images and indexes produced by FamilySearch, see: FamilySearch Wiki: Guidelines for FamilySearch Collections pages

Sources of Information for This Collection:
"Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925," database, FamilySearch; from Michigan Secretary of State. "Marriage records, 1868-1925." Michigan Department of Vital Records, Lansing, Michigan. FHL microfilm, 187 reels. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

A full bibliographic record is available in the Family History Library Catalog.

The format for citing FamilySearch Historical Collections, including how to cite individual archives is found in the following link: How to Create Source Citations for FamilySearch Historical Records Collections