Colorado Statewide Marriage Index - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Colorado

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of a card index created by the Division of Vital Statistics, Department of Health in Colorado. The index is arranged alphabetically by groom's name and provides the county, names of husband and wife, age, race, date and place of marriage, and certificate number. Some cards are out of order. The collection covers the years 1853 to 2006.

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

Marriages were recorded by the clerk of the district court for each county from the time the county was formed. Persons desiring to marry obtained a license that they presented to the minister or other person authorized to marry, such as a justice of the peace. Once the marriage was performed, the officiator sent a return to the clerk confirming that the marriage had occurred.

Civil marriage records were created to legalize marital relationships and to protect the interests of the wife and other heirs to legal claims on property. The index was created as a quick access to the marriage records.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Information found in the marriage index includes the following:


 * Name
 * Film number
 * Image number
 * Marriage date
 * Marriage place

Information found in the marriage records may include any of the following:


 * Date and place of marriage
 * Name of the groom
 * Name of the bride, sometimes maiden name is included
 * Age and race of the bride and groom
 * Marital status of the bride and groom
 * Name of person who performed the ceremony
 * Names of witnesses

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:


 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate marriage date.
 * The place where the marriage occurred.
 * The name of the intended spouse.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page:

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Pagethen select the Surname Range.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article [FamilySearch Tips and Tricks].



What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

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

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Colorado, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Colorado Archives and Libraries.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

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