Indiana Marriages, 1811-2019 - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Indiana

What is in the Collection?
This collection was indexed in partnership with the Indiana Genealogical Society. It consists of a name index to marriages recorded in the Indiana Territory and in the State of Indiana between 1811 and 2007.

Microfilm copies of original records are available at the Family History Library and at family history centers. FamilySearch has limited rights, granted by the record custodians, to publish these images for viewing online. Images for this collection are only available for viewing with an "Unofficial Record" watermark in place to keep the page from being printed as an original to comply with the record custodian restrictions.

Early county marriage records were handwritten into bound books with multiple entries to a page. Preprinted register books began to be used about 1850. By 1905, the printed format included only one entry on each page. Clerks of the Circuit Court recorded marriages performed by religious or civil authorities. Records consisted of licenses, marriage returns and marriage entries. The state of Indiana began collecting marriages from the counties in 1958.

The marriage date, residence, and other facts that were current at the time the marriage occurred are quite reliable, though there is still a chance of misinformation. Other data such as age or birth place have more chance of error due to the lapse of time between marriage and birth.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
Marriage records before 1882 usually contain the following information:


 * Marriage date
 * Marriage place
 * Names of the bride and groom

Marriage records from 1882 to 1905 may give the additional information:


 * Age, birthplace and residence of bride and groom
 * Names of parents of bride and groom, including mothers' maiden name
 * Race, color and nationality of bride and groom
 * Occupation of bride and groom
 * Number of the marriage for bride and for groom

Marriage records after 1905 may contain the additional information:


 * Birth date of the bride and groom (instead of the age)
 * Birthplace and residence of parents of bride and groom
 * Occupation, color and nationality are no longer given.

Coverage Table
The following table shows the number of records in this collection by county. Because of privacy laws not all records may be available.

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

How Do I Search the Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. To begin your search, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the individual
 * The date of the event or the name of a parent or spouse

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page.
 * 1) Select County of Event - License or Marriage
 * 2) Select Volume and Year Range

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

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

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Cite the record just in case you need to find it later. See below for help citing this collection.
 * Use the age or estimated birth date to find other church and vital records such as birth, baptism, and death records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find land, probate and immigration records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find additional family members in censuses. Witnesses were usually family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records were kept years before counties began keeping records. They are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

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

 * Indexes and transcriptions may not include all the data found in the original records.
 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby town or county.
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Check the info box above for additional FamilySearch websites and related websites that may assist you in finding similar records.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached 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):

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