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Marriage Records
County marriage records are the earliest and most complete vital records for Tennessee. The records which have survived usually begin within a few years of each county’s organization. Marriage records from the earliest dates to the present are kept by the county clerk for each county. Since 1 January 1949, duplicates have been sent to the Office of Vital Statistics.

The Family History Library has microfilm copies of most of the existing county marriage records from the county organization date to the early 1900's. Access these records through the FHL catalog ''Tennessee&gt;County Name.  Many early Tennessee marriages to about 1890 are extracted and found in the International Genealogical Index.'' This index is accessed at FamilySearch. For a breakdown of the Tennessee marriages indexed in the International Genealogical Index, visit Hugh Wallis's IGI Batch Numbers for Tennessee, USA.

About 20 Tennessee counties did not begin officially recording marriages in registers until a state law passed mandating the practice in 1838. Many of the loose marriage licenses and bonds created before that time have been lost. Soderberg and Creekmore quote the Acts of Tennessee (1838, ch. 118, sec. 2) as follows:


 * It was not until 1838 that the clerks were required "to keep a well bound book, in which they shall register the names of the parties, and the date of issuance of each marriage license."

The following counties, though many had been in existence for more than a decade, did not begin registering marriages until that time: Anderson, Benton, Campbell, Cannon, Carroll, Claiborne, Fayette, Franklin, Henry, Johnson, Lauderdale, Lincoln, Madison, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Smith, Stewart, Tipton, and Weakley. A useful substitute for counties where marriages were not officially recorded, or where courthouses burned is:


 * Lucas, Silas Emmett. Marriages from Early Tennessee Newspapers 1794-1851. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1978. FHL US/CAN Book 976.8 V2L.

In the 1930s, W.P.A. workers indexed many Tennessee county marriage records. Edythe Whitley Rucker notes that when she went back to these courthouses several decades later to make new indexes, some of the records the W.P.A. found had gone missing for various counties. Sometimes this is due to theft, for an example, see Dick Eastman's articles:


 * 90-year-old Woman Defies Judge Over Davy Crockett Marriage License (2010/01/03)
 * Davy Crockett's Marriage License Returned to Jefferson County, Tennessee (2010/04/20)

Therefore, it is crucial to search W.P.A. indexes for your county's marriages, in addition to more modern published indexes and online indexes, or you may overlook marriages that have disappeared.

RecordSearch at FamilySearch now includes indexed Tennessee marriages. This is a pilot site and still under construction. At this time, it is best to browse through results from the RecordSearch home page titled "Discover Your Ancestors." Indicate a surname, marriage "event" and a county name. Browse through the results for that surname. You may need to supply any variant spellings of the surname in separate searches.

Beginning in 1945, Tennessee required registration of marriages with the state. These records have been indexed and are at the Office of Vital Statistics. The Family History Library does not have copies of these records.Reels of microfilm containing marriage records can be borrowed on inter-library loan from the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Counties continue to keep their own records of marriages. Many of these later marriages are available on microfilm at the Tennesse State Library and Archives or the county courthouse. See individual Tennessee counties in the wiki for the availability of county marriage records.

Many county marriage records are indexed with images at Ancestry's Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002. $ Be aware that this index is not complete for all counties. In particular, most Davidson county marriages are not included.

You can find early Tennessee published marriage records through:


 * Early East Tennessee Marriages. This source indexes pre-1861 marriages from 20 counties, listing the bride and groom and the date and county of the marriage. There is a separate index for brides and grooms. Free Lookups Available!


 * Early Middle Tennessee Marriages. This source indexes pre-1861 marriages from 27 counties, listing the bride and groom and the date and county of the marriage. There is a separate index for brides and grooms.


 * Early West Tennessee Marriages. This source indexes pre-1861 marriages from 15 counties, listing the bride and groom and the date and county of the marriage. There is a separate index for brides and grooms.


 * Marriage Records. Contains marriage records for several Tennessee counties from the late 1700's to 1926, as well as marriage records from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. Dates vary with the county.
 * Marriage Records: Early–1850. Contains marriage records for Tennessee, as well as marriage records from Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia.