Georgia Church Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Georgia 

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes an index and images of selected church marriages records from 1754-1960. Many of the records are from Bibb, Chatham, Liberty, and Richmond counties. 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. The marriage date, place, residence of the bride and groom, and occupations are relatively reliable. Other information, such as age or birthplace, is dependent on the knowledge, memory, and accuracy of the informants, usually the bride and groom.

This collection contains various church records, meeting minutes, membership rolls, and church histories. It may also include some newspaper articles, church programs, and photographs.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
Church Marriage records may contain the following information for both bride and groom:
 * Full name
 * Age
 * Birth date
 * Birthplace
 * Parents’ names
 * Parents’ residence
 * Marital status
 * Previous spouse
 * Date of marriage
 * Place of marriage
 * Race
 * Titles and terms
 * Notes
 * Page/Volume/Entry/Certificate Number

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of the person at the time of marriage.
 * The approximate marriage date.
 * The marriage place.
 * 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 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 Page then select the “Film” category.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search 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 birth date and to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members. Witnesses or bondsmen were usually relatives.
 * 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 Georgia, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Georgia Archives and Libraries.

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: