Indiana Marriages, 1811-2019 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
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.

Record Content
Genealogical facts in county marriage entries before 1882 are:


 * 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.

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know the following:


 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Approximate marriage date
 * Place of the event

Search the Collection
Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. Look at the list of entries created by your search. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine which entry is the marriage record for your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s marriage record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. For example:


 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records.
 * Use the place of residence to search for other records, such as church and land records, that may have information on parents and siblings.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Compiling the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual. This may also help you to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * The information in marriage records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800s.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one marriage record to another record.
 * If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, check for variant spellings of the surnames.

Record History
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.

Why the Record Was Created
Counties in Indiana recorded marriages to legalize marital relationships and to safeguard the interests of wives.

Record Reliability
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.

Related Websites

 * Indiana Genweb Project
 * Indiana Genealogy Links

Related Wiki Articles

 * Indiana
 * Indiana Vital Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Example of a Source Citation for a Record Found in This Collection
"Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959." index and images, Family Search (www.familysearch,org: accessed 11 March 2011). entry for Lewis M O Bannon to Lillian Keller, married 27 October 1897: citing Marriage Records, FHL microfilm 1,404,872; Digital copies of originals housed in Circuit Court Clerk Offices in various counties throughout Indiana.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the data and images published on FamilySearch.org Historical Records. It may include the author, custodian, publisher, and archive for the original records.

"Indiana Marriages, 1811-1959," index, FamilySearch, 2009. Digital copies of originals housed in Circuit Court Clerk Offices in various counties throughout Indiana.

Information about creating source citations for FamilySearch Historical Collections is listed in the wiki article Help:How to Create Source Citations For FamilySearch Historical Records Collections.