Washington, County Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Washington

What Is in the Collection?
This collection contains marriage returns, certificates and a few affidavits depending on the county. Most of the records are pre-printed forms filled in by hand or typewritten. Some of the certificates are handwritten entries recorded in registers. The time period covered by this collection includes the years 1855 to 2008.

County officials began recording marriages in 1853 or soon after the counties were organized. Information was filled in by the minister, priest, or official performing the marriage ceremony and then returned to the county auditor of the county in which the marriage took place. Statewide registration of marriages began in 1968.

Marriage records legalize marital relationships and validate a wife’s legal claim to property.

County marriage records are considered a reliable source in family history research because they contain a record of an event usually registered very near the time the event occurred. The reliability, of course, depends on the accuracy of the informant.

What Can These Records tell Me?
Information that may be found in the marriage records are:


 * Date and place of marriage
 * Names, ages and races of bride and groom
 * Residences and occupation of bride and groom
 * Number of groom's marriages
 * Number of bride's marriages
 * Birthplaces of bride and groom
 * Names of bride and groom's parents
 * Maiden names of bride and groom's mothers
 * Names of witnesses
 * Name of person performing the marriage

How Do I Search the Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name of the person
 * The location or date of the event

View the Images
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 * 1) Select County
 * 2) Select Record type, volumes 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.

What Do I Do Next?
Indexes and transcriptions may not include all the data found in the original records. Look at the actual image of the record, if you can, to verify the information and to find additional information.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Copy the citation below, in case you need to find this record again later.
 * 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 often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * 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.
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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.

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