New Mexico, County Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection contains images of county marriage records for the years 1885 to 1954, acquired from the state archives and county courthouses. This collection consists of records for the following counties:


 * Sandoval
 * Socorro
 * Valencia

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

Record Content
The records usually includes the following:


 * Name
 * Name of intended spouse
 * Age
 * Birth date
 * Birth place
 * Residence
 * License date
 * If under age, signature of consenting parent
 * Marriage date
 * Marriage place
 * Officiator and title
 * Witnesses
 * Recording dates

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


 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Identifying information such as birth dates and places or the marriage date and place

Search the Collection
To search the collection ⇒Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒Select the "County" category ⇒Select the "Record Type, Year Range, and Volume number or letter" category which will take you to the images

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

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 residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * The name of the officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties.
 * Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.
 * 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.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

Related Websites
New Mexico Marriage and Divorce Records

Related Wiki Articles
New Mexico Vital Records

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. 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. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection Citation

Image Citation