Tennessee, Madison County Marriage Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Tennessee  Madison County 



What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of images of marriage records and bonds from 1950 to 2008, located at Jackson.

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of Tennessee marriages click here.

Collection Content
The records usually include:


 * Date and place of marriage
 * Name and age of the groom
 * Name and age of the bride
 * Sometimes, name of person giving consent
 * Name of the officiator
 * Names of witnesses
 * Residences of the bride and groom

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know the following:


 * Names of the bride and groom
 * identifying information such as the marriage date and place

Search the Collection
To browse by image: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the appropriate "County" ⇒Select the appropriate "Record Type, Year Range, and Volume number or letter" which takes 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.

What Do I Do Next?
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 age to calculate an approximate birth date.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

What If I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?

 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Search for the marriage record of the marriage partner if known.
 * Search the records of nearby localities.
 * Look for a different index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals with the same family number.

General Information About These Records
The records are arranged by county, then by volume and year range. The form type varies between register style and certificate style. County clerks usually used the same printed form during the same time periods. Marriage records were generally well preserved, although fires, floods, or other disasters may have destroyed some records.

The earliest marriage bonds and licenses were usually handwritten on loose papers that were later bound into lettered volumes. Some marriage records had multiple entries on each page, while others had single records per page. Later records were handwritten on preprinted pages.

Civil marriage records were created to legalize marital relationships and to protect the interests of the wife and other heirs to legal claims on property.

The marriage date, place, and residence of the bride and groom are relatively reliable. Other information, such as age is dependent on the knowledge, memory, and accuracy of the informants, usually the bride and groom.

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.

Related Websites

 * Tennessee State Library and Archives
 * Tennessee GenWeb Project
 * Tennessee Marriages
 * Tennessee Marriages to 1825 at Ancestry ($).
 * Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 at Ancestry ($).
 * Tennessee Marriages, 1851-1900 at Ancestry ($).
 * Tennessee Marriage and Bible Records at Ancestry ($).

Related Wiki Articles

 * Tennessee
 * Tennessee Vital Records
 * Tennessee Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Tennessee State Marriage Index (FamilySearch Historical Records)

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:

Image citation: