Arizona, County Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

What Is in This Collection?
This collection includes images of county marriage records acquired from county courthouses for the years from 1871 to 1964. The counties of Coconino, Navajo and Yuma are not included in these records.

Image Visibility
Whenever possible, FamilySearch makes images available for all users. However, rights to view images on our website are granted by the record custodians.

These images can be viewed online by members of the supporting organization(s), at a Family History Center near you, or the Family History Library.

For additional information about image restrictions, please see the Restrictions for Viewing Images in FamilySearch Historical Record Collections page.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Marriage records may include the following:


 * Name of the groom
 * Name of the bride, often including the maiden name of the bride
 * Date of the marriage
 * Marriage place
 * Names of the parents or guardians of the bride and groom
 * Birthplaces of the bride and groom
 * Residences of the bride and groom
 * Age and races of the bride and groom
 * Marital status of the bride and groom
 * Names of witnesses
 * Name of officiator

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of Arizona county marriage records, click here.

Sample Image
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. 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.

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, 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.

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate date of marriage.
 * The place where the marriage occurred.
 * The name of the intended spouse.

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 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.
 * In case you need to find this record again later, copy the citation below in the Citing This Collection section. It's always a good idea to keep your citation on a Research Log. This is an important tool to help keep track of what you have and have not found.  Family search wiki has a  Example Research Log that you can download and use.
 * Print or download a copy of the record, or extract the genealogical information needed.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find or verify their birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth, and family names to find additional family members in the census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * Use the parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * 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?

 * 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.
 * Pay special attention to how the name should have been pronounced and try variations on the pronunciation.
 * Search the indexes and records of Arizona, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Arizona Archives and Libraries.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry): Image Citation: Top of Page