Idaho, County Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Idaho

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of a name index and images of Idaho county marriages acquired from local courthouses for the years 1864 to 1950.

Currently the collection includes the following counties: Ada, Adams, Benewah, Blaine, Bonner, Bonneville, Butte, Camas, Canyon, Caribou, Cassia, Clark, Custer, Elmore, Franklin, Fremont, Gem, Gooding, Idaho, Jefferson, Jerome, Kootenai, Latah, Lemhi, Lewis, Lincoln, Madison, Minidoka, Nez Perce, Oneida, Payette, Power, Shoshone, Teton, Twin Falls, Valley, and Washington.

The collection also includes records for the towns of Ashton and Marysville. Bannock County marriages are not currently apart of this collection.

About half the records are single page records or registers and another half are packet style with packet cover and related documents. Included in this collection are marriage licenses, certificates, applications, docket books, and affidavits. The collection may also include some loose documents. The first laws in Idaho Territory concerning marriages were enacted in 1864. The first Territorial Legislative Assembly made provisions for books in which to record certificates issued by the person performing the marriage ceremony, as well as contracts made by individuals. Although some early Idaho Territorial marriage contracts were recorded, most were not. Pre-1895 records located in the county courthouses of Idaho are certificates issued by the person performing the marriage ceremony. County recorders have records of marriages since the date each county was organized. In addition to the register, most counties will also have the original marriage applications. These are especially valuable if one or both marriage parties are under legal age as permission from the parent or guardian is included. No licenses were required before 11 March 1895. Civil marriage records were created to legalize marital relationships and to safeguard the interests of the wife and other heirs. The date and place of marriage and the name of the presiding official are quite reliable. Other information depends upon the knowledge and reliability of the informants, usually the bride and groom.

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

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Information found in most Idaho marriage records may include:


 * Names of the groom and bride
 * Current county and state of their residence
 * Date and place license was issued
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Names of witnesses
 * Presiding official

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search you will need to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The name of the intended spouse.
 * The approximate date and place of marriage.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page

View images in this collection by visiting then Browse Pagethen select the appropriate Film category.

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.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional 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 Who 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.
 * Search the indexes and records of Idaho, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Idaho Archives and Libraries.

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:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image citation: Top of Page