Marriage records are some of the earliest records available in the United States that offer a wealth of genealogical gems.  They may include the ages of the bride and groom, their residences, and sometimes a parent or other relative’s name.

Modern marriage records can help us understand earlier records.  If you are married, think about the variety of records leading up to the wedding.  Did you go to the courthouse to apply for a license?  Was a notice of the engagement, or of the wedding placed in a local newspaper?  Were you married at a church, and did the church note it in their records?  If married at the church, the pastor/priest/officiator was required to report his or her completion of that ceremony to the local court.  If married civilly, was there a record of the wedding at the courthouse separate from that first license you applied for?  Did the court and/or church give you a private certificate, suitable for framing?  Did you send out invitations or annoucements? Were photos taken at your wedding?  Did friends or relatives write or blog about the celebration?  Looking at all these situations, we can see at least eight different types of records created about the event.  Think of your ancestors’ weddings in much the same way: if a record of the marriage isn’t in one place, it may be in another.

Here’s a very brief review of the types of marriage records that may be available in a variety of places:

State and Local Records

Marriage records are not federal records.  They have always been maintained and governed by the county or state in which they occured.  Investigate the laws regarding marriage in your ancestor’s state and time period.

1. Consents:  Written parental permission for a child to be married, especially if underaged.  Sometimes these are found to confirm that the child is of age.
2. Marriage bonds:  A financial contract to hopefully avoid litigation of the marriage is nullified.  Usually signed by the groom and a male representative of the bride’s family.
3. Marriage banns: Church declaration or posting of an intended marriage, to give the congregation an opportunity to oppose the marriage if there is a just cause to prevent it, i.e. the groom has another wife in the next county.
4. Applications:  The application to marry often asks the bride and groom about ages, birthplaces, parent’s names, and previous marriages.  Check to see how early these were used in the county you’re searching.
5. License: Court approval of the marriage application.  These are often found at the bottom of the application in most pre-printed court books.  Note that the date of marriage application or license is not always the same as the date of the wedding!
6. Minister’s Returns:  Sometimes these are separate reports from ministers or Justices of the Peace that a marriage ceremony was preformed.  The clerk should be noting these at the bottom of the marriage application/license.  If there is no return it may indicate that 1) the marriage did not occur, or 2) the minister didn’t make it back to the clerk to report.  If there is no return, you may need to look for other indications of co-habitation after the date of the license.
7. Divorce Records:  When couples break up, they make a lot of records.  Early divorces were granted only on the state level, but were overseen later by county courts.  Check Chancery and Equity records, or ask the clerk of the court.

Church Records

1. Minister or Church Clerk books:  Church records vary from church to church and often from one minister to another.  The marriages may be recorded together, chronologically, or mixed in with other rites, such as baptism or burials.
2. Church minutes:  If there are no records of marriages, check the minutes for listings of members.  Spouses may be referred to when they join or move.

Newspapers

1. Wedding Annoucements:  For my own grandparents, I found multiple news articles.  There were at least two listings of bridal showers, the pre-wedding announcement, the post-wedding announcement, and an entire article on who attended and what they wore with a photo of the happy couple looking dubiously at a wedding present they’d just unwrapped.  Thank goodness for small town newspapers!  Don’t forget to check for those silver anniversary announcements too.

Private Family Records

The wonderful thing about family records of weddings is that they are so diverse and can be held by so many different family members.  Get to know second and third cousins who may have inherited unique memoribilia.  These may include:

• Invitations
• Marriage Certificates
• Photos
• Journals and Letters
• Family Bibles

Take some time to “walk down the aisle” with your ancestors and search for their marriage records. Find out more by reading up on early marriage practices and customs.  If your ancestors were of African-American descent, be aware that sometimes those records were kept separately.  If your ancestor participated in the Revolution, War of 1812, or Civil War, look for evidences of marriage produced by widows and heirs in pension applications.  For more information, read the wonderful article by Johni Cerny and Sandra H. Luebking, “Research in Marriage and Divorce Records” in the Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy.  You can also check for online guides about marriage records that are specific to time periods or countries at FamilySearch.org.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

2013 has just begun and undoubtedly will be a year full of grand events and stories.

But how will you remember them all?

We’re here to tell you about a fun and easy way to preserve the year’s most pleasurable and meaningful memories. This idea is one that could be particularly sweet for families with school age children.

As memorable events occur throughout the year, take a few moments to write about the highlights of that event on a piece of paper. Then place the note in a jar.  Keep scrap paper, pen and a glass jar in a prominent place—ideally your living room or kitchen— for easy access.

This effort can be a wonderful activity for a family to do together. By June, you might even need to get a larger jar!

At the end of the year, set aside a special time, perhaps during the holiday season, to read and share with each other the year’s memories.

Here are just some of the possible results of this effort:

• Family bonding throughout the year and especially over the holidays
• Memories recalled and cherished for years to come
• Validation of children’s favorite stories and recollections
• Memories preserved for future generations

Think how cool it would be if you had a jar full of memories from when you were 10, growing up in a very different time from today.

It’s never to late to start this activity. What sorts of memories do you think you might be sharing by the end of the year?

Get your jar ready and find out. Happy 2013!

Twenty-four years ago I decided to enclose a one-page personal letter with each one of our Christmas cards.

My goal: to share with our family and friends the highlights of the year’s activities.  Fifty or so people have received our letters and the response from them was positive. We, in turn, received many interesting and creative Christmas letters.

Fortunately, I had the good sense to keep a copy of each year’s Christmas letter.  Every year I place the newest letter in a Christmas green binder for safekeeping. This year as I read those letters once again I realized that the letters give a pretty good history of the highlights of our family’s activities over the last twenty-four years. Little did I know just how precious these letters would become as the years have passed by.

In 1988, the letters recall our being stationed in Nicosia, Cyprus and living a cautious and careful life of an American Embassy family. On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 departing Heathrow Airport was bombed while flying over Lockerbie, Scotland.  One of our own security officers was on board the flight.  Several days later, my husband and I attended the memorial service to honor this young man at the US Embassy in Nicosia.  After this tragic event our ambassador ordered that Americans should not meet in large groups for fear of additional attacks.  As a result my two daughters’ school Christmas parties were canceled and Americans did not gather that year for their traditional Christmas party at the Marine House.

In 1990, we were living outside of London and my young daughters attended a British school for two years. Before leaving England, my friends gave a party in my honor.  The party took the form of British High Tea – a dressy afternoon event where fancy finger foods and punch were served.  Within a week’s time, we were back in Virginia and attending the Prince William County Fair.  By the end of that day we had seen pigs, sheep and cows and even watched a truck pull.  I thought to myself, what a change of lifestyle! In the next years our two daughters grew from being little girls with pronounced British accents to young and independent American women. From learning to ride their bicycles, to working on Algebra and French homework, to taking drivers ed and scaring the daylights out of their parents, and then going off to college— it is all there on the pages of our family’s Christmas letters.

Thirty-eight years ago, it was just my husband and me. Today, our family has grown to eight people.  The lives of all eight of us are recounted on the pages of those Christmas letters.

As I read these letters I realized how many things had slipped from my memory. And what a shame it would have been if those family memories had been lost forever.

And that reminds me…I’d better get writing this year’s letter.  Our friends and family are waiting and my Christmas green binder has an empty page protector marked “2012”.

How about you?  Do you write a yearly letter? How do you record the history of your family?  If you don’t, perhaps 2012 is the time to start. Enjoy! 

As a personal historian, I strongly believe in preserving memories from the past, one story at a time. But I also believe in the value of deliberately creating new family memories.

I have a little five-year-old granddaughter named Emily. Yesterday afternoon we made and decorated Christmas cookies together – just the two of us.   Christmas music played softly in the background and the kitchen smelled wonderful with the aroma of sugar cookies baking in the oven.  You should have seen us.  There was flour, cookie sprinkles and bits of cookie dough everywhere.  Emily was covered in ingredients—it was a miracle that any of it made it to the oven.  We laughed, giggled, oohed and ahhed over our creative efforts.

By the end of our time together we had decorated thirty cookies. Some looked better than others. But all were beautiful examples of the fruits of our labor, two sets of hands working lovingly together. Undoubtedly, this sweet memory will not be forgotten anytime soon!

In case you’d like to do some Christmas baking with your children or grandchildren, the following is a delicious sugar cookie recipe that I have used for years:

Ingredients:

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup white granulated sugar

¾ cup unsalted butter

1 large egg

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Soften butter.  In a mixing bowl, cream together sugar and butter until fluffy.  Add egg, lemon zest and vanilla extract and beat until blended.  In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining dry ingredients.  On low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture and mix together. If mixture seems dry, add a little water, a few drops at a time, only until the dough starts to come away from the sides of the bowl.

With a spatula scrape the dough out of the bowl and on to a piece of plastic wrap.  Using the plastic wrap press the dough into a thick flat disc.  Refrigerate for at least two hours.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out cookie dough to a 1/8 inch thickness.  Cut shapes with cookie cutters.  Use a metal spatula to transfer cookies on to a cookie tray. Be sure not to crowd cookies on tray.

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until the cookies begin to brown around the edges.

Cool cookies on wire racks before decorating.  Hint: visit your local grocery store’s baking aisle for colored icings, sprinkles and edible glitter.

What memories will you create with your family this holiday season?

Today is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

Seventy one years ago 2,400 Americans were killed and many injured when Japanese fighter pilots bombed the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. A day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan, bringing America into WWII.

Remember to fly your flag at half staff until sunset today in honor of those who fought and those who died at Pearl Harbor.

Thanksgiving Day is now a sweet memory of that glorious meal shared with family and friends, perhaps followed by playing pick up football, winning a heated game of Monopoly, or savoring that last piece of home made pumpkin pie.

But guess what, there are still memories to be made!

This year marks the fifth anniversary of Story Corps National Day of Listening. This is a special day set aside to sit down with loved ones, turn on a recording device, and reminisce together. Share stories and memories of the past and even hopes for the future. Sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it?  Click here for more information about Story Corps.

This year Story Corps is focusing on those who have served in the US armed forces.  On November 23, honor a veteran by asking more about their military service and experiences.   To make this even easier, Story Corps has provided some great questions to ask. Check out: http://nationaldayoflistening.org/militaryvoices/

In this fast paced life that many of us live, this holiday weekend provides a nice excuse for a break. Give some thought to preserving your family’s stories and legacy.  In the years to come you will be so glad you chose to take the time to honor and remember those who have given so much to you.

Thanksgiving Day festivities are wrapped up in the memories of times spent with family and friends, and the foods that we have shared together.

We at Reel Tributes wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving Day. As you savor the aromas and flavors of your Thanksgiving meal, remember to savor and delight in those with whom you are spending this wonderful holiday.

With that thought in mind, I’m passing on to you one of my family’s culinary favorites: Southern Pecan Pie.  This is an old and special recipe that my favorite Aunt Lou has made for many years.  I hope you like it.

Aunt Lou’s Special Southern Pecan Pie

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare pastry for one nine-inch crust pie.

3 eggs

2/3 cup of sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup dark or light corn syrup

1 cup pecan halves or broken pecan pieces

Prepare pastry. Beat eggs, sugar, salt, butter and syrup with rotary beater.  Stir in nuts.  Pour into pastry-lined pie pan.  Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until filling is set. HINT: When testing to see if filling is set, use a knife.  If the knife comes out clean, the pie is done.

If you make a pecan pie for your Thanksgiving meal, write and let us know how you liked it!

Ninety-three years ago, President Woodrow Wilson declared November 11th Armistice Day to honor the soldiers who had fought in World War I.  On June 1, 1954 the name was changed to Veterans Day to honor all those who have and continue to serve in the United States Armed Forces.

We, at Reel Tributes, have had many wonderful opportunities to meet those brave men and women who have served our country and to preserve their stories.

Remember to proudly fly your flag today! And be sure to thank those in your life who have served our country.

Your friends at Reel Tributes wish you and your loved ones a Happy Father’s Day.

Over the past two years, we’ve had the pleasure of producing films for fathers around the country. We have seen first-hand just how powerful of an impact a father can have on his children. Our clients have laughed and cried on camera telling stories of the family road trips, the dirty jokes, and the sage advice that dad can’t help but give.

This year, remember to show your father and grandfather just how much you love them. Give them a hug, a kiss, a smile. Thank them for everything they’ve done to make you who you are today. And ask them questions about their childhood, so you can get a fuller picture of who they are and what makes them tick.

How are you celebrating Father’s Day? How are you recording the stories of your father and grandfather, so future generations get to know the men who have meant so much to you? Write us a comment and let us know!

We all owe a debt of gratitude for those who gave their lives for our nation. For those brave families who lost a loved one in combat, today we stand with you as one.