Thursday, December 1, 2011

Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver + Lucretia Smith Marriage Certificate

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It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history and genealogy musings.

The treasure today is the marriage certificate for
Isaac Seaver's (1823-1901) to Lucretia Smith (1828-1884) in Walpole, Norfolk County, Massachusetts in 1851:



I obtained this marriage certificate by postal mail from the Walpole town clerk's office on 7 October 1994.

Here is the transcription of the marriage certificate (typed parts in italics, form lines underlined):


Commonwealth of Massachusetts
[seal]
CERTIFICATE OF MARRIAGE

Town of Walpole, Mass., October 7 19 94

I, Louis E. Hoegler hereby certify that it appears by
the Record of Marriages in the said Town, that a marriage was solemnized, between
Isaac Seaver  and  Lucretia Smith
on the Fourth day of September in the year 1 851

The record is in the following words and figures, to wit:

GROOM:

Name, Isaac Seaver
Surname, after Marriage:  -----
Color,  ----
Residence,  Medfield Massachusetts
Age, 27
Occupation, Blacksmith
Birthplace, Westminster, Massachusetts
Father's Name, Benjamin Seaver
Mother's Name, A.---
No. of Marriage, Second

BRIDE:

Name, Lucretia Smith
Surname, after Marriage: -----
Color, ----
Residence, Medfield Massachusetts
Age, 23
Occupation, ---
Birthplace, Medfield Massachusetts
Father's Name, Alpheus Smith
Mother's Name, E.---
No. of Marriage, First

Place and Date of Marriage  September 4, 1851
By Whom Married,  Rev. George H. Newhall, Walpole

I, Louis E. Hoegler above named, depose
and say, that I hold the office of Town Clerk of the Town of Walpole, in the County of
Norfolk, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, that the records of Births, Marriages and
Deaths in said Town, are in my custody, and that the above is a true extract from the Record
of Marriages in said Town as certified by me.

WITNESS my hand and the seal of the said Town, on the day and year first above written.

(Seal)  ................................................  Louis E. Hoegler
....................................................... ......................... Town Clerk

I don't see any obvious errors in the entries on this marriage certificate.  The birth dates are not provided.  The mother's names are given only by initials for some reason.  The original town record book must have had their first names because the marriage records in the Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841 to 1910 collection (available on www.AmericanAncestors.org and www.FamilySearch.org had them as Abigail and Eliza, respectively.

The other question I have is "Why did they marry in Walpole, and not in Medfield, where both were residents?"  Lucretia was of age so they didn't have to "run away."  Perhaps it was because it was Isaac's second marriage, and Lucretia's mother did not approve of it?  Perhaps they attended the church in Walpole rather than the one in Medfield for convenience?   Perhaps they wanted to have this particular minister marry them and he now was in Walpole rather than Medfield?  Walpole was not far from Medfield, just down the road a bit to the southeast.

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