Tuesday's Tip: Research in the Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002

The record collection for Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002 is one of my favorite record collections.  It is online at Ancestry.com with 6,334,653 name indexed entries.  Note that this is a collection of marriage records digital images filed between 1805 and 2002.

The original source for this online collection is the Missouri Marriage Records. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives, on Microfilm.

On Ancestry.com, the user will find this collection search page in the Card Catalog:

The description of the information in this record collection is (from the Ancestry.com collection page):

This database contains an index and images of marriage records from Missouri covering the years 1805-2002. Information that may be found in this database includes the following:

• Groom’s name
• Groom’s race
• Groom’s birth date or age
• Groom’s parents’ names
• Bride’s name
• Bride’s race
• Bride’s birth date or age
• Bride’s parents’ names
• Marriage place
• Marriage date

Note: Social Security numbers have been redacted from the images in order to protect privacy.

Types of marriage records found in this database include marriage licenses, applications for marriage licenses, records of marriages solemnized, marriage certificates, marriage registers, and indexes. Due to the variety of record types, all of the above listed information may not be available in the index for each marriage. On the other hand, there may be additional information listed on actual marriage records, so always click through to view the record images.

Marriage records are great sources for genealogists because they document an individual in a particular place and time as well as provide details about that person's marriage.

Search Tips:

• This collection includes images of indexes as well as the actual marriage records. If you’re having trouble finding your ancestor through the search, try browsing the index for the county in which they lived and use that information to locate them in the actual records.
• Don’t overlook the possibility that your ancestor may have been married in a nearby county that was more convenient to them, or where other family members lived.

More about Marriage Records in Missouri:

Marriage records are held by the county recorder of deeds. Prior to 26 June 1881, no marriage license was required; the marriage was recorded in any convenient courthouse.

Types of Marriage Records:

Marriage licenses are the most common marriage records in the United States. They are issued by the appropriate authority prior to the marriage ceremony, and they have come to replace the posting of banns and intentions. Marriage licenses, which grant permission for a marriage to be performed, are returned to civil authorities after the ceremony.

Marriage licenses exist in varying forms. A standard form generally asks for the names of the bride and groom, their residence at the time of application, the date the marriage was performed, the date the license was issued, the place of the marriage, and the name of the person performing the marriage ceremony.

Applications for marriage licenses have been required in some jurisdictions in addition to or in place of bonds. Applications are often filled out by both the bride and groom and typically contain a large amount of genealogical information.

Marriage certificates are given to the couple after the ceremony is completed and are thus usually found among family records. There are exceptions, however. [Some] certificates…are similar to marriage licenses issued in other places. The bride and groom usually receive a marriage certificate for their family records containing similar historical information, signatures of witnesses, and so on.

I searched for Seaver as a last name, checked the Exact box, and saw 80 results:

I clicked on the first match, and saw the information extracted for the marriage of William A. Seaver in 1954:

As you can see, this record summary provides the person's full name, race, age, bith date, marriage date, marriage place, and spouse's name.  Clicking on the spouse's name provided the same information for the spouse.

Plus, there is an image of the marriage record with even more information:

This image shows only the names of the bride and groom, their county of residence, and if they are over or under the age of consent, plus the marriage date and marriage county.  

Where did the index get the race, age and birth date information that is in the record summary?  It appears that some of the Jackson county, Missouri images do not have the birth dates on the marriage record.  Some of the counties may provide only an approximate birth year.

For my key surnames, this collection has these numbers of exact records:

*  Seaver:      80
*  Seavers:     53
*  Seever:      65
*  Seevers:  106
*  Sever:        60
*  Severs:    201
*  Sevier:    220

*  Carringer:  12

*  Auble:       11

*  Vaux:        11

The Ancestry "database number" for this collection is 1171.  I have over 200 profiles in my Ancestry Family Tree with a pending Hint in this collection.  I know that I have collected some of the entries already.

There is no similar record collection on FamilySearch, MyHeritage or Findmypast.

More information about Missouri Marriage Records can be found at   https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/How_to_Find_Missouri_Marriage_Records.

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NOTE:  Tuesday's Tips is a genealogy blog meme intended to provide information about a resource helpful to genealogists and family historians, especially in the U.S. online genea-world.

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