Georgia, County Marriages, 1785-1950

Source

Record Description

The collection covers the years 1785 to 1950.

The collection consists of an index and images of marriages recorded in Georgia counties. Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed. The year range represents most of the records, although a few counties may have records from earlier or later.

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 records are arranged by county, then by volume and year range. Marriage records were generally well preserved, although fires, floods, or other disasters may have destroyed some.

The earliest records were usually handwritten on loose papers and later bound into lettered volumes. Some marriage records had multiple entries on each page while others had single records per page.

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.

Record Content

Georgia County Marriages DGS 4254949 190.jpg Genealogical facts usually found in the marriage records include the following:

Name of the groom Name of the bride, often including the maiden name of the bride Names of the officiator and witnesses Marriage date Marriage place

Later records also include:

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

Related Websites

• Georgia County Marriages
• Free Georgia Genealogy Databases
• I Dream of Genealogy Georgia Marriages
• Access Genealogy Georgia
• Georgia Genealogy Sites
• Georgia Vital Recors (FamilySearch.org)

Individuals in this Source

• Micajah Crews
• Emeneza Robinson
• John Matthews
• Elizabeth Hickox
• Drusilla Hickox

Documents from this source

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