Marriage records
use in genealogy
The county recorder or clerk is the source of marriage records
in most states. More recent records are kept at the state level. The dates
vary as to when states started keeping this information. A fee is generally collected for
requesting this information.
Whether you should contact the county or state depends on the when the state
started keeping this information at the state level. The easiest way to find out
where to make a request is to to use
the online advice feature of this site. Based on what your already know
about your ancestry, this feature will recommend best next step for
your research. Click
here to go to online advice.
Most government agencies will
search only search a ten-year period for each request. If you do not know the exact year
your ancestors married, it would be good to
narrow the time period at much as possible before requesting a
search.
