History of Marriage
This type of marriage was often arranged by families to strengthen social or economic ties.
What is an arranged marriage?
This legal document grants permission for a couple to marry.
What is a marriage license?
This record usually lists the names of the bride and groom, the date, and the officiant.
What is a marriage certificate (or marriage record)?
In New England colonies, marriage was considered this type of agreement.
What is a civil contract?
This term refers to a woman’s surname before marriage.
What is a maiden name?
Before civil governments kept vital records, marriages in Europe and early America were most commonly recorded by this institution.
What is the church?
Before licenses were common, couples sometimes announced their intent to marry through these public notices.
What are marriage banns (or banns of marriage)?
Genealogists often use marriage records to discover this crucial piece of information about women.
What is a maiden name?
This religious group strongly regulated marriage and courtship.
Who are the Puritans?
When a couple married without parental consent, it was often called this.
What is an elopement?
Romantic love became a more common reason for marriage during this historical period.
What is the Romantic Era (or the 18th–19th centuries)?
This type of marriage required no religious ceremony.
What is a civil marriage?
This type of record often appears in county court minutes and documents a couple’s intent to marry when licenses were not required.
What is a marriage bond?
This economic reason often motivated early marriages.
What is economic survival (or labor needs)?
These newspaper items may record marriages missing from courthouse files.
What are newspaper announcements or marriage notices?
During the 19th century, this legal principle gave a husband control over his wife’s property and earnings.
What is coverture?
In early America, these officials were often authorized to perform marriages.
Who are justices of the peace (or magistrates)?
This detail on a marriage record helps distinguish between people with the same name.
What is age (or residence)?
In some colonies, this type of marriage could occur without a church ceremony.
What is a common-law marriage?
This record often reveals remarriages after a spouse’s death.
What are probate records (or death records)?
This U.S. Supreme Court case affirmed marriage as a fundamental right in 1967.
What is Loving v. Virginia?
This legal change allowed married women to own property in their own names.
What are the Married Women’s Property Acts?
These people listed on marriage records are frequently relatives.
Who are witnesses?
These early records often combined births, marriages, and deaths.
What are vital records (or town records)?
Multiple marriages are often discovered by comparing marriage records with this census detail.
What is marital status?