Like in most other states, marriage records in Georgia are created at the county level. Some Georgia counties kept early marriage bonds before 1805; however, Georgia law did not require marriage licenses to be recorded until 1805. Officials were careless in adhering to the law and some marriages were consequently not recorded. Some records were also lost in various courthouse fires (see AccessGenealogy’s list of Georgia Courthouse Disasters). All recorded Georgia marriages to 1900 are available on microfilm at the Georgia Department of Archives and History and the FHL. The former also has some loose, original county marriage records. Heritage Papers’ periodical Georgia Genealogist contains published marriages to 1810. Mary B. Warren’s Georgia Marriages 1811 Through 1820 (Danielsville, Ga.: Heritage Papers, 1988) continued publishing the marriages. [1]Eichholz, Alice, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book, American State, County, and Town Sources. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, Inc., 1992.
The following links provides a description of the different types of marriage records recorded by the state of Georgia and where such records could be researched by a Georgia genealogist:
To request a copy of any Georgia marriage application and license use the following link:
Georgia Marriage Records Online
Early marriage records in Georgia are found in one volume, Georgia Marriages Early to 1800, by Liahona Research Staff. This manuscript covers all marriages in Georgia that occurred before 1800 and is generally available at any major genealogy library. However, it is not needed if you have access to the following paid databases (or cd’s):
Ancestry can provide access to Georgia Marriage records through 1900, and their databases/cd’s should include all marriages as published in the earlier mentioned book, plus a whole lot more.
Access Genealogy and this website, Georgia Genealogy, are assembling the Georgia Marriages to 1850 to provide for free access to our visitors. At present the following counties are finished:
- Baldwin County, Georgia Marriages 1826-1850
1353 marriage records for Baldwin County, Georgia. - Bibb County, Georgia Marriage 1824-1850
1234 marriage records for Bibb County, Georgia. - Bulloch County, Georgia Marriages 1796-1850
854 marriage records for Bulloch County, Georgia. - Butts County, Georgia Marriages 1826-1850
795 marriage records for Butts County, Georgia. - Coweta County, Georgia Marriages 1832-1850
945 marriage records for Coweta County, Georgia. - Effingham County, Georgia Marriages 1754-1850
875 marriage records for Effingham County, Georgia. - Gilmer County, Georgia Marriages 1834-1850
436 marriage records for Gilmer County, Georgia. - Pulaski County, Georgia Marriages to the year 1930
5800 marriage records for Pulaski County, Georgia, broken down alphabetically by groom name.. - Troup County, Georgia Marriages 1826-1850
1380 marriage records for Troup County, Georgia.
Counties in the above list which have marriage records prior to 1800 are also those mentioned in the manuscript published by Liahona Research Staff.
In 1875, the State Board of Health was created and charged with registering vital statistics, including marriages. These records include the names of the bride and groom, their ages, color, place of birth, their parent?s names, by whom married and date of marriage. This is the only marriage record that records more than the name of the bride, groom, date, and name of official. There are very few of these records, and they exist only for 1875-1876.
There are numerous Georgia Marriage record fiche and microfilms that can be ordered and researched at any FHC…
References
| ↑1 | Eichholz, Alice, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book, American State, County, and Town Sources. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, Inc., 1992. |
|---|