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Today I’d like to share one of my “Maddening” experiences with these two individuals.
They have not one, but TWO, marriage records in the Monroe County, West Virginia files!
The first is for April 29, 1878:
You will note that it contains the date and their names.
The second entry is for 02 May 1878:
and this one contains the same information [with the date change] PLUS the name of the individual who performed the marriage ceremony.
Searches through local newspapers for the time have been fruitless.
In order to cover all bases, I have both dates listed in my notes, and where I obtained the two dates from in my sources. But in my genealogy program in the space for the date, I have put the 02 May date, as it also included the minister’s name who performed the ceremony. Does this mean that’s most likely the truer date?
No, either date could be correct. So, I’ve just made sure to mention both, and their sources, as well as the copies of the micro-fiche, to make sure everything is covered. Should at some time a more definitive proof become available, we can always eliminate the less true one if need be.
And this just drives me “Mad” in the meantime!!!
3 comments:
Just a thought - Is it possible the 1st record is a register for bonds or licenses and the 2nd is the actual marriage record? Looking at the books, the 2nd one says "Register of Marriages" across the top of the page and it's a pre-printed format. The 1st one is just lined pages so seems they may have been for different purposes. The 2nd page is well into that Register of Marriages book so it's not like they started a new book in May.
I agree with Linda. It is a possibility that one book was for the marriage license "registration" and the other kept track of the actual marriages that had taken place. Very interesting though. Were there any other names that appeared in both books?
Linda and Lori, Thanks for putting voice to one of my thoughts as well! I know that at one time WV had a 3 day waiting period after obtaining the marriage license before you could marry. Seemed appropriate to me that the first was for obtaining the license, and the second the actual register of marriages.
You both get a gold star!!!
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