New Hampshire - Marriage Index (1672-1900)

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Record Details

Place: New Hampshire

Date: 1672-1900

Type: Marriage Index

Count: 24,000 names

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About the Data

This data set is an index to approximately 24,000 marriages that occurred in the state of New Hampshire between 1672 and 1900. Information listed in this data set includes the names of the bride and groom, their marriage date, and marriage place (location i.e. church name; town; county). Marriage records are great records because they provide information on one of the key events in individuals' lives and can be used to link individuals and families together.

Note: This index is not comprehensive. Therefore, if you do not find your ancestor in this index it does not necessarily mean that their marriage did not occur in the time and place in which you expected it. It is important that you use the information found in this data set to locate your ancestor in the original records that this index references. Usually more information is available in the records themselves than is found in an index. The exact sources used to compile this index are unknown, but New Hampshire's vital records are available from the New Hampshire Department of State, Division of Vital Records. Microfilmed copies of many of New Hampshire's vital records can also be found at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Field Example

Name — The name of the bride or groom. In some records, you will find three question marks in place of the given name or surname. This indicates that the name was not listed on the original record. You may also find question marks in place of missing letters.

A question mark after a name indicates that the name spelling was unclear. You may also occasionally find the same record listed in the index under two different name spellings. Please note that not all unusual and uncertain names were noted by question marks, so always be sure to check under various spellings if you are having trouble locating a name.

Marriage date — The date the marriage took place.

Location — The location of where the marriage took place. The "location" is more specific than a town or county name. Generally it is a church name.

Town — The town in which the marriage took place

County — This is the county in which the marriage was recorded. In most cases, this is also the county in which the marriage took place.

More About this Data

The town or city clerk's office is the place where vital events are officially recorded in New Hampshire. Today each town or city sends copies of its vital events to the Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, 6 Hazen Drive, Concord, New Hampshire 03301. Statewide compilation, however, did not begin until a law was passed in 1866 requiring the secretary of state to make a report of all vital events for each of the towns. Total compliance with the law was not accomplished until the 1880s, and even then the practice of sending a copy of the vital event to the secretary of state was not uniform. By 1905, when the Bureau of Vital Records was established, regular statewide recording became a reality.

Taken from New Hampshire, Ancestry's Red Book by Alice Eichholz and George F. Sanborn, Jr., edited by Alice Eichholz. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1992).

Source Information

Index compiled by Jordan Dodd of Liahona Research (P.O. Box 740, Orem, Utah 84059). Exact original sources unknown.