Alabama, 1800-1900 Marriage Index

This data set contains alphabetical listings of approximately 179,000 individuals who were married in Alabama between 1800 and 1900.

This data set is a great resource because it brings together previously uncollected marriage records. For each listed individual, you can generally obtain the following information: individual's name, his or her spouse's name, the marriage date, and the county where the marriage was recorded. You can also learn where to find copies of your ancestors' original marriage record so that you can discover even more detailed family history information.

Marriage licenses have been required in Alabama since the state's territorial period. Between 1805 and 1850, these licenses were issued by the clerk of the county orphans' court in which the bride resided. After 1850, the orphans' court was superseded by the probate court, which is still charged with the issuance of marriage licenses.

A man had to be at least seventeen years old and a woman had to be at least fourteen years old to enter into a marriage contract. If the man was under twenty-one or the woman was under eighteen and unmarried, a parent or guardian's consent was required before a license could be granted. A marriage ceremony could then be performed by a territorial, state, or county judge, an ordained minister, or a justice of the peace. The person who performed the ceremony was then required to file a marriage certificate with the probate judge of the county in which the marriage took place.

Prior to 1900, a marriage certificate indicated the names of the bride, groom, bondsmen, and person who performed the ceremony along with the license bond and marriage date. Early twentieth century records may also include the names of parents, physical descriptions, ages and occupations of the parties, the number of previous marriages for each, and the blood relationship if any between the parties. (Alice Eichholz, PhD. Ancestry's Red Book: American State, County & Town Sources. Ancestry Publishing. Salt Lake City, Utah. 1989.)

A certified copy of the marriage certificate may be obtained from the probate judge of the county in which the certificate was filed and recorded. While basic information about a wedding is included on this data set, you may obtain more specific information by researching with the original records.

Information for this data set and the remaining part of this introduction was provided by Liahona Research. The purpose of this work is to serve as a research tool and to provide a time and place of a particular marriage event. It is important that you, as a researcher, go to the original record (usually on microfilm) and glean whatever genealogical information you desire. The record may provide additional information such as parents' names, ages, dates of birth, residences, or previous marriages. While these facts may not always be provided on the original record, in some counties and circumstances they are a standard.

Generally, the date provided for each entry is a couple's marriage date. However, when no marriage date was given, the date of the license was substituted. Occasionally, a marriage may be listed twice but in two different counties. In such cases, a couple would obtain a marriage license in one county but would be married in another county, most often near other relatives. Liahona Research left these marriages listed twice in order to provide the researcher with clues about the existence of family in other counties.

More About this Data Set

While great effort has been taken to eliminate duplicate records from this data set, some records are entered twice. This is because of differences in knowledge of the recorder, variations in spelling of names, and the filing of marriage intentions in more than one location. The information included on this data set is described in more detail below.

Name — 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.

Spouse — The name of the individual's spouse.

Marriage date — This date is usually the marriage date. When no marriage date was available in the records, the date of the license application or the date that the license was issued was substituted.

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.

Location of records — This tells you where you can find a copy of the original record. The original record may provide you with more complete information, such as the name of the couple's parents, the couple's ages, the name of the person who performed the ceremony, and physical descriptions of the bride and groom.