Marriage Records
Marriage Register Books 1 & 2
Transcriptions
Description
After the [marriage] ceremony, the person performing the marriage was required by law to register or “return” the marriage to the county clerk's office. This book is called the Marriage Register or Minister's Return Book. These return books usually do not contain much information beyond the names of the bride and groom, date of marriage, and name of minister performing the ceremony.
Since many marriages were performed in rural communities miles from the courthouse, the pastor or justice of the peace usually registered the marriages en masse once or twice each year. If the person performing the marriage died or moved away, the marriage might not be registered.
As a result, ministers' returns should be viewed with caution, since they may have been recorded as long as a year after the event. The given names shown in these records are often wrong, and witnesses may be confused with grooms and vice versa.
Source: Hogan, Roseann Reinemuth. Kentucky Ancestry: A Guide to Genealogical and Historical Research. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1992.
Updated June 1, 2023