Everyone talks about "milestones" in life. Important events that change the course
of an individuals life. Marriage is one of those "milestones". Marriages
in genealogy are one of the most important pieces of data we can find.
With a marriage, if we find the lady's or gentleman's name, a whole new branch
of our family tree comes to life and at the same time, instantly gives birth to a million more questions: Who were their parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, can I find out where they were born, lived, where they died? It not only affects the two people directly involved, but usually generations upon generations to come. There are different types of weddings: Church Weddings, Bridge Weddings, elaborate ceremonies, elopements and even shotgun weddings! Some marriages are arranged, some planned and some on the spur of the moment. Sometimes both start of with nothing and sometimes great estates, titles and fortunes are involved. The excitement of a wedding can go for months and in some cultures, for years. There are few events that come along in a person's lifetime that get as much attention or celebration as a marriage. Women plan for it, men anticipate it. Some people look forward to it with joy and happiness, some look forward to it with joy and a jangle of nerves :). We all know stories or people that saw that special someone and POOF! they instantly knew they had found the right person. They had a whirlwind romance, ran off and got married, then lived a long and happy life together. Or we know stories of people who grew up with a special person, loved them from the age of 6 married when they turned 18 and stayed together for the rest of their lives. There are even stories about people who fought like cats and dogs then discovered one day they loved each other, got married, then they had a dozen kids and lived happily ever after :) Giving everyone a good chuckle and a really good story to pass down to their children and grand - children. In some situations there are marriages that end tragically with the death of one spouse or another, after all, it was not an easy life. Things happened that no one could anticipate, medical technology was not what it is today and simple things could easily make widows and widowers of people who needed a helpmate to survive a hard, unyielding existence. So we find marriages with dates that give us clues as to when a person died as well as telling us when someone might have been born. With most of our ancestors we will never know the story behind the names and dates. We don't know how they met, how they courted one another, the events that led to the marriage we're researching, but there is a little bit of a romantic in every genealogist I think and we all at one time or another, find our minds wandering and imagining what must have taken place and how the events must have unfolded. Most of the people on this page are related to me in one way or another, they are part of my family and have helped create my family and make it what it is today. It amazes me sometimes and leaves me in awe that the simplicity of one marriage could create something so complex. That's why I've created this special page. What happened when George met Mahala....... |
The Documents of the Past page has more listings of documents that I have posted
on this website, this list is just for marriages. I've added this page to
make it easier and faster for researching. Note - Documents listed on the same page are marked with a * |
Marriages of |
The Past |