Minnesota Marriage Records

So you've collected all the census records for your family, both state and U.S., and have discovered that your ancestor lived in Minnesota, had children here, and perhaps got married here. Your brick wall is the maiden name of the wife for that family. Everywhere - on her death record, her obituary, her gravestone, newspaper articles - she's Mrs. Nelson, Schmitt, or whatever. There's no family Bible, no marriage certificate among their papers, no notes on the back of photographs, no references in family letters. She, too, once had her own name, her own parents, grandparents, and siblings. What you need is a place to start, and a marriage record can provide just that.

The search for marriage records in Minnesota begins at the county level of government. Counties kept track of those who presented the credentials allowing them to perform marriages, issued licenses, and recorded the ceremonies. As with all family research, the first step is gathering the clues for location (typically the residence of the bride) and the most likely date. This information can be gleaned with a careful analysis and review of all those census pages you collected.

Be sure to check when the county/counties in question began recording marriages. The first Minnesota law requiring the reporting of marriages dates from 1870, but there are marriages recorded in county records that predate that law. The dates can be found in the Handybook for Genealogists, in the Redbook, or on the specific MnGenWeb pages. If the county wasn't formed when you think the marriage took place, you then have to go back to the parent county, and do the same kind of check.

Remember that not all marriages were filed immediately or in the local county seat. Traveling clergy performed may have performed the marriage, then filed it in their home area. The marriage could be filed several months or years later, or never filed at all. That means that you may need to check clergy diaries and church records, or newspapers.

Record keeping by specific churches is often more complete than the governmental records, even in cities such as St. Paul. A quick check of the parish marriage register for the Cathedral of St. Paul reveals a substantial number of marriages that were never registered with the county, as does the register for the Church of the Assumption. Here knowledge of the ethnic and religious background of your ancestor can lead to the record you seek. The Assumption Parish began in 1856, and served German Catholic immigrants, while the Irish and French-Canadians remained at the Cathedral (Cathedral records begin in the 1840s).

Other denominations also served specific ethnic groups: until the 1920s, Norwegian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic and other ethnic groups attended services conducted in their native tongues. Knowledge of the kind of community or ethnic coverage in the location where your ancestor lived can help lead to a marriage record. See our note on the major repositories for church records within the state.

A quick check for available governmental marriage records can be found in Park's publication, The Genealogist's Guide to Minnesota Vital Records: Volume 1 - Marriages and Divorces. It includes a listing, by county, of the records in the county offices found by the W.P.A. in 1941, along with the current location of those records, which have been filmed for use by the Genealogical Society of Utah, and which are available in publications.

Keep your options open with other possible sources as well. Did your ancestor buy land through the Bureau of Land Management? The marriage certificate could be in the application files there. Did your ancestor's widow receive a widow's pension for war service? Widows had to prove eligibility, which could have resulted in an affidavit or certificate providing the information you want. Have you found a newspaper clipping about a silver or golden wedding anniversary? Perhaps the location and date are included.

In short, when looking for the needle in the haystack, assemble all the clues you can. Marriages were filed earlier than other vital records in Minnesota - the trick is finding the right time and location!

© 2008, Park Genealogical Books, Roseville, MN

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