Marriage Records

Glean All the Clues from a Marriage Record

What do I mean by glean? Glean means to gather information piece by piece. It means to gather bit by bit. Analyzing the marriage record making sure there are no clues overlooked. When researching a record, we often do not see all the vital information that is in the record.  We may be focused on the name, spouse, and possibly the birth date of the ancestor. That is what I did with the marriage record for Flora Lee, the missing daughter of William Alfred and Emma Lee.

Last year I wrote an article about "The Missing Lee Daughter." The missing daughter was Flora Elizabeth Lee daughter of William Alfred and Emma Meadows Lee. The known children of William and Emma, my paternal great grandparents, were Uncle Jim, James William, Aunt Dollie, Dollie Ophelia, Uncle Bob, Robert E. and Granny, Alice Lee. What started me on the quest for Flora Lee was that a second cousin on the Lee paternal line asked, “if I had heard of Flora, another daughter of Emma’s.” I was surprised to find out there possibly was another child since I had done extensive research on the Lee family line, and no one had ever mentioned a child named Flora.

Armed with information; a name, spouse’s name, parents’ names and location I was off on a research quest. I was very curious about this child named Flora. Researching for Flora was relatively easy since the cousin provided her name and the surname of her spouse. The area Flora would have been living was around Shelby, Elmore, or Tallapoosa County areas.

The first record that I looked for was the censuses. I only had an estimated birth year from looking at the birth years of the other children. I found a Florey E. West living in District 56, Tallassee, Elmore County, Alabama in 1900. She married in 1893 according the 1900 census information. She had been married seven years. She was the mother of two children, both living. Flora E. was born July 1875 in Alabama. It states on the 1900 census that her relation to head of house is wife. The link from her to a husband. Her husband Lon West was by occupation a teamster, a shoe maker. It also states on the census that her parents were born in Alabama. A clue that I was on the right track. Florey E. West was living in Tallassee, Elmore County, in 1900. The area where her parents lived when they left for Louisiana about 1904. She married in 1893 according the 1900 census information. She had been married seven years. She was the mother of two children, both living.

By 1910 Florine West was living in District 50, Police Jury Ward 6, Franklin Parish, Louisiana. The William Alfred Lee family, the children, grandchildren, spouses and related families migrated from Alabama about 1904 to Jackson Parish, Louisiana. Apparently, for reasons unknown the West family moved on down to Franklin Parish, south of Jackson Parish. William L.’s occupation in 1910 was tiemaker and woods. The general nature of industry, business, or establishment in which William L. worked was woods. He worked on his own account and was out of work for only four weeks in 1909. Florine apparently had lost a child during the ten-year span, because she was the mother of three children with two living. 

Marriage records can provide important genealogical information about our ancestors and may point us to a new path for researching our ancestors. The marriage records are one of  the most valuable sources of genealogical research, providing data about the geographical location of ancestors, birth information, and information about their parents.

Marriage records are often over looked in researching our ancestors. We often overlook them as clues to family members and their families. I was focused on finding Flora, the unknown daughter of William and Emma, and overlooked some important clues in the marriage license for the couple. On the 1900 census it stated she married in 1893; however, on the marriage license it stated she married 29 December 1899. Her middle initial was also written on the marriage license. This marriage license states the place of the marriage as Claud, Alabama. That town has popped up in other records while I was researching. Claud is in Elmore County, Alabama.

A marriage record can lead to another family member. Or the marriage record might have names of witnesses who will help in identifying the bride or groom. The signature of the clerk, ordinary or probate judge may be on the record. This was the case with the marriage record of Flora E. Lee. The Justice of the Peace who married Flora E. Lee and L. W. West was A. J. Langley. One of the witnesses on the Marriage Bond was J. H. Edwards. This was a very important clue that I overlooked when I first found the marriage license. J. H. is John Houston Edwards husband of Dollie Ophelia Lee, sister of Flora Elizabeth Lee. What a find that was! Her brother-in-law was a witness to his wife’s marriage. Also, the Justice of the Peace was related to the Edwards family.

A marriage record most likely will have the name of the bride, maiden name, or her married name if previously married, and the groom, the date and location of the marriage, the name of the official such as the clergy, justice of the peace, or judge, who performed the ceremony, and the names of at least two witnesses. Also, the ages of the bride and groom may be included. Some licenses have the names of parents.

On the affidavit for marriage license it stated that Flora E. was over eighteen years old. That gives me a time frame to estimate her year of birth.

When researching for a record we sometimes do not see all the vital information that is on the record and overlook clues that will lead us to other family members or other records. There is so much to be gleaned from a marriage record.

Marriage records can provide important genealogical details about our ancestors and information on a marriage record may lead us to further research. Most marriage records will likely contain some of the vital information. Take the time to glean all the information from the record. The marriage record for Flora E. Lee contained valuable information and this daughter of William Alfred and Emma Meadows Lee now has her rightful place in the family tree. 

I concluded that Flora Elizabeth died sometime after the 1910 census but before the 1920 census. She wasn’t found on any other records after 1910. She would have been about thirty-five years old at the time of her death. 

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Source Citations
Ancestry.com. 1900-910 United States Federal Census
Ancestry.com. Alabama, County Marriages, 1805-1967 

Marriage Records. Alabama Marriages. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, UT.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Tallassee, Elmore, Alabama; Roll: 14; Page: 19B; Enumeration District: 0056; FHL microfilm: 1240014
Year: 1910; Census Place: Police Jury Ward 6, Franklin, Louisiana; Roll: T624_514; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 0050; FHL microfilm: 1374527