In 1849, the statutes specified that the marriage registry contain the following data: names and residences of the two parties, names of two witnesses, and date and place of marriage. The 1852 legislation specified name, occupation, birthplace and residence of the husband, name of the wife, names of the parents of both, the color of the parties, the date, place, and kind of ceremony, the name and residence of the person performing the ceremony, and the dates of the certificate and of registration. The law also allowed registration of marriages performed prior to passage and of marriages performed elsewhere and these kinds of entries will be found too.
From county to county, the completeness of the records varies, with only a few counties having records prior to 1852. As with other county-generated records, it is necessary for users to check for records in the county which maintained jurisdiction over the area concerned for the time period concerned.
