{"id":21835,"date":"2017-05-03T11:02:09","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T15:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=21835"},"modified":"2021-04-22T13:34:12","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T17:34:12","slug":"genealogy-tips-using-marriage-records-to-correctly-document-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/genealogy-tips-using-marriage-records-to-correctly-document-families.html","title":{"rendered":"Genealogy Tips: Using Marriage Records to Correctly Document Families"},"content":{"rendered":"

Searching marriage records<\/a> can be useful for many reasons: you might find a marriage date you were missing, or discover a second marriage you hadn\u2019t known about. And sometimes, if you\u2019re lucky, you\u2019ll find a marriage record that helps you fill in informational gaps for entire families.<\/p>\n

I was researching the Sanborn family from Gilmanton, New Hampshire, recently when I discovered one of these golden marriage records. I started using a wide search by looking in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> for the last name \u201cSanborn\u201d \u2013 my relatives \u2013 and the keyword \u201cGilmanton.\u201d And, because I was looking for individuals born before 1800, I restricted the search range to records before 1830.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This search returned over 200 results, so next, I restricted my search to just marriage records. This time I got 11 results \u2013 much more manageable.<\/p>\n

So, I looked at the first result.<\/p>\n

\"Marriage<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), 5 August 1826, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I noticed that both Dyer H. Sanborn and Julia B. Sanborn were from Gilmanton. Could they be relatives?<\/p>\n

To find out, I searched for Dyer\u2019s records in FamilySearch<\/span>. Sure enough, Dyer H. Sanborn (1790-1871) and Julia B. Sanborn (1803-1885) were siblings, both children of Lieutenant David Edwin Sanborn and Hannah (Hook) Sanborn.<\/p>\n

According to this newspaper account, Dyer and Julia were married the same summer in the nearby communities of Gilmanton and Deerfield, New Hampshire.<\/p>\n

Next, I checked Julia and Dyer\u2019s respective marriage records to ensure that they matched the information I had gathered from the newspaper article published on 5 August 1826. Julia\u2019s seemed consistent with the article: she was married 29 June 1826 in Gilmanton, Belknap County, New Hampshire.<\/p>\n

\"Marriage<\/a>
Source: FamilySearch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But, Dyer\u2019s record<\/span> in the family tree seemed less accurate. Dyer and Harriet\u2019s marriage in FamilySearch was listed as having been solemnized on 31 May 1827, but their marriage was announced at the same time as Julia\u2019s in that 5 August 1826 newspaper article.<\/p>\n

\"Marriage<\/a>
Source: FamilySearch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why did that newspaper article report that they were married a year earlier than their marriage record in the family tree?<\/p>\n

Maybe the date in the family tree was wrong.<\/p>\n

Looking again in GenealogyBank, I found another marriage notice that gave more details.<\/p>\n

\"Marriage<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, New Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette (Concord, New Hampshire), 31 July 1826, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OK. It was also reported in the nearby Concord, New Hampshire, newspaper that Dyer H. Sanborn and Harriett W. Tucker were married in 1826 in Deerfield, New Hampshire, and his sister Julia B. Sanborn was married a few weeks later to Oliver B. Carpenter in Gilmanton.<\/p>\n

With both of these 1826 newspaper marriage announcements, I now know that they were married in 1826 and not in 1827, and I can fill in the exact place Dyer and Harriet were married: Deerfield, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. I also know now that Oliver\u2019s middle initial was \u201cB.\u201d So I can update my family tree with this additional information.<\/p>\n

I double-checked FamilySearch\u2019s online New Hampshire marriage records and confirmed that Dyer H. Sanborn and Harriett W. Tucker were married on 31 May 1826 \u2013 not 1827. See their marriage record here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Digging deeper, I searched for additional articles about Dyer H. Sanborn in GenealogyBank. I quickly found his obituary.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, Boston Daily Advertiser (Boston, Massachusetts), 16 January 1871, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yes, that\u2019s him. The family tree already has his date of death \u2013 and now I know he died in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. His obituary gave me more information: he was a professor, \u201cthe author of Sanborn\u2019s grammar and a geographic manual\u2026 and was formerly principal of the Pittsfield, Washington and Hopkinton academies.\u201d I also learned that: \u201cAt the time of his death he was postmaster at Hopkinton.\u201d<\/p>\n

Excellent \u2013 more of his story.<\/p>\n

Knowing now that he was a published author, I quickly found multiple digital copies of his various books online, such as this one.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Source: Hathi Trust Digital Library<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Hathi Trust Digital Library<\/a> contains digital copies of millions of books that it makes available for free to all researchers. A great source for genealogists.<\/p>\n

Be sure to follow the clues, and carefully search old newspapers. GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> are essential for documenting your family tree.<\/p>\n

Genealogy Tip:<\/em><\/strong> Check every clue you find in GenealogyBank\u2019s marriage records against the records you already have for your ancestors \u2013 even known ancestors \u2013 because you might find additional information that can help you link family members together and correct past errors in your family tree.<\/p>\n

Find the stories of your ancestors in GenealogyBank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An article about using marriage records \u2013 especially marriage announcements in old newspapers \u2013 to fill in gaps in your family tree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12713],"tags":[12,2719,2045,2020],"class_list":["post-21835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genealogy-research-tips","tag-genealogy","tag-genealogy-search-tips","tag-marriage-records","tag-newspaper-archives"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/illustration-1202-2016-featured-graphic-wedding-rings.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21835"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77411,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21835\/revisions\/77411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}