Dear Baden-Wuerttemberg List Friends, A recent earlier message prompts me to offer an (I hope!) interesting footnote on the subject of emigrating ancestors who are believed (or assumed) to have "been married aboard the ship over" to whatever country they settled in. Keep in mind that family lore (or a personal assumption) that says an emigrant couple were "married aboard ship" on the voyage to the new land is extremely common for most family seekers---it seems all of us have at least one such incident in our ancestral histories. :-) However, there is a popular misconception at work here that can possibly derail your research efforts if you're unaware of it. As Michael Palmer (a noted expert on ships and immigration) has advised us on this and other lists over the years, if your emigrant ancestors were reportedly "married aboard ship," the usual reality is that the couple were either married before emigrating, or were married after arriving in their new country. Here's the principal reason (the following passage is excerpted from "Myth Information," by J. Allen Varasdi, Ballantine Books, New York, 1989, Page 49): "Contrary to popular belief, the captain of a ship could not perform a marriage ceremony on board his ship unless he was legally authorized to marry people *on land.* In order for any such marriage to be recognized [as valid], any person who performed the ceremony must have been legally impowered to do so, such as by a religious or civil authority. Although the maritime authority vested in a ship's captain entailed certain powers, it did not include matters of civil jurisdiction such as marriage ceremonies." Speaking strictly from my own family research experience, be cautious about accepting the romantic "married on the ship" notion instead of attempting to carefully research marriage records that may be available in the PORT city in which the ancestors *arrived* or from which they departed Europe (if known), rather than just the place in the US where they are known to have *settled* (or their European place of origin.) Especially if you think your ancestors "met on the ship," they may have quickly sought to be married soon after arriving. (My maternal family insisted to me for decades that my BARANOWSKI great-grandparents from Prussian Poland were "married onboard ship" on the way over; however, after a few years of painstaking research, I discovered they were actually married in *Baltimore, Maryland, USA,* shortly after their arrival in that port, before their known settlement in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! Even their own adult children had no idea of this fact.) :-) Wishing you the best research outcomes, Carla HELLER, Los Angeles, California USA mscarlah@earthlink.net List Co-Administrator, ROOTSWEB'S Baden-Wuerttemberg Mailing List =================================================================

I have to agree with Carla.  A similar story had been told regarding our great granparents saying they were married in their hometown before coming to the US, that it was their "honeymoon" trip.  However, after much research, I was able to find their marriage.....done right here in Chicago where they settled just a day or two after arriving.  As it happens, they must have "honemooned" back in Germany because our grandmother, their oldest daughter, was born in Chicago two months after they were married.   No one knew that, there is no mention of a marriage in the hometown records AND great grandma was listed using her maiden name.   Oooops!!  Daniela --- On Wed, 7/30/08, Carla Heller <mscarlah@earthlink.net> wrote: From: Carla Heller <mscarlah@earthlink.net> Subject: [BW] Were Emigrating Ancestors REALLY "Married Aboard the Ship Over?" To: "B-W Mailing List" <BADEN-WURTTEMBERG@rootsweb.com> Date: Wednesday, July 30, 2008, 7:31 PM Dear Baden-Wuerttemberg List Friends, A recent earlier message prompts me to offer an (I hope!) interesting footnote on the subject of emigrating ancestors who are believed (or assumed) to have "been married aboard the ship over" to whatever country they settled in. Keep in mind that family lore (or a personal assumption) that says an emigrant couple were "married aboard ship" on the voyage to the new land is extremely common for most family seekers---it seems all of us have at least one such incident in our ancestral histories. :-) However, there is a popular misconception at work here that can possibly derail your research efforts if you're unaware of it. As Michael Palmer (a noted expert on ships and immigration) has advised us on this and other lists over the years, if your emigrant ancestors were reportedly "married aboard ship," the usual reality is that the couple were either married before emigrating, or were married after arriving in their new country. Here's the principal reason (the following passage is excerpted from "Myth Information," by J. Allen Varasdi, Ballantine Books, New York, 1989, Page 49): "Contrary to popular belief, the captain of a ship could not perform a marriage ceremony on board his ship unless he was legally authorized to marry people *on land.* In order for any such marriage to be recognized [as valid], any person who performed the ceremony must have been legally impowered to do so, such as by a religious or civil authority. Although the maritime authority vested in a ship's captain entailed certain powers, it did not include matters of civil jurisdiction such as marriage ceremonies." Speaking strictly from my own family research experience, be cautious about accepting the romantic "married on the ship" notion instead of attempting to carefully research marriage records that may be available in the PORT city in which the ancestors *arrived* or from which they departed Europe (if known), rather than just the place in the US where they are known to have *settled* (or their European place of origin.) Especially if you think your ancestors "met on the ship," they may have quickly sought to be married soon after arriving. (My maternal family insisted to me for decades that my BARANOWSKI great-grandparents from Prussian Poland were "married onboard ship" on the way over; however, after a few years of painstaking research, I discovered they were actually married in *Baltimore, Maryland, USA,* shortly after their arrival in that port, before their known settlement in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! Even their own adult children had no idea of this fact.) :-) Wishing you the best research outcomes, Carla HELLER, Los Angeles, California USA mscarlah@earthlink.net List Co-Administrator, ROOTSWEB'S Baden-Wuerttemberg Mailing List ================================================================= ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BADEN-WURTTEMBERG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message