Hi everyone, Steve, in regard to your Michigan family, and for anyone else who is interested: The state of Michigan kept very good marriage records. I have even found a record of a marriage performed on the "lumbering frontier." The County Clerk of each county will have the marriage records, and a phone call will tell you how to proceed from there (although sometimes the staff will look up a record for you while on the phone.) Here is the address of the Michigan Genweb which lists all the county clerks: http://www.rootsweb.com/~migenweb/ Remember, if the county was formed out of another and the marriage was performed before that date, the records will be with the Original county. The county listing on the Michigan site will give the dates the counties were formed. New York State records: I understand that New York does not have uniform marriage records for the 19th century. I am wondering if any of you upstate-Yorkers out there can give me ideas on how to locate a marriage record for February 1854 for Sarah Cady and Lution Fairfield, probably Steuben County. Are there extractions from newspapers or church records? Sue Descendant of Sarah H. Cady, Southbridge, MA, Steuben Co. NY & St. Clair County, Mich.