Billy would you mind seeing if there is a Isaiah Johnson married to Tempester Howard I`m sure they were married in Houston both families are living right next to each other. It would be around 1850 If you find them you can mark them as a white family. Thanks Sandra . >Houston County Researchers: > >A while back, I posted an article about the Colored Marriage Records of >Houston Co., GA. I stated that there were also several *white* marriages >listed in these volumes. The reason I know this to be a fact, is that I >am familiar with the early (pre-1900) families of Houston Co., GA. > >Of course, some of the former slaves were named after their owners, but >it is not likely that *both* the bride and groom would be named after >their white (married) former owners. > >I was at the Houston Co., GA courthouse in Perry, the other day, and I >met 2 ladies who were searching for a few Houston Co., GA marriage >records. They said that they had been searching for them for over 20 >years, but just *could not* seem to find them. They had tried going thru >the original Marriage Licenses, to no avail. > >I suggested that they look thru the *Colored* Marriage Records. You >should have seen the look on their faces when I suggested that! But, >their somewhat skeptical looks turned into joy when they found BOTH of >the Marriage Licenses that they were pursuing for 2 decades. They >immediately had the Record Books on the photocopy machine. Very >carefully, though. > >The Colored Marriage Record Books of Houston Co., GA have *not* been >microfilmed. In light of this, over the past 2 years, I have abstracted >8,000 of the marriages up to 1896. > >Now, as time allows, I feel that I "should / would / could" dig thru each >of those 8,000 Marriage Records and compare the name of the bride and >groom to other documented resources, and try to see which ones are >*white* and which are *colored*. > >The Colored Marriage Record Books of Houston Co., GA are in poor >condition. They are also not fully indexed, nor in proper chronological >order. The reason that the 2 ladies were able to find the 2 marriages in >the Colored Marriage Record Books so easily, is because I had previously >spent 200+ hours with those records. Becoming familiar with these >records, I knew which books to have them review. > >There may be various reasons why these white marriages have wound up in >the Colored Marriage Record Books. I believe that the original Marriage >Licenses *somehow* got mixed together, and that they were just pasted in >the Record Books without further ado. > >The mere fact that there may be hundreds, possibly even thousands of >white marriages mixed in these Colored Marriage Record Books, opens up >these *lost* marriage records to those who have never been able to >document a marriage that they just *knew* had to have been in Houston >Co., GA. > >As I said, I have already abstracted 8,000 of these marriages, and have >been approved for a grant from the R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation to have >them published. It may be a year or so before the books are actually in >the libraries. Until then, if any of you contact me in pursuit of >locating a particular Marriage Record of your ancestors, I have not >entered them into my computer yet. They are still hand-written onto a >thick stack of notebook paper. It would take me a few hours just to sort >thru these abstracts. > >As I spend more and more time at the Houston County courthouse, I >discover more and more things that need abstracting and preserved for >future generations. It is difficult for me to prioritize these projects >that seem to have evolved into *many* by now. Sometimes I feel that I am >just spinning my tires, but one of these days, I hope to finish up with >these projects. In the mean time, please bear with me. > >Take care & happy hunting! >_____________________________ >William A. Mills >Perry, Georgia >[email protected] >Houston Co., GA Research & Publications: >http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Forum/8795 > >________________________________________________________________ >YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! >Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! >Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: >http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.