Dear Judy, You had the marriage index information for the marriage of your great grandparents in Louisa County, Iowa, recorded in Marriage Book A, Page 203. I inspected the original book this afternoon in the Recorder's Office in the Louisa County Courthouse at Wapello. There is additional information if you have not here-to-fore consulted the original book. Wright Williams, County Judge, attests that Jesse P. Reed knew the couple, that Mary Ann was about 16 and had her mother's consent for the marriage, her father being deceased. This was signed on November 29, 1851. The couple was married on 30 November 1851 at the Nathaniel Reed home in Louisa County, by Justice of the Peace N. T. Brown. I did look for Rush family information, and found the names of several individuals, but no positive matches. You may recognize some collateral lines. There is an affidavit made by John Rush on 31 May 1879 and recorded in Book 155 Page 301 in the Louisa County Recorder's Office. John states that the name is properly spelled Resh, but that everyone spells it Rush. John also states that he is a brother of the Samuel Rush who died in Muscatine County, unmarried, on 10 December 1877. Another brother is a Daniel Rush and a sister is Martha Rule. Another brother, Jacob Rush, is deceased. Jacob had children Martha Pritz, Susannah Pritz, Mary Ann Rush, Elizabeth Morrow, Samuel Rush and Jacob Rush. There is another affidavit on this same page that was made by Samuel Rush on 8 February 1879. Samuel is a machinist in Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado, and is 32 years of age. He is the son of Jacob Rush, late of Montgomery County, Ohio; he is a nephew of the Samuel Rush who died at Muscatine, Iowa, and is mentioned in the preceding affidavit. Samuel Rush who died in Muscatine is a full blood brother to Jacob Rush, the father of the Samuel Rush who makes the affidavit . You might check Montgomery County, Ohio for the 1850 census and before, and you should also check the Resh spelling in the indexes. There is also Criswell information on the probates of John McMaster Criswell and his wife Agnes Criswell. I believe they are the parents of your Donald Cargill Criswell. Siblings of your Donald include Ebenezer, James McMaster, John Boal, Prudence Mary Johns/Johnson Primm, Jabez Renwick, Phebe Bennett, and Agnes Crisswell (she died by 1852). John's will was written in Knox County, Illinois on 10 September 1835, but he died in Louisa County, Iowa. Hope this helps. Cheers from Keith. Keith/Connie Street ckcasey@netins.net 325 Franklin Ave, Wapello, IA 52653-1515 319-523-8164 -----Original Message----- From: Judy Selby <judithsel@worldnet.att.net> To: IALOUISA-L@rootsweb.com <IALOUISA-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Monday, December 06, 1999 12:14 PM Subject: Marriage Record Clarification >Do I understand from Keith's last message to Marianne that there might be >more information available? The Creswells are pretty traceable but I'm >needing all of the clues that I can come up with to trace Mary Ann Rush-AKA >"the mysterious one". > >Thanks - and hope that your health continues to improve, Keith. > >Judy in Tacoma