Linda IL marriage index only goes up to 1900 for most counties.  There are a few which have some after that but very few. MO marriages at Ancestry are limited too.  Not all counties have made their marriages available to anyone and that includes even publishing them up to a certain date.  Also what a lot of people don't realize is that St Louis City is an independent city and not part of St Louis County.  The only marriage records that you probably will find at Ancestry for St Louis City marriages are those which were in or before 1876.  You'll have to contact St Louis City (possibly Dept of Health) for the marriage records.  Beware that just asking them to search will cost you and if they do find it will provide a copy, certified copy may be more. With a marriage year, you should check with the Macoupin County Clerk's office.  Then with Ancestry, try their names in specific counties to eliminate the county, but make sure the county has records which date after 1915 to ensure that if they went there that their record should show up. If they were Catholic, check with St Joseph's Catholic Church in Benld and make a donation to at least cover time and copy costs.  I don't know about the Orthodox religion regarding the keeping of records but would expect that they will search their records too for a donation to the church. Debbi --- On Thu, 4/2/09, Linda Kmiecik <tonky@royell.org> wrote: From: Linda Kmiecik <tonky@royell.org> Subject: Re: [ILMACOUP] Eloping to MO To: ilmacoup@rootsweb.com Date: Thursday, April 2, 2009, 9:41 AM I am the one seeking a marriage in Missouri, and had the thought they may have eloped.  They are not in the IL Secretary of State marriage database, under either the groom or the bride.  I also just checked the Missouri Marriage Records 1805-2002, with no luck.  They also are not in the Social Security Death Index.  Apparently there is no easy research on this couple. The couple is:  Joseph D. Bertino and Catherine Ricono, with a probable marriage year of 1915 (cemetery record, source unknown).  Both were born in 1890.  They lived in Benld and are buried in Benld Cemetery. Linda Kmiecik ----- Original Message ----- From: "Virginia L. Aldridge" <vlaldridge@insightbb.com> To: <ilmacoup@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2009 8:37 AM Subject: [ILMACOUP] Eloping to MO > For those interested in couples who married in MO. > > Ancestry has a database: > > Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002 > Types of marriage records found in this database include marriage > licenses, applications for marriage licenses, records of marriages > solemnized, marriage certificates, marriage registers, and indexes. Due > to the variety of record types, all of the above listed information may > not be available for each marriage. On the other hand, there may also be > additional information listed on actual marriage records. This can be > found by viewing the record images. > > It may not help all of you, but some may find what you need. Many local > libraries have Ancestry available. > > And if one sent the names of the marriage couple to the list, someone > may have ancestry at home and help you out. > > Regards, > Virginia > > Check out Macoupin County ILGenWeb page at > http://www.macoupinctygenealogy.org/. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ILMACOUP-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > Check out Macoupin County ILGenWeb page at http://www.macoupinctygenealogy.org/. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ILMACOUP-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message