Have been watching the replies to George Alexander's request for ideas on the 1895 marriage of his ancestors and have this to suggest. If the couple were Roman Catholic, and married in 1895, it is unlikely there would be a civil record. All of my RC relatives who married before 1900 in NYC did not record a marriage, if they even got a "license" to marry, as it was the Church's position, (unchallenged in a heavily Irish RC City) that marriage was a sacrament between a man, a woman, and their God. Not the State's business. Priest's who officiated at the marriage ceremony routinely refused to return the evidence of the marriage to the civil authorities. Things changed after 1900, but I have a few relatives whose marriages in the early 20th C. I can only prove by a Church record. If the only record is the Church record, it becomes necessary to find the Church and that can get troublesome. Customarily, the wedding was in the bride's parish, but in mid 19th C New York, crossing parish lines to be wed by a favorite priest was not uncommon. In my own case, I have been searching for the c. 1854 marriage of my great grandparents who lived in St. Peter's Barclay Street Parish in Lower Manhattan and have been unable to find a record. Their children were all baptized at that Church, but there is no marriage. I have requested marriage information from the surrounding parishes with no luck after years of looking. The only thing I know for sure is that they had 8 children and appear to have been married in NY as they emigrated from Ireland 2 years apart, she coming in first. My thoughts this AM. Sheila MacAvoy Block