Ted, Yes, I believe that there were some couples that changed their minds or went elsewhere to marry, but in my great-grandparents' case I did find church records that verify that they did indeed get married in Chicago. The point I guess is: Don't give up just because you can't find a marriage license. Just try all the different sources you can. Anita in MO --- TedSned@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 6/11/2003 9:07:03 AM Eastern > Standard Time, > sew_what_2000@yahoo.com writes: > > > According to the > > county offices, an application was filled out, but > the > > papers were never returned to their office to be > > filed. I don't think they understood they were > > supposed to. > > Or, that the marriage never took place. A marriage > license does not > necessarily prove that a marriage took place or > when, any more than a getting a > fishing license proved that you went fishing. I > don't know how it was in the > Chicago area, but in most places I have researched, > marriage returns were supplied > by the clergyman or justice of the peace who > performed the marriage ceremony, > and not by the presumably happy and no doubt > distracted newlyweds. It did > sometimes happen that there was a change of heart > after the license was issued, or > that the couple decided to elope and were married in > a different > jurisdiction. > > Your point about the spotty record of compliance > during the early years of > mandatory vital record keeping is well made. There > are all kinds of frustrating > gaps in the records of most states, I think, at > least during the late 1800s. > > Regards, > Ted Snediker > > > ==== KansasCity Mailing List ==== > USGENWEB SEARCH ARCHIVES > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ussearch.htm > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion > online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). http://calendar.yahoo.com