I have found something else also with regard to births/baptisms pre-dating marriages in the church. I wondered if it was because prior to the beginning of the 1800's other religious denominations were not recognized. The Catholics controlled the politics of the territory/area when it was Spanish and when it was French, attempting to make it a Catholic State. Other groups suffered as a result, for instance, Jews and Protestants were expelled from New Orleans (1769 under the Black Code, by O'Reilly).(Tallant, p. 78-79) But with regard to marriages, prior to 1803 (Louisiana Purchase), they were not considered legal if they did not take place in the Catholic church (DeVille quoted in Eicholz, p. 270, see direct quote below). This might explain, also, some of the odd sequencing of events. I don't know details on how the legality of the marriage (in church vs. not in church) may have affected other items, such as inheritances and legal rights of spouses, etc.,...But this may account for people getting married after getting a family well under way. Heidi in Pittsburgh, PA (see sources below) Quote from DeVille: As previously stated, the Roman Catholic church was the only church in Louisiana until the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Historian James D. Hardy, Jr. wrote that colonial Louisianians had to "be baptized, married and have their children baptized and be buried as Catholics. A marriage performed anywhere but a Catholic Church was invalid, and the parties were living in sin. Their children were illegitimate...and their marriage contracts were unenforceable at law. Babies not given baptism were not people, and their births were unrecorded." {The name of Hardy's publication is not referenced]. Sources: Tallant, Robert. (Editor). (1952) New Orleans City Guide. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Company. (originally published 1938 as a WPA project--guide and history of the city) DeVille, Winston. (1968). Gulf Coast Colonials. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. Quoted in: Eicholz, Alice. (Editor). A(1992) Ancestry's Redbook: American State, County and Town Sources. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, Inc. Eicholz, Alice. (Editor). A(1992) Ancestry's Redbook: American State, County and Town Sources. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, Inc. James D. Hardy, Jr. quoted, but not referenced in DeVille and Eicholz.