The first state law requiring the recording of marriages (as well as births and deaths) was passed in 1870. Since there were no official requirements before that, some were recorded and some were not. Churches, as private institutions, could keep whatever records they wanted to keep, without concern for government reporting. Since the governmental records are not complete, you need a Plan B. One way to verify a religious record is to expand the search into other records in the church: do the names of the children baptised there match other sources? did they participate in church committees? are there financial records which would point to them and match city directory listings for occupations or address, etc? Did they live long enough to make it to one of the censuses that asks for age at first marriage or number of years married or similar data? Not all denominations keep the same records, but you probably get the drift -- where are the possible tracks left by the couple and do they match up with the tracks they left on the census, city directories, etc. It's wonderful to find a church record of a marriage, especially that predates the governmental requirement. Lots of us have trouble figuring out where to find the church record books! Mary At 01:30 PM 12/6/2007, you wrote: >I just recently went through a "duh" moment. Next step was to order two >microfilms on loan from Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) and viewed them >at my local library. Microfilm Call #M142, Reels 1 and 2, had the Records >of the Trinity Lutheran Church, St. Paul, MN, 1855-1983, which included >baptisms, marriages, confirmations and burials. > >I found what appears to be my great-great grandmother's marriage to her >second husband on 9 May 1858. > >Minnesota Genealogical Journal "Ramsey County Marriages - 17 Feb 1855 - 27 >Nov 1862" did not list the marriages that I found in the Trinity Lutheran >Church microfilms from MHS. > >I am in the process now of trying to verify the info I found in the church >records, i.e., is "Chr. Wme. (?) Meinhard" the same person as Wilhelmine >Meinhardt and is "Christ. Scherer" the same person as my Christian Scherer. >I am hoping to find a county marriage record with more info. Several years >ago I visited MHS and found marriage record for Wilhelmine's son Theodore >Meinhardt. I didn't even think to look for his mother at the time! Duh to >me, too! Been there, done that. Good luck in your search! > >Helen Kesinger Mary Bakeman [email protected] Park Genealogical Books http://www.parkbooks.com