Dear Pat, I am not familiar with Smith County records, but the Smith County Web Page bibliography indicates marriage records for 1838 and 1845-later and a few other sources which you might check. I did not "look around" for an explanation but I presume Lynda's source is probably good. However, you can always keep looking for other sources. For example, my Pattons came from Bedford County, Tenn., which also lost many pre-Civil War records. However, a marriage record for James Marion Moore and Rachel W. Patton was found in the minutes of New Providence Church there. Also, while researching my wife's family in a county with a courthouse which burned in the late 1800s and lost many records, I found a certified copy of a marriage record from the County Clerk in the ancestor's pension file. This copy was submitted for his pension before the courthouse fire. It appears you have found the marriage date somewhere and that may be the only record you find. If they were married in Smith County, you may never find the official courthouse marriage record. However, a record of the marriage may show up in a will or probate record, a deed, a court record, a pension record, a church record, a minister's records, a newspaper, a Bible record, or somewhere else. I found an obituary for my g-g-g-grandfather Cameron who died in 1856 in Grainger County, Tenn., a Baptist, published in the Disciples of Christ newspaper in Indiana of which his nephew was the editor. I didn't even know any names of brothers, sisters, nephews, etc., until I found the obituary through a Web query posting made by a relative. Ross >>> <Roulx@aol.com> 03/31 6:05 PM >>> Dear Ross, Thanks for your answer. I was beginning to feel left out! That's it....taxes, I guess, the time when the world stands still, while everyone tries to avoid as much as possible. got ours in early, so I'm restless and ready to go again. Since you are here, I'll ask you a question. Do you know if part of Smith County TN records were destroyed? I have been searching for the marriage record for my g-g-grandparents, Lewis W. Hunt and Eveline Allen, and had always believed they were married May 22, 1841, in Smith Co. When I sent for the record, at the TN state library archives, got a "wasn't found" answer, along with pages copied from Sistler, where they should have been listed, but were not. I am not sure what year Lewis arrived in Missouri, but now wondering if he and Eveline were married there. Anyway, the question was, do you know if some Smith Co. records were destroyed by fire? Pat