IIRC , in NC marriges were required by law to take place in the county of residence of the bride (in order to prevent kidnapping of brides ?). So, while it will tell you where to look for the bride's family....the groom might have come from a different county altogether. Malinda p.s. I have a Smith line too Rev Samuel Powell Smith b 1804/5 in Rowan Co NC who later moved to Wilkes Co NC [email protected] wrote: > In the Mecklenburg Co Marriage Bonds on page 228 (or could be 226) there is a > reference to the marriage of Benjamin R Smith to Nancy S Rea, 7 Feb 1832 with > James N Spratt and (w) B. Oates. I'm guessing that these would have been the > witnesses. Is anyone familiar with this book? I would like to know if this is > the full record or was this a book of abstracts. I need the parents of both > Benjamin and Nancy and don't know where else to look. Any guidance would be > greatly appreciated. > > Debbie S