Hi Again :-) Here is a little more information on the Ancestry.com free database. Nancy E Parr ============================================================ This is a free data base for 10 days on Ancestry. Check it out and see if you can find any new information!! NORTH CAROLINA http://www.ancestry.com/ancestry/search/northcarolina.htm This database contains an index to 29,000 marriage records available from North Carolina between the years 1850 and 1868, with some records as early as 1842, and as late as 1900. The following counties and dates are included in this collection: Ashe, (Marriage Bonds) Bertie, 1850-1868, (Marriage Certificates) Catawba, 1842-1900, 1850-1900 includes only A-K, (Marriages) Currituck, 1851-1867, Book A, (Marriage Bonds) Davidson, 1827-1867, (Marriage Bonds) Davie, 1851-1868 (Marriage Bonds and Certificates) McDowell, 1851-1881, (Marriage Bonds) Wayne, 1851-1856 (Bride's Index) Wilkes, 1851-1856 (Bride's Index) Yadkin, (Marriage Bonds and Certificates) Most North Carolina marriages were not recorded before 1868. At this time, most marriages were performed after banns had been posted three times to give local residents the opportunity to state any objections to the upcoming marriage. Many of the records in this database are from Marriage Bonds, which were common in the South. According to "The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy" revised, edited by Loretto D. Szucs and Sandra H. Luebking, Chapter 4, Research in Marriage and Divorce Records, by Johni Cerny and Sandra H. Luebking. (http://www.ancestry.com/home/source/src70.htm): "Marriage bonds were not required by all colonies or states but have been common in the South. Bonds were posted prior to the issuing of the required marriage license in some states and were the sole documents required in others. Bonds were posted by the groom alone, or with a second person, usually the father or the brother of the bride, to defray the costs of litigation in the event the marriage was nullified." "Bonds were posted in the jurisdiction where the marriage was to take place, often in the bride's home county. These bonds, the only marriage records maintained in some jurisdictions, were usually annotated with the marriage date after the ceremony. It was rare for a marriage not to take place within a few days of the posting of the bond, even though many bonds do not bear the annotation. Although the missing information could mean that the marriage did not take place, more often it reflects poor record keeping or failure of the justice or minister to report the marriage to local officials." After 1868 the register of deeds in each county was given the task of issuing marriage licenses.