-----Original Message----- From: Lynn E.Wesson [mailto:Lynn@fastcode.com] Sent: Monday, November 18, 2002 6:43 PM To: 'Kit McChesney' Subject: RE: [NCRUTHER-L] Marriage records, missing, or never recorded? Kit, The register is not online to my knowledge. It is published in the book of Marriages from a similar period in Cleveland Co. I just looked at a few pages I copied and the published ones are from 1900-1910, but he performed marriages in the Grover area across the state line in SC (near Blacksburg, SC) for some years. No marriage license was required in SC till 1911 per this book. The reason I found out was just looking at the book and seeing the names of some of my own relatives who were married by him! I would suggest , though, that you check the marriage registers for Cleveland, Gaston, and surrounding counties for the appropriate years. These books are in the local libraries of the counties in question and also in the State Genealogy library in Raleigh. Lynn -----Original Message----- From: Kit McChesney [mailto:kitmcchesney@msn.com] Sent: Monday, November 18, 2002 6:32 PM To: Lynn@fastcode.com; NCRUTHER-L (E-mail) Subject: Re: [NCRUTHER-L] Marriage records, missing, or never recorded? Lynn-- This is good information, especially since my Bradley relatives moved into SC over the border around 1890 or so, because 2 of my grandfather's four other siblings were born in the Gaffney area, where they are shown in Morgan Township in 1900. I have not been able to find Benjamin in the 1880 census--well, not exactly. There is a Benjamin Bradley in the 1880 census, next door (my theory is that Benjamin and Esther were cousins, descendants of the Thomas and Henry Bradley families--they were brothers, hammermen in the High Shoals Iron Works), but he is recorded as being 7 years old. Given that my great-grandmother-to-be was 23 at the time, it seemed unlikely that he was the right person. And if this is an error, then he isn't shown at all in earlier census records, so I suppose that this 7 year old Benjamin was someone else--perhaps he was named after my great-grandfather, but to date, I haven't found a thing to verify his existence. I assume the Cleveland register is online at Floyd's site? Thanks again. Looking forward to more thoughts. How did you find out about this Rev. Mullinax? Is there any historical material about him? Kit McChesney ----- Original Message ----- From: Lynn E.Wesson Sent: Monday, November 18, 2002 4:26 PM To: 'Kit McChesney'; NCRUTHER-L (E-mail) Subject: RE: [NCRUTHER-L] Marriage records, missing, or never recorded? Kit, Many people in that part of the state went to SC to marry, where a license was not required till sometime about 1910 or after. They just went over the state line and married, usually by a minister. There was one minister, a Mr. Mullinax, who kept books of his marriages, and some volumes of those books survives and are published with the Cleveland Co. marriage register. That may be what happened to your folks. Have you found Benjamin Bradley in 1880 census? Lynn Wesson Chapel Hill, NC -----Original Message----- From: Kit McChesney [mailto:kitmcchesney@msn.com] Sent: Monday, November 18, 2002 6:04 PM To: NCRUTHER-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [NCRUTHER-L] Marriage records, missing, or never recorded? Hello Rutherford-ers-- I have sent inquiries to every single county in North Carolina, checked Bill Floyd's list of brides and grooms, and looked high and low for any evidence at all that my great-grandmother, Esther Bradley (her maiden name) actually married my great-grandfather, Benjamin Bradley, around 1881. Esther is single in 1880. Benjamin doesn't show up anywhere in any census at the appropriate time, and by 1900, Esther is a widow, with five children. We have no census for 1890, so I can't find him there. I have no burial for him (Esther is buried in the Clifton Cemetery in Clifton, SC, d. 1910) and for all the world, he just seems never to have existed. As far as I've been able to tell, neither Esther nor Benjamin had a will (they probably would have had nothing to leave anyone anyway, since Esther and her children were poor farmers, and later worked in cotton mills. They rented their property in 1900 and 1910, when Esther died. Has anyone had trouble finding marriage records for their Rutherford/Cleveland County ancestors, folks who might have married around 1880, a period of time when one would expect some record of a marriage to be recorded? Even though one would presume that everyone who claimed to be married actually did marry, what is the reality? Did some folks just pretend to be married? (I won't use the euphemism for this practice). Did some folks marry but not report their marriages? Was common-law marriage "common" at that time? This is one problem that has befuddled me for years. Does anyone have a brilliant thought that might jog my process and get me moving in a more fruitful direction? (I'm not expecting miracles, but two or more heads can often be better than one!) Thanks in advance. Any suggestions, help, or even hollering, appreciated! Kit McChesney ==== NCRUTHER Mailing List ==== Subscribing: Clicking on one of the shortcut links below should work, but if your browser doesn't understand them, try these manual instructions: to join NCRUTHER-L, send mail to NCRUTHER-L-request@rootsweb.com with the single word subscribe in the message subject and body. To join NCRUTHER-D, do the same thing with NCRUTHER-D-request@rootsweb.com. Unsubscribing: To leave NCRUTHER-L, send mail to NCRUTHER-L-request@rootsweb.com with the single word unsubscribe in the message subject and body. To leave NCRUTHER-D, do the same thing with NCRUTHER-D-request@rootsweb.com. 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