We now have over 67,000 names in the marriage index for people who married in Douglas county (_www.omahamarriages.wordpress.com_ (http://www.omahamarriages.wordpress.com) ). They aren't all Douglas county residents and come from surrounding counties, and sometimes much further away. It's still a drop in the bucket compared to the names that will come, as we get help. The names that we have are in the index by both bride and groom's names (at the time of marriage), so that if you are looking for sisters in a family, they're easier to find than just looking for a groom's surname list and hoping to find the sisters by a "find" under every letter of the alphabet. Women who were previously married usually show up under their most recent married name, and only sometimes do the marriage records indicate the maiden name. If the maiden name is given as part of the bride's name, it'll be in the index with her name so a "control find" feature would help locate her. If it isn't given as part of her name, even if parents were listed in the marriage application or signed license, it won't be in the index. Parent's names are not always given on the licenses & applications, but some years are a goldmine for information (such as birth place and current residence) in addition to the expected marriage date & the couple's names. We include names of people who got a license but did not marry (or at least didn't return the license indicating they actually married.). If it happens to be a family member's name, it will at least place them in a time and place, and sometimes give other information, even though they may not have actually married the other party on the license. Happy hunting. The microfilm for marriages are at the W. Dale Clark Library in downtown Omaha from the beginning through about 2002...but later years aren't indexed yet on our site. We need more helpers, or more hours in the day. If you can come help, let me know. If you don't live in Omaha and can't make it in to get copies of your licenses, you can contact G.O.G.S. for assistance in getting copies of the licenses you need. How long it takes depends on how many requests have come in before your request. (_www.gogsmembers.wordpress.com_ (http://www.gogsmembers.wordpress.com) has research information such as address & fees. Any fees beyond actual expenses buy more materials for the genealogy department so it's a win-win situation for everyone in the long run.) We'll also be updating the obit web site in the next few days and some are pre-1900 this week. That time period takes longer for fewer names, but we do seem to get lots of deaths reported for Council Bluffs. Early death notices show up everywhere in the paper, including gossip columns. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have SOMETHING, and have the death date narrowed down to usually within a few days of the death than have nothing at all. That's why in the obit site we include obituaries, cards of thanks, death certificate notices, lodge notices, and bits in the gossip columns (even occasionally a probate notice) that indicate someone died. (_www.omahaobits.wordpress.com_ (http://www.omahaobits.wordpress.com) ) Karen **************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)