When searching for a marriage, always look first at the county where the Bride resided. Marriage Certificates and Marriage Licenses are two different animals. A License was obtained preceding the actual marriage ceremony. SEE BELOW. A Certificate was filed after and confirms that the actual marriage ceremony took place. Suggestion 1: You MUST view the correct County Marriage Index microfiche in person, before you label it "Unfound." I located 4 of 6 such marriages on these films in the past two weeks. The online GGG/IGG Transcription Index has errors, misspellings and omissions, and is not a thorough search engine; it is a tool to a search. A church sacramental marriage is no guarantee that a civil marriage filing exists. You guys know the Irish resisted reporting to civil authorities. [As did later Jewish immigrants.] You know that many Irish arrived NYC illiterate...so you can't count on surname spellings in even the original docs, let alone transcribed docs. Suggestion 2: NYC Marriage Licenses [pre-marriage filing] 1908-1951 for all counties except Bronx County, which is 1914-1951. These repose at the NYC Municipal Archives and cannot be ordered. They are time consuming to locate as a couple had to appear in person within a given number of days BEFORE the marriage took ceremony place. If you have an actual date of marriage, the license is easier to find. They are filed by the date of application, not alphabetically. Questions? Email me offlist. Barb -----Original Message----- From: Judi via <jxnfan@bellatlantic.net I have a similar problem to Kathy's, regarding an unfound Brooklyn marriage. Patrick McArdle was married twice. His 1st marriage to Ann McGauran/McGaheran was Jan 9, 1890. I have a Brooklyn church record of that marriage, but not a civil record. Annie died Nov 6, 1900, leaving a 5 year old son. Then, sometime between Annie's death in 1900, and July 1905, when my grandmother was born, Patrick McArdle married a 2nd time - to Margaret McGauran/McGaughran/Magaghran, Annie's sister. I'm thinking it's more likely 1901 - 1904, but I'm looking at 1900-1905. I can't find any marriage for them in NY at all. In 1900, Margaret would have been 26. One piece of info that stands out for me is the 1930 census, which asks "age at 1st marriage." Patrick says 29, which is pretty close to right - he was 30 when he married Annie. But Margaret says 17. I know people didn't always know their correct ages, but I'd think a bride would know if she was a teenager or a grown woman of 26 when she was married. I was wondering if she was married before,and I should be looking for Patrick McArdle and Margaret with another name? But I can't find that, either, between 1900-1905. It's worth noting that until I found evidence of Patrick's 1st marriage, and oldest son, no one mentioned they existed. Once I brought it up, there were many stories told. My last family source died before I could ask about Margaret. Any advice? Thanks, Judi