Patriot505@aol.com wrote: > Janet, this is probably a dumb question but how did > you find these if they > aren't in the courthouse? I am going to Amherst in > Aug and won't have a lot of > time so I need to know what to do before I get > there. Any tips appreciated. Not dumb at all, I'm only just now learning my way around the courthouse. I should have explained to the list too because a few more people sent me questions. There are marriage index books in the courthouse for male surnames and female surnames. I looked in the index for males and copied from one and a half pages in the S section all of the Stinnett and Staton names I could find in the few minutes I had to do so. The index tells the name of the parties (the male book listing the husband's name first in alphabetical order, the female book listing the brides in alphabetical order) The index also gives the date and what book and page number they are in. You find the names you are looking for, note the book and page number and then retrieve the appropriate book ( they are labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) from the shelf. You turn to the page number listed in the index and there is the information you need- names of parties getting married, their age, race, husband's occupation, names of their parents and who married them. Basically everything that is on the certificate. You can also use the index to just look up the date and names and instead of looking in the marriage books, go directly to the drawers with the original marriage certificates in them (when you walk in the records room they are on the wall on your right) and take them to the desk to be copied. There is also a very old marriage index and marriage book with marriages circa 1700's in them located in the opposite corner from the certificates and other marriage books. They are tucked away, so you have to look for them. Good luck on your trip and if I can help in any further way let me know. Janet __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/