I think the form was actually a two part form - top and bottom. The bottom part was the confirmation of the actual ceremony and date and was supposed to be sent back to the gov't office within so many days so that the records were complete. The books of marriage records at the DC archives have both the application and the completed form. Harry > My family has had the same discussion..."Did they NOT have a ceremony after > obtaining the license??" I think that we finally concluded that there must > have been two copies of the certificate--one kept on file & one given to the > espoused couple, with the member of the clergy who officiated signing ONLY > the copy in the couple's possession. A very few, very precise clergy > probably went back to the government office to sign that copy as well. > > Does anyone have an ancestor's copy of a DC marriage license to confirm if > there were indeed two copies?? > > Frank Dunnigan > > -----Original Message----- > From: charles holtzback <choltzb@hotmail.com> > To: WashingtonDC-L@rootsweb.com <WashingtonDC-L@rootsweb.com> > Date: Tuesday, June 25, 2002 4:58 AM > Subject: [WashingtonDC'' ] marriage license > > > >I recently looked up the marriage license of my ggrandparents issued Nov. > 1, > >1870. The space in which the person who performed the marriage ceremony is > >supposed to fill in his name and affiliation was blank. This was also true > >of many other certificates on the film. Can anyone tell me why this is so. > I > >can't believe that so many people obtained marriage licenses and then > didn't > >have a ceremony. Or did they consider themselves married by obtaining the > >license? > >Thanks for any help with this. > > > >Charles > > > >_________________________________________________________________ > >Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. > > > > > >============================== > >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, > go to: > >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > >