Delaware Marriage Records, 1913-1954

 For those with Jewish ancestry in the state of Delaware, another great database has been updated at FamilySearch. Over 125,000 images of marriages between the years 1913-1954, are now searchable, free of charge.

The collection consists of an index and images to Delaware statewide marriage records. The certificates are arranged by year then by certificate number. State registration of marriages began in 1847 as the recorder of deeds for each county began to send copies of marriages to the secretary of the State Board of Health. Vital registration was generally complied with after 1913 when the central Bureau of Vital Statistics was established according to state law, which required registration of vital records.

The following example is a great example of these records. The 1929 marriage of Dr. Sydney Schagrin and Bessie Cohen.

Virginia Records on FamilySearch

In the last few weeks, FamilySearch has added records to a few different databases that go a long way toward help those with family history in the State of Virginia.

Those databases, Virginia, Bureau of Vital Statistics, County Marriage Registers, 1853-1935 and Virginia, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Death Records, 1853-1912, are part of the Historical Record Collections at FamilySearch. Both collections contain records and images from various counties in Virginia. In the case of the marriages, the records were turned over to the county clerks by those who performed the marriages. The clerks then sent the records to the state auditor who preserved them. Both databases are wonderful collections of very informative records. The originals are in the custody of the Virginia State Library in Richmond. 

Below, are examples from the various collections. The first, is the marriage record for the marriage of Sydney S. Cohen and his wife Bessie Flax. The second and third, are the death records of two sons of Meyer Cohen and his wife Esther Michael. Those boys, Maxie and Sidney, both taken by accidental drowning.

 

As more records become available, these collections should continue to grow.

New marriage records at FamilySearch

Today there has been a very nice collection of marriage records added to the FamilySearch web site. The records are of six states of the United States as well as the records from Durham, England. Included are the records of a few states with large Jewish communities, New York,  Louisiana and Missouri. Not all of the states have records that are name search able as of today, however, almost 5.8 million records are search able. The chart below shows those locations and numbers of records. In addition, last week over 3.5 million marriage records were added from Indiana.

The range of years included is different for each collection and because of that some records give better information than others. For example the top record below is a record form the New York collection for a marriage from 1914. These records were gathered from the various counties who had started to require these records.

The record below is from the collection for Louisiana from 1870. The original  records are in the possession of the Louisiana State Archives.

Most of the records from the United States are from the time frame that will also include the majority of census records, which makes these records vital to verifying family connections. The collections are not complete and will continue to be added to as more records are made available. 

Even with being incomplete, these are a wonderful resource for family historians and as with all other FamilySearch collections they are available for no charge at www.familysearch.org.

British Columbia Marriage Registrations, 1859-1932; 1937

The amazing amount of marriage records now available online continues to grow. This collection, the British Columbia Marriage Registrations, 1859-1932, 1937, contains over 141,000 images. The original records are from the Division of Vital Statistics, however they are now available for viewing at www.familysearch.org.

The actual records provide some wonderful information on those who were married in British Columbia. Not only has this collection been made available in transcription form but the original documents are also included. I began my search by just performing a simple search of the surname Cohen, which returned 569 hits.
Searching the list I was able to locate the record I was looking for, the 1911 marriage of Abraham Charles Cohen to Laura Bertha Weaver. The transcription provided me with most of the information. It included the names, ages and birthplaces of the bride and groom as well as the names of both sets of parents, including the mothers maiden names. That transcription is show below.

 The transcription, also states that the record is a marriage license for the marriage which took place on 4 June 1911 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Additionally it also provides us with the number of the Family History Library film that was used to transcribe the record (1983703). When I then followed up by looking at the original record (see below), I was able to gather a little more information, such as the names and addresses of the witnesses, the fact that both bride and groom were Jewish and the name of the Rabbi who performed the marriage, Rabbi Elias Friedlander.

 This collection should be of great help to all of those who had family married in British Columbia. The collection should continue to grow as more records become available.

 
 

Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991.

It is simply amazing the number the amount of new records that continue to be made public on the various genealogical websites. Thanks to websites such as Ancestry, MyHeritage, and FamilySearch the amount of information that is at ones fingertips is such a blessing to all looking for their families.
This past week a new database has been added to FamilySearch that will be hopefully for those with families in the state of Missouri. That collection, Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991, contains over 2.5 million images of records from various Missouri counties. Those records include marriages, marriage applications, licenses, and certificates. The records come from multiple sources, including the microfilm collection of FamilySearch and the records of the Missouri State Archives in Jefferson City, Missouri. Records will continue to be added as they become available but it is still a wonderful collection now.
The process of searching the collection is very easy. The image below shows the basic search page. I entered the name that I always enter, Cohen, and the search returned 985 results. 

 

 As I scrolled through those results, I came to one that I was interested in, the marriage of Joseph A. Cohen and his bride Esther Lou Weinstock. I clicked on that entry and I was given a basic transcript page (see below) to view the information.

After I realized this was indeed the entry I wanted I clicked on the "View the original document" to view the original where the information came from. In addition to information on the transcript I was also now able to find the name of the Rabbi who performed the marriage. The original record (below) includes both the application to marry and the marriage license.

A big thanks to all those who make these records available, through their efforts and the efforts of the families researching their own ancestors we are connecting those long lost families.

New Brunswick Provincial Marriages 1789-1950

In March of last year, I wrote about the New Brunswick Death records that were made available on the FamilySearch website. Now this past week the New Brunswick Provincial Marriages, 1789-1950 have also been added to FamilySearch. The collection, which as of today includes over 255,000 images, provides some great information for people researching their Jewish families. Starting with a basic search page (shown below), I have entered the surname Cohen.

The name Cohen returned 586 entries, of which the first part of page 1 are shown below. 

I chose the second entry, the marriage of Israel Cohen to Freda Jacobson in 1903. Upon clicking on the name Israel Cohen, I was given the basic information for  this marriage (Below).

We now have most of the vital information on the bride and groom, including their ages and the names of their parents. Also, the number of the microfilm that was the source for this information is shown, #2,320,202. By following the View the document link the researcher can then view the original record (Below).

Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950

The Jewish history of the State of Alabama is as old as the United States itself. As early as the 1750's and 60's, a number of Jews called Mobile home. Later, in the 1820's, the first permanent Jewish community in Alabama was

established in Mobile.
The Jewish community of Mobile was large enough that in 1841 they purchased their own cemetery. In January of 1844, Congregation Shaarai Shomayim u-Maskil el Dol was chartered.
The longtime president of the Congregation was Israel Jones, who was a London born tobacco merchant.
Another very prominent Jew in Mobile was Rabbi James Koppel Gutheim, who was originally from New Orleans. On 14 December 1858, Emilie Jones, the daughter of Israel Jones married James Koppel Gutheim in Mobile, Alabama.
The record of that marriage (below) is part of a collection of marriage records from the State of Alabama, that have now been added to the Historical Records Collections at Familysearch.org.

The collection, Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950, has over 1,000,000 marriage records and is name search able. In the later years of the collection, the records give much more information. The record below is the marriage in 1948, of Karl Bernard Friedman and Gladys Marie Cohen. 

 

In addition to the marriage information, we are now provided with the date and place of birth, occupations and the parents of the bride and groom. For those with Jewish family in Alabama, these are incredible records. As always these records are freely available at www.familysearch.org

Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949

The latest additions to the FamilySearch website include many more databases that contain valuable records for finding our Jewish ancestors. One of the newer collections, Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949 , is a great example.
The collection, which at this time includes marriage records from 13 different counties, contains almost 600,000 images. Of those images, over 280,000 are now name search able. The majority of the records are the applications for marriage licenses. They do not give a great deal of information, however they do include the name of bride and groom, date and place of marriage and in some cases the ages of the new husband and wife. The record below is for the marriage of Emanuel Polikoff and Ida Cohen.

From the marriage license we gain the knowledge that Emanuel was 26 years of age and Ida was 22. We also notice that at the bottom of the document it states "subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of January A.D. 1910".  With the collection covering 1860-1949, most of the couples should be search able in the various United States census records, which will help verify the information and possibly link them to their families. The collection can be searched for free at www.familysearch.org.

Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885 -1950

This past week a large collection of records was added to www.familysearch.org that should be very beneficial to many with Jewish ancestry. The collection, Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950, includes over 2.2 million images of marriages certificates from various Pennsylvania counties. The collection is name search able and provides some incredible information.
I did a search for a marriage that I knew took place in Pennsylvania in the early 1900's, that of  Nathaniel David Kremer to Effie Bertha Cohen. Using the standard search box at

FamilySearch, I was able to receive the following information.

In addition to the date of the marriage I now know the names of both sets of parents, as well as the estimated dates of births for both the bride and groom. In addition, by clicking on the tab to view the original document it is also possible to see the original Application for Marriage License as well as the Original Marriage License (below).

By being able to view the original documents, we are now able to gain additional information such as the addresses of the bride and groom as well as their occupations. We also now know that the marriage was performed by the Rabbi Louis Silver. This database should be a great access for families in Pennsylvania.

Netherlands, Marriages, 1565-1892

In posts over the last few months, I have discussed various collections of births, deaths and burials from the Netherlands. These are located at www.familysearch.org. Now, it has been brought to my attention that I have not also mention that a database of marriagess for the period 1565-1892 is also available.
That database which now has over 560,000 records is name search able, and provides great information for each marriage. The record below is the marriage of Benjamin Abraham Cohen and his wife Hanna Marcus Dwingersma.

This collection can be of great help in linking families together. It can be searched at Netherlands, Marriages, 1565 -1892. As always, Familysearch can be searched free of charge.

Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994 at www.familysearch.org

It seems as if each week, FamilySearch brings out more and more wonderful databases for finding our Jewish ancestors.  This week, the first part of the "Ohio County Marriages, 1789-1994" have been added to the Historical Collections at www.familysearch.org. At this time the collection is about 74% complete and includes over 2.1 million images.

The search is very easy, simply start by putting the name in that you are looking for. I was interested in searching for the name Moses Abrams, as I know he was married in Ohio to Mamie Koliskey. In many different records both names are spelled different ways, so I started by searching for just the first name Moses. That search gave me over 300 results, one of which was the following;

By clicking on the view image button on the left side of the record, I was able to pull up the original record of the marriage on the 30th of July 1900 of Moses Abrams and Mamie Koliskey.

As we look at the information provided for Moses we see that he was born in Pennsylvania in 1878 and at the time of the license he was living at 38 Orange Street. If we look at another of the free databases at www.familysearch, the 1900 United States Census we find a Moses Abrams living on Orange Street. He is listed as being born in 1878 in Pennsylvania. At the time of the census, he is living in the household of his sister and her family. Using the various databases, all available for free, we are started in put together a very nice record of this family.