This June marks my 5th wedding anniversary and it makes me appreciate the ancestors throughout history who have engaged in the rite of marriage—some with a church wedding, some with a civil service, and some without a formal ceremony but living under “common law”. Occasionally, an ancestor might have been born out of wedlock and his/her parents separated, such as in my case with my great grandmother, but most of my known ancestors took the plunge and made a vow to be bound in marriage. Many were fortunate to celebrate numerous years together—hopefully, happy ones. While I have information about when the marriage took place and perhaps a few statistics surrounding the event, for the most part, information about how they met or their courtship is absent.
One of the few stories I have is of my paternal grandparents. According to family legend Charles Brown and Lucy Swank met each other in a lumber camp. Charles was a woodsman; it is unknown where he was working before he married Lucy. Lucy is said to have been a cook in a lumber camp operated by her father, Charles Swank. This lumber camp has not been located, and nothing has been found to indicate that Mr. Swank managed a lumber camp; he was listed as a farmer in any census that has been found. It is possible they both worked at the same lumber camp, but wherever they met, Charles and Lucy most likely started their courtship around 1905. In September of 1906 their first child was born, but it would be another year before they officially wed as their marriage license application—number 541 in Sullivan County—indicates. They had nine more children during their 47 years of marriage.
It is easy to find more recent information and marriage applications stored in courthouses. However, the further back one researches, documenting marriages can be challenging, especially when church records have not survived. In the United States, each state determines its own system of recording marriages. In Pennsylvania, where many of my ancestors lived, the official registration and recording of marriages did not begin until 1885. Other states like West Virginia started their registers sooner around 1850. For marriages before state licenses were issued, one must find other resources, such as bible inscriptions, newspaper mentions, a marriage certificate, or even diary entries.
Family bibles at one time were popular, and I suspect were given when couples married—some have a ‘certificate of marriage’ in the bible that could be completed and signed. Unfortunately, only one bible could be handed down in the family, limiting who might see the information contained in its pages. Sometimes they were thrown out, especially if the bible was in poor condition and falling apart. My grandmother had acquired a family bible that had pages crumbling to dust when opened. My mother threw it out, but I rescued the pages that had any family information written in them. This is the only place that I have documentation for Charles and Lydia Fowler’s marriage, since it occurred before 1885. They were married 56 years and raised seven daughters.
Newspapers were good about reporting community happenings, including marriages or anniversaries. Sometimes the story is elaborate with details of the ceremony, guests and wedding dinner; other times it is a brief mention of only the parties involved. Estimating when the announcement was printed is not exact, as occasionally it might be a week or more before it appears in the paper. In some areas researchers, such Della Regan Fischer in the 1970s for Westmoreland County PA, examined old newspapers and recorded the names of couples getting married. These books are an excellent resource, providing information when the ceremony took place and sometimes the paper where the announcement was recorded. Fischer’s book Marriages and Death Notices 1818-1865 Westmoreland County PA, cites my 2nd great-grandparents: John Ludwick and Esther Sabilla [Rugh], both Hempfield Township, married on 3/22/1853 and in the paper dated 3/31/1853. Someday I hope to locate the original article if an issue from that date survives.
Another possible source for marriages, although rare, is finding the wedding mentioned in a personal diary, especially pastors or circuit riders. Although baptisms and marriages might be recorded in a church ledger, some ministers also wrote about their clerical duties in a personal journal. Rev. John Casper Stoever, who took Maria Catarina Markle as his wife, presided over some Markle family events. Although I have not seen a copy of the original journal, services he performed have been compiled in Records of Rev. John Casper Stoever : baptismal and marriage, 1730-1779. In this book my 5th great grandparents, Michael Rugh and Anna Franzina Markle, or “Merckling” as Stoever writes the name, are listed with the wedding date as April 16, 1745 in Moselem.
Looking at these records, it is noteworthy how many ancestors observed their golden anniversary. My parents reached 51 years, and in my eyes, their relationship was an example of love and devotion. These couples stayed together through good and bad, sickness and health. Their vows were not just a commitment to each other, but also to the many generations that follow them. As I celebrate another anniversary this month, I anticipate many more years of happiness with my husband, with the aspiration that someday, like so many of our ancestors, we might commemorate our 50th.
If anyone has family information that they would be willing to share, such as copies of bible pages, old marriage certificates or stories about how family members met, please contact me.
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