I don’t know about you, but
I’ve certainly had my share of trouble finding marriage records for some of my
ancestors. Not all, but some.
They aren’t always
married when or where you think they should be. Let’s take my grandparents,
Harry W. GOULD & Marie W. LINDSAY.
They were both born in Detroit, Michigan, grew up in Detroit, had their son
in Detroit and lived there until their early 70's. Oh, and all their immediate family on both
sides were in Detroit. Then you would
expect them to have been married in Detroit.
Right?
I was pretty sure they
were married around 1912 or shortly before.
Why?
o Because they weren’t married in the 1910 census.
o Because my Dad, their son, was born on 31 Dec
1912.
o I have a photo album (you know the ones with the black
pages) with pictures of my Dad as a baby.
The photos are labeled “5 months, 1913,” and others similar to
that.
CONCLUSION: They
were probably married between 1910 and 1912
Beginning in 2003, I wasn’t
able to find any marriage records for them on familysearch.org or
Ancestry.com. I even Googled their names
using various methods and came up empty.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Never give up the search!
Fast
forward to September 2011. I am, yet
again, performing searches on the usual sites for their marriage record. BINGO! FOUND IT!
I located an index of the record on Ancestry.com
In Detroit?
NO!
In the United States? NO!
They were married in Windsor,
Essex, Ontario, Canada.
Yup, they drove “across the bridge” from
Detroit into Windsor and got married over there.
They were the first couple who's marriage was found to be "over the bridge" in Canada, but they weren't the last.
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| MY GRANDFATHER, HARRY GOULD, LIVING WITH HIS PARENTS & SIBLINGS IN THE 1910 CENSUS IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN |
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| Ancestry.com record for marriage |
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| Actual image of marriage certificate for Harry Gould & Marie Lindsay - located on familysearch.org |
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| Marie W. LINDSAY & Harry W. GOULD on their wedding day 6 June 1912 |
TIP: If you have grandparents who are still alive. TALK TO THEM! Ask them questions about how they met, where they met, how long they dated, where they got married etc. etc. You'll never regret asking, but you sure will regret not asking.
Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl
Copyright © 2013 Diane Gould Hall
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I look forward to reading your comments. If you have any connection to the people mentioned in this blog, please let me know. I write about mine and my husband's ancestors and would welcome new information or meeting a new cousin or two. Thanks for visiting and come back soon.