Marriage records in Michigan.?
So I located the marriage record on-line for my great grandparents,born in the mid 1800s.The information about their parents names and where they came from,wasn`t there.So, I need to either travel to the town where the record is,or send them $15.00 by mail.Will I get a copy of the actual record?I need brakes on my car and with gas prices so high,I thought I would write for it,but then I worry,I will get the wrong record,or the information I need won`t be there.Mich has not released all the death records and a person has to be dead for 150 years before you can obtain a birth certificate.Anyone that has been dead that long,likely was not even born here.The reason I couldn`t find it before,my great grandmother`s last name was misspelled on-line,but not on the actual record.I have gotten more information from family search,than my worthless ancestry.com subscription.
You were all very helpfull.Hard to pick a best answer.
Having read your other question, I’m going to answer parts of both in one place.
I have pretty good experience with Michigan marriage records. First, you need to know that there are different types of "marriage records". This is a generic term for anything that documents a marriage, whether it be a marriage license or certificate issued to the couple, a return book, record book, marriage bond, or register book. Each of these will have different information about the couple. In Michigan each county determines what records they keep and what information will be on them. Some counties have made frequent changes. If you get information from the record about the parents is hit and miss. In Michigan they often have place of residence, but usually do not have place of birth or places associated with the parents.
Since you are looking for a copy, I suspect you have not located the record online, but rather an index or transcription of the record. This source should give you the precise information you need to find the copy they indexed or transcribed from. If it was from Family Search you might be able to take the source code information to a Family History Center and request the microfilm. If it’s from a published genealogy book you can sometimes request an inter-library loan from your local branch library, request a photocopy of the page of interest, or check Google Books.
A few tips about ordering records from public agencies: they will not do research and they will not guess, no matter how logical or obvious. They will look for exactly what you ask them to look for. If the date range you ask for is 1 day off, if a name is spelled 1 letter off, or if your information gives them more than 1 possible record you may get a note back saying the record could not be found. This is why the indexes online are helpful. They *should* be exactly as they appear in the record. In both cases this requires that someone is able to read the handwritten record (i.e. Elmira and Elvira can get confused). When you send away to the agency they will either photocopy the information from their books, or they will transfer the information to a form and this form is considered a copy (although not always certified).
GenWebs do not provide records, they provide a place where people can post information and links to helpful resources. What the GenWeb itself provides is free, but not all of the resources they list will be.
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