Philadelphia, PA 1940 Marriages

One reason for my blog silence the last couple of weeks is we have been working overtime on your volunteer project of digitizing marriage records at Fredericksburg, VA Circuit Court.

After a month’s hiatus while the circuit court employees got settled into their spacious office space in the new courthouse, we were called back to work on September 12.  That day we digitized 285 1941 marriages, coming down from the 335 1942 marriages done at the end of July.

Easy street we thought.  We knew as we went back in time we would have fewer marriages (less population), and could then possibly digitize two years each week.  Wrong.

Our mouths dropped when we asked to see the boxes of 1940 marriages, thinking that might be the year we could start doing multiple years in one morning.

The most archive boxes we had faced previously was three.  For 1939 and 1940, each of those years had TEN archive boxes.

We did not plan on the effect the war in Europe would have on American couples.  That, and the fact that Virginia is a Gretna Green, and Fredericksburg is easily accessible by rail, and the Court only three blocks from the station, created a perfect storm of marriages.

It took us five hours of steady work just to sort the 1,599 marriages for 1940 into piles of 100s.  It took another four mornings of 3-4 hours each to digitize those.  As we plugged along, the Circuit Court Clerk stopped by and said, “Just think how great this information will be for genealogists.”  We agreed. That is why we were there.

Several days were heavy traffic days, the court overrun with people wanting marriage licenses. The clerk at the time cried out for more help; the circuit court was open on Saturdays to accommodate the crowds.  On Saturday, July 27, for example, the circuit court processed 69 marriage licenses. Another reason for the rush was that starting in August 1940 Virginia required blood tests. Consequently, approximately 1450 licenses were processed by the end of July, with only about 150 for the rest of the year.

These are not Virginia people.  What we noticed as we worked our way through 1940 is many, many couples were from Philadelphia, PA.  If your ancestors lived and worked in Philadelphia in the late 1930s, you just might find their marriage license in Fredericksburg, VA.  Of course there are many other states represented as well, but Philly really stood out in this group.  We shall see what information the 1,000+ 1939 licenses bring us. 

Searching for Marriage Licenses

Good News!!

The decision was made to have the digitized marriage licenses be available for researchers to view and handle through the Central Rappahannock Heritage Center in Fredericksburg, VA.

The original documents were to be archived since there would be a digital copy available of the license and any supporting documentation. We are pleased the Heritage Center has offered to be the repository for these documents. And some of the supporting material will be a gold mine for genealogists!!

The title of this blog post is such because these licenses are not just for Fredericksburg or Virginia residents only. Virginia was and still is a Gretna Green where anyone can come, get a license, and be married immediately.  Not only did couples drive south from New York and New England, but also east from the surrounding states.  Since Fredericksburg is conveniently located to several military bases, like Quantico, many military personnel received their licenses from the Fredericksburg Circuit Court.

Our digitizing efforts recently experienced a number of marriages that occurred during World War II. We worked our way through a large number of marriages just after the war, and were a bit surprised that this week’s number for the year of 1942 was the largest we have ever done – 335!!  We suspect 1940 and 1941 will also be big years for marriages.

So, when looking for a marriage license for ancestors especially in the east,  and/or in the military, don’t rule out Virginia.  

Those Places Thursday – Fredericksburg VA

Fredericksburg Court Records Online...

Tomorrow hubby and I will spend the better part of the day being trained to input data and digitize marriage records for the City of Fredericksburg.  At this point 1995 to present are online; the city clerk wants us to work back from 1995 to 1742. Needless to say this is a long term project!  

This information is available at Historic Court Records  and we are very excited to be part of this ongoing project to get all Fredericksburg city records online.

These records will have a wide range appeal. Because of the city’s proximity to Quantico as well as other military installations, and government offices, many non-residents utilized this beautiful historic city for their marriage ceremony.

[Correction: Once trained we realized that the documents at Historic Court Records are the work of one of the employees at the Circuit Court. We, however, are putting records online for access through the Fredericksburg Circuit Court. These records are available online for a fee; contact the court for the authorization process.  As of 4 February 2013 we have made available 160 marriage records for 1994.]

Genealogy Goals for 2012

Since we will be in transition for the first three months this year, I am keeping my genealogy goals list short and hopefully attainable.

Journaling – I’m glad I kept a journal last year; consequently I will continue this habit of documentation.

Tompkins County Rootsweb – I will continue to provide the Tompkins County, New York genealogy website with old photos and typed obits for their scrapbook section.

Hardenbrook Monograph – Yes, darn it, I am going to finish the monograph on the Hardenbrook family of Upstate New York this year.

Nunn Monograph – I began my genealogy journey with the Joseph Nunn family of Germany and New York City. This family has been my nemesis from the start.  Maybe if I concentrate my efforts, I will have some luck knocking down the brick walls.  It was last year at this time I was contacted through my blog by a member of this family – related to the key person, my grandfather’s sister, Elizabeth Nunn Siebert Piepenburg. I was so excited.  I responded to the comment, but never heard from this woman again. What a heartbreak!  

Fredericksburg Genealogy – I will get involved with a local genealogy group here in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Thankful Thursday - A Year of Transition

This year our Christmas letter began:

This has been an emotional and trying year that continues as such right up to the end.  We survived all Mother Nature threw at us – Record snow/ice dams in winter, record rainfall through spring and summer, a Microburst in June (power out for three days), Tropical Storm Irene (power out for five days), and then Nor’easter Alfred (power out eight-plus days).  We mourned the loss of our dear family members, Elaine Hill, Lee Agard, Beverly Agard, and Ray’s mom, Kathryn Maki.

Indeed it was a difficult year in many ways. And in June we decided to put our home on the market (at the worst possible economic time), and buy into a Del Webb community in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  In four months we had only three showings. It was a dismal outlook for the transition we had planned. But our guardian angel (and possibly the two St. Joseph statutes planted upside down) was looking out for us. On November 27 we accepted an offer on our house; exactly three weeks later we had packed up our three-bedroom home and arranged for movers to store our furniture until our new home at Celebrate Virginia was ready.

Although our stress level at times was over the top, we are so thankful. We are thankful our son invited us into his home for Christmas, and thankful for a sister-in-law who opened her home to us until our new home is built.

We are thankful Fredericksburg has an established genealogy club and we hope to become active members. We are excited to explore this historic area and find out what can be done here to assist genealogists.  We love to create databases!!

And we are thankful for our family and for our many friends in Upstate New York and Newtown, Connecticut.