IT IS IMPORTANT that these marriage records be taken from PRIMARY sources. Examples of primary sources are listed below. If the marriage record is based on family history, hand-me-down, or some written source not a primary source, please say so. The form on page two has a place for you to list the source of your information.
Examples Of Primary Sources
Pension Applicaions, where the soldier listed his marriage on a questionnaire or where the widow provided evidence of her marriage to the soldier.
Newspapers - an announcement of a marriage from a contemporary newspaper.
Court Records - a divorce petition, marriage contract, or any document which states the place and date of the marriage.
Contemporary Letters - where the author states that the marriage took place in Wayne County, Tennessee.
A certified copy of a marriage record or an original copy of a marriage bond or license.
Bible records are considered primary sources, although a marriage recorded therein does not mean it was solemnized in Wayne County, Tennessee. If you submit a marriage record based on a Bible record, please indicate if the location where the marriage took place is given. If the location isn't given, please say that the location is unknown.
In some instances a marriage date may be recorded on a tombstone. If you have documentation for the maiden name of the wife, please submit the marriage, but indicate whether or not the location of the marriage is given on the tombstone. For example, my gg-grandparents, John Marshall HAYS an Sarah PIGG were married 13 February 1842. That date is from Sarah's tombstone and her maiden name is documented in a deed settling her father's estate. In this case two references should be submitted: the tombstone inscription with name and location of the cemetery; and the book, page number and county of record for the deed. We do not know that John Marshall HAYS and Sarah PIGG were married in Wayne County, Tennessee, so the submission will be made with location unknown, although we surmise from other available records that it did occur in Wayne County, Tennessee.
Estate settlements, lawsuits, etc. provide a source for marriages, but generally do not give the date or the place of the marriage. We will accept these only if the sources are given and the date and location marked unknown. Please do not assume that since you ancestor lived in Wayne County, Tennessee all his/her life, that his children got married here.
Your participation in this project is greatly appreciated. The information you share will greatly expand the available marriage records of Wayne County, Tennessee and will provide a record that will assist others in their research.
Click on the link below to go to the Reconstructed Marriage Records Submission Form.