What is in a "Return of a Marriage" ?

Recently I had a client looking for a marriage license for her deceased aunt.  They wanted to locate this marriage license because of the "Return of a Marriage" portion of the license.  The reason for locating this was because of privacy laws in Illinois.  The birth certificate is not yet 75 years old and the death certificate is not yet 20 years old.  Making these records only available to the parents, children, and grandchildren of the individual.  However,  marriage records are an open record in the state of Illinois. Although, some restrictions do apply on applications under 50 years old.  

In a previous blog (Illinois Marriage Certificates, 1860-1917)  I showed the progression of marriage licenses in Illinois.  Starting with simple forms only asking the name of the bride and groom.  Sometimes containing an affidavit by the groom stating the bride and groom were of legal age to marry.    In 1877 Illinois counties started to include a "Return of a Marriage" with the marriage license they filed.  This is a form that asked biographical information of both parties.  It also contains the signature of the bride and groom.  As well as the signature of witnesses.  In many cases the witnesses may be relatives of the bride and groom.  It should be noted that this is different from a marriage application.  That was a separate document filed.

For the biographical information it asked the name, age at next birthday, residence, parents names, race, place of birth, and number of marriages.  It does ask the maiden name of the bride in the case she was a widow.  For the groom his occupation was asked.  This information was supplied by the bride and groom, however, it is not always 100% accurate.  It should verified with any other sources you may have.

This can prove useful when a birth certificate was not filed for an individual.  In the state of Illinois birth certificates were not strictly mandated until 1916.  This would be helpful if the parties were of marrying age before 1916.  A birth certificate might not have been filed but the "Return of a Marriage" could have been.  Additionally the names of parents are not always filled out on a death certificate.  This is due to several factors.  The death certificate was filled out by a person in hospital records.  In most cases the very basic of vital information is filled out about the individual.  Another situation might be it was filled out by a child of the deceased.  The grandparents could have been deceased before the birth of the child.  In this case the child of the deceased may have not known or remembered the names of their grandparents.

A "Return of a Marriage" from 1892.

A "Return of a Marriage" from 1910.

A "Return of a Marriage" from 1917.