Marriages

 You may have noticed that Mayflower is focusing a lot of attention on marriage documentation. There are frequent notations by the marriage line on many applications that says "One and the same." This means that it is not clear that the line carrier for that generation is actually on that marriage record.

Say you have two cousins named Daniel Smith. They are cousins through their fathers. One of the Daniels is a Mayflower descendant through his mother. The other Daniel has no ties to the Mayflower. Next, you have a marriage record showing that Daniel Smith married Mary Jones. There are no names of parents on the record. So, which Daniel is it? That is the issue we are trying to solve.

We see many marriage records that do not include the names of the parents. Of course, we always home each applicant can get long form marriage certificates for all the generations in their line, but this is not always possible. For an applicant, we have an extra form that can be submitted where the applicant attests to the names of his/her parents. For other living individuals in the line, we have used copies of marriage announcements and even wedding invitations. An obituary or will of a parent can often make the connection. 

For deceased individuals, we always look to see if the full name of the spouse is on the death certificate. An obituary or burial record can be used. Having both names on a shared headstone or when relationships are specified on a headstone. Census records 1880 and later include relationships. A will or probate record linking the line carrier to his/her parents is a great find. You may also be able to find a secondary source about the family that clarifies the relationships.

As you are putting your application together, try to find long form marriage records that include the names of parents, but when you can't, you need to find other documents that clarify that you have the right line carrier in the marriage record.