Marriage records can tell us as little as when a license was purchased and as much as parents of the couple, age of the couple and where the wedding was performed. They seem pretty straightforward. We find the marriage record books in county courthouses and transcriptions on line. (Always try to get a copy of the original whenever you can. Mistakes can be made by the most careful of transcriptionists.)
They’re easy research. Look in the index, flip to the page and there you have it. Jimmy Jones and Sarah Smith – 8 January 1898. But look closer. Does it say “no ret” or “no return”? Then the date listed is only the date they bought the license. After the ceremony, the minister was to return the license to the county clerk of the county where the wedding took place, siting the date of the wedding.
Just what does “no return” mean? It means simply that the minister failed to return the license to the court for registration. It could mean the marriage did not take place, but we see too many “no returns” for that to always be the case. Perhaps the minister didn’t see the importance of returns, lost the license, or was uneducated as to the proper procedure. It’s possible the couple obtained the license at the nearest courthouse, but married in another county. In that case, the license might have been returned in the county in which they were married. Check those neighboring county records.
So, when you find marriage records, if it says no return and you’ve checked the neighboring counties for a return, please make a note in your records that says the license was not returned and that the date is the date the license was purchased.