How to Estimate United States Marriage Information

Estimating a Marriage Date and Place
{| width="99%" border="1" align="center" style="font-size: 13.600000381469727px;" ! valign="middle" bgcolor="B0 E0 E6" align="center" colspan="2" scope="col" |

Find Your Ancestor in All Possible Census Records: Find a Date

 * bgcolor="E0 FF FF" |
 * Census records 1900 and moving forward in time often list a marriage year or the age at first marriage.
 * Find the birth year of the first child and estimate that the marriage took place one to two years before that birth.
 * Marriage age for a female's first marriage was about 16-21.
 * Marriage age for a male's first marriage was about 18-25.
 * Marriage age for a male's first marriage was about 18-25.


 * }

{| width="99%" border="1" align="center" style="font-size: 13.600000381469727px;" ! valign="middle" bgcolor="B0 E0 E6" align="center" colspan="2" scope="col" |

Find Your Ancestor in All Possible Census Records: Find a Place

 * bgcolor="E0 FF FF" |
 * Marriages most often took place where the bride and her family lived.
 * Find the state and county where her family lived in the census closest to her marriage date.
 * Next look in the state and county where the groom lived.
 * Find the state where the first child was born.
 * Substitute records may suggest a state and county where either the bride or groom lived about the time you expect them to have married.
 * Substitute records may suggest a state and county where either the bride or groom lived about the time you expect them to have married.


 * }

'''Your ancestor's actual marriage date or place may vary widely from these general guidelines. These are guidelines for rough estimates.'''


 * When working with many generations of a family, always begin with younger generations and work backward in time.