White Marriage Licenses of Tyrrell County, North Carolina
1877 - 1920

Introduction and Instructions

We are deeply indebted to Gordon L. Basnight, Mike Schoettle and Becky Dobson for their outstanding work transcribing these marriage licenses. The four of us have teamed up in an ongoing project that you will have to check periodically for additions. The date at the bottom of the page will tell you when the last addition was made. The years listed in the table below with hot links are also an indication of progress.

The marriage licenses of Tyrrell County are not complete. A few exist for the years 1868 and 1869 and then there are none until 1877. We assumed they were complete from that point except for those that have "disappeared" from the court house. However, we have found large periods of time with no licenses. Fortunately, the Tyrrell County Marriage Register contains entries for marriages during these periods. In comparing the marriage licenses to the marriage register, we also found that there are marriage licenses for which there is no marriage register entry. Our conclusion, therefore, is that the marriage register can't be considered a definitive source and that there are probably a few marriages for which no license currently exists and which didn't get entered into the marriage register. In order to provide the best information available from both sources, we are transcribing all marriage licenses and ONLY those marriage register entries for which no license exists. The project to transcribe these licenses and marriage register entries terminates at the year 1920 to avoid living persons.

The sequence of events in this project is to transcribe the existing licenses first. This task has been completed. We are still in the process of comparing the licenses to the marriage license register to determine the missing licenses for which only a register entry exists. Information from these entries in the marriage register are being transcribed and placed in a separate set of files. We are currently done checking the register through the year 1900. So until the last phase is complete, don't give up hope of finding a marriage license for that missing ancestor.

We are also indexing all brides, grooms, mothers and fathers listed in the marriage licenses and all brides and grooms listed in the marriage register in one consolidated index. (Parents are not shown in the marriage register, but may be listed in a transcription of parental consent where the bride or groom was under 18 years of age.) Witnesses, applicants, the county Register of Deeds, Justices of the Peace and Ministers are not indexed. The index also shows the type of the surname for females and the source of the surname. Entries for type surname will indicate whether a female's surname appears to be a MAIDEN surname or a MARRIED surname based on age and other information in the marriage license or marriage register. Entries for source will be either LICENSE, REGISTER or IMPLIED. LICENSE means the surname is as written on the license. REGISTER means the surname is as written on the marriage register. IMPLIED means the surname is implied from other data on the license. Examples of this are:
(1) - The new surname the bride acquires by virtue of the marriage. The entry in type surname in this case is MARRIED and the source is IMPLIED. Every bride has an entry of this type, even if she is marrying someone with the same surname.
(2) - Where the bride's surname is different from her father's surname the license is probably for a second or third marriage so the bride's maiden surname can be implied from the father's surname.
(3) - Where a mother's surname is different from the father's surname it may be her maiden surname, so a married surname can be implied. If the father is dead and the mother living, it can also indicate a subsequent marriage.
There are, of course, other circumstances such as bastardy, etc. which can make these assumptions not valid. But since the purpose of the index is solely as a finding aid the resulting errors do no harm. By indexing the way we have, you can find those second and third marriages you didn't know about and locate females whose maiden name is unknown.

Indexing is currently complete for all licenses and for marriage register entries through 1900.

You may read through the marriage licenses and register entries by using the table below. All pages are linked to the next page and previous page. If you are searching for a specific person or surname use the index. Pick the approriate index in males or females below. This will take you to an alphabetical index of names. Once you find a name of interest, click on it and you will be taken to the license or marriage register entry in which that person appears. To return to the index where you left it use the "back" button on your browser.

The licenses you will view are virtual copies of the actual licenses. The only thing missing is the numbered superscripts to each blank, underlined area on the license where information was to be entered and the legend to the superscripts explaining what information to enter in the blanks. These were omitted to save space. A facsimile of a complete blank license with superscripts and legend may be viewed by clicking here. A few licenses were hand written. These have been transcribed as if a form was used and annotated below the license. Marriage register entries contain all information in the actual register.


MARRIAGE LICENSE/REGISTER SURNAME INDEX
(ALL LICENSES NOW INDEXED)
(REGISTER ENTRIES INDEXED THROUGH 1900)

MALE A/B C/D E/F/G/H/I/J/K L/M/N/O P/Q/R S T/U/V/W/X/Y/Z

FEMALE A B C D E/F/G/H/I J/K/L M/N O/P/Q R Sa - Sl Sm - Sz T/U/V/W/X/Y/Z


LINKS TO MARRIAGE LICENSES BY YEAR

YEAR
1868 1869 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884
1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894
1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904
1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
1915 1916 1917 1918 1919


LINKS TO MARRIAGE REGISTER BY YEAR

YEAR
1878 1879 1880 1881 1882
None
1883 1884
None
1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890 1891 1892 1893
None
1894 1895 1896
None
1897
None
1898 1899 1900 1901

The word "None" indicates there are no register entries for which there is no marriage license.
The absence of a link and the word "None" indicates that year has not yet been transcribed.