The non-white marriage licenses of Tyrrell County begin in 1877. We have transcribed the existing licenses and compared them to marriage register entries to find missing licenses. Then we transcribed 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.

A consolidated index of all brides, grooms, mothers and fathers listed in the marriage licenses and all brides and grooms listed in the marriage register has been completed. (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 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 are either LICENSE, REGISTER, IMPLIED, CENSUS or DEATH CERT. The source LICENSE means the surname is as written on the license. The source REGISTER means the surname is as written on the marriage register. The source IMPLIED means the surname is implied from other data on the license. Examples 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.
The sources CENSUS and DEATH CERT are used where parents names are not listed on a license and could be determined through census records or death certificates. They are also used where a mother's maiden name was determined from either source.
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 this way, you can find those second and third marriages you didn't know about and locate females whose maiden name is unknown.
To further enhance the index as a finding aid, the spelling of some surnames was standardized in the index. Hence, for instance, Palin, Pailin and Pailing were all indexed as Palin, the most commonly accepted spelling of the surname. The licenses themselves retain the original spelling.

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.

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.
Some licenses will be followed by notes. These notes provide further information concerning the people listed in the license and their relations. An attempt was made to find given names when only initials were given. Questionable given names were verified or corrected from other sources. And the names of parents were sought where that information was blank in the license.