Marriage Records in Parker County
Marriage Records in Parker County , Texas are located at the Courthouse
Annex in the County Clerk 's Office at 1112 Santa Fe Drive , Weatherford
, Texas . The first marriage record recorded in Parker County ,
Texas was 13 July 1874 .
Since the Parker County Courthouse burned in 1874 there are no
official records of marriages that took place in Parker County
from its establishment in 1856 until 1874. There is a record kept
at the Weatherford Public Library of marriages during that time
period which has been gleaned from Family Bibles, the newspapers,
original marriage certificates, and family histories. These marriages
are also listed on this website.
The first marriage records are at the courthouse annex are marriage
register entries with a section that was filled out with the official
of the wedding and date of the marriage when the original license
was returned for filing. They are recorded in books with two on
a page. The original certificates that were not picked up by the
Bride and Groom are kept at the Courthouse Annex and can be copied
but are not given out to descendents.
The marriage record in the marriage books include the bride and
groom's names, when issued, date of marriage, and who performed
the ceremony. There are a few consents for marriage, paper clipped
to the page with the license. According to the county clerk, there
are no marriage bonds or marriage intentions nor did I see any
in the books. In August 1971, a space was added to the license
for the age of the bride and groom, however as early as 1 June
1961 the age was written in on many of the registrations. The amount
and type of information changed very little from the earliest record
to the latest record.
The twentieth century records are open to the public, however
starting in 1987 a scanned copy of the original marriage license
is in computers. The 1987 through 1993 records are on microfilm.
All records from 1979 through present are in index books which
indicate which computer and which license number to search for
in the computer as well as the date of the marriage. These are
indexed by both bride and groom. While these records are technically
open records, it takes a staff member to search. Although they
did search to show me examples of how the scanned marriage licenses
looked.
There are copies of marriage applications starting in the 1970s,
but they are closed records due to the amount of information contained
on them. The state vital records office in Austin , Texas has the
original marriage applications but not copies of the licenses.
The marriage applications include names of the bride and groom,
date of births, and social security numbers. After 2000, they also
include where they were born and where the original license was
mailed after being filed. Parents are not included on the applications
unless the bride or groom was under 18 at time of the application.
There are no marriage applications prior to the 1970s.
The earliest
few marriage books are somewhat fragile and some of the pages
are loose. They are kept in an open area behind an enclave of staff
desks with probate, court, and deed records. This room is very
busy with many people going in and out, researching in the different
types of records.
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