Original Marriage License Returned After Court Recording Privately Held

By Anonymous on Wed, 07/23/2014 - 11:58

Forums

I have my original Texas Marriage License that was returned after being recorded by the county clerk.  I am not sure how to cite this record.  Do I cite it as a privately held item or do I cite it as a loose papers government record following EE 9.5?  Or, another option is do I make two separtate citations, one as a privately held artifact and a second as a marriage record as it is recorded at the county office from the back of the certificate where this information is documented (EE 9.4).

Could this work as a citation?

Texas, Tarrant County, Marriage License, N123456 (1970) Husband's Name-Wife's Name; original document privately held by Wife's Name, [Address for Private Use], City,State. Document recorded in Volume 123 page 456, filed DD Mon YYYY, Tarrant County, Texas.

 

Submitted byEEon Thu, 07/24/2014 - 12:03

Hello, nerp:

You are right to conclude that it should be cited as a privately held document. We would not cite it like a loose document in a government office because if someone else were to go to the courthouse, they would not find that particular document. The official registration would, almost certainly, be radically different in appearance. It would also be a second-generation record that could have copying errors.

The added notation as to where the "record copy" is recorded is a helpful addition to your notes, but EE would tweak it a bit:

  • Unless you have actually gone to the courthouse and verified that it does indeed appear in volume 123 at page 456, it would be best to make it clear that you have gotten that data from a notation on the document.
  • For clarity you should include the notation in the same sentence as the rest of the details about the document. If you put the information in two separate sentences, you are implying that the second sentence deals with a different record, but then it's identification is incomplete.
  • When citing a courthouse volume, we should also cite the office that created or holds the record.

Finally, is your private record just a license (as per your wording), or does it also contain the minister's statement that he performed the marriage?  Presumimg the latter,  EE's version would be:

       1. Original marriage record, Husband's Name-Wife's Name, Tarrant County, Texas, license number N123456 (1970); privately held by Wife's Name, [Address for Private Use], City, State; returned to Name by ___________'s Office, with notation "recorded in Volume 123 page 456, filed DD Mon YYYY, Tarrant County, Texas."

The words within the quote marks, of course, should be exactly what the record says.