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Hi everyone. I have my parents' certificate of marriage, on a pre-printed form, and it is the copy that says it is for the bride and groom. (An example of the layout has been uploaded, minus the personal details of the original.)
At the top left it says, "Louisiana State Department of Health", and right beneath that it says "Bureau of Vital Statistics".
The top right corner has "License No. ______" but there is no number filled in the blank.
Beneath that in larger font is "Certificate of Marriage".
Just beneath that is "Parish of ____St. Bernard___", but "St. Bernard" has been typed in. It turns out these records are in the Parish Clerk of Courts' records in Chalmette.
So I am baffled about how to use this record. It is held at the parish level, but the record indicates it was created by a parish branch of a state department. Is the "Author/Creator" the Louisiana State Department of Health? Or the parish?
And since there's no license number, just indicate no license number is cited?
Or is it a family artifact? :) My head hurts!
I've poured through Evidence Explained, but I can't find an appropriate format that seems to fit all of the criteria.
Does anyone have any advice? I'd very much appreciate your help!
Thank you in advance!
Jenny
Jenny, what you describe
Jenny, what you describe should be the standard marriage certificate that is given to couples at the time they married. You'll find it covered at EE 3.25, "Basic Format: Family Artifact."
Thank you so much! I'm new
Thank you so much! I'm new to the genealogical style of creating source lists, references, and citations, and I seem to have a lot of non-conforming sources, mostly from Louisiana. I'm very glad Mrs. Mills is a Louisiana expert. :)
Thank you again!
Jenny, the hallmark of good
Jenny, the hallmark of good genealogists is the extent to which they use uncommon sources. If all they used were standard books and articles, they would not need EE. Any citation guide would suffice!