My grandparents’ Elkton Marriage License (click to view full size)

On July 24, 1937, my grandparents Orville W. Garrison & Naomi E. Carman were married in Elkton, Maryland. My grandmother told me this, but unfortunately I did not know enough about Elkton to ask for more of the story. It turns out that Elkton was known as the place Philadelphians went to when they eloped or otherwise wanted a quick marriage. Unlike neighboring states, Maryland did not have a waiting period for marriage at the time.

The Boundary Stones blog has a brief overview of Elkton as the place for quickie marriages. According to that article “couples didn’t have to wait to use their marriage license in Maryland, but they did have to have a church service as part of the ceremony,” which might explain why my (as far as I know) irreligious grandparents were married by a Baptist minister. (My grandfather’s family were mostly Methodists. My grandmother’s were a mish-mash of various Protestant denominations, none of which were Baptist, and Catholics.)

I do know that my grandparents had waited to get married because they had both been out of work due to the Depression. So, perhaps after they got jobs, they just couldn’t wait? I do know it was not a “shotgun wedding,” as my mother was born a little less than a year later. It was also not due to the rashness of youth as described in the blog article above. My grandmother was 32 and my grandfather was 29, both had worked since adolescence and my grandfather had already been out west and returned, so they were not young people “first experiencing freedom.” I will probably never know why my grandparents ran off to Elkton to get married instead of waiting 48 hours to get married in Philadelphia, but it’s interesting to know they were a part of east coast history.

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Sources:

Maryland. Cecil County. Marriage Certificates. Clerk of the Circuit Court, Elkton. Orville W. Garrison & Naomi E. Carman, 1937.

“Elkton, Maryland: The Quickie Wedding Capital of the East Coast,” by Krystle Kline. Boundary Stones: WETA’s Local History Blog, https://blogs.weta.org/boundarystones/.

On this day in 1815, my fifth great grandparents Addi Ayars and Mary Severs were married in Burlington County, New Jersey by Amos Pearce, Justice of the Peace.

Image from New Jersey, County Marriages, 1682-1956 on FamilySearch

Addi Ayars was the great-great grandson of Robert Ayars who settled in New Jersey by way of Rhode Island around 1705 and who was likely a Seventh Day Baptist, by far the most interesting religion I have found in my family tree to date.

First United Methodist Church marriages
Bridgeton, New Jersey

John Garrison & Mamie Ware marriage, 1899. Click to see full page.

Dec 13 1899

Groom: John S. Garrison
Residence: 163 Fayette St
Place of birth: USA
Occupation: Brass finisher
Age: 23

Bride: Mamie E. Ware
Residence: 741 Mt. Vernon, Camden, NJ
Place of birth: USA
Age: 25

Officiating Minister: Chas. H. Elder [not positive about last name]

Original Source Citation:
Historical Society of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), First United Methodist Church marriages, Bridgeton, NJ, image 698, John S. Garrison & Mamie E. Ware; digital images, Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Historic Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2451 : accessed 14 March 2014).

I was so excited to find the marriage record of my second great-grandparents Nicholas Conrad and Catharine Emminger in Ancestry’s Pennsylvania and New Jersey Church and Town Records database. Progress has been slow in the Conrad line, and I was happy to discover that they were married 3 Oct 1853 at the Saint Michael’s and Zion Church in Philadelphia.

They were indexed as Nicolaus Konrad and Catharine Emminger and however much Ancestry is paying people to index old German records it is not enough. I don’t even know how the indexer recognized Emminger.

When I opened the image I realized there was more information than what had been indexed, seemingly interesting and important information, but I could not read it. For those unfamiliar, letters are very different in old German handwriting and I have not yet mastered them.

Below are the pertinent sections for Nicholas and Catharine. Click on the images to see them full size. Click here to see the whole page for reference.

Nicolaus Conrad
from ?
in ?
(click to see full size)

Catharine Emminger
from ?
in Württemberg?
(click to see full size)

Below their names appears to be perhaps the town/region where Nicholas and Catharine were from, which would be a huge help to me. In the census, it was reported that Nicholas was from Bavaria and Catharine was from Württemberg.

For Nicholas, I see “aus” or from (a bunch of indecipherable German) and “in” (not looking like Bavaria/Bayern to me.) The first letter of the word after “in” looks the same as the first letter of the last name of the person below Nicholas and the indexer recorded that name as Rins.

For Catharine, the last line does look like it could be Württemberg.

I could be completely wrong in my interpretation of this being their hometowns, but whatever it is I think it would help my research. I found a German Script Tutorial to complete and will continue to study this record but I am hoping someone out there may offer some insight.

State of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia County, ss.

[Per]sonally appeared Joseph Elon Carman who hereby requests the Clerk of the Orphans’ Court, for the said County, to issue a License for the Marriage of himself to Annie May Funston and who being duly sworn according to law, doth depose and say:
that he was born in Phila. on the 6th day of April A.D. 1872; that he resides at no. 2521 Emlen St. Phila.; that he is by occupation bricklayer; that he is not related by blood or marriage to the person whom he desired to marry; that he has not been married before;
that Annie M. Funston whom he is about to marry, was born in Phila. on the 30th day of January A.D. 1876; that she resides at no. 2603 Hope St. Phila.; is by occupation in mill; that she has not been married before;
that he knows of no reason why the said reason may not be lawfully made.

Sworn and subscribed before me this 13th day of June 1895 (signed by Asst Clerk of Orphans’ Court)

[signed] Joseph E. Carman

Consent to the Marriage of a Child or Ward

I, Joseph Funston residing at no. 1910 Firth St. Phila. do hereby certify, that I am the father of Annie M. Funston residing at no. 2603 Hope St. Phila. who is now 19 years of age. That I have been informed of the intended marriage of my said daughter to Joseph E. Carman and hereby do consent to said marriage.

Given before me, this 13th of June A.D. 1895 (signed by Clerk of Orphans’ Court of Philadelphia County)

[signed] Joseph Funston

Duplicate

I, Jno P. Bagley hereby certify that on the 19 day of June one thousand eight hundred and ninety five, at Philadelphia Joseph E. Carman and Annie M. Funston were by me united in marriage, in accordance with License issued by the Clerk of the Orphans’ Court of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, numbered 77493.

[signed]Jno P. Bagley

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Original Source Citation:
Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, marriage license no. 77493 (1895), Joseph Elon Carman & Annie May Funston; Clerk of the Orphan’s Court, City Hall, Philadelphia.