Do I index family histories when working on a "Missouri Marriages ..." project?
- I am indexing records for the "US, Missouri--County Marriages, 1806-1969 [Part L]". My batch is page from a family history. Do I index this batch? The pertinent project instructions read: "Index any primary marriage record or associated document that has the name of a bride or a groom even if the document does not contain a date... Documents to index include marriage certificates, marriage bonds, registers, consent forms, marriage applications, and so forth."
- I don't consider a personal history a primary marriage record, and the second part of the rules does not specifically include family histories. Do I index this type of batch.
- image: https://www.familysearch.org/indexing/batch/b881c70a-f08d-4837-adc3-40f56598ea2f#:~:text=Image%20Name,007514105_00335
- batch id: https://www.familysearch.org/indexing/batch/b881c70a-f08d-4837-adc3-40f56598ea2f#:~:text=Batch%20ID-,M947-GN5,-Done
Best Answer
-
We have had this question before on this project. Here is the response from the record managers:
The 1st bullet point in the What to Index section says “Index any primary marriage record or associated document that has the name of a bride or a groom, even if the document does not contain a date.” This document meets that criteria. It should be indexed. The indexer may have to use their best judgment, based on the given names, to determine whether the name should be indexed as the Bride or the Groom. If they cannot make that determination, type the first name listed in the Groom’s fields.
So on this you would index this Shirley Jeanne Smith as the bride and Ralph Michael DeTore as the groom and their marriage date as 7 September 1947 etc for the other names on these two pages.
Hopefully that makes sense. I take comfort that even though this is not an official marriage document like a marriage license etc, it is a document that has a great wealth of information about these couples and their families.
Thank you for helping Index. That helps so many find records about their ancestors.
0
Answers
-
Thanks for your help. Those family histories can be a grind to index. I didn't want to do it if it was not going to be accepted.
0