Marriage License but didn't get married - do I still index this?
I'm reviewing marriage licenses and I've come across a marriage license where they appeared before the county clerk and got their license sealed but then didn't end up getting married. At the bottom over the marriage date/place it says NOT USED. Do I still index this license or put no, no extractable data?
Best Answer
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You are correct, @Hailey N. Goble It does get indexed because it is a part of their history. That is why we index cancelled information. In essence, an unused marriage license is considered "cancelled" since it was not used. The researcher who finds the entry will also find the image and realize that they didn't get married = at least not with that license.
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It still gets indexed and falls under the General Indexing Guidelines about crossed out and cancelled information. Per the field helps, you would use the license date.
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Hi melissa!
Thanks for the info! I went back and reviewed the General Indexing Guidelines about crossed out and cancelled information and I don't feel like this marriage license fits into that category after reading that section? The lower part of the marriage license with the person who officiated the marriage, the bride and grooms names and date/ place of marriage was left blank. It wasn't crossed out. So there's nothing to record. Should I just mark those fields as blank? Over the entire section they wrote 'not used'. I just don't want it to be recorded somewhere that these people were married when they actually didn't get married! But I also feel like it should be recorded somewhere that they 'almost' got married. It's party of history! :)
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@Hailey N. Goble The term NNED (No, No Extractable Data) is used to determine whether a batch of records should be indexed. Reasons are covered in Project Instructions. DO NOT use NNED in the informational boxes such as Given Names, Surnames, Places, etc when indexing or reviewing. Thanks.
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