Request for actual marriage license copy to settle a question/error in most records
After some 10 years, I have gone back to researching my 1st cousin, 5 times removed. This is (Dr.) John Davidson Godman (1794–1830•LH69-GS8). So many historic accounts state that he married the "Sister" of Rembrandt Peale, Angelica Kauffman Peale (1775-1853•LT1M-HGT). In actuality, he married Angelica Kauffman Peale (1801–1859•9VCQ-8P5).
Although the Maryland Marriage Index has this marriage, the actual license image is not available online, only at Familysearch centers.
Event Date | 5 Oct 1821 |
|---|---|
Event Place | Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
Source Details | p 217 l 291 |
I am seeking a copy of the actual marriage license showing that this Angelica Kauffman Peale was the daughter of Rembrandt Peale, not the sister.
Where I live, in a rural part of Nueva Ecija Province, Philippines, the location for the nearest Familysearch Center is shown in the middle of a field, some 18 to 20 km from my location. There are no close centers that I can find, and transportation is very slow compared to the U.S.
I am asking if someone would be kind enough to obtain a digital image of the marriage license.
Kindest regards,
Jon M. Fox
Best Answers
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Also, @Jon Fox_1 please note the following (as previously stated by @Áine.ní.Donnghaile ) taken from the Maryland State Archives website:
Licenses, Records, Certificates
Continue here after finding the Index (if there is an Index)
Note: Maryland did not begin creating full-page (single-page) marriage certificates until 1914. Prior to that year, official marriage records were single-line ledger entries.Marriage Licenses
- 1851-1865 MSA C213 available online
- 1885-1886 MSA T989 available at the archives, visit the circulation desk to view
See here: https://guide.msa.maryland.gov/pages/viewer.aspx?page=marriage for more information.
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@Jon Fox_1 The document you were seeking in our collection is available for free at the Maryland State Archives, as pointed out by SantaNinfa.
Just for the sake of clarity—
When FamilySearch partners with an archive to make records available, the agreement sometimes includes free public access only for a specified period after which access typically reverts to FamilySearch Centers, Affiliated Libraries, or LDS membership accounts. Understandably, the archive prefers that the public visit their own website or facility to view the records. In Community, this can result in an unintentional source of confusion when members with LDS accounts can see records, images, or record hints and may provide instruction pointing to them—not realizing others can’t access them.
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@Jon Fox_1 Further to @SerraNola 's advice, if you navigate to this page:
https://guide.msa.maryland.gov/pages/item.aspx?ID=CM174-4
Download the 4th available link / PDF
Go to page 227 of 276 and your entry is the 2nd from the bottom.
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Answers
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Good morning @Jon Fox_1
In my experience, early Baltimore marriages contain few details, but we won't know until we look.
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@Jon Fox_1 I am not a research specialist, but I would like to take this opportunity to try and answer your question. You state that you are seeking the actual marriage record stating that Angelica Kaufmann Peale was the daughter of Rembrandt Peale and not his sister. Often, the actual record we seek may not be available for any number of reasons, but one of the first things I try is searching the records FamilySearch suggests because they may match the person you are researching.
As I checked these records and looked at the sources, I found that Angelica Kauffman Peale, born 1775, (LT1M-HGT) was the sister of Rembrandt Peale, and that Angelica Kauffman Peale, born 1801, (9VCQ-8P5) was the daughter of Rembrandt Peale. There were clearly two Angelicas! Because you are seeking information about John Davidson Godman, I looked at the record of Angelica, the daughter. Many times FamilySearch includes record hints that may pertain to the person. These are located under Research Help, on the right hand side of each person's detail page.
The first unattached record contains a record for Angelica's marriage to John Godman. This is not the actual marriage license, but it is a listing of marriages according to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1512-1989. The record includes Angelica and John's names and a careful look at the column headings reveals that the last column is the name of the bride's father, which is listed as Rembrandt Peale. In addition, FamilySearch includes records from MyHeritage, located a little further down on Angelica's detail page, and those records also clearly state that Angelica, married to John Godman, is the daughter of Rembrandt Peale. I hope this helps you with your question. I will leave it to you to look on FamilySearch at these records. Please come back if you have further questions!
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@betsy123 I think the OP @Jon Fox_1 has made it clear that he cannot do/see this =⇒ [The first unattached record contains a record for Angelica's marriage to John Godman. This is not the actual marriage license, but it is a listing of marriages according to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1512-1989. The record includes Angelica and John's names and a careful look at the column headings reveals that the last column is the name of the bride's father, which is listed as Rembrandt Peale.]
In fact, he may not have a sub to MH either.
I think he would need a detailed transcription of the document, which is the only way we can share what it says with him.5 -
@SerraNola said
When FamilySearch partners with an archive to make records available, the agreement sometimes includes free public access only for a specified period after which access typically reverts to FamilySearch Centers, Affiliated Libraries, or LDS membership accounts. Understandably, the archive prefers that the public visit their own website or facility to view the records.
Well, I'd never heard that lifecycle before… Thank you. (I suspect it's not a typical arrangement in the UK where most of our Record Offices partner with, or licence, a commercial site first. At least, so far as I can see)
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Thank you for the link. That gave me access to the original single-line type of record that appears to be what was recorded in the early 1800s. While it doesn't have parent information, it's still great to have it. With a lack of parental information, I can see how in later sources there was a confusion between this Angelica Kauffman Peale with her more famous aunt of the same exact name. The aunt would have been about 46 years old (born 1775), while her niece was 20-21 years old at the time of marriage to John D. Godman. Much easier for the niece to have three children with John, given her age. Thanks again.
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@Jon Fox_1 You're welcome - my pleasure to have helped you with this research.
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@Jon Fox_1
I understand how helpful those images can be for your research. Unfortunately, I’m not able to provide or share restricted images from FamilySearch. These restrictions are in place to honor agreements and other laws.If you’re able to visit a FamilySearch Center or an authorized affiliate library, you may be able to access them there. Let me know if you’d like help finding one.
In addition, have you turned on the MyHeritage Matches in the FamilySearch Labs?
When you turn that on, there is a MyHeritage Hint that shows up on Angelica's page:
That leads to a newspaper article about their marriage, which specifies "Miss Angelica, daughter of Rembrant Peale, Esq. of Balt." This article show up in The Boston Messenger (Boston, Massachusetts) on Oct. 18 1821. You will need to pay for access to OldNewspapers.com to see the original. Or search for it on other sites.
This is the MyHeritage reference that @betsy123 referred to above.
I think it is likely the records from the Pennsylvania Historical Society got the information from this newspaper article, as the record abbreviates Baltimore in the same way and as you have noted, the actual marriage record from Baltimore does not include the bride's father's name.
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