Jackson County Marriage Records and Newspaper Wedding/Anniversary Announcements

Volunteers at the Rogue Valley Genealogy Society have been collecting marriage records and wedding/anniversary announcements for Jackson County for many years. Marriage records are for the years 1853-1970 and wedding/anniversary announcements are for the years 1942 to the present. Marriage records were gathered from the Jackson County Courthouse and wedding/anniversary announcements were gathered from Jackson County Periodicals. The indexes for these are now on our website.

If we have copies of the marriage records in our library, you can obtain your own copy of our copy of the actual marriage courthouse record from us for $10. This holds true for Marriage Books 1-25 (1853-1956).

NOTE: Marriage Books 26-30 contain only the affidavit--not the "marriage certificate". The affidavit has the names of the bride and groom, the date, the name of a person acquainted with each, the "marriage certificate" number, and the numbers for any consent forms filed for underage persons. Because we are supplying only the marriage affidavit, our charge for copies from Marriage Books 26-30 is just $5. Because we must make a special trip to the courthouse and also pay a fee, our charge for a copy of both the affidavit and the certificate for the years covered by these books is $15.

Please Note: These records, written in “old fashioned” handwriting, are sometimes very difficult to read. A surname can be written two or three ways in a single document. The transcribers have made every effort to determine the most common spelling of a surname and to accurately copy the information in each record. Researchers should be aware that a surname they are looking for might be spelled differently than they think it should be and decide if the marriage listed is their ancestor. In a few cases, a bride’s surname is entirely different in the license application than it is in the marriage certificate. In those cases, we have tried to include both surnames in the index. We assume one name may be the maiden name and the other a married name, but it could also just be a mistake on the recorders part. In either case, a researcher may recognize one name, but not the other. Lastly, when the bride was a Native American various terms were used including “Native American” “Indian” and “Squaw”. Sometimes the Tribe was given, but not always. For consistency, the index uses the term “Indian” as a surname regardless of the term used in the actual document.

Beginning with 1942 we have clippings of wedding announcements and major anniversaries from local Jackson County Periodicals, which usually contain more information than the courthouse records. A copy from these records can be obtained from us for $10.

For those years where there is an overlap between our marriage records and our wedding/anniversary announcements (1942-1970), you can obtain both for a single fee of $10 ($15 if you also wish us to provide a certified copy of a marriage license from Marriage Books 26-30). You must complete separate request forms for the two types of records with the required volume and page reference for each, but both forms should be submitted at the same time. You can ignore the request for a $10 payment on the Wedding/anniversary announcement index page if you have already made the $15 payment for the certified wedding certificate from the courthouse.

If you find a name of interest to you and would like a copy of our record containing the reference, fill out a request form and mail it to us along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope, and a check for the appropriate amount. Be sure to include the referenced name, the volume year or year range, and the page reference(s) for that name. There is a link to the request form at the top of each index.

For faster turnaround, you can make your payment and request online. The procedure is outlined on the page containing the index.