The temptation sometimes is to copy or scan "only what I need" instead of a larger portion of the record. That's a mistake.
This image comes from two facing pages in the marriage register of the Zion Lutheran Church in the 1780s and was made from the Family History Library's microfilm copy of these records. My goal was not to transfer the enter set of records, but rather to focus on just one. Copying multiple entries lets me see how the entry of interest is the same as other entries and how it is different. That's useful information in performing any analysis of the information.
But there's one abbreviation that I do not understand. It looks like "debt," but I don't think that's it.
- most of these marriage references use an abbreviation for "published," which I'm taking to mean that the banns were published or announced in church.
- A few entries (with blue rectangles) reference an indemnification bond--which I'm taking to be a marriage bond like those used in more Southern locales.
- A few (underlined in red) reference a marriage license.
- The green boxes--I'm not so certain.
Of course, the marriage of interest is one with the word I cannot quite determine and is shown in the green box in the larger image above.
It is the marriage on 12 April 1784 between Elam Blain and Catharine Reid. Apparently the banns were published for this marriage and there is that word after it--the one that looks like "debt."
Catharine Blain could not remember when or where she was married when she applied for Revolutionary War widow's pension in Ohio in the 1840s. But that's another story.
I'm hoping that the "debt" is not some obvious word that I'm going to kick myself for not immediately knowing.
Wright-Salomon entry appears to have the most promising for identifying the abbreviation, but dpi not clear enough on 2-page view to try to make it out. Lacking better view, could explore if it mmight be to represent that there was a marriage "debenture." If that were the word, perhaps it could signify a pre-marriage agreement on goods she brings to the marriage (e.g., that such goods would remain hers--so children of widow on page at left might inherit--rather than the goods automatically going to the new husband), or a similar agreement on what she would receive if she becomes a widow. Not sure why that might be listed on the church marriage record, however.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the widow was a strong character that wanted to make sure had something in the end. She wanted it in writing!
ReplyDeleteCan you supply a clearer image? Some of the print and icons on your site bleed over onto the document image.
ReplyDeleteClick on the larger one and it should pull up in a new window. You can then right click on it to save it and view larger.
ReplyDeleteI can't see the handwriting very clearly. It looks like other notations other than "published" are after some of the entries. It appears the same person made the entries. I looked through the other name entries and could find the writer's letter formations for each letter of "d-e-b-t". The letters do appear to match. What exactly is the meaning of publishing banns in this Zion Lutheran Church? Could the notation stand for a fee charged by the church to publish the banns that the couple had not paid? Altho as an argument to that,it would be reasonable to see the "debt" notation beside other entries. Was either a member of this church? I would investigate if the Zion Lutheran Church charged to publish the banns or charged to publish banns of non-members? Is it possible the banns were published but the notation stands for a term that the marriage didn't take place in that church? Since the widow didn't recall the details of where she was married, were they actually married there?
ReplyDeleteTeresa
I vote for taking the obvious explanation first. If it looks like debt, then maybe it's debt, and go down the path of determining what it would mean to be marked debt. Kind of like what "Anonymous" said right above me.
ReplyDeleteThe notation does look like "debt" and might be exactly that. I would suggest reading the preface (pages xcix-cxvi)to "DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE COLONIAL HISTORY State OF New Jersey, VOLUME XXII. Marriage Records, 1665-1800 Edited, with an Historical Introduction on the Early Marriage Laws of New Jersey, and the Precedents on which they were Founded" William Nelson (c1900) to get a feel for how marriages were preformed and the laws in place for colonial NJ.
ReplyDeletehttp://archive.org/details/marriagerecords103nels
could it be an abbreviation for Feb?
ReplyDeleteI've seen folks write a script "F" which looks sort of backwards.