Marriage records are an important part of family history research, and Indiana’s have changed over the years. Attendees can gain insight into how to locate and use these documents at the Indiana Historical Society’s “How Hoosiers Got Hitched” workshop.

Not all marriage records are created equal. This program shows how Indiana marriage records have changed over the years, and how between 1880 and 1930 in some counties more than one record was created for each marriage – some with different information than the others. It also proposes a naming system, as in some counties different kinds of marriage records were given the same name.

Existing guides to Indiana genealogy do not deal specifically with these record varieties or the research opportunities and challenges they offer. County clerks are not always aware of the differences, and in some counties some records have migrated outside the clerk's office altogether. And some of the records were designed for in-person use – they are not easy to understand when reduced to images.

Harold Henderson, CG, has been a professional writer since 1979, a professional genealogist since 2009, and a board-certified genealogist since June 2012. He lives and works in northwest Indiana; and at midwestroots.net. Henderson is the author of Finding Ancestors in Fort Wayne and an every-name index of the earliest court records of La Porte County. He has published articles in American Ancestors Journal (annual supplement to the New England Historical and Genealogical Register), the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Archives.com, and in six state publications, including “Early Midwestern Orphanage: The Indianapolis Orphans Asylum, 1851-1941, A Way Station on the Winding Road of Life” in THG: Connections, Spring/Summer 2011.