[Genealib] Fw: Have you searched and searched for the marriage without finding it? * GRETNA GREENS *

[Trevia W Beverly]

You may wish to add this to the Gretna Green list prepared for our list
several months ago.
I have forwarded the list compiled from the discussion on our group list.

Trevia

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Arlene H Eakle" <rssfwd at rssfwd.com>
To: <treviawbeverly at houston.rr.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 1:58 AM
Subject: Have you searched and searched for the marriage without finding it?


I have searched and searched without success for a Tennessee marriage. As I
described the problem to Afton, who answers my 800# and who is the Tennessee
expert I turn to when a problem like this happens, she responded, “Look for
the Gretna Green.”

Couples from Sparta, White County, TN went to Rome, Floyd, GA. Afton
interviewed the mother of her client and was told, “Everyone from here went
there to be married–everyone went.”

Why does a couple choose a Gretna Green for their marriage?
* Cheaper, and some times no fee at all is charged as long as the couple
stayed the night at a local hotel.
* No paperwork. The officiator charged a nominal fee, and did not report the
marriage. The only records are often account books.
* No bond was required to cover reasons the marriage should not be
performed.
* No waiting period between the time of issuing a license and the
performance of the marriage. Spur of the moment decisions could be made.
* The excitement of having the marriage completely under the control of the
couple, without interference from family or friends.

Military posts on the frontier, like Crown Point NY, Southwest Point TN,
could be gretnas. People from border states along international boundaries
for Canada and Mexico often slipped over the boundary to marry. River Towns
along the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Connecticut, the Hudson, the Missouri
Rivers. Keokuk , Lee County, IA was a gretna green along the Mississippi; it
was also a favored place of marriage for Irish ancestors coming both from
the Eastern states and up the River.

Checklist of Specific American Gretna Greens:

__Coeur d’Alene ID, especially couples from Great Falls and other towns in
Montana
__Evanston WY, especially couples from Northern Utah
__Yuma AZ, for couples in Southern California and New Mexico
__Crown Point IN, for couples from Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio
__Cincinnati OH, some licenses were issued, no returns were submitted to the
place of residence. Many persons stopped in Cincinnati to work before moving
on to a different place.
__Niagara Falls NY and Ontario–depending upon the activites of the local
governments on each side of the river.
__Ogdensburgh NY
__Washington County PA
__Maysville KY
__Aberdeen OH
__West Alexander WV
__Farmington UT
__Douglas County (Reno) NV
__Pittsburgh PA
__Reading, Berks, PA
__Pike County KY
__Mt Airy NC
__Lowell MA
__Groton CT

If you have discovered a place where couples come from far nd near to be
married, will you drop me a line and let me know? I am collecting these
places for a major report on where to look for missing marriages. Your
favorite genealogy expert, Arlene Eakle

arlene Tue, 20 Feb 2007 04:58:03 +0000