Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995

What is in This Collection?

This collection consists of marriage licenses and certificates, including a few marriage declarations and marriage stubs. The collection covers the years 1890 to 1995.

The records are arranged by county, then by volume and year range. The form type varies between register style and certificate style. County clerks usually used the same printed form during the same time periods. Marriage records were generally well preserved, although fires, floods, or other disasters may have destroyed some records.

The earliest marriage bonds and licenses were usually handwritten on loose papers that were later bound into lettered volumes. Some marriage records had multiple entries on each page, while others had single records per page.

Marriages were recorded by the clerk of the district court for each county. The records usually are kept from the time the county was formed. Persons desiring to marry obtained a license that they presented to the minister or other person authorized to marry, such as a justice of the peace. Once the marriage was performed, the officiator sent a return to the clerk confirming that the marriage had occurred.

Civil marriage records were created to legalize marital relationships and to protect the interests of the wife and other heirs to legal claims on property. The marriage date, place, residence of the bride and groom, and occupations are relatively reliable. Other information, such as age or birthplace, is dependent on the knowledge, memory, and accuracy of the informants, usually the bride and groom.

The following counties are included in this publication: Adair, Alfalfa, Atoka, Beaver, Becham, Blaine, Bryan, Caddo, Canadian, Carter, Cherokee, Cimarron, Cleveland, Coal, Comanche, Cotton, Craig, Custer, Delaware, Dewey, Ellis, Garfield, Garvin, Grady, Greer, Harmon, Harper, Haskell, Hughes, Jackson, Jefferson, Kay, Kingfisher, Latimer, Logan, McClain, McCurtain, Major, Mayes, Muskogee, Noble, Nowata, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Okmulgee, Ottawa, Payne, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Pushmataha, Rogers, Seminole, Sequoyah, Texas, Tillman, Tulsa, Wagoner, Washington, Washita, Woodward, Woods.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Tip: Many marriages recorded in the South, are separated by race in volumes, books, or registers. Be sure to check to determine if you have the right set of marriage records.

Collection Content

Sample Images

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  Marriage application, license, certificate, 1899

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  Marriage application, license, certificate, 1924

Coverage Table

Coverage tables for this collection are available in the wiki article Oklahoma County Marriages Coverage Tables - FamilySearch Historical Records.

Digital Folder Number List

This collection was published as a DGS browse collection. The list does not contain any description of the DGS folder's content. A table listing each DGS number and its contents can be found at Oklahoma, County Marriages Digital Folder Number List.