Marriage Records from the New Orleans Board of Health
In 1870, the Recorder of Births, Marriages and Deaths and was given concurrent power with other officers designated to issue marriage licenses; all licenses were to be returned to the Recorder’s office, and all marriages were to be registered there. In 1877, the Recorder was placed under the supervision of the Board of Health, which assumed responsibility for registering vital statistics. By 1882, licenses in Orleans and Jefferson were granted only by the Recorder or the judges of the City Courts. In 1974, responsibility for registering marriages in Orleans Parish was assumed by the Louisiana Department of Health and Human Resources.
Locating Records
Researching the microfilmed marriage records from the Board of Health is a three-step process. Researchers must first check the Index which will provide a reference to a volume and page number in the Register. The Register will give the volume and page number on which the actual license and/or certificate appears.
This index gives the names of the contracting parties, their age, sex, the date of marriage, and a volume/page reference to the Register. Some marriages celebrated before 1870 are included, but these marriages were recorded retroactively, after 1870. The groom’s index precedes the bride’s index. The 1936-1946 indexes are handwritten and give only the name and the certificate (or page) number. Beginning in 1970, the index originates with the state health agency rather than the New Orleans Health Department; at this point, the index covers marriages statewide and can be searched only by the groom’s name.
- Index to Register of Marriages as Kept by the Recorder of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1831-1994.
- Available on microfilm, call number: mf FF652 1831-1994
- The index to 1925 is available online at Ancestry.com
- Indexing is also available at Louisiana State Archives’ index to Louisiana Vital Records.
Although the index continues to 1994, the Orleans Parish marriage records in the Archives extend only through 1916. Records after that date must be obtained from the Vital Records Registry (if they are less than 50 years old) or the State Archives (if they are more than 50 years old).
The Register gives the date of registration; names of the person performing the marriage ceremony; date of marriage; name, age, nativity, and parents of the contracting parties; names of witnesses; date the license was issued and by whom; volume and page where the license and/or certificate is filed. Entries for earlier marriages sometimes include a statement that the marriage license or certificate has been lost.
- Registers of Marriage Kept by the Recorder of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1870-1916.
- Available on microfilm, call number: mf FF653 1870-1916.
The records take different forms but, for the most part, include the date of marriage, names of contracting parties, their place of birth, parents’ names, and the names of witnesses. Unlike the Register entries, the records in this series generally include the original signatures of the parties involved, which may be used to answer questions about the correct spelling of names (sometimes recorded incorrectly by the Recorder in the Register).
- Marriage Licenses and Certificates Returned to the Recorder of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1870-1915.
- Available on microfilm, call number: mf FF654 1870-1915
- The microfilm starts with volume 2; apparently, there was once a volume of records predating 1870; that volume was missing when the records were filmed.
These volumes contain a collection of miscellaneous items including church certificates, court licenses, permissions for underage persons to marry, etc.
- Marriage Licenses, 1870-1873
- Available on microfilm, call number: mf FH678 1870-1873