A Marriage, Part II

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Housekeeping side note: All the dots you see in the blank lines are because Blogger is stripping out the blank lines I put in. So to keep the blog from being one huge block of crammed type, I have to put something in the line and I chose to put a period.

Now, onto the genealogy stuff. This is the official marriage license for Leo & Leona O'Keefe. Since it posts so small on the blog, here's what it says (handwritten items in italic):

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NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

Division of Vital Statistics

MARRIAGE LICENSE

County of Niagara

City of Niagara Falls

Registered No. 8102

(also #15598 in upper right corner without explanation)

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Know all Men by this Certificate, that any person authorized by law to perform marriage ceremonies within the State of New York to whom this may come, he, not knowing any lawful impediment thereto, is hereby authorized and empowered to solemnize the rites of matrimony between

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Leo Francis O'Keefe

of Niagara Falls in the County of Niagara and the State of New York,

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Leona Esther Fields

of Niagara Falls in the County of Niagara and the State of New York

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and to certify the same to be said parties of either of them under his hand and seal in his ministerial or official capacity and thereupon he is required to return his certificate in the form hereto annexed. The statements endorsed hereon or annexed hereto, by me subscribed contain a full and true abstract of all the facts concerning such parties disclosed by their affidavits or verified statements presented to me upon the application for this license.

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In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said City at Niagara Falls this Thirty First day of May nineteen hundred and Twenty Two.

George J. Richards, Clerk

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The following is a full and true abstract of all the facts disclosed by the above-named applicants in their verified statements presented to me upon their applications for the above license:

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From the Groom (left side column, bottom of page):

Full Name: Leo Francis O'Keefe

Color: White

Place of Residence: 613 9th St., Niagara Falls, NY

Age: 21 . Sept 5, 1921

Occupation: Grocery Clerk

Place of Birth: Medina, NY

Name of Father: Francis O'Keefe

Country of birth: Genessee Co, NY

Maiden Name of Mother: Elizabeth McPartland

Country of birth: Genessee Co, NY

Number of Marriages: first

I have not to my knowledge been infected with any venereal disease,or if I have been so infected within five years, I have had a laboratory test within that period which shows that I am now free from infection from any such disease.

Former wife or wives living or dead: (blank)

Is applicant a divorced person: (blank)

If so, when and where divorce or divorces were granted: (blank)

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From the Bride (right side column bottom of page):

Full Name: Leona Esther Fields

Color: White

Place of Residence: 1929 Whitney Ave, Niagara Falls, NY

Age: 20

Occupation: none

Place of Birth: No. Tonawanda, NY

Name of Father: Joseph Fields

Country of birth: Moose Creek, Ontario (Canada)

Maiden Name of Mother: Mary Jane La Rock

Country of birth: Martintown, Ontario (Canada)

Number of Marriages: first

I have not to my knowledge been infected with any venereal disease,or if I have been so infected within five years, I have had a laboratory test within that period which shows that I am now free from infection from any such disease.

Former husband or husbands living or dead: (blank)

Is applicant a divorced person: (blank)

If so, when and where divorce or divorces were granted: (blank)

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Future Address

(Enter here EXACT FUTURE ADDRESS after marriage if known)

833 Elmswood Ave, Niagara Falls, NY

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Additional paragraph on next page (see scan from A Marriage, Part III):

The written consents of the Parents, Guardians or Persons under whose care and government the Minor or Minors may be has been filed in the Town or City Clerk's office in (blank) as provided by Section 15, of Article 3 under the Domestic Relations Law.

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This license has all the things that a genealogist loves: full names, places of birth and relationships, and addresses. It links one generation (Leo & Leona) to another (their parents), verifying the connections. With the birthplaces, I know where to look for birth records or other ancestors. With addresses, I can find mortgage records, property deeds, tax rolls, etc. .The certificate itself tells you a lot about the time, what "they" (the government, society) considered important and how they view things. The questions asked, what gets added to the license over time, even the phrasing of questions leave little clues to social and political attitudes of the time, and hence, what it was like for your ancestors. I'll be posting later the marriage certificate for Leo's parents for a comparison sometime later in this blog.