Summit County Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society

Marriage Records

The Summit County Chapter, OGS published the SUMMIT COUNTY MARRIAGE INDEX SERIES in 2004.  This information is now available on this site as pdf documents.  These indexes contain over 45,000 entries; separate alphbetized Groom and Bride sections.
 
 
Index Vol. 1 [1840-1865]      Groom    Bride
Index Vol. 2 [1865-1870]      Groom    Bride
Index Vol. 3  [1871-1880]     Groom    Bride
Index Vol. 4 [1881-1890]      Groom    Bride
Index Vol. 5  [1891-1900]     Groom    Bride
 
The marriage records for Summit County have been digitized and are available on Ancestry.com.  The name of the database is Summit County, Ohio, Marriage Records 1840-1980.
 
The original records are available at the Courthouse which has four types of marriage information books at the Summit County Probate Court, 209 S. High Street, Akron, Ohio.
 
MARRIAGE INDEXES: There are four sets of index books (each set has 8 male and 8 female record books) and start in the year 1840 - 1999.  These books are alphabetized by name, and contain year, names, volume and page number for information in the Regular Marriage Books. The records starting in the year 2000 are totally computerized with no paper records at all.
 
BANNS: One book - BANNS 1 (where couple applied to Catholic Church for license to marry, and this record is for purposes of legalization in Court system). If the marriage index shows BANNS, Vol. 1, Page --, it is in this book only.  If the marriage index shows a Vol. number other and 1, the record is in the very back of the "regular marriage books". There are NO BANNS in the Regular Marriage Book Vol. 1 (1840-1865).
 
APPLICATIONS/RETURNS: Three books - A, B, and C for both "Applications" and "Returns" (6 books total).  Marriage index books shows Volume/Page of "Applications" in the normal Volume/ Page section, and makes a notation in the opposite margin as to "Return" or  "No Return", which would be filed in the "Returns" book(s).
 
REGULAR MARRIAGE BOOKS: These books contain the original applications together with recorded information as to the solemnization of the marriage.