Marriages 1638-1820 - Sources

The marriage database contains 10,096 marriages, most of which occurred in St. Mary's County, Maryland between 1637 and 1820. Source records include County Court Records (marriage licenses), wills, deeds, extant church records (St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, and St. Inigoes Catholic Church, including marriage and baptisms) and Prerogative Court Records (compiled by V.L. Skinner, Jr.).

Most of the research and documentation was provided by Linda Davis Reno, but many contributions were made by members of the St. Mary's County Discussion List.

Court Records provide the complete date of the marriage license, however this is not a guarantee that the marriage actually occurred. Marriage dates based on wills, deeds and baptisms are assumed dates based on available information. The database is continually updated and corrected.

For more detailed information see:

Chronicles of St. Mary's, Vol. 29, No.7; Vol. 28, No. 7;
Lois Green Carr, "The Planters Wife: The Experience of White Women in Seventeenth-Century Maryland," William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. XXXIV, p 544
Conclusions:

One in ten individuals were married more than once. A surprising 8% of the marriages recorded were second marriages. This is primarily a reflection of the high mortality rate and frequent death at an early age. The Proceedings of the Orphan's Court corroborate these multi-marriages. The Orphan's Court records would suggest a large percentage of the population of children were missing one or both parents. The difficulty of providing for children would have been an impetus for remarriage.

Marriage	# of People	Percent
M 2	863	9%
M 3	133	1 %
M 4	15	.015%

It is frequently assumed that the mortality rate for women was considerably higher than that for me, in part due to death during childbirth. However, the marriage records suggest a reevaluation: 57% of the second marriages were females; this increased to 60% for third marriages and 80% of fourth marriages. Women lived at least as long as men.

The stalwart individuals who were married four times are an interesting group.

• Barber, Thomas - Ann Amery, Susanna Latimore, Margaret Unknown, and Ellen Unknown (wid/ John Dallam)
• Calvert, Ann (d/ Gov. Leonard) - Baker Brooke, Thomas Tasker, Henry Brent, and Col. Richard Marsham
• Calvert, Charles (3rd Lord Baltimore) - Mary Darnall, Jane Lowe, Mary Thorpe, and Mary Charleton
• Gerard, Frances (d/ Dr. Thomas) - Thomas Speake, Valentine Peyton, John Appleton, and Col. John Washington
• Marsham, Sarah - Basil Waring, William III Barton, John Haddock, and William Brodgen
• Mason, Elizabeth - John Rogers, Dr. Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, John Theobold, and Robert Whythill
• Millard, Mary (d/ Richard Millard & Ann ???) - Thomas Melton, Thomas Walker, William Hayden, and Edward Welsh
• Neale, Mary (d/ James & 1st wife Elizabeth Calvert) - Charles Egerton, Jeremiah Aderton, Joseph Van Swearingen, and William Deacon
• Wheeler, Anastasia - Patrick Connelly, James Keen, Richard Johnson, and Richard Crupper
• Taylor, Elizabeth (d/ Henry Taylor, Jr. & Faith Campbell) - James Delicourt, Thomas Clapom, William Innis, and Benjamin Woodward
• Unknown, Sarah - William Cole, William Clawe, Alexander Younger, and Richard Bentham
• Unknown, Elizabeth - William Evans, John Jordain,Cuthbert Scott, and John Baptist Carberry
• Unknown, Mary (5 marriages) - John Lambert, Philip Tippett, John Fanning, Thomas Simpson, and Benoni Melton

The second interesting trend in the marriage records is the fluctuation in the number of marriages per decade. The data does not show a steady growth in the number of marriages, which would suggest that the population was not increasing at a steady rate.

Theoretically, the number of marriages should have doubled every 15-20 years. The years 1700 to 1750 show a stagnant population growth, at least of marriageable individuals. This can be attributed to high mortality rates, low birth/survival rates, and weak economic factors, which could have affected the number of individuals who could afford to get married. The decrease in marriages between 1780 and 1790 is partially the result of the migrations out of Maryland and into western territories. Approximately 25%-30% of the population removed from St. Mary's County during this period. The 200 % increase in marriages after the American Revolution, may simply be due to revised record keeping, with more extant records.

1637-1650	103
1651-1660	127
1661-1670	181
1671-1680	234
1681-1690	192
1691-1700	218
1701-1710	282
1711-1720	246
1721-1730	285
1731-1740	331
1741-1750	319
1751-1760	385
1761-1770	459
1771-1780	670
1781-1790	521
1791-1800	1,083
1801-1810	1,312
1811-1820	1,212

Exact dates are not available for all of the SMC marriages. For those marriages where a complete record exists, fully 42% of the marriages in any one year occurred between December and February. The fewest marriages were in the month of August. Speculation would suggest that this reflects an agrarian timeline: marry when there is not much farming work.

Month	Number of Marriages	% of Population
January	788	17
February	498	11
March	280	6
April	303	7
May	291	6
June	302	7
July	254	6
August	248	5
September	284	6
October	310	7
November	409	9
December	643	14

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Authored and contributed by Marcella Jehl Dawson, Houston, Texas

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