Last month after GRIP, I spent time with some of my Pennsylvania cousins. On Saturday, we drove to Lock Haven and visited the genealogy room of the Ross Library. As I looked at newspaper articles on microfilm, my dad’s first cousin, Tom, worked with maps.

Marriage Records

After finishing with the maps, he asked if there was anything else he could do. I had noticed a sign hanging on the end of a bookshelf that said: “Marriage Records.” There was also a list of letters and years and a note saying to ask the librarian for further help. I told Tom he could ask the librarian about these marriage records.

The records happened to be the original Marriage License Docket books for Clinton County, Pennsylvania. (I was surprised these books were in the library and not at the court house!) Tom was given an index book, and we quickly located the record for his grandparents/my great grandparents, Andrew McClintock Stewart (1882-1954) and Bessie Waldron Merrill (1879-1959). At the time of their marriage, Andrew was only 18 – though he apparently gave his age as 19 – and Bessie was 21. Andrew’s parents were listed as “Alexander & Catharine J.” Stewart and Bessie’s parents as “A. L. & Sarah” Merrill – another piece of evidence to add to my files!

One interesting thing we noticed was the handwritten “65 cts pd” in the upper left hand corner [see below]. As we flipped through this book, most of the other applicants paid 50 cents, although a few paid 65 cents or more. We thought this might mean they paid for more than one copy of the license. Any other ideas?

50+ Years of Marriage

Andrew and Bessie had six children and were married for 52 years until “Andy’s” death in 1954 at the age of 71.

Here’s a photo of Andrew and Bessie celebrating their 50th anniversary with 5 of their 6 children: Donald, Gussy, Dorothy, Mildred, and Merrill. The child missing is my grandfather, Edward.