Wedding Wednesday: Jacob Harryman & Catharine LaFavre - 1826

I love it when I get genealogy documents and information in the mail. It's like Christmas to me! Today, I was tickled when I reached into my mailbox to find an envelope from Morgan County, Indiana, containing the 1826 marriage record for my 3rd great grandparents, Jacob Harryman and Catharine Lafavre. Jacob was 25 years old at the time, and Catharine was a mere 18 years old.

Here's what it says:

Jacob Harriman to Catharine Lafavre: 

Be it Remembered, That on this 13th day of July A.D. 1826, the following Marriage License was issued, to wit:

State of Indiana, Morgan County, (???)
To any person empowered by law to solemnize marriage, Greeting:

You are hereby authorized to join together as Husband and Wife Jacob Harryman and
Catharine Lafavre, and of this, together with your Certificate of Marriage, make
due return, within three months, according to the laws of the State of Indiana.

Witness: Geo H. Beeler, clerk of our said Morgan
Circuit Court, and the Seal thereof, affixed at the Clerk's
Office in Martinsville, Indiana, this 13th day of July 1826

Geo. H. Beeler
Clerk of Morgan Circuit Court

Be it further Remembered that on this _____ day of ______A.D. 18__ The
following certificate was filed in my office, to wit:

State of Indiana, Morgan County, (???)
I, _______________, hereby certify that on the _____ day of A.D.
18__, I duly joined in marriage ____________ and _____________
by authority of Law and a License from the Clerk of the Morgan Circuit Court.
Given under my hand this ____ day of ______ 18__.

(It was also noted, in handwriting, that the couple was "of age.")

The clerk at the Morgan County courthouse was really nice and helpful when I ordered the document (as most clerks seem to be, especially in Midwest). She gave me a heads-up that, while Jacob and Catharine made the trip to get the marriage license at courthouse on July 13, 1826, they didn't bother to go back and have the marriage certified (hence, the empty part of the record on the bottom...). Of course, I immediately wondered if that meant they were never actually married. However, the clerk informed me that, apparently, this sort of thing wasn't entirely uncommon back in the early 1800s: it's possible that they couldn't afford to make the 80-mile trip back to the county seat (either in time and/or funds), or they just didn't realize that they were supposed to do that after they actually got hitched. Or, maybe they just couldn't be pained with the details!

Didn't seem to bother them much: they still raised nine kids (including my great great grandmother, Margaret) and lived a long life together. They were each 69 years old when he passed away in Indiana, Jacob on February 1, 1871, and Catharine six years and a day later, on February 2, 1877. 

Here's how I'm related to Jacob & Catharine: Me > Rebecca Elizabeth Bartram (mom) > John Bartram (grandpa) > Alice A. Veale > Margaret Harriman > Jacob and Catharine Harryman. I'm told the Harryman/Harriman name change happened due to a misspelling on one of the census documents, and it just stuck for that side of the family.