I started out only doing civil records and used the civil marriage date as
the day the couple was married. I was happy with that until I started
getting records off of Family Search, which only uses church records. The

I started out only doing civil records and used the civil marriage date as
the day the couple was married. I was happy with that until I started
getting records off of Family Search, which only uses church records. The
dates I had and they showed were always different and I wondered why, until
it dawned on me that the civil union was on one day, then the couple would
later get married in the church. So, now I try to get both the civil and
the church record and, in the process, have found additional information
that just one type of record would not have provided. I also get the civil
birth records and the baptisms for the same reason, to get more information
on someone and the family. Of course, now I am to the point where there are
no civil records, pre-1860’s, and only then look for church records.

Corrine Ardoin
Santa Maria, California