Cuyahoga County, Ohio, U.S., Marriage Records and Indexes, 1810-1973

This collection includes Cuyahoga County, Ohio marriage records for the years 1810-1973. Record types include: marriage license returns, marriage license applications, marriage banns, and indexes to marriage records.

In 1856–57 Ohio enacted a statute that required birth, death, and marriage registration, a law that was generally disregarded. A second law passed in 1867 attempted to maintain the record keeping process, but it wasn’t until the third law, passed in 1908, that it became regulated.

Cuyahoga County itself was organized on June 7, 1807 as the county seat of Ohio only 5 years after Ohio was granted statehood. It is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie. The city of Cleveland, founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, is the county seat of Cuyahoga County. This municipality’s economy centered around manufacturing due to its proximity to the Erie Canal during this time period.

Marriage applications in this database include:

• Names of bride and groom
• Ages
• Birth dates
• Parents’ names
• Marriage date and place

Additional information that may be in marriage records:

• Occupation
• Whether previously married
• Residence
• Birth places
• Officiator over marriage

Marriage Indexes

While the indexes only include the name of the bride or groom and the volume and page number of the record, it can be used to request the marriage record from the Cuyahoga County Archives or Cuyahoga County Probate Court (depending on the year of the marriage). Include the volume and page number from the index with your record request.

Marriage Records, 1810-1941

Cuyahoga County Archive
Research Policies

1941-present

Probate Court- Room 146
1 Lakeside Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
http://probate.cuyahogacounty.us/marriage.aspx