Today, I thought I would introduce readers to a resource: Pennsylvania Marriages Prior to 1790. This text was compiled by John B. Linn and William H. Engle. It was published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. out of Baltimore, Maryland. I am, to be honest, not sure it includes ALL marriages before 1790 and I say this only because I found no Eckmans listed and I have other (church) records indicating several were in fact married before then. That said, I did find several Van Horn family members. The text offers simply the raw basics. It provides, in alpha order, the year, month, day and names of the couple. So for example, in 1776 Jacob Van Horn married Lydia Moode. The text offers the following: "1776, Feb. 1. Vanhorn, Jacob, and Lydia Moode." It does not tell me who married them, if it was a civil service or in a church, or even what city or county in which the marriage occurred. The text also does not offer the parents of the couple or even the couple's ag...
by Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman