Marriages in Westmoreland County, PA



Being that Pennsylvania is one of the original 13 states and long has been established, many of our ancestors could have originally lived in Pennsylvania or in a neighboring state. The county of Westmoreland was founded on February 26, 1773 and was recognized as the first county in the colony of Pennsylvania which was located west of the Allegheny Mountains. It is positioned in the southwest portion of the state near Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia. Some of its major cities are Greensburg, Monessen, New Kensington, Jeannette and Arnold.

The Westmoreland, PA Electronic Government Services has a handy online site for searching for any marriage license issued in the county as far back as 1885 and coming to the present time period.


In the search box, just placing a surname will provide all those with that surname who received a marriage license in Westmoreland County.  Any common name should have a given name with it to narrow the search. Of the course the problem of which given name a person used comes into play, so be willing to try various names.


Using as an example the good ‘Pennsylvania Dutch’ surname of Bixler provided ten names.  In a chart after each name was the book number, the page number, the record number and the marriage date. For the Bixler selection the dates ran from 1891 to 2010.  Then by clicking on an individual’s name additional details appear.  It has the record / license number, the marriage date again and most important the full name of the spouse.


Some of the records also have a birth date and age, along with a birth place.  Each person’s home address, occupation and the level reached in education could be answered by the couple and be on the record. It provides on some the number of times that both individuals had been married before, how and when it was dissolved and in the case of a divorce there could be the cause for the divorce. Even just seeing a person’s full name and different dates for marriage license tells you they were married more than once. Be careful, for any persons who are the namesakes, like a son who is a junior.


The information of the book, page and license number will be needed if you request a copy of the marriage license from the county.

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