Joslin Family :: The Marriage (?) of James and Abigail

Somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of my memory is a nagging thought that the early marriage records for Delaware County, Ohio were "lost" in a fire or flood or something. I don't have the marriage record for James Joslin and Abigail Goodrich. I can't imagine making a trip there (which I did in the late 1980s) and not obtaining the record if it was available.

A place search for "Delaware Ohio" in the Online FamilySearch Library Catalog shows two entries for Delaware County marriage records.

• The early marriage bonds of Delaware County, Ohio, 1832-1865 Daughters of the American Revolution. Delaware City Chapter (Delaware, Ohio). Microreproduction of typescript (3 volumes) written 1940, in the State Library of Ohio, D.A.R. Collection, Columbus, Ohio.
• Marriage records, 1835-1951 Ohio Probate Court (Delaware County). Microfilm of original records filmed at the Delaware County courthouse and Delaware County Records Center, Delaware, Ohio. Includes general index to volumes 1-4; remaining volumes individually indexed.

From that we can see that the earliest recorded marriages that are most likely available are from 1835 (or perhaps they haven't been filmed) with some bonds from as early as 1832. But if these are all that are available, 1835 is too late for my Joslin family. According to his family bible records, Lysander Joslin was born May 1, 1825. Presumably, his parents would have been married prior to that date ;-) but perhaps not. We have no record of their marriage. Not in the official records nor in any personal family records.

However, several intrepid souls have literally scoured the early Delaware County newspapers for articles relating to marriages and other vital records and abstracted them for publication. For which I am very grateful!

In "Delaware County, Ohio Genealogical Abstracts" by Carol Willsey Bell, 1980 we find this entry from the Delaware Patron & Franklin Chronicle of July 13, 1826: "James Joslin vs. Abigail. Wife Abigail left my bed & board at Liberty Tp., will pay no debts."

A similar entry was found in "Abstracts from Miscellaneous Delaware County, Ohio, Newspapers 1821-1857" compiled by Mary V. Reed and Sharlene Shoaff, 1992. From the Delaware Patron of Thursday July 13, 1826: "Whereas my wife Abigail has left my bed and board - I am determined to pay NO debts of hers. James Joslin. Liberty June 30th, 1826.

This evidence seems to indicate that James and Abigail were married sometime prior to June 30, 1826. Assuming that Lysander is their son and first child, Abigail would have been pregnant with her second child at that time, Fanny Philanda Joslin was born in October 1826. Apparently James and Abigail reconciled as they had more children and in 1838 moved to Whitley County, Indiana.