Joslin-Dyer Marriage 1794

On September 25, 2009 I visited the Town Clerk's Office in Franklin which lies about a mile or so south of the Canadian Border in the north-central portion of Vermont. I knew that the marriage record for Jonas Joslin and Ruth Dyer, my 5th great-grandparents, was recorded in the Franklin town records. I was also hoping (but not very optimistic) that there would be a mention of them in the land or other records for the town. I did find the marriage record, but no other mention of them in the Franklin town records for the time period in which they would have been there.

Their marriage record is the second entry on the first page of the Town Records for Franklin, Vermont (the spine is labeled “Vital Records – Cattle Marks 1794-1854”).

Of course, their entry had to be the faintest one on that page! And the right side of that page is missing. Nearly illegible, just their names and the date can be deciphered. The Town Clerk wrote down September, crossed it out, and wrote February above it.

A certified copy of a transcription of the record was found in the Delaware County, Ohio Pioneer Families files the week before. It was dated August 9, 1988 and states that Jonas Joslin and Ruth Dyer were married on Feb. 6, 1794 and the marriage was recorded in the Franklin Town records by Samuel Peckham, Town Clerk.