St. Martin Parish Court Records

The St. Martin Parish Court Records building is located at 415 South Main in St. Martinville Louisiana, behind the actual Courthouse.    This is a modern facility - thankfully air conditioned for this California born researcher.  From my understanding this is self serve as to the actual recordings.  I have no problem being corrected on this point, but I didn't have to ask permission.  On this day, I found a very helpful fellow researcher (Wayne) who knows the place inside and out.  He pointed me in the right direction.  I was looking for a marriage record and some succession documents.  For the marriage record, I found the document then asked the staff to make a copy for me - for a fee.  The succession record was a different process, maybe because it was so old.  I had the number and date of filing.  A clerk pulled it from the back (not public) room.  I asked her for copies - again for a fee.

As with most county (oops, Parish) records, the Indexes are in large hardbound books arranged in some logical order.  The Index of Marriages for Grooms and Brides are the same, A to I and J to Z from 1800 to 1987.  A separate index exists for 1987 forward.  Once the marriage is found in the index, we proceed to the Original Marriage documents.  Original!  All very well preserved, covered in plastic, in large volumes.  Copies can be had - again, for a fee from the staff.  I just got a kick out of being able to get my hands on (sort of) the original.

I noted that in the Marriage Books, the column on the left side is for a convenience number, but the number you want is in the right side column.

Building as open WiFi.  There are a few editions of Father Hebert's books, but not a complete collection.  Parking was free, but on the street.  The retired cop in me noticed jail trusties at work around the courthouse; I took my valuables with me.