1849 Marriage Record for James Henry & Jane Beal

What are the origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl?

Last week we continued our Biehl research project with the end goal of identifying the German origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl. I continued research on the first generation, which is Mary Jane Beal. You can find that post here. 

 

This week we searched for a marriage record for James Henry and Mary Beal prior to 1 June 1850 in Washington County, Arkansas.

 

1849 Marriage

 

Ancestry has Washington County, Arkansas, marriage records online for the time. Below is the transcription of the marriage record and I included the image in this post.

 

[Transcription]

 

“State of Arkansas                  }

County of Washington           }

I Daniel S. Corley an acting and July commissioned Justice of the Peace in and for the County aforesaid so hereby certify that at the County aforesaid on the 11 day of October AD 1849 I solemnized the rights of matrimony between James Henry aged 27 years, and Jane Beal aged 21 years, both residents of the County of Washington and State of Arkansas[.] Given under my hand this 24^th October 1849[.] [Signed] D. S. Corley J.P.

The foregoing certificate was filed and Recorded October 24^th AD 1849. [Signed] TR Smith clerk”[1]

 

Analysis

 

Based on the 1850 census enumeration, I was expecting that James Henry and Mary [Jane] Beal would have married prior to 1 June 1849, since the enumeration did not note that they married within the year; however, that may just have been an oversight. In the marriage record, James’ age was given as 27 years, which calculates to a birth year of 1822, which is consistent with his tombstone and 1850 and 1860 census enumerations. Jane’s age was given as 21 years, which calculates to a birth year of 1828, which is consistent with her tombstone and the 1850 through 1870 censuses. Unfortunately, the marriage record did not name the parents for either the bride nor groom.

 

Future Research

 

Future research will include:

 

·      Search for the $300 in real estate that James Henry owned in 1850 probably in Washington County, Arkansas.

·      Search for the $1,000 in real estate that James Henry owned in 1870 probably in Washington County, Arkansas.

·      Determine if there are records for Friendship Baptist Church in Springdale, Arkansas.

 

Next up: Continuing the research on Mary Jane Henry and her husband, James, as noted in “Future Research” above.

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[1] “Arkansas, U.S., Washington County Marriage Records, 1845–1941,” database & images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 November 2025), p. 168 (image 1009 of 15,007), James Henry-Jane Beal marriage, 11 October 1849; citing marriage records, Washington County Archives, Fayetteville, Arkansas.