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As the preface to this work notes, there are few counties in Georgia more important for genealogical researchers than Greene and Oglethorpe. Greene County, named for Revolutionary War hero Nathaniel Greene, was created in 1786; and Oglethorpe County, named for Georgia's founding father, James Oglethorpe, was established in 1793. Greene County later became the parent county for Clarke and Hancock counties, while Oglethorpe would give rise, in part, to Madison and Taliaferro.

The work at hand, which was compiled by Mrs. Herschel W. Smith and originally published by the Lucy Cook Peel Memorial Committee of the Georgia Society D.A.R. as Volume 5 of Historical Collections of the Georgia Chapters Daughters of the American Revolution, contains the oldest extant marriage records for Greene and Oglethorpe counties. The marriage records are arranged by county and, thereunder, alphabetically by the names of the bridegrooms. The Greene County records give the names of the bride and groom, the date of the marriage, and the name of the officiating minister. Those for Oglethorpe furnish much the same sort of information, omitting the name of the minister. The volume preserves the records of about 7,000 marriages, which are roughly divided between Greene and Oglethorpe, and names some 15,000 people in all. Without question this is a basic source on the early settlers of the counties under consideration.