In 1776 Henry Abbott submitted a resolution to North Carolina on December 22 allowing ALL ministers to perform marriages. Up to this time only state approved church clergy could perform marriages. Baptists do not designate marriage as a sacrament and most Baptist churches do not keep records of marriages. Individual pastors might keep records of those he or she has married, however. This is one of the reasons that genealogists don’t find much help in Baptists records.
