In honor of Valentine’s day

For four couples in my database I have a marriage date of 14 Feb:

Johanna B. A. ten Bruggencate (dutch link) and Arend van Calcar in 1889 in Almelo, she is my 5th cousin 2x removed.
Geessien Ottes (dutch link) and Harm Jacobs in 1768 in Nieuwe Pekela, she is my 5th great-grand aunt.
Gerrit Hendrix Hagedoorn (dutch link) and  Geesjen Hendrix ten Stokkelaar in 1717 in Almelo, he is my 5th great-granduncle.
Abigail Clapp and John Bailey in 1700 in Scituate, MA, she is my son-in-law’s 8th great-grandaunt.

It is not really surprising there are so few: in a lot cases only banns are known (for instance in Amsterdam, which is why no one in my husband’s family appears on this list), and there is no marriage date, or we only assume they are married, because they have kids. What did surprise me a bit, was that there were also no banns on 14 Feb in Amsterdam. (there were three in Almelo, and one marriage contract in Nieuwe Pekela). Maybe someday I’ll do some statistics to figure out why.

But for the moment: Happy Valentine’s Day, and To Love, to love, L’Chayim!