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This marriage record is from the U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989 > New York > New York City > NY Marriages, Book 32 database at Ancestry. The excerpt below is from 1840.

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What does the "V", "B", "D" and "K" (at the end of each entry) mean?

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    Your link to the image at Ancestry was the hint-active link asking if you wanted to attach the record to your tree. I've replaced it with the "share this image with others" link which should be visible to people who don't have an Ancestry sub. I've also made the link to Ancestry transparent instead of saying "here" and made it more transparent you were giving people the breadcrumb trail from the viewer (which is fine for a citation).
    – Jan Murphy
    Oct 4, 2019 at 17:07

1 Answer 1

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The initials identify the minister who officiated.

The first thing that struck me was how modern and consistent the handwriting looked, and how clean and spare each entry. And sure enough, the opening page for this book of NYC marriages has the note "copied from a volume labeled Record of Marriages ... copied by Sterling Potter 1902-3".

As the officient is a key piece of information in marriage records, and as only a few names would apply over a given time period, those names would be easy to record as initials or abbreviations, in a separate column, especially in a summary or index.

And on page 88 of 152 of the NY Marriages, Book 32 (at the start of the 1822 entries) is a key to some of those names. There may be additional key pages. There are number of pages for the 1830s where the officients' surnames are written in full or as abbreviations (not just 1 letter).

B. is Brownlee
D. is probably Dewitt, although Dougherty also appears in earlier entries
K. is probably Knox, although Kuyhers also appears in earlier entries
V. tbd [haven't found it written it full yet]

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