[Spunky]

"I guess the reason for looking for the divorce file was to find out where he plead they were married so if we are willing to take Time's word for it, we can abandon that--too much to hope for that she would have said Mombasa."

I don't understand why someone who has a credit card can't go to the on line Vital Statistics and search for either marriage or divorce records. I don't use credit or debit or I would do it.

Or surely there is a Freeper in Hawaii who could go look, they are public record.

HAWAII VITAL STATISTICS

[El Gato]

Unfortunatly this is not the case from the same website you linked to: "Birth and Marriage certificates may only be requested by the individual, the individual's father, the individual's mother or the individual's relatives. "

That's mostly because of "identity theft", at one time they were indeed "public records", which anyone could request. But you can see the basic conflict between counting on a BC as proof of identity and citizenship, and allowing ever Tom Dick and Harriet to get a copy of anyone's certificate. The reason for the restrictioin on Marriage certificate is less clear.