Marriage register

“ In March of the same year a statute was passed differing in several respects from the preceding. Parents or guardians are to be consulted and give their consent. "Intentions" are to be published for "at least three weeks" before solemnization, which "shall be performed by and before some justice of the peace or other magistrate," unless he "refuse to be present;" the certificate shall be entered "in the register of the town and county" where the marriage takes place; and a record of publication is likewise to be kept by the clerk of the "assembly" or public place where it occurs. ”

“ It is required that "every man which hereafter shall be married according to the rubrick of the Church of England, or by any other contract or ceremony," shall record his marriage in the register's office within thirty days after celebration, or else forfeit "one royall" for neglect. But at the time of registration he must produce "a certificate from under the hand of the parson, minister, magistrate, or otherwise," attested by "six persons at least met and congregated at such religious meateing" where the ceremony took place. ”

“ It provides further that no persons shall be married until one of them shall inform the register of the town, or the town-clerk, in which the marriage is to be celebrated, of the name, age, color, occupation, birthplace, residence, and condition—whether single, widowed, or divorced—of each. Such register, or town-clerk, shall thereupon issue his certificate that the parties therein named have complied with the law, which certificate shall be a license for any person authorized to solemnize marriages to give in marriage, in said town only, the parties therein named ”

“ Marriage is effected simply by registration. Notice is given to a registrar by both parties and two witnesses who are of age. This notice may be either verbal or written. When the registrar has satisfied himself that the marriage is in accordance with the provisions of the law, the name of the person entering the other’s family is inscribed in the register of that family and is expunged from the register of the family to which he, or she, previously belonged. The marriageable age for men is seventeen years ”

“ Only civil marriage registered with the Bureau of Vital Statistics shall create the rights and duties of husband and wife as provided in the present title. A marriage contracted by a religious present title. A marriage contracted by a ceremony performed by a clergyman shall create no rights or duties for the parties to such marriage unless the same shall be registered according to law. ”

“ Does any lawyer doubt my statement of the legal status of married women? I will remind him of the fact that the old common law of England prevails in every State in this Union, except where the Legislature has enacted special laws annulling it. And I am ashamed that not one State has yet blotted from its statute books the old common law of marriage, by which Blackstone, summed up in the fewest words possible, is made to say: "Husband and wife are one, and that one is the husband." ”

“ Persons of color living together as husband and wife, March 9, 1866, are to sustain that legal relation to each other, unless a man then had two or more reputed wives, or a woman two or more reputed husbands. In such event the man shall immediately select one of his reputed wives, with her consent, or the woman one of her reputed husbands, with his consent; and the ceremony of marriage between these two shall be performed, under severe penalty for refusal. ”

“ It is evident that, whenever we find such a feature as common nomenclature for a grandmother and a sister or for a cross-cousin and a parent, it should suggest to us the possibility of such marriage regulations as those of Pentecost and the Banks Islands. But such common designations might have arisen in some other way, and in order to establish the existence of such forms of marriage in the past [43] history of the people, we must have criteria to guide us when we are considering whether a given feature of the terminology of relationship is or is not a survival of a marriage institution. ”

“ No one can legally claim the status of husband or wife, or the effects and privileges resulting by law from marriage, without the production of a certificate of the marriage celebration, except in the cases provided for by Article 46 of the code, namely, when no records have ever existed, or the same have been lost or destroyed. ”

“ The legality of a marriage begins in the eyes of the law only when a proper form of it is filled at the office of the registry of "l'état civil." It is desirable that a marriage should be reported in the form thus filed and duly registered as soon as possible after the ceremony. ”

“ In this State, and I believe it to be American law, marriage is a civil contract, requiring neither license, priest, ceremony, nor certificate—and in some cases witnesses are not even necessary to give it validity. Of old, the modes of getting a wife were the same as those of acquiring any other species of property, and they are not materially changed at the present time. It is enough that the man and woman say to each other, ‘From this time we are married,’ or, ‘You are now my wife,’ or, ‘my husband,’ as the case may be. ”

“ If the woman is a British subject, and the man is a subject or citizen of another country, the marriage officer must be satisfied that the intended marriage would be recognized by the laws of the country where the man to be married belongs. ”

“ There are only a few exceptional cases where the married woman can legally act independently of her husband. Our code so recognizes the paramount control of the husband that when a widow, who is the tutor of her minor children, wishes to marry, and gets the consent of a family meeting to be retained in the tutorship, the code, article 255, says: Her second husband becomes of necessity the co-tutor, and, for the administration of the property subsequently to his marriage, becomes bound in solido with his wife. ”

“ Of course, such a marriage could be declared null, leaving both parties free to marry again.
It must be always carried in mind that to constitute a valid marriage under French law which cannot be impugned by anyone all the statutory conditions imposed by the Civil Code must be complied with.
Husband and Wife.—Married persons owe each other fidelity, support and assistance. A husband owes protection to his wife. A wife owes obedience to her husband. ”

“ Husband and Wife.—A husband is not guardian over his wife any further than respects the rights of marriage, nor does the provision for her rest upon him any further than with respect to food, clothing and lodging.
A husband must reside equally with each of his wives, unless one wife bestow her right upon another wife. ”

“ The matrimonial conventions of the parties must be made before marriage; but the husband, during marriage, may convey to the wife property to replace that which may have been alienated by him, as was done in this case. ”

“ In the District the right of any married woman to any property, personal or real, belonging to her at the time of marriage, or acquired during marriage in any other way than by gift or conveyance from her husband, shall be as absolute as if she were unmarried, and shall not be subject to the disposal of her husband, nor be liable for his debts. ”

“ As a man thus calls all the women whom he might legally have married by the same term as he calls his wife, and calls all children of persons of his own “age-grade,” class and status by the same name as he calls his own children, many theorists hold this to be a proof of the origin of the nomenclature “in a system of group marriage in which groups of men exercised marital rights over groups of women, and the limitation of one wife to one husband was unknown. ”

“ Consanguinity and Affinity.—The law considers it against public policy and morality, and contrary to the well-being of the parties, that persons closely related by blood or marriage should intermarry. Marriages are therefore prohibited between all ascendants and descendants, legitimate or illegitimate.
[Pg 241] A man is also prohibited from marrying his stepmother, wife’s mother, stepdaughter, daughter-in-law, son’s daughter-in-law, daughter’s daughter-in-law, stepson’s daughter, stepdaughter’s daughter, niece by blood, niece by affinity, or nephew’s wife. ”

“ A female must have completed her sixteenth year. The King may grant a dispensation permitting parties of less age to marry.
Males and females are minors until the completion of their twenty-fifth year, and during minority cannot conclude marriage without the consent of their parents or guardians. ”

“ Banns or license, parental consent, certificate, and registration are all soon introduced. Marriage becomes in effect a [229] civil contract long before it is squarely acknowledged to be such by the law.
The brief act of 7 Charles I., 1632, provides that "no mynister shall celebrate matrimony betweene any persons without a facultie or lycense graunted by the Governor, except the baynes of matrimony have beene first published three severall Sundays or holydays in the time of devyne service in the parish churches where the sayd persons dwell, accordinge to the booke of common prayer." ”

“ Any marriage to be legally binding had to be accompanied by a duly executed and attested marriage-contract, and without this necessary preliminary a woman was not regarded as a wife in the legal sense. ”

“ If a husband proposes to leave the Republic to live in a foreign land the wife may apply to the courts to be relieved from the usual duty of adopting her husband’s residence.
The husband is the legitimate representative and manager of all of the property of the marriage. He is ordinarily his wife’s representative in legal proceedings. A wife generally cannot appear either personally or by attorney in a suit at law without her husband’s authorization in writing. ”

“ There should be some uniformity of law, as to marriage contract and its dissolution by divorce, in the different States. Another practical consideration is this: women must be prepared to assume personal responsibilities as they attain personal rights. No State Legislature has said "Go to, let us make the married woman the legal equal of her husband," but legislation has pointed in that direction more and more during these last years, so pregnant of changes in her position. ”

“ Consents.—The free consent of the contracting parties is essential. For a man under twenty-one years of age, or a woman under eighteen years of age, the parental consent is also necessary.
Monogamy.—All persons are forbidden to contract a new marriage until a previous marriage has been dissolved by death or divorce.
Consanguinity and Affinity.—Marriage is prohibited between persons of whom one is descended in a direct line from the other. Collateral kinsmen are forbidden to marry within the sixth degree. ”

“ The cohabitation of the parties coupled with the general reputation of being husband and wife is, however, at the best prima facie evidence sufficient for the purposes of a civil suit. In criminal prosecutions for adultery or bigamy, marriage is a necessary ingredient of the offence, and must be directly established. ”

“ The bill failed of passage, mainly because as a half-way measure it did not satisfy the non-conformists. For it permitted the civil form of marriage only to those declaring their unwillingness to accept the established rites; and thus, it was asserted, a stigma would be put upon the dissenters to whom matrimony was not less holy than it was to the adherents of the English church. [1453] Moreover, the magistrate of the hundred before the marriage was solemnized was required to send the certificate to the clergyman of the parish for registration. ”

“ It may be shown by what is called habit or repute. Referring to marriage at common law, Kent says: 'The consent of the parties may be declared before a magistrate, or simply before witnesses, or subsequently confessed or acknowledged, or the marriage may even be inferred from continual cohabitation and reputation as husband and wife, except in cases of civil actions for adultery, or in public prosecutions for bigamy or adultery, when actual proof of the marriage is required.' 2 Kent, Com. ”

“ Under the Civil Code husband and wife are now on an equal footing, except when consideration for their common domestic life requires some modifications.
Persons who are about to marry are permitted to make any contract with regard to their individual property, and a woman is capable of owning and controlling her separate property all during marriage. ”

“ If there be no marriage contract to the contrary, the husband is the legal administrator of all the property belonging to the married couple, including that of the wife, as well as that which they possessed at marriage as of that subsequently acquired by them in their own right. ”

“ But marriages are celebrated by clergymen of all denominations without distinction, and yet for any law to the contrary, a marriage with or without licence or publication, and with or without the aid of a clergyman or magistrate, will be valid in law. A contract in words de presenti, proved by witnesses and subsequent cohabitation as man and wife, constitutes a marriage of legal validity, as already suggested. ”

“ If marriage is not about one man and one woman for the purpose of a relationship of which to have children and continue society, if it is about two women and two men or two women and three men, why not whatever arrangement? ”

“ The statutes and the common-law marriage.—The defects in the matrimonial laws of the United States are many and grave; but perhaps the chief obstacle in the way of securing a proper social control is the general recognition of the validity of the so-called "common-law marriage." Almost everywhere the public celebration of wedlock is intended by the statute; and in nearly all the states a license or certificate is required before the solemnization may take place. ”