A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. 2 of 3

by George Elliott Howard

[1262] In these states and territories marriage may be celebrated as follows:

(1) Florida: By "all ordained ministers of the gospel in communion with some church, all judicial officers and notaries public": Rev. Stat. of Florida (1892), 679 (act of Feb. 8, 1861). For the earlier law see act of Nov. 2, 1829, in Thompson, Manual or Digest (1847), 219; Duval, 88.

(2) Arkansas: By the governor of the state for the time being; any judge of the courts of record; any justice of the peace of the county where the marriage is solemnized; any regularly ordained minister or priest of any religious sect or denomination, when he shall have caused to be recorded in the office of clerk and recorder of some county in the state the license or credentials of his clerical character, and shall have obtained from such clerk a certificate of the record thereof; religious societies which reject formal ceremonies, to which the parties belong, using their own rites: Digest (1894), 1126, 1127, being the same law as in Rev. Stat. (1838), 536-38.

(3) Arizona: By a regularly licensed or ordained minister of the gospel; any judge of the courts of record; justices of the peace of the several counties: Rev. Stat. (1887), 371; ibid. (1901), 808, 809.

(4) New Mexico: By any ordained clergyman, without regard to the sect to which he may belong; any civil magistrate; any religious society by its own rites: Compiled Laws (1897), 405, 406; see act of Feb. 2, 1860: Laws (1860), 120, or in Rev. Stat. (1865), 534.

(5) Alabama: By any licensed minister of the gospel in regular communion with the Christian church or society of which he is a member; pastor of any religious society, according to the rules ordained or customs established thereby; Quakers, Menonists, and other Christian societies, according to their forms of consent published and declared before the congregation; all judges of supreme, circuit, or city courts, or a chancelor, throughout the state; any judge of probate or justice of the peace within his county: Code of Alabama (1897), I, 828. For the law of Jan. 5, 1805, enacted by the "Legislative Council and House of Representatives of Mississippi Territory," see Toulmin's Digest (1823), 576, 577; or Stat. of Miss. Territory (1816), 328-30.

(6) Mississippi: By any minister of the gospel ordained according to the rules of his church or society, in good standing; judges of the supreme or circuit court; justices of the peace within their respective counties; members of the boards of supervisors within their respective counties; Quakers, Menonists, or any other Christian society, to which the parties belong, according to their own customs: Annotated Code (1892), 678. Compare the laws of Jan. 5 and July 20, 1805, revised and amended Feb. 10, 1807, in Stat. of Miss. Territory (1816), 328-30, already cited for Alabama, which was originally a part of the Mississippi Territory; also the act of June 29, 1822, in Code of Miss. (1848), 492, 493, being practically the same as the law of 1805 as modified by that of 1807.

(7) Missouri: By any judge of a court of record; any justice of the peace; or any licensed or ordained preacher of the gospel who is a citizen of the United States: act of March 1, 1897: Laws, 116; also in Rev. Stat. (1899), I, 1036. The statute of April 24, 1805, enacted by the "Governor and Judges of the Indiana Territory"—who were authorized and empowered by an act of Congress to make laws for the "District of Louisiana," of which Missouri was a part—allows judges of the general court, or of the county court of common pleas, in their respective jurisdictions, and ministers of any religious society or congregation within the districts in which they are settled, and Quakers in their public meetings to solemnize marriages: Laws of a Pub. and Gen. Nature (1842), I, 66. Compare the act of Feb. 20, 1835, in Rev. Stat. (1835), 401, 402; and Rev. Stat. (1845), 729-31.

(8) Indian Territory: By act of Congress, May 2, 1890, U. S. Stat. at Large, XXVI, 81, the marriage laws of Arkansas, except as expressly modified, are put in force. Thus, by federal enactment, marriages entered into by Indian customs are valid; and, in addition to the persons authorized in Arkansas, they may be solemnized by clerks, deputy clerks, and commissioners of the United States courts, Annot. Stat. of Ind. Ter. (1899), 12, 13, 507 ff.

(9) Oklahoma: By a justice of the supreme court, judge of the district or probate court, justice of the peace, a duly ordained, licensed, or authorized preacher or minister of the gospel or priest of any denomination; and previous to 1897, in case of Indians, by the peacemakers, their agents, or the superintendent of Indian affairs. Non-compliance with the statute does not invalidate a marriage: Stat. of Oklahoma (1893), 669; act of Feb. 26: Session Laws (1897), 210. By another act of 1897 Indian marriages hitherto celebrated by their own rites are validated, and for the future forbidden, the Indians having accepted land in severalty being subjected to the statute: ibid., 212-15.