USA > New Jersey > Marriage records, 1665-1800, Vol XXII (from various church records) > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89
First, That we cannot Marry with those that walk not in. and obey not the Truth, as being of another Judgment. or Fellowship; or pretending to it, walk not suitable and answerable thereto.
Secondly, Nor can we go to the Hireling-Priests, to uphold their false and usurped Authority, who take upon them to marry People without any Command. or Precedent for it from the Law of God.
Lastly. Nor can we suffer any such kind of Marriage to pass among us, which either as to the Degrees of Consanguinity. or otherwise, in itself is unlawful, or from which there may be any just Reflection cast upon our Way.
In that we deny the Priests their Assumed Authority and Power to marry, it is that which in no wise we can recede from, nor can we own any in the doing of it; it being Part of our Testimony against the Usurpations of that Generation, who never yet, that I ever heard of. could produce any Scripture-proof. or Example for it. - - - And seeing none can pretend Conscience in the Matter (for they them- selves confess that it is no Part of the Essence of Marriage) if any pretending to be among us. should. through Fear. Interest, or Prejudice to the Truth, come un- der. and bow to. that Image, have we not Reason to deny such slavish and ignoble Spirits, as mind not Truth and its Testimony ?
Lastly, Seeing if any walking with us, or going under the same Name, should hastily or disorderly go together, either being within the Degrees of Consanguin- ity, which the Law of God forbids. or that either Party should have been former- ly under any Tie or Obligation to others, or any other vast Disproportion, which might bring a just Reflection upon us from our Opposers; can any blame us for taking Care to prevent these Evils, by appointing that such as so design, make known their Intentions to these Churches or Assemblies. where they are most known, that if any know just Cause of Hindrance, it may be mentioned, and a timous Lett put to the Hurt, either by stopping it, if they can be brought to con- descend; or by refusing to be Witnesses and Concurrers with them in it, if they will not? For we take not upon us to hinder any to marry. otherwise than by Ad- vice, or disconcerning ourselves; neither do we judge, that such as do marry con- trary to our Mind, that therefore their Marriage is null and void in itself. or may be dissolved afterwards; Nay, all our meddling is in a holy Care for the Truth. For if the Thing be right. all that we do, is to be Witnesses; and if otherwise, that we may say for our Vindication to such as may upbraid us therewith, that we advised otherwise. and did no ways concur in the Matter; that so they may bear their own Burden, and the Truth and People of God be cleared. 1
1 The Anarchy of the Kanters. etc., by Robert Barclay. London. 1664; Phila- delphia, Re-printed, 1770, pp. 51 54.
G
lxvi
FRIENDS' MARRIAGE CUSTOMS.
A very clear and temperate account of the Friends' practice in this important matter is that given by William Penn :
Their Way of Marriage is peculiar to them; and shews a distinguishing Care? above other Societies, professing Christianity. They say that Marriage is an Ordinance of God. and that God only can rightly join Man and Woman in Mar- riage. Therefore they use neither Priest nor Magistrate; but the Man and Woman concern'd take cach other as Husband and Wife, in the Presence of divers credible Witnesses, promising to each other, with God's Assistance, to be loving and faithful in that relation, till Death shall separate them. But antece- dent to this, they first present themselves to the Monthly Meeting for the Affairs of the Church where they reside; there declaring their Intentions. to take one another as Husband and Wife, if the said Meeting have nothing material to ob- jeet against it. They are constantly asked the necessary Questions, as in case of Parents or Guardians. if they have acquainted them with their Intention. and have their Consent, etc. The Method of the Meeting is, to take a Minute thereof. and to appoint proper Persons to enquire of their Conversation and Clearness from all others, and whether they have discharged their Duty to their Parents or Guardians; and to make Report thereof to the next Monthly Meeting. where the same Parties are desired to give their attendance. In case it appears they have proceeded orderly, the Meeting passes their Proposal, and so records it in their Meeting-Book. And in case the Woman be a Widow, and hath Children, due Care is there taken. that Provision also be made by her for the Orphans, before the Meeting pass the Proposals of Marriage: Advising the Parties concerned. to ap- point a convenient Time and Place, and to give fitting Notice to their Relations. and such Friends and Neighbours, as they desire should be the Witnesses of their Marriage: Where they take one another by the Hand, and by Name promise re- ciprocally, Love and Fidelity. after the Manner before expressed. Of all which Proceedings, a Narrative, in Way of Certificate, is made, to which the said Par- ties first set their Hands, thereby confirming it as their Act and Deed; and then divers Relations, Spectators and Auditors set their Names as Witnesses. of what they said and signed. And this Certificate is afterwards registred in the Record belonging to the Meeting where the Marriage is solemnized. Which regular Method has been, as it deserves, adjudged in Courts of Law, a good Marriage; where it has been by cross and ill People disputed. and contested, for want of the accustomed Formalities of Priest and Ring. &c. Ceremonies they have refused: Not out of Humour, but Conscience reasonably grounded; inasmuch as no Scrip- ture-Example tells us, that the Priest had any other Part of old Time. than that of a Witness among the rest, before whom the Jews used to take one another: And therefore this People look upon it, as an Imposition to advance the Power and Profits of the Clergy: And for the Use of the Ring. it is enough to say, that it was an Heathenish and vain Custom. and never in Practice among the People of God, Jews or primitive Christians: The Words of the usual Form. as with my Body I thee worship, &c., are hardly defensible. In short, they are more careful, exact and regular, than any Form now used; and it is free of the Inconven- iences, with which other Methods are attended: Their Care and Checks being so many, and such, as that no clandestine Marriages can be performed among them 1
It appears by the Records that the first Yearly Meeting of Friends for New Jersey and Pennsylvania was held at Burling-
1 A Brief Account of the Rise and Progress of the People called Quakers, etc. By William Penn. Philadelphia: Re-printed by Joseph Crukshank, 1720. p. 27. A terse summary of Friends' views on this subject is also given in Sewel's His- tory of the Quakers, as cited. 777.
lxvii
FRIENDS' MARRIAGE CUSTOMS.
ton, New Jersey, in the house of Thomas Gardner, 31st of 6th mo., 1681, old style. In 1682 it was by the Meeting advised, " that all young and unmarried people in membership with us, previously to their making any procedure in order to marriage, do seriously and humbly wait upon the Lord for his counsel and direction in this important concern ; and when favored with satisfactory clearness therein, they should early acquaint their parents or guardians with their intentions, and wait for their consent ; thus preservation from the dangerous bias of forward, brittle, and uncertain affections would be experienced, to the real benefit of the parties, and the comfort of their friends. And it is earnestly recommended to Friends, that they tenderly and carefully watch over the youth, and extend reasonable caution and admonition, as occasion may re- quire."1
One of the earliest deliverances on the subject by the Year- ly Meeting was the following :
" When they understand or hear of any yt Intends to offer their proposals of Marriage to ye Monthly Meeting which seems manifest to them cannot pass there, that they then ad- vise (tho' not forbid) them to forbear troubling ye said meet- ing therewith till ye said preparative Meetings Objections be removed And that the Man at least before he propose his In- tended Marriage to ye Monthly meeting Do by himself or some friend at his request lay ye matter before ye said preparative Meeting he belongs to And if the Woman belong to another Meeting that she lay it after ye same manner before ye Women friends to which she belongs. And if the Man belong to an- other Monthly Meeting that then he produce from thence a Certificate of his clearness' from all others & of his Conversa- tion to ye Monthly Meeting where the Woman belongs before he have the said Meetings final approbation.
" Inasmuch as neither Children nor Orphans ought to marry without Consent of parents or Guardians, therefore they often advise that no man so much as propose his Intentions of Marriage to any young Woman before the Consent of such be first had and obtained.
1 Rules of Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of Friends for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the Eastern Parts of Maryland. Philadelphia, 1893, p. 50.
-
lxviii
FRIENDS' MARRIAGE CUSTOMS.
And that ye Care of Marriages in the above respects may be the particular Concern of some It's advised that ye Monthly Meeting do always appoint two friends to be at the said marriages to take inspection thereof and that they be appointed as aforesaid at the same monthly meeting where the Couples receive their final approbation ; and that one or both of the said two friends do acquaint ye next monthly Meet- ing after such Marriage is consummate whether it was carried on as above advised or not. And that the appointment of the said two friends as also their answer as above be entered upon record to prevent mistakes and shortness of memory." 1
The Yearly Meeting for Pennsylvania and New Jersey in 1702 advised " that none making profession of Truth, and would be accounted of us, do take one another in Marriage, or join in Marriage any other way, than by the Consent and Approbation of the monthly Meeting belonging to the place where they live ; And if any should proceed, any other way, that they be dealt with according to Truth." 2
The same body advised in 1733 " that Friends being Jus- tices of the Peace do not by Pretext of their Office undertake to marry people by Virtue of Licenses obtained to that end, it being in the Sense of the Yearly Meeting inconsistent with our Principles, & not any part of their duty as magistrates so to do "3
The following is the form of a marriage certificate agreed upon by the same Yearly Meeting in 1719, and again approved in 1762 :
Whereas A B of C. in the County of D in the Province of E & F G of H &c hav- ing declared their Intentions of Marriage with each other before several Mon: Meetings of the People called Quakers, at H aforesaid, according to the good Order amongst them. (where the Parties are under the Tuition of Parents. or Guardians, add) and having the Consent of Parents (or Guardians as the case is) concerned. their said Proposals of Marriage were allowed by the said Meet- ing.
Now these are to certify whom it may concern, that for the full accomplishing their sd Intentions this day of the Month in the Year of our
1 MS. Book of Discipline, of 1704. belonging to George Vaux, of Philadelphia, to whose kindness the writer is indebted for permitting the above extracts to be taken. Mr. Vaux believes this is the oldest Book of Discipline of the Phila- delphia Meeting.
2 Rules of Discipline, 1762.
3 Ibid.
Ixix
FRIENDS' MARRIAGE CUSTOMS.
Lord They the said A B & F G appeared in a publick Meetg of the sd Pro- ple (for that purpose appointed if it be so.) at H aforesaid. & the said A B tak- ing the sd F G by the hand, did in a solemn Manner openly declare, that he took her the sd F G to be his Wife, promiss with the Lord's Assistance to be unto her, a loving & faithful Husband untill death should seperate them, & then, & there in the same Assembly, the sd FG did in like manner. declare that she took the sd A B to be her Husband with the Lord's Assistance, promise to be unto him a faith- ful. & loving Wife until Death should seperate them: - - - And moreover they the said A B & F G (she accords to the Custom of Marra assuming the Name of her Husband) as a further Confirmation thereof. did then. & there to these Pres- ents set their Hands; - - - And we whose Names are hereunder also subscribed, being prest at the solemnization of the sd Marra & Subscription have as Wit- nesses thereunto, set our Hands the Day, & Year above written - - 1
VII. EARLY NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA MARRIAGE LAWS.
Immediately on the conquest of New York by the Eng- lish, and while the Duke of York, under the grant of his brother, Charles II., held sway over New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, there was a general meeting held at Hemp- stead, Long Island, on March first, 1664, at which a code of laws, " collated out of several laws in force in his Majesty's American Colonies, and Plantations, and digested into one vol- ume," was published, known as " the Duke of York's Laws." These laws were re enacted from time to time. with some mod- ifications, but remained substantially unchanged for twenty years or more. They went into effect immediately in New York, and were subsequently2 extended to the shores of the Delaware. They were also in effect in New Jersey, during the brief period that elapsed before the transfer of that territory to Sir George Carteret and Lord John Berkley, and again after the surrender by the Dutch in 1674, until the new grant by the Duke of York and Charles II. to the Proprietors of New Jersey. The Long Island people who afterwards migrated to New Jersey found but little change in the mar- riage laws to which they had been accustomed under the dominion of the Duke of York.
The first act on the subject recognized the impracticability of attempting to follow the English ecclesiastical regulations,
1 Ibid. This deliverance in 1762 was " on Account of the frequent Transgres- sions of our discipline in respect to Marriages, " and " the Increase of Marriages accomplished contrary to the good Order established in the Society."
2 In 1676. See Record of Upland Court, Memoirs Hist. Soc. Penn .. VII .. 39 40.
1xx
NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA MARRIAGE LAWS.
and sanctioned marriages by a justice of the peace, but re- quired the publication of banns. The act, reads thus :
Whereas by the Law of England no Marriage is lawfully Consummated with- out a Minister whose office it is to join the parties in Matrimony after the Banns thrice published in the Church or a Lycence first had and obtained from some person thereunto authorized, all which formality cannot be duly practiced in these parts.
Yet to the end that a decent rule therein may be preserved It is Ordained that from henceforth the names and surnames of each Party who sue for Marriages shall be Publiquely read in their Parish Church or place of usuall Meeting, where they both then Inhabit three severall Lords days successively.
And where no Church or Meeting place shall happen to bee. a publication in writing shall be first fourteen Days before Marriage upon three doors of each parish whereof the partyes Inhabit (viz) one on the Constables the other two upon any two Doors of the Overseers of the Parrish Unless they produce a Lycence from the Governourl in both which Cases. and not otherwise, it shall be Lawfull for any Minister or for any Justice of the Peace2 to joyne the Parties in Marriage, Provided that the said Partyes do purge themselves by Oath before the Minister or Justice that they are not under the Bonds of Matrimony to any other Person Living. and if it shall be after proved, that either or both of the Parties are perjured, and thereby attained a Double Marriage, for the said Perjury the par- ty or parties offending shall bee boared through the tongue with a read hot Iron and moreover proceeded against as in Case of Adultery is provided; But if either Party be approved Innocent as to him or her Self and Ignorant of the others wicked fraud the innocent Person shall recover damage against the nocent; and be sett at Liberty as if no such Marriage had been made.3
In the Frame of Government or Charter of Liberties of the Province of Pennsylvania, dated April 11, 1682, by William Penn, with alterations agreed upon in England, it was pro- vided :
Nineteenth. That all marriages (not forbidden by the law of God, as to near- ness of blood and affinity by marriage) shall be encouraged; but the parents or guardians shall be first consulted, and the marriage shall be published before it be solemnized, and it shall be solemnized by taking one another as husband and wife, before credible witnesses. and a certificate of the whole. under the hands of parties and witnesses, shall be brought to the proper register of that county, and shall be registered in his office. 4
This was enacted into law by the Pennsylvania Legislature,
1 The justices of Newcastle on Delaware. on July 27th, 1678, asked " whether the commander hath power to grant licenses for marriages, as to several persons he hath done, whereby the common course of three proclamations in the church, or banns set up, is laid aside." -- Newcastle Records, 311, cited in Hazard's Annals of Pennsylvania, 456.
2 Gov. Andros, of New York, having been asked by the Board of Trade and Plantations to report the number of marriages in that Province, wrote a reply, received April 18, 1678: "Scarcity of Ministersand Law admitting marriages by Justices no acct cann be given of the number marryed."-N. I. Col. Docs .. III., 261.
3 Duke of York's Book of Laws, Harrisburg, 1879, p. 36.
4 Ibid., 101.
NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA MARRIAGE LAWS. Ixxi
on December 7, 1682, the Quaker practice being more clearly embodied in the statute :
All marriages not forbidden by the law of God. shall be encouraged; but the parents and guardians shall be, if possible, first Consulted; and the parties clear- nes from all other engagements assured by a Certificate from some Credible per- sons where they have lived: And by their affixing of their intentions of Marriage on the Court, or Meeting-house Door of the County where in they Dwell. one Month before the solemnizing thereof; And their said marriage shall be solemnized by taking one another as husband and wife. befor Sufficient Witnesses; And a cer- tificate of the whole under the hands of parties and witnesses, (at least twelve.) shall be brought to the Register of the County, where they are Marryed, and be Registered in his office.1
A similar act was passed 10th of 3d Month, 1684, but with the modification that the certificate referred to might be pro- duced to " such Religious Society to which they relate ; or to some one Justice of the peace of the County in which they Live."" This was still further amended by an act passed in 1693, which inserted the proviso: " that there be at least one Justice of the Peace of the County where such marriage shall be, at the Solemnization thereof."3
III. MARRIAGE IN NEW JERSEY.
THE SOVEREIGN POWER IN THE COLONY.
In tracing the laws and customs concerning marriage in New Jersey in the Colonial period we may find it instructive to review briefly the origin of the sovereign power in the Col- ony, and the agencies through which it was exercised.
By the patent of King Charles II. to his brother James, Duke of York, March 12, 1663-4, for the vast territory ex- tending from St. Croix to the Delaware, there was not only conveyed the territory, but " full & absolute power & author- ity to correct punish pardon governe & rule all such the Sub- jects of vs our heires and 'Successors as shall from time to time adventure themselves into any of the parts or places aforesaid or that shall or doe at any time hereafter inhabit within the same according to such Lawes Orders Ordinances, directions & instruments as by our said dearest Brother or
1 Ibid., 151. 2 Ibid., 171.
3 Ibid .. 229. A similar aet was passed November 27. 1700, which was reenacted October 28, 1701, and has remained unrepealed ever since. By an act approved June 23, 1885, licenses are required as a prerequisite to marriages. See Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania, II., 21; Pamph. Laws of 1885. p. 116.
1xxii
THE SOVEREIGN POWER IN NEW JERSEY.
his Assignes shall be established And in defect thereof in cases of necessity according to the good descretions of his deputies, Commissioners Officers or agents respectively as well in all causes and matters Capitall & Criminall as civill, both marine & others1 Soe alwaies as the said Statutes ordi- nances & proceedings bee not contrary to but as neare as con- veniently may bee agreeable to the Lawes Statutes & governm't of this our Realme of England. . . . And alsoe to make, or- deyne & establish all manner of Orders Lawes directions In- structions formes & ceremonies of Governmt & Magistracy fitt & necessary for & concerning the Governmt of the Territories & Islands aforesaid ; Soe alwaies as the same be not contrary to the Lawes & Statutes of this our Realme of England but as neare as may be agreeable thereunto ; and the same at all times
1 Closely following the language of the first patent from the Crown of England for lands in America. granted by Queen Elizabeth, June 11. 1578, to Sir Humphrey Gilbert. wherein she gave him, his heirs and assigns, forever, "full Power and Authority, to correct. punish, pardon, govern and rule. as well in Causes capital or criminal, as civil, all such her Subjects or others. as should adventure them- selves in the said Voyages, or should at any Time thereafter inhabit the said Lands," etc. The patent to Sir Walter Raleigh. in 1584, was in similar terms. By the Virginia Charter of May 23. 1609. the London Council of the Virginia Com- pany was authorized to appoint Governors, and "to make. ordain, and establish all Manner of Orders. Laws, Directions, Instructions. Forms. & Ceremonies of Gov- ernment & Magistracy, fit & necessary, for & concerning the Government of the said Colony & Plantation." The Governors so appointed, or at least some of them, exercised the most absolute sway. ruling as by martial law. - Hack- luyt's Voyages, III .. 171-6, 297-300; Hazard's State Papers, I., 26. 36; Stith's History of Virginia, Williamsburg. 1747, 5, 294. 305, 322, Appendix, 17; Chalniers, I., 9. 11. The patent of Charles I .. to Sir Edmund Plowden, for New Albion (including New Jersey in great part). followed the precedents established by Elizabeth in granting ample powers of government -Pennsylvania Mag. of Hist. & Biog., VII., 55. In like manner. the Dutch West India Company, authorized under its char- ter to appoint a Director-General and Council, to administer the affairs of New Netherland. delegated large powers to that officer, who. moreover, interpreted his commissions and instructions with the utmost liberality .- O'Callaghan's New Netherland, I., 400; II., 18. The charter of Nova Scotia, granted by James I. to Sir William Alexander, September 10, 1621, and the Novodamus of Charles I., July 12. 1625. for the same territory. confer the same powers of government as the ear- lier English patents for lands in America. See the patents to Alexander set out in full in " Narrative of the Oppressive Law Proceedings, and other measures, resorted to by the British Government, and numerous private individuals, to over- power the Earl of Stirling, and subvert his lawful rights. Written by Himself," etc., Edinburgh, 1836. 55, 79. The foregoing recitals are instructive in the light of the commission to Gov. Philip Carteret, of New Jersey. hereinafter quoted. The Governors of New England had power which "differed little from that of the other magistrates." and they were more subject to the popular will than those in the other Colonies .- Palfrey's New England, I., 67-68; II., 9.
Ixxiii
TIIE SOVEREIGN POWER IN NEW JERSEY.
hereafter to putt in execution or abrogate revoke or change not only within the precincts of the said Territories or Islands but alsoe upon the Seas in goeing & comeing to & from the same as he or they in their good discretions shall think to bee fittest for the good of the Adventurers & Inhabitants there."!
Even at this early date the practical English mind recog- nized the fact that laws made in and for England might not be exactly adapted to strange conditions in the new world, and that much latitude must be conceded to the "inhabitants and adventurers" of the distant territories in framing laws for their government, who would find it impossible to conform always to the laws and customs of the home country.
When the Duke of York, by his lease and release of June 23-24, 1664, conveyed to John Lord Berkley and Sir George Carteret the present territory of New Jersey, the grant em- braced not only the lands but " their and every of their appurte- n'nces in as full and ample manner as the same " were granted to the Duke himself, "and all the Estate Right Title interest benefitt advantage clayme & Demand of the said James Duke of York," etc .? This was understood to confer upon the Duke's grantees full powers of government.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.