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shorter wait time?
less cost?
secrecy or without being recognized?
closer to military base? before being deployed or on shore leave or ready to enlist
location of spouse or family of spouse?
job?
running from the law?
anonymity?
start over?
running from something?
new identity to cover up something from their past?
easier to forge documents?
bigger city?
I wondered most or all of those things, Tzaphkiel! Thanks for your thoughts. My responses in bold.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel
shorter wait time? Most likely!
less cost? Very possibly
secrecy or without being recognized? Haven't found any potential reasons for that.
closer to military base? before being deployed or on shore leave or ready to enlist No military people at or around the time of the marriages
location of spouse or family of spouse? Nope, both parties in all cases lived in OH - and no apparent family in VA
job? Nope, all worked locally in OH
running from the law? Ha! Maybe, but they all seem like honest, hard-working, blue-collar people.
anonymity? Maybe
start over? Don't think so - they all returned to their previous towns in OH.
running from something? Don't think so - they all returned to their home towns.
new identity to cover up something from their past? Nothing like that has shown up.
easier to forge documents? From the original images I found for some of the marriages, the info they gave was true, except for the girl who said she was 18 when she was actually days away from being 17.
bigger city? Could be!
Some states required blood tests and waiting periods and those who didn't wish to deal with such things married in states that didn't.Perhaps Ohio was that way.
Even in the 80's when I got married we considered VA instead of our state because no wait period to get license, decided not to elope but remember looking up states we could marry without a wait. "Elope" is funny because we'd been together 9 years, just didn't want wedding hoopla.
Blood tests were to prevent spread of STD's to unsullied spouse but most couples now are living together. Montana only requires blood tests for females. What are they implying hmmm?
The waiting period in modern times might have no relation at all to the laws in the early 1800's. I mean, that could have been, but that's a long jaunt by stage or horse. And were there even any trains running that route in that time period? I'd have to think any waiting period would have been outweighed by time and money considerations.
My thought is religion. Whatever religion they were practicing may not have had an active and qualified minister any closer than Winchester.
Thanks for everyone's suggestions and comments. Hiero2 - these marriages were in the mid-1900s, not the 1800s! So I don't think transport or lack of qualified ministers was the issue. I'm guessing speed (lack of needing blood tests, no waiting time between license and marriage) and looser rules may have been the key factors. And perhaps lack of ability to pay for a local marriage where friends and relations may have expected an invite.
And perhaps their marriages locations in Virginia were nice places to spend a honeymoon, so just a hop, skip and jump from courthouse to hotel!
Even in the 80's when I got married we considered VA instead of our state because no wait period to get license, decided not to elope but remember looking up states we could marry without a wait. "Elope" is funny because we'd been together 9 years, just didn't want wedding hoopla.
Blood tests were to prevent spread of STD's to unsullied spouse but most couples now are living together. Montana only requires blood tests for females. What are they implying hmmm?
I believe MT has amended the law & no longer requires a blood test because immunizations are the norm. Bloodtest was to detect presence of rubella immunity...negative result for immunity in mother could result in birth defects or fetal death of child.
I believe MT has amended the law & no longer requires a blood test because immunizations are the norm. Blood test was to detect presence of rubella immunity...negative result for immunity in mother could result in birth defects or fetal death of child.
The original blood test was for syphilis. MT still does the rubella test for females.
Most of my family history is centred on England, so I'm not very familiar with records from the US. However, over the years a few family members did migrate to the US, including one family I'm working on now, who lived in and around Massillon and Canton, Ohio, from 1883.
While the original immigrant married locally, most of his children and their children married in Virginia, even though they all lived in and around Massillon and Canton OH, many miles away. One member of this family pretended she was 18 when she was only 16, maybe 17, but the rest were of full age.
Can anyone tell me why they would choose to marry so far from home? Was it easier, quicker or much cheaper to marry in VA - enough to make the long trip worthwhile?
My Aunt and Uncle lived in NY city, and went to VA to marry in 1939. She was 16 and he was 18. The marriage record lists their ages as 21 and 22. She was about three months pregnant. They were married over 50 years. I was told that they had to go to VA to marry due to their ages.
The above link needs to update. Montana does not have a blood test requirement.
In 2007 Montana marrriage law was amended to require a waiver in lieu of a blood test. And then in 2019 the blood test requirement was repealed by MT legislature in February & signed by governor in March. It is Montana Code Annotated 40-1-203 the section that is proof of age used to include blood test for rubella immunity & it no longer does. https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/index.html
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