Stikes v. Swanson
Supreme Court of Alabama
Appeal from the Probate Court of Mobile. Tried before Hon. G. Horton. This is an appeal from a decree of the probate court of Mobile county, distributing the estate of Cassius Swanson, deceased, who was a freedman of color. The facts, upon which the court below acted, were agreed upon by the parties litigant.
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Appeal from the Probate Court of Mobile. Tried before Hon. G. Horton. This is an appeal from a decree of the probate court of Mobile county, distributing the estate of Cassius Swanson, deceased, who was a freedman of color. The facts, upon which the court below acted, were agreed upon by the parties litigant. They were briefly these: Cassius Swanson was originally a slave in the State o£ Florida ; he was there emancipated and'set free, under the laws of that State, and removed to the eity of Mobile in this State, shortly after his emancipation in Florida, and settled at Mobile as a resident…
1Opinion of the Court
PETERS, J.,
(after stating the facts above). — The cohabitation of Cassius Swanson with each of his two wives, was undoubtedly a quasi marriage. He did all that he could do to make it legal. The impediment which prevented its legality was the slavery of the parties. This was an impediment not known at common law, and could not exist at common law, because it was not permitted by that code of jurisprudence. The cohabitation was not adulterous; it was permitted, if not encouraged by the laws of all the States where such connections existed. It was then certainly a legal quasi marriage. The…
2Cases cited6 opinions
- Smith v. StateSupreme Court of Alabama · 1846
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3Cited by7 opinions
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