Commonwealth v. Munson
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Indictment, on the Gen. Sts. e. 165, § 6, for lewd and lascivious cohabitation with Martha A. Eaton. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Grardner, J., the cohabitation with Eaton at the time and place alleged was admitted by the defendant. The defence was that the alleged parties during all the time of such cohabitation were lawfully married to each other.
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Indictment, on the Gen. Sts. e. 165, § 6, for lewd and lascivious cohabitation with Martha A. Eaton. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Grardner, J., the cohabitation with Eaton at the time and place alleged was admitted by the defendant. The defence was that the alleged parties during all the time of such cohabitation were lawfully married to each other. It appeared in evidence, and was not contested by the government, that, at a public religious meeting called by the defendant, held at the Advent Chapel in Worcester, on July 12, 1879, at which about fifty persons were present, and…
1Opinion of the CourtGray, C. J.
In Massachusetts, from very early times, the requisites of a valid marriage have been regulated by statutes of the Colony, Province, and Commonwealth; the canon law was never adopted; and it was never received here as common law, that parties could by their own contract, without the presence *461of an officiating clergyman or magistrate, take each other as husband and wife, and so marry themselves. Milford v. Worcester, 7 Mass. 48, 53. 2 Dane Ab. 291, 301. 2 Winthrop s Hist. New England, 43. This clearly appears on tracing the history of the legislation upon the subject; the whole of which,…
2Cases cited12 opinions
- Reynolds v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1879
- Inhabitants of Goshen v. Inhabitants of StoningtonSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1822
- Inhabitants of Medway v. Inhabitants of NeedhamMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1819
- White v. WhiteCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1859
- Denison v. DenisonCourt of Appeals of Maryland · 1872
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3Cited by34 opinions
- Goodridge v. Department of Public HealthMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2003
- Green v. RichmondMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1975
- Opinion of the JusticesSupreme Court of New Hampshire · 1891
- Pinson v. StateSupreme Court of Florida · 1891
- Hesseltine v. McLaughlinWashington Supreme Court · 1892
29 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.