State v. . Melton and Byrd
Supreme Court of North Carolina
This was an indictment for fornication, tried before his Honor, Judge Bailey, at the Fall Term, 1852, of Stanly Superior Court. The defendants pleaded not guilty, and in support of their plea, offered evidence of their having been lawfully married, unless, as was insisted by the Solicitor for the State, the marriage was void under the Act of 1838-’9, declaring marriages between white persons and free persons of color void.
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This was an indictment for fornication, tried before his Honor, Judge Bailey, at the Fall Term, 1852, of Stanly Superior Court. The defendants pleaded not guilty, and in support of their plea, offered evidence of their having been lawfully married, unless, as was insisted by the Solicitor for the State, the marriage was void under the Act of 1838-’9, declaring marriages between white persons and free persons of color void. The controversy was concerning the color of the male defendant — the female being admitted to be white. For the defendants it was insisted, that unless the defendant Melton…
1Opinion of the CourtNash, C. J.
The indictment in this case is found on the Act of 1838, ch. 24th, in which it is declared, “ It shall not be lawful for any free negro or person of color to marry a white person; and any marriage hereafter solemnized or contracted between any free negro or free person of color and a white person, shall be null and void. ’5 All persons living together under such circumstances, as marr and wife, are guilty of fornication and adultery. It is admitted that Melton is of Indian descent, and that the defendant Byrd is a white woman; and that at the finding of the indictment,, they were living…
2Cited by5 opinions
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