State v. . Hairston and Williams
Supreme Court of North Carolina
INDICTMENT for Fornication and Adultery, tried before Cloud, J., at Spring Term 1869 of the Superior Court of Porsythe. Upon the trial it appeared that the defendant Hairston was ■a colored man, and the defendant "Williams a white woman; and that they were cohabiting as man and wife at the time of the finding of the bill. The defence was that they had been duly married.
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INDICTMENT for Fornication and Adultery, tried before Cloud, J., at Spring Term 1869 of the Superior Court of Porsythe. Upon the trial it appeared that the defendant Hairston was ■a colored man, and the defendant "Williams a white woman; and that they were cohabiting as man and wife at the time of the finding of the bill. The defence was that they had been duly married. The faets established a marriage, if such relation could exist between parties, one of whom is colored and the other white. His Honor instructed the jury, that by the law of the State the alleged marriage in this case was a…
1Opinion of the CourtReade, J.
The only question in this case is, whether the intermarriage of whites and blacks is lawful.
By our Marriage Act, “All marriages since the 8th of January, 1839, and all marriages in future between a white person and a free negro, or a free person of color to the third genei’ation,, shall be void.” — Rev. Code, c. 68, s. 7.
Late events, and the emancipation of the slaves, have made-no alteration in our policy, or in the sentiments of our people. And lest it might be supposed that there was, or would be, a change, the Legislature, in 1866, re-enacted the marriage act. And thus the law stood at…
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