Helffenstein v. Thomas
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
This was a writ of error to the District Court for the city and county of Philadelphia. It was an action of debt- brought by Thomas against the reverend Samuel Helffenstein, a minister of the German Reformed Church, to recover the penalty of fifty pounds given by the act of 1729, for marrying his infant son without publication of banns.
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This was a writ of error to the District Court for the city and county of Philadelphia. It was an action of debt- brought by Thomas against the reverend Samuel Helffenstein, a minister of the German Reformed Church, to recover the penalty of fifty pounds given by the act of 1729, for marrying his infant son without publication of banns. The. court charged the jury that so much of the acts of assembly of 1700 and 1729, as requires the publication of banns is not obsolete: that they ought to be satisfied from the evidence that the banns were not published before they found for the plaintiff,…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Gibson, C. J.
The notion that the acts of 1700, and 1729-30, are obsolete in their provisions for publication of banns, is a novel one. These provisions were not introduced to serve a particular time or occasion; and they are consequently the law of our day, though capable, as held in Radebaugh v. Sanks, of being satisfied by less than the certificate of consent appointed as the satutory substitute for publication. It was held in that case, that the penalty is not. incurred by performance of the marriage ceremony without publication or certificate,…
2Cited by6 opinions
- Dickerson v. BrownMississippi Supreme Court · 1873
- Hornbake v. HornbakeSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1919
- Greene v. Brandt, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Luzerne County1930
- Shouey v. Shouey, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Westmoreland County1931
- Frederickson v. County of WillDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois · 2018
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