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Marriage License and Certificate for Arthur Millikin and Lucy Smith, 3 June 1840
Source Note
Source Note
Marriage License, for and , with JS certificate, , Hancock Co., IL, 3 June 1840; printed form with manuscript additions in the handwriting of ; certified by , , Hancock Co., IL, 3 June 1840; certified by JS, , IL, 5 June 1840; one page; Hancock County Courthouse, Carthage, IL. Photocopy in Historical Department, Nineteenth-Century Legal Documents Collection, 1829–1973, CHL; microfilm in Illinois Probate Records, 1819–1988, microfilm 1,637,612, U. S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. Includes seal and endorsement. Transcription from a photocopy made of the original in 1985.
One leaf, the measurements of which are unknown. A decorative pattern in the left margin of the recto identifies “Karnes & Woods, Book and Job Prs. Quincy” as the print shop that created the form. Located in the upper left-hand corner of the recto is a decorative seal depicting two hearts pierced by an arrow, circumscribed by a flower wreath, and crossed by a trumpet. To the left of the certification is embossed the official seal of the state of .
After JS performed the marriage, the document was returned to the , Illinois, courthouse and filed on 26 June 1840. At some point, the document was removed from the repository and was put in private possession. In 1975 collector David Martin sold the document and several other legal certificates to the Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1985 the department returned the document to the Hancock County Courthouse.
Footnotes
- [1]
“Inventory of Legal and Government Documents Acquired from Dealers,” Historical Department, Nineteenth-Century Legal Documents Collection, 1829–1973, CHL.
Historical Department. Nineteenth-Century Legal Documents Collection, ca. 1825–1890. CHL. CR 100 339.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
—JS’s youngest sister—and obtained a marriage license on 3 June 1840 and were married on 4 June by JS, who completed and signed their marriage certificate on 5 June. This was the first wedding ceremony JS performed for a sibling. Lucy Smith and Millikin lived in the same vicinity in both and for nearly four years before they married, but no details of their meeting or courtship are known. JS later described Millikin as “a faithful, an honest, and an upright man.”
Starting in in 1835, JS frequently performed marriages for members. Although the state of Ohio had not licensed him to officiate in such ceremonies, JS acted upon an interpretation of an Ohio law that permitted leaders of “the several religious societies agreeably to the rules and regulations of their respective churches, to join together as husband and wife, all persons not prohibited.” In and , state laws stipulated that an ordained minister could perform wedding ceremonies without an additional license issued by the court.
The first portion of the document—the license authorizing JS to perform and ’s ceremony—was completed by the county clerk, , in , Illinois, on 3 June 1840, likely when the couple applied for the license. JS used this license on 4 June to solemnize the wedding. The second portion of the document—the marriage certificate—was completed on 5 June by JS, who certified that he had performed the marriage on 4 June. JS may have officiated at the wedding and completed the certificate in , Illinois. The notation on the back of the document states that the signed certificate was returned to the county clerk’s office in Carthage within the required thirty-day window and that Marshall registered and filed it with the ’s collection of vital records on 26 June 1840.
Footnotes
- [1]
The church newspaper Times and Seasons reported the marriage in its June 1840 issue. (“Hymenial,” Times and Seasons, June 1840, 1:127.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
- [2]
Of JS’s eight siblings who lived to adulthood, seven married. Some became widows or widowers and later remarried. In total JS’s siblings had participated in nine marriage ceremonies to this point in JS’s lifetime, counting Lucy Smith’s marriage to Millikin as one of these. Of the others, six took place before JS started officiating wedding ceremonies on 24 November 1835: Hyrum Smith and Jerusha Barden’s on 2 November 1826 in Manchester, New York; Sophronia Smith and Calvin W. Stoddard’s on 30 December 1827 in Palmyra, New York; Katherine Smith and Wilkins Jenkins Salisbury’s on 8 June 1831 in Kirtland, Ohio; William Smith and Caroline A. Grant’s on 14 February 1833 in Kirtland; Samuel Smith and Mary Bailey’s on 13 August 1834 in Kirtland; and Don Carlos Smith and Agnes Moulton Coolbrith’s on 30 July 1835 in Kirtland. The other two marriage ceremonies involving JS’s siblings before June 1840 were Hyrum Smith and Mary Fielding’s on 24 December 1837 in Kirtland, performed by Thomas Burdick; and Sophronia Smith Stoddard and William McCleary’s on 11 February 1838 in Kirtland, also performed by Burdick. (Geauga Co., OH, Marriage Records, 1833–1842, vol. C, p. 262, microfilm 873,461, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
- [3]
Obituary for Arthur Millikin, Saints’ Herald, 1 June 1882, 180.
Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.
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An Act, Regulating Marriages [6 Jan. 1824], Statutes of Ohio, vol. 2, p. 1407, sec. 2; see also JS, Journal, 22 Feb. 1836; and Historical Introduction to Marriage License for John F. Boynton and Susan Lowell, 17 Nov. 1835.
The Statutes of Ohio and of the Northwestern Territory, Adopted or Enacted from 1788 to 1833 Inclusive: Together with the Ordinance of 1787; the Constitutions of Ohio and of the United States, and Various Public Instruments and Acts of Congress: Illustrated by a Preliminary Sketch of the History of Ohio; Numerous References and Notes, and Copious Indexes. 3 vols. Edited by Salmon P. Chase. Cincinnati: Corey and Fairbank, 1833–1835.
- [6]
An Act Regulating Marriages [20 Feb. 1835], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1834–1835], p. 401, sec. 6; An Act concerning Marriages [1 June 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 459, secs. 3–4.
The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly, During the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. Together with the Constitutions of Missouri and of the United States. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1841.
The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.
- [7]
An Act concerning Marriages [1 June 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 459, sec. 3.
The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.
| STATE OF ILLINOIS,) | SS. | |
| ,) |
Office of the Clerk of the County Commissioners’ Court.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF :
To any regular Minister of the Gospel, authorized to Marry by the society to which he belongs; any Justice of the Supreme Court, Judge or Justice of the Peace, GREETING:
These are to License and Authorize you to celebrate and certify the Marriage of Mr. and Miss and for so doing, this shall be your sufficient warrant.
Given under my hand, and the seal of the County Commissioners’ Court, at , this 3rd day of June A. D. 1840
Clk. C. C. C. H. C.
| State of Illinois,) | SS. |
| .) |
I Hereby certify, That I joined in the holy state of Matrimony, Mr. and Miss on the fourth day of June A. D. 1840
Given under my hand and seal, this fifth day of June A. D. 1840
Joseph Smith Jr -[SEAL.]-
<Make return hereof within thirty days> [p. [1]]
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
- [1]
The initials stand for the County Commissioner’s Court of Hancock County.
Insertion in the handwriting of Samuel Marshall.