Chapter CXV. *to further amend the Law of the District of Columbia in Relation to judicial Proceedings, and preserve Records of Marriages therein*
750 words·~3 min read·
/statutes-at-large/vol-16/chapter-cxv-640789·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. CXV.— An Act *to further amend the Law of the District of Columbia in Relation to judicial Proceedings, and preserve Records of Marriages therein*. June 1, 1870. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Fictions in pleadings in actions of ejectment in the District of Columbia abolished.Real actions how commenced. That all fictions in the pleadings in the action of ejectment within the District of Columbia be, and are hereby, abolished; and all actions for the recovery of real estate in said District shall be commenced in the name of the real party in interest, and against the party claiming to own or be possessed thereof.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted*, That any of the duties of the clerk Duties of clerk of supreme court may be done by assistants.of the supreme court of the District of Columbia may be performed, in his name, by any of the assistant clerks in his office; and said assistants may sign the name of the clerk to any process, certificate, or other official act required by law or by the practice of the court to be performed by said clerk, and may authenticate said signature by affixing the seal of the court thereto, whereon the impress of the seal is necessary to its authentication.
In such cases the signature shall be, “__________ __________, Clerk, by __________ __________, Assistant Clerk.” Sec. 3. Certain judgments for debt before a justice*And be it further enacted*, That after a judgment for a debt amounting with interest to twenty dollars, exclusive of costs, before a justice of the peace of the District of Columbia, the judgment creditorFORTY-FIRST CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 115, 116. 1870.147 may, when execution is returned “No personal property found whereonof the peace to be a lieu when. &c. to levy,” file in the clerk’s office of the supreme court of the District of Columbia a certified copy of such judgment, and which shall be docketed in the docket of law causes in said office, in the same, manner as appeals from justices are docketed there; and when so docketed, the force and effect of the judgment shall be the same, as to lien and execution, as if it had been a judgment of said court.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted*, That for the purpose of preservingCertain ministers of the gospel may be licensed to celebrate marriages in the District of Columbia. the evidence of marriages in the District of Columbia, every minister of the gospel, appointed or ordained according to the rites and ceremonies of his church, whether his residence be in the District of Columbia or elsewhere in the United States or its Territories, may be licensed to celebrate marriages in the said District; and the license shall be issued by the clerk of the supreme court of said District in the following form:
" “To any minister of the gospel authorized to celebrate marriages in theForm of license. District of Columbia, greeting: “You are hereby licensed to solemnize the rites of marriage between __________ __________, of __________, and __________ __________, of __________, if you find no lawful impediment thereto; and having so done you are commanded to appear in the clerk’s office of the supreme court of said District, and certify the same. “Witness my hand and the seal of said court:
“ __________ __________, Clerk.” " Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted*, That said clerk shall provide aRecord of licenses. record-book of his office, consisting of licenses in the above form, printed in blank, one of which lie shall fill up with the names of the parties for whose union any license lias been issued, and beneath it shall be printed a certificate to be made by the minister who solemnized the marriage, inCertificate of minister. the following form: " “I, __________ __________, minister of __________church in __________, hereby certify that, by authority of a license of the same tenor as the foregoing, I solemnized the marriage of the parties aforesaid, on the __________day of __________, eighteen __________, at __________, in the District of Columbia.
“__________ __________” " Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted*, That a copy of any license andCopy of license and certificate, &c. to be competent evidence of the marriage. certificate, recorded in said book, certified by said clerk, under his hand and the seal of the court, shall be competent evidence of said marriage. Approved, June 1, 1870.