Chapter 177. To regulate marriages in the District of Columbia
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CHAP. 177.— An Act To regulate marriages in the District of Columbia.May 13, 1896. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That if any male person intending District of Columbia. Marriages. Minors to obtain consent of parent or guardian. to marry in the District of Columbia be under twenty-one years of age, and if a female under eighteen years of age, and has not been previously married, the consent of the father or guardian, or, if there be none, of the mother of such person, shall be given either personally to the clerk of the supreme court of the District of Columbia or his deputy, or in writing subscribed by a witness, who shall make oath before the clerk of said court that said writing was signed or acknowledged in the presence of said witness, by such father, guardian, or mother, as the case may be.
Sec. 2. That marriages in the District of Columbia may be celebrated Persons authorized to celebrate marriages. R. S. D. C., sec. 718, p. 86, amended. by the judge of any court of record or any justice of the peace. When any minister or other person, appointed or ordained according to the rites and ceremonies of his church, shall, before the supreme court of the District of Columbia, produce proof that he is duly appointed or ordained as such, and that he is in regular communion with the religious society of which he is a member, such court may make an order authorizing him to celebrate the rites of marriage in the District of Columbia.
Marriages between persons belonging to any religious society which has no ordained minister may be solemnized by the person appointed and in the manner prescribed by and practiced in any such society. Sec. 3. That no one but a minister or other person authorized by Persons forbidden. this Act shall hereafter celebrate the rites of marriage in this District, anything in any law now in force in said District to the contrary notwithstanding. Sec. 4. That no marriage heretofore solemnized shall be deemed or Previous marriages valid. adjudged to be invalid, nor shall the validity thereof be in any way affected, on account of any want of authority in any person solemnizing the same, if consummated with a full belief on the part of the persons so married, or either of them, that they were lawfully joined in marriage.
Sec. 5. That no license for any marriage shall hereafter be issued to License to foreigners. which any citizen of a foreign country shall be a party until a minister or consul representing such foreign country in the United States shall certify that the conditions to the validity of the marriage of the laws of such country shall have been complied with. Sec. 6. That any person authorized to celebrate the rites of marriage Fee. shall be paid by the husband a fee of at least one dollar in each case.
Sec. 7. That if any minister, justice of the peace, or other person who Penalty for noncompliance with law. is authorized to celebrate marriages in the District of Columbia shall fail to comply with the provisions of section eight of this Act, he shall upon conviction be fined for each and every offense, in the discretion 119FIFTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 177. 1896. of the court, not less than fifty nor more than two hundred and fifty dollars. Sec. 8. That it shall be the duty of the clerk to examine and ascertain Application for license. under oath the full names, ages, color, whether married previously or single, whether related or not, and, if so, in what degrees, of the parties desiring to marry, which facts shall appear on the face of the application, and shall be in the following form:
Number . Application for license. Date, ; names of parties, ; age, ; color, ; relationship, ; number of marriage, ; whether he or she is a citizen of the United States or of a foreign country, ; if a citizen of a foreign country, whether all the requirements of the laws regulating marriage in the country of which he or she is a citizen have been complied with, . , . Licenses shall be in the following form:License. Number .R. S. D. C., sec. 720, p. 86, amended. To any minister or other person authorized to celebrate marriages in the District of Columbia, greeting:
You are hereby authorized to solemnize the rites of marriage between , of , and , of , and, having done so, you are commanded to make return of the same to the clerk’s office of the supreme court of the said District within ten days, as the law directs. Witness my hand and seal of said court this day of , anno Domini . ,Clerk. By , Assistant Clerk Said return shall be made in person or by mail on a coupon attached Return of certificate. to and issued with said license and bearing a corresponding number therewith, within ten days from the time of said ceremony, and shall be in the following form:
Number .R. S. D. C., sec. 732, p. 86, amended. I, , who have been duly authorized to celebrate the rites of marriage in the District of Columbia, do hereby certify that, by authority of license of corresponding number herewith, I solemnized the marriage of and , named therein, on the day of , at , in said District. . A second coupon of corresponding number with the license shall be Certificate of marriage. attached to and issued with said license, to be given by the officiating minister or other person authorized to celebrate the rites of marriage in said District to the contracting parties, and shall be in the following form:
Number . I hereby certify that on this day of , at , and were by me united in marriage in accordance with the license issued by the clerk of the supreme court of the District of Columbia. Name, . Residence, . Sec. 9. That the clerk shall provide a record book of his office, consisting Record of licenses. R. S. D. C., sec. 721, p. 86, amended. of applications for and of licenses in the forms prescribed in the preceding section, printed in blank, to be filled by him in accordance with said forms, and said blank applications, licenses, and certificates of the officiating minister or other person authorized to celebrate the rite of marriage shall be numbered correspondingly and consecutively from one upward.
And the said license when produced shall be full authority to any Effect of license. minister or other person authorized to marry receiving the same to proceed with the marriage of the parties named therein. 120FIFTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Chs. 177, 179, 181, 182. 1896. Sec. 10. That if the clerk of the supreme court of the District of Penalty for noncompliance by clerk of court. Columbia shall neglect or refuse to comply with the provisions of this Act he shall, upon conviction, be filed not less than twenty-five dollars, more than five hundred dollars, in the discretion of the court.
Sec. 11. That the clerk shall provide a record book of his office, in Record of marriages. R. S. D. C., sec. 723, p. 86, amended. which shall be filed in the order of their number the certificates upon their return to said office, corresponding to said record book of licenses issued, and a copy of any license and certificate of marriage so kept and recorded and certified by the clerk under his hand and the seal of the court shall be competent evidence of the marriage. Sec. 12.
That this Act take effect from and after thirty days from Effect. the approval thereof. Sec. 13. That sections four, five, six, eight, nine, ten, fifteen, sixteen, Inconsistent laws repealed. and seventeen, in chapter thirty, of the compiled statutes now in force in the District of Columbia, and all laws or parts of laws heretofore in force in this District inconsistent with or in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed. Approved, May 13, 1896.