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Just 100 years ago April 4, 1937, the first
marriage
license was issued by the clerk of yhe district court
of Lee county,
Wisconsin territory. I. H. Hines, clerk of the
district court at that
time, issued a license to James Burns and Nancy Brown
on April 4, 1837,
and the couple were married April 6, 1837, by Deacon
John Burns. It
could not be ascertained if Deacon Burns was the
father of the
bridegroom.
An interesting factor in the wedding is that John
Burns, a layman in
the church, performed the ceremony. Just above the
granting of the
license and the marriage knot is a record of Bishop R.
Roberts of the
Methodist Episcopal church in America authorizing John
Burns, a layman,
to administer ordinance of baptism, marriage and
burial of the dead in
the absence of an elder. The writ was made by the
bishop Oct. 2, 1831.
From the Fort Madison
Democrat
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