PHILLY-ROOTS-L Archives

Archiver > PHILLY-ROOTS > 1998-07 > 0899330563


From: Steve and Barb <>
Subject: Re: Fwd: Looking for a marriage record
Date: Wed, 01 Jul 1998 18:02:43 -0400


I'll add another 2 cents. My husband's grandmother was married in the 30's and
besides doing the quickie marriages. Married women would take off their wedding
rings so they could continue their employment. Elkton from what I was told was
not only a place where no hassles where but where underage kids could get married
as well.

wrote:

> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>
> --part0_899311695_boundary
> Content-ID: <>
> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
> In a message dated 98-07-01 09:33:54 EDT, writes:
>
> << >>
> I just want to add a comment or two to this line of discussion. Just yesterday
> talking with my 82 yr old Aunt, she explained to me that there were other
> reasons for Phila couple's to marry away from Phila. She and her husband
> married (1938) in Elkton, both of legal age, because at that time she was
> employed at "Whitman's" candy company at 4th and Race, and the company policy
> at that time was that women were not allowed to be married and work there. She
> in fact even paid Elkton NOT to have their "marriage notice" published in the
> Phila newspapers which was the common practice.
>
> "We listen, we learn"
>
> --part0_899311695_boundary
> Content-ID: <>
> Content-type: message/rfc822
> Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
> Content-disposition: inline
>
> Return-Path: <>
> Received: from rly-zb05.mx.aol.com (rly-zb05.mail.aol.com [172.31.41.5]) by
> air-zb03.mail.aol.com (v45.13) with SMTP; Wed, 01 Jul 1998 09:33:54
> -0400
> Received: from fp-1.rootsweb.com (fp-1.rootsweb.com [207.113.233.233])
> by rly-zb05.mx.aol.com (8.8.8/8.8.5/AOL-4.0.0)
> with ESMTP id JAA21881;
> Wed, 1 Jul 1998 09:33:41 -0400 (EDT)
> Received: (from )
> by fp-1.rootsweb.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) id GAA12193;
> Wed, 1 Jul 1998 06:32:41 -0700 (PDT)
> Resent-Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 06:32:41 -0700 (PDT)
> Message-ID: <>
> Date: Wed, 01 Jul 1998 09:37:01 -0400
> From: Steve and Barb <>
> Reply-To:
> X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.05 [en] (Win95; U)
> Old-To: ,
> "" <>
> Subject: Re: Looking for a marriage record
> References: <>
> <>
> Old-Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> Resent-Message-ID: <"-bk9SC.A.p9C.3pjm1"@fp-1.rootsweb.com>
> To:
> Resent-From:
> X-Mailing-List: <> archive/latest/5358
> X-Loop:
> Precedence: list
> Resent-Sender:
> Mime-Version: 1.0
> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
> Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
>
> Please don't forget about Elkton too. Many people were married in Elkton
> and in fact is known for this as the "quikie" marriage spot. MAny of my
> relatives wsere married in this place
>
> Barbara Lavin
>
> Herb E Ottey wrote:
>
> > LYNN JEFFERIES wrote:
> > >
> > > People were more mobile than we would think. Remember there was much
> > > more in the way of public transportation in the pre-automobile years.
> > > Train and trolley lines were extensive. Upshot - people could have
> > > gone almost anywhere to get married.
> > >
> > > To add to the comment that Camden was a popular choice for marriages.
> > > After the marriage license laws were instituted in Philadelphia in
> > > 1885, Camden became a very popular destination for couples to be
> > > married. There were no license laws there. Until the NJ legislature
> > > passed a new law circa 1895, this became a big source of supplemental
> > > income for Camden clergymen. To the point where they had the ferries
> > > met, looking for couples wanting to be married. Supposedly, at times,
> > > it became physical as the greeters fought over couples. (Credit goes
> > > to Paul Schopp, Executive Director of the Camden County Historical
> > > Society, for discovering these facts.)
> > >
> > > In the 1930's and 1940's, I've been told Media was another mecca for
> > > marriages. In my own research, my grandmother's sister eloped to
> > > Gibbsboro, NJ to be married in 1915 - they lived in Philadelphia. I
> > > have also read that there were stops along the rail line to Atlantic
> > > City, that catered to couples from Philadelphia.
> > >
> > > Lynn
> > Lynn: Also, BelAir, MD. was (and could still be) a favorite spot for
> > "quickie" marriages. There was no waiting time required then, nor was
> > a blood test necessary. My ex-wife and I were married there in July
> > 1951, having traveled there from Lancaster, PA. Herb Ottey
>
> --part0_899311695_boundary--

This thread: