Thanks Tim. What was Illinois legal age for marriage in 1858? One of the girls was only fourteen when she was married (unheard of, at least in the bride's family) but I suspect she married without parental permission. The groom, age 21 was a farmer's son from Putnam Co. She was a farmer's daughter from LaSalle Co. and they were married in Livingston Co. perhaps in order to hide the marriage from her father. Bonnie -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.9.1 - Release Date: 4/1/2005

Bonnie, Boy, that's a good question. In my research of my g-g-aunts and -uncles in Livingston County, I found that one aunt whose husband I knew of was actually married to another guy at the age of 15 (I found this out when I obtained the guardianship papers for the minor siblings after their father died.) There was no record of that marriage (or I haven't been able to find it), and this was back in 1891. Sorry I could not be of further help. I hope someone else on the list can shed some light. I'm also interested in the legalities of cousins marrying cousins in the period of the mid to later 1800s. Tim -----Original Message----- From: Bonnie Ostler [mailto:lostler@intranet.ca] Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2005 7:49 AM To: ILLASALL-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ILLASALLE] Cost of a Marriage Cert Thanks Tim. What was Illinois legal age for marriage in 1858? One of the girls was only fourteen when she was married (unheard of, at least in the bride's family) but I suspect she married without parental permission. The groom, age 21 was a farmer's son from Putnam Co. She was a farmer's daughter from LaSalle Co. and they were married in Livingston Co. perhaps in order to hide the marriage from her father. Bonnie