Good morning all, The following post from a friend is offered to you for information. Jerry _+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_ >Subj: Re: Age of consent..information >Date: 11/10/2002 11:55:41 PM Central Standard Time >From: _____________________________ >To: <A HREF="mailto:Bluchp56">Bluchp56</A> >Hi Jerry - >Since you kindly attempted to help me with this one, I thought I'd let you >know what I found out. > Regarding age of consent for marriage >Although I haven't found the actual age in IL at the time that I am >searching, I did find that prior to 1885 it was typically about 12 or 13 >years of age, with some states at 10, and even Delaware at 7!! There was a >difference between age of consent and an age where a female could marry >without permission. Age to marry was certainly over 15 even when the age of >consent was lower. What age of consent meant was that the male was legally >liable and punished, possibly for life, for contact with a child under the >age of consent. Over that age BOTH were liable. In Massachusetts, contact >with someone over the age of consent but still a minor meant that both would >receive either a fine or 3 months in jail. In 1885 a movement began to raise >the minimum age. Debates about this went on for years. If you are >interested in reading about it, there is a series of articles, reprinted from >1885 and following at this location: http://womhist.binghamton.edu/teacher/aoc.htm >It was very interesting reading and gives good insight to the thoughts >regarding morality in the 19th century. >Again, thank you for trying to help. I appreciate it. >Shelly [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]