Eva, This probably is not a common law marriage. In the state of Pennsylvania the couple first had to live together for 7 years. This was a first time marriage and the young couple received a Marriage Certificate. What ever kind of marriage it was approved by an Act of the Assembly on 23 June 1885. One of the ladies at the Washington Co. Courthouse thought it may be a "Quaker Marriage". But couldn't tell me anything about what that meant. Although I know they were not of the Quaker Faith. Dee > >

Hi, Eva, Dee wrote this note: > One of the ladies at the Washington Co. Courthouse thought it may be a "Quaker > Marriage". But couldn't tell me anything about what that meant. Although I > know they were not of the Quaker Faith. In the Quaker Meeting, a bride and groom agree in front of those present to be faithful spouses one to the other, using words of their choice, with no clergyman "pronouncing that they are husband and wife together," as in other denominations. After the service is over, those present sign the wedding certificate as the witnesses. In some Meetings, I believe, there is a special place on the certificate set aside for family -- it could be the first few lines or a corner area or something like that. And, sometimes I've seen certificates with very few names on it; one of my early Chalfant family marriages had six names, I think it was, on the actual certificate. Whether more were in attendance, I don't know, but there were just six names on the page. I am not certain whether it would matter if the couple were actually of the Friends faith for them to do the same thing...literally "marrying each other" without the presence of any judge, justice or minister/priest/rabbi. It would seem to me that it probably wouldn't back then; now, there might be some question about marrying in that manner. Maybe this just makes the question fuzzier...I don't know, but I hope it helps clarify just a little bit. Sincerely, Cindy Lucinda Cunningham Durbin <http://www.paperdolls.org>