Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-05-01
iGALLOWAY'S BRIDE.
Naptials that Sent Man and Broth
er to the Penitentiary.
A History Of The Case that Raised a
Howl in the COlOred Convention.

In the report Of Wednesdays proceedings
Of the State ColOred Convention, published
in our issue of yesterday, appear a series Of
resolutions, which were adopted, with refer
ence to the case Of David, or Daniel, Gal
loway, now confined in the penitentiary
for having married white woman. The
resolutions claim that Galloway ''was in
conformity with his privilege as an Ameri-
can citizen" and close as follows:
ave pledge our efforts to raise sufficient
means to employ counsel to bring his case
before the Supreme Court # the United
States, and vindicate the rights of the
colOred citizens of Tennessee TO the civil
rights of marriage with whomsOeveF they
may contract and choose, and strip him of
the outrage and Odium placed on him and
us by the unjust and barbarous constitution
and laws of Tennessee.
"Resolved, that competent lawyers, one
from each division Of the State, be employed
20 bring his case before the Supreme Count
Of the United States forthwith, and that
this Convention recommend the citizens to
raise the means to. pay their fees, and that
they employ such assistance as they may
need in the case
Yesterday a UNION AND AMERICAN
THE FACTS
connected with the Galloway case, as they
possess unusual interest at this time, in
connection with the foregoing action on the
part of the COlOred Convention.
Proceeding first to examine the records
of the Criminal Court, our reporter found
that on the second day of October, 1872,
.'Daniel'' Galloway. a negro. and Malvina
T,H,- Y nh
woman, were indicted by the grand jury
for having inteTnarTied with each other,
sin violation Ofthe statutes therein made and
provided and which read as follows:
The intermarriage Of white persons
with negroes, mulattOeS, OF persons OF mix
ed blood, descended from a negro to the
third generation inclusive, or their living
together as man and wife in this State, is
hereby prohibited.
s'The persons knowingly violating the
provisions of the first section Of this act
shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and
upon conviction thereof shall undergo i'm
prisonment in the penitentiary not less
than one, nor more than five years; and the
court NAV, in the event Of conviction, on
the recommendation of the jury, substitute
in lieu of punishment in the penitentiary,
fine and Imprisonment in the county jail"
Thompson & Steger, sec. 2437, page 1871.
Galloway was tried on the 10th Of Octo-
Der, 1872,
FOUND GUILTY
as charged, and his sentence fixed at i'm
prisOnment in the penitentiary for two
years. On the 23d, a motion for new
trial and an arrest of judgment was made
by his counsel, Gov. Henry 5. FOOte and
John Alexander Campbell, but the motion
was overruled, and sentence was pro-
nounced upon defendant, in accordance
with the verdict of the jury, Messrs- FOOte
Il Campbell giving notice that they would
appeal the case to the Supreme Court.
The woman was tried Oct. Is, 1872,
found guilty, and sentenced to one year IN
the penitentiary, with 4 recommendation
to the court that the sentence be commu-
ted to Imprisonment in the county Jail,
whereupon the court committed the sen
tence TO Imprisonment in the county Jail
for six hours and required the woman to
pay tine Of SO.
From the office of the Clerk of the Grim
inal Court, the reporter proceeded to the
County Clerks Office TO find record OF
THE MARRIAGE LICENSE,
the issuance of which had caused all this
trouble.
He found that on the 10Th Of August,
1871, a marriage license authorizing
"David" Galloway, colored, to marry Nal
vina Brandon, cOlOred, had been issued,
and that, on the 2Sth Of August certiti-
cate was made out by "Armstead Shelby,
NJ. g., to the effect that he had married
said parties on that date.
The reporter then interviewed ''Arm-
stead Shelby, NJ. c. whom lie found to be
a very intelligent eolored man who blends
the business of whitewashing with that Of
preaching. In answer to the reporters
questions, he made the following state
ment:
THAT man Galloway came TO me after
dark one night and said he wanted me to
perform a marriage ceremony at house in
West Nashville. l went into the room,
which was so dark that couldn't see the
parties very well, but | saw the woman
was a yaller wOman,-but then She mOUt
bin a white woman l was there bout five
minutes, never saw the man or woman
afore nor since"
s.HOw old do you think the woman was"
queried the earnest seeker after truth.
s'She 'peared like she mought be settled,
sir, but the fact is l didn't pay much atten-
shun to either of 'em. You know there's
some mighty white colOred people in Nash
vile, and as to there bein' any trouble
about it, thought the man what made out
the licenses fixed them things"
Having obtained the foregoing facts, the
reporter called upon Col. +. G. Dunning-
ton, Clerk of the Supreme Court, and found
that upon a trial of the case in that court,
the decision of The lower court was affirmed
and that Galloway was sent 10 the peniten-
tiary in the spring of 1873, Messrs. Foote
& Campbell intimating, upon the hearing
of the case by the Supreme Judges, that
they would carry it to the Supreme Court
of the United States.