Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1880-01-07
A GRE TNA GREEN IN THE
UNITED STA TES.

on the Ohio River, siXtv-one mile
above Cincinnati, is known as th
Gretna Green Of America, and it me-
its the title. 1t is village Of four c
five hundred inhabitants, directly oppC
site the fourishing Kentucky town {
Maysville Its people are mostly re
tired farmers and their families, wit
the usual sprinkling of lawyers, doctors
parsons and storekeepers. 1t has
Squire, also, who is a bigger ma
than old Grant" in this region, and tn
sole and undisputed proprietor AM
manager of the only runaway mar
riage establishment in Ohio. He i
not the founder of the business Hi
predecessor carried it on for tifteer
years, and in that time made more thai
four thousand young couples one ant
happy, and exasperated corresponding
number of stern fathers and unrelentinG
mothers The present owner, Squire
Massie Beasley, has managed the es
tablishment for five years, and in tha
time has united only thirteen hundred
couples, but he hopes, by strict atten
tion to business, to merit the kind pa
tronage of a generous public, and il
the next FIVE years increase his bust
ness four-fold. He is a wrinkled, wiry
old fellow, of uncertain age, and hC
informed me in confidence that the
general financial paralysis of the past
five wears had seriously affected bis
receipts.
"They can't raise the money" he
said-"that is, good many of ZEN
can't-and my terms are cash on de-
livery"
He has no regular charge, but al
ways demands something, and the
figure depends on the degree of graft
tude and happiness which the groom
feels after the ceremony is performed
He has received as high as 500 fol
uniting couple, but this was an ex
ceptional case. His reward averages
$40, and, as he marries at least five
couples week, the profit is not to be
despised, especially in this part of the
country, where you can board at the
best notel lOr Il Qay.
Maysville is at the head or the foot
CT don't know which, of the blue grass
country, and, as he depends on Ken.
lucky almost altogether for patronage
you at once perceive the advantages oi
the location. Maysville has good roads
leading from it to all parts of the State
and two ferryboats are ready day and
night to carry the fugitives from Ken.
lucky to Abderdeen.
The marriage laws of Kentucky are
very strict If either of the contract
ing parties is under age, it is necessary,
before license can be obtained from
the Clerk of the County Court, that
the parent or guardian shall give bis
consent Parents and guardians are
cautious and obdurate love is blind
and impulsive The young people
can't get married in Kentucky without
license, but they can at Gretna
Green so, watching favorable oppor-
tunity, they slip away from the old
folks, and the accommodating Squire
is ready day or night, to perform the
ceremony that will enable them to defy
their parents.
Squire Bcasley's predecessor was q
regularly appointed Justice of the
Peace, and legally empowered to per
form the marriage ceremony, provided
the parties were eligible. His inquiries
as to the eligibility of the parties who
came before him were never very
searching, and ne did not require them
to produce a license. The Courts oi
Ohio and of Kentucky refused to
acknowledge the legality of a marriage
unless license had been obtained, and
as so per cent of the couples married
by the Squire and living together as
husband and wife had not obtained a
license, serious complications arose,
and Chancery and Orphans Court
cases multiplied The Governors OF
both States were petitioned to set the
matter straight. Accordingly, about
two years ago, the Legislatures Of
Kentucky and Ohio passed laws legal
izing all the marriages that had been
performed in Aberdeen for the past
seventeen or eighteen years.
When the founder of the marriage
establishment died, there was no Jus.
tice appointed to his place. Massie
Beasley seized the opportunity to start
up the old business without going
through the formality of getting ar
appointment as Justice. He announced
himself as ready to perform marriage
ceremonies, and signed himself there
after "Massie Beasley, Esq, Acting
Justice of the Peace" Legally he
has no more right to perform the mar
riage ceremony than your correspond
ent, but he told me that, under th,
common law, his marriages would b,
legal. He issues the following certili
cate:
ABERDEEN, Brown County, Ohio.
| knOD all men by ticse prcseHfs That on tn
| fifteenth day of December, one thousand eigh
| hundred and seventy nine, appeared before IN
at my Office in Aberdeen, Brown county, Ohio
John Smith, Of Maysvi!le, Mason county, KY.
| and Jane Jones, of Paris, Bourbon county
KY, and entered into contract Of marriage
| in the presence Of the following witnesses:
MAS3IE HEASLEY,
| [Seal.l Acting Justice of the Peace.
w.t.. JoHS DOE.
"'No'' MABY DOE.
Provided with this document, tn
runaways go home and ask forgiveness
and the paternal and maternal blessing
This point gained, it is very easily t.
go before a legal officer and get th
bond cemented so strongly that moth
ing but law or death can dissolve il
Many of them do this, but the majorit,
are content to accept Massie Bcasley'
ceremony as legal. 1t is doubtful
whether these marriages would stan
the test Of a Court of law, however
either in Ohio or Kentucky.
Many romances could be founded o
the experiences Of this old Squire
Very often the twain who seek hi
services are hotly pursued, and the
the words that are spoken are "shol