Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-01-22
SMALL MARRIAGE FEES.
The Camden IN. j. Ministers
About to Raise the Rates
Paving the Clergy men in ALI Sorts Of
Things, from Cash to Chiekens--How
Some Good Parsons Were Swim
died by Gay Deeeivers.
IPh1adclphis RecOrd.l

| ing the DrOprleIy Oh establishing uHl-
form rate of marriage fees Since the
/ Pennsylvania license law has been in
! operation, the rush to cross the ferry for
quiet weddings has become % large that
the ministers and justices have had
busy and, taking one consideration with
another, profitable time Of it. Lately,
however, there has been disposition on
the part OF the Philadelphia lovers to be-
come stingy about the fees, and, in some
cases, to entirely forget about them
What is wanted now is a minimum rate
and an agreement that no fee less than
that shall be accepted. well known
Episcopal clergyman of this city, laugh
ing over the idea of fixed marriage fee,
as thus proposed, said: Marriage fees
are not usually taken as a right, but II
+ is very seldom that a minister is called
upon 20 marry people Tor nothing. The
happy man, however stingy and mean
of disposition, at such time is
/ disposed to make show of generosity,
even If his eyes do ache to see his money
go. To establish the practice of regula-
ton price for the service would not benefit
the ministers, because the average mar
riage fee is much larger than could very
4
/ Have / any idea what the average mar
riage fee is! Well let me see. When
was young preacher l had a fairly we'll
TODD congregation, and lived in good
neighhorhood. | married 1872 couples IN
five years and l received $47S in cash, q
silver watch and a tin wash-boiler. That
is an average of about So for each mar
riage. In my present congregation, which
is in financial way much superior to that
of my early years, my marriage fees have
been sufficient in tue past ten years to buy
rae a very comfortable house, il l were dis
posed to invest in real estate. l have re-
ceived fee of $500 in one instance and
fifty cents in another, and l married one
couple for nothing and gave them few
hundred dollars to begin housekeeping on
the bride was my daughter. l have
ministerial friend in this city, who is very
well known VINO was paid 50, 900 as mar
riage fee, which is the largest that l have
any personal knowledge Of"
One of the popular Methodist pastors
of the city says that he has received from
$500 to pair of juicy sp ring chickens for
marrying people On one OCCASION"
the minister said, II took drive of six
teen miles and paid SIS for the privilege
of marrying a couple who did not even
invite me TO the marriage supper. That
was in New Jersey. The groom promised
to send me fee large enough to include
the cost Of the conveyance, but l was
never able to collect either. Once mar
riage fee came near getting me into
trouble, / was paid IS bill by the groom
which was counterfeit l placed the
of hnn md O fouC
afterward had occasion to go over to Bal
timore. When | went into store TO buy
pair of gloves gave the salesman the So
bill and waited for my change. Unfort-
unately for me a swindler had been passing
bad money in Baltimore about that time,
and description of the fellow had been
put in the papers In q general way Ihap-
pened to answer fairly to that description,
and it was with great difficulty that l pre-
vented the clerk who was waiting on me
from handing me over to an officer, whom
he had called after closely examining the
note. Of course the newly man
who had given me the money was greatly
mortified. He afterward gave me a beau
tiful colt as compensation, and redeemed
the note, Of course.
1T is pretty mean thief who will swim
die poor country preacher with q large
family and small salary; but l once
knew man mean enough to do that by
means of bogus marriage. He came to a
small country town in which my church
was located. This was in New Y DIRK State
Near me lived Baptist minister who had
a hard stru5 gle to make both ends meet A
man and woman drove up to his house
one evening and were married. The man
had a large roll of bills, and pretended
that he was looking for a five-dollar note
among them but they were all for $780,
The fellow was profuse in his apologies;
said he WAS sorry that he had no small
bills, and did not want to go away with
out giving the minister a fee. Was it pos
sible for the pastor TO get one of the large
bills changed The poor Clergyman, eager
to get cash IS marriage fee, which was
something Unusual with him, went to his
little hoard and gave the man $95 The
next day the clergyman found that the
500 bill WAS counterfeit, and he was
never able TO find the swindler The mar
risge was put-up job, and about the
most contemplate trick / ever knew or
heard off,
The most common fee in Camden from
the people who cross the ferry to get mar
ried is one dollar, which is given with a re-
quest that the marriage notice be pub
lished in Philadelphia paper. This costs
fifty cents The marriage certificate costs
an additional five cents. postage three
cents, and the minister or magistrate has |
just forty-two cents as his share of the |
groom's productivity. OF course they can |
not refuse-at least they do not-but the |
marriages are becoming so numerous and |
the fees ridiculous that the Camden /
ministers and magistrates say that they do |
not propose to marry ali Philadep hia for |
nothing. The Philadelphia ministers" |
said one of the brethren in Camden, get |
all TAG fat fees, aRl the others ell como |
over here to US. We propose to raise the
rates"