Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-04-22

| the little town Of Aberdeen, which lies on
| the Ohio river opposite Maysville, Ky.
The Ohio law provides:
| Previous to persons being Joined in mar
| riage notice thereof shall be published in the
presence Of the congregation ON two differ
| ens days of public worship, the first publi
| cation to be at least ten days previous to
| such marriage, within the county where the
/ female resides, or license shall be obtained
| for that purpose from the PROBATE judge in
tho county where such female may reside.
The meaning of the above provision
seems obvious enough, says the Louisville
Couricr-Journal But probate judges
throughout that state have seen fit to con-
strue it very literally, holding that they
could issue license to people coming from
out of tho state, which seems in direct con-
tradiction of the Law. The majority of
the thousands Of victims Of the Aberdeen
marriages have not even the shallow pre-
| text of q questionable license, however, on
which to base their claims to holy wed
lock. All they have or ever did have is
a document purporting to be marriage
certificate and bearing the signature OF o
man who, in the eyes Of the law, had no
right whatever to perform such ceremony
without n lawfully issued license.
The history Of Aberdeen as q matri-
monial center and tho Mecca of harassed
lovers is unique and interesting. 1t has
been called the "Gretna Green of the Ohio
Valley" the "Gretna Green of America"
| etc., but the term "Gretna Green is pitt
fully inadequate when applied to place
whose importance far exceeds that of tho
little Scotch border town where o certain
brawny blacksmith tied tho hymencal knot.
Episodes transporting in the latter place
which were wont to be sung by Scottish
bards have been of everyday occurrence in
Aberdeen for period of more than IS
years.
| The popularity Of Aberdeen as an elope-
ment rendezvous dates back to the days of
ono Thomas Shelton, or "the old squire"
as he is spoken of by the people of Aberdeen
In order to distinguish him from his sue
cessor, Squire Massie Beasley, who will
always be known and spoken of as "the
Squire of Aberdeen"
It was in 1922 that Thomas Shelton was
elevated to the office of justice Of the
peace, then as now an important position
in tho social and political life of Aber-
deem. Immediately upon his accession he
began to set the marriage laws of the
state ut defiance. During the course of
his regime, which endured continuously
until bis death in 1870, no married many
thousands of clipping couples, not one Of
whom had license.
But 1t remained for his successor, Massie
Beasley, to give to Aberdeen the reputa-
ton 1t deserves of being the greatest Gret-
ma Green the world has ever seen. The
good people of the village paraphrase the
Biblical passage apropos the proves of
Saul aud David by saying that Squire
Shelton married his thousands and SQUIRE
Beasley his tens of thousands.
Tho matrimonial traffic as carried on
by Squire Beasley is something unprece-
dented. He construed the marriage laws
even more literally than his predecessor,
and during his term Of office, which ex-
tended over q period OF % years, and
which, like that Of Squire Shelton, en-
dured continuously until his death, he
married more than 60, 900 couples A ma
1ority OF these marriage ceremonies were
performed without q license. At SQUIRE
beasley's death in 1892 a stop was put
upon the nonlicense marriages at Aber-
deem by the states flning o number Of Law.
men who took 1t upon themselves to fol.
low the lucrative practice built up BY the
dead magistrate
Elopements have always been the life Of
the town, and there Is not q man, woman
or child therein who Is not proud of Abcr.
deems unparalleled record. The little
country paper published in the village Is
called the Gretna Green, and the ferry.
| boat which piled between there and MAYS.
Vile for IL years was named the Gretna
Green 1t was on board this boat that
many hundreds Of clipping couples were
married. This was q matter of accident
as often as Of choice for the reason thai
when tho squire was not to be found IN
) his Office or at the tavern he was strollino
| about the ferry landing or on board ths
) boat itself.
Squire Beasley WIS in the business 10,
all there was In It. He began operation.
by asking the would be Benedict IL b.
renlized the great risk he was imposing
{ upon q magistrate Of the law should thai
: Official grant his request, and If he wa.
D aware Of the fact that a heavy fine and
long term Of imprisonment awaited tn,
perpetrator of such crime. After impress
ing - love SICK swain with the gravity q
4 the situation and with much hem-inp ana
= having, the squire would finally agree d
= tss@ioes his smuples provided he wcr,
: peaa . sum large enough to Justify hi
running the risk incurred. The prScl