The Adair County news., 1922-09-12
SMOCK MARRIAGE
AN old CUSTOM
Records Show That Such cere-
monies Were Common in
Early Colonial Times.
FREED GROOM OF WIFE'S DEBT
Sometimes She Wore Only a Sheet,
but Nobody Observation-Disclosures
ment often Relieved by Happy
Man Buying Trousseau.

Bangor, Me.-A Bangor lawyer at
| tending court in the ancient town Of
WiScasset, Lincoln county, spent
rainy afternoon rummaging through
the colonial records of the place, and
in the course of his reading came
across the official registration of a
"smock marriage" Not knowing what
'smOck marriage" was, he looked
further and got some light on a Gus
tom that prevailed in England and in
some of the colonies as well in the
Eighteenth century.
Smock marriages were weddings
where the bride appeared dressed only
in a white chemise or sheet. The
reason for it was the belief that if a
| man married a woman who was in
debt he could be held liable for what
she owed if he received with her any
of her property; and also that If
woman married a man who was in debt
his creditors could not take her prop
erty to satisfy their claims If he had
| received nothing from her at marriage.
In England, says an antiquarian, there
was at lCoSl OhC CdSC "ACAC q OAANS
was In puris naturalibus while the
ceremony was being performed in the
great church at Birmingham. The
minister at first refused to perform
the ceremony, but he could find moth
ing in the rubric to justify a refusal, so
he married the pair.
Use Various Expedients.
To carry out the law fully as the
people understood it the ceremony
should always have been performed
as it was in the Birmingham case, but
various expedients were eontrived to
get around 1t. Sometimes the bride
stood in q closet, and put her hand
through q hole in the door; some
times she stood behind a cloth screen
and put her hand out at one side;
again, she would wind about her
white sheet furnished by the bride
groom; sometimes she stood in her
chemise, or "smock." Eventually, in
Essex county, immOdesty and embar-
rassment were avoided by the groom
furnishing all the clothes worn by the
bride, retaining title to the same in
himself. This he did in the presence
of witnesses, that he might be able
to prove the fact in the event that he
was sued for any debts she might have
contracted. s-r....
A marriage of this kind was per
formed in Bradford in 1773, the fol-
lowing being a true copy of the rec
ord: ...- a..
- A "Foxy" Bridegroom.
Bradford, Dec. ye "A, 1878.
'This may certifie whOmsOever 1t
may concerne that James Bailey of
Bradford who was married to the
widow Mary Bacon November % last
past by me ye subscriber then de-
clared that he took the said person
without anything of estate and that
Lydia the-wife of Eliazer Burbank &
Mary the wife of Thomas Stickney &
Margaret the wife of Caleb Burbank
all of Bradford were witnesses that
the clothes she then had on were of
his providing and bestOwing upon her.
civilian BALCH, minister of We
Gospel" .
II Is uOIcu "I1lCI l1ldl
in all cases of. smock marriages that
have come to his knowledge the brides
have been widows. 1t is thought that
during the reign Of George III there
were many smock marriages in Maine,
then part of the Province of Massa-
chusetts Bay, chiefly in the Counties of
Lincoln, and York, or in the territory
that now is so known. One such mar
riage is reported in the archives Of
the Town of Friendship, Knox Coup
ty, originally known as MeduncoOk
(signifying Sandy Harbor). 1t is also
one of the few instances in Maine his
tory where advantage was taken of
the provision of the law that in a
community where there resided neith-
er minister nor magistrate a man and
woman who appeared before wit
nesses, read the marriage service to
each other and signed a marriage
agreement became lawfully welded.
Married Themselves.
Such a marriage was performed in
1772, and the record on the town
books reads:
"Certifcate-This may certify all
whom it concerns that w. Elwell Of
Meduncook hath been duly published
to Hannah Thomas of Meduncook.
"(Sfd) SEDATE WADSWORTH.
"clerk Meduncook April We 18th 1772.,
"Meduncook, May 18th, 1772.-
Whereas the subscribers, VIM. Elwell
and Hannah Thomas, being lawfully
published & desirous of entering into
the holy state of Marriage & being
confined in a place where there is
neither a minister or magistrate, do
by these presents & in the presence
of Almighty God & before these wit
nesses that may sign this instrument,
engage & do take each other as man
and wife, according to the laws of
God and man, according to the best
of our capacities & as though we were
married by magistrate or minister
In witness whereof we have hereunto
set our hands: