Real Housewives of Chicago – 1884
“I object to this marriage” broke in upon the marriage ceremony of Alva. C. Underwood, a Constable in Justice R. H. White’s court, and Miss Mary Flood, which was being performed by Justice Scully at No. 124 West Madison street Thursday evening. The objection not being deemed sufficient the ceremony proceeded. At its close a 17-year-old daughter of the groom fainted away and was not brought to for some time. The bride was the sister of the girl’s mother. The wedding trousseau was held by the bride’s married sister, Mrs. William Phillips, and only a writ of replevin yesterday secured it for the bride. [Source: Chicago Tribune March 22, 1884]
Who was on the husband first?Report
What?Report
Nah, he had a kid, so he got past second base.Report
I’m missing something. What’s notably odd about marrying a former wife’s (or girlfriend’s) sister?Report
Yeah my thought as well.
Being the monkey-loving liberal I am, I expected something a bit more, well, Santorumesque.Report
A key can be glanced from the other side of the pond. In the United Kingdom, you were not allowed to marry your deceased’s spouse’s sibling because such marriages were seen as too incestuous even though there wasn’t any blood involved. For some reasons marrying your cousin was considered less icky. I think this policy dated back to Elizabeth I and was considered important enough to drum into the population that they put into the Book of Common Prayer. The United States got rid of this policy but there might have still be the cultural argument against this.Report
This may have been fallout from the Elizabeth legitimacy debate. The issue was the legitimacy of Henry’s marriage to Katherine of Aragon. Katherine had previously been married to Prince Arthur, Henry’s older brother, though as I recall there was some question as to whether it had been consummated. When Henry dumped Katherine for Anne Boleyn the argument was that the marriage to Katherine had been illegal, what with her previous marriage to his brother.Report
An interesting fact is that both sides looked for Jewish expert advise when Katherine’s divorce trial was occurring.Report