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Friday, September 05, 2014

1694 :: Fined for Fornacation


Three hundred and twenty years ago today . . . on the 5th day of September . . . in the year 1694 . . . "Daniel Merrill & Hester Chase, now Married were fined 40s each for fornacation" . . .


In Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Superior Court of Judicature for the State of New-Hampshire, 1827, it is stated that an "adulterer and adulteress shall surely be put to death" . . . the same book has the following to say regarding fornication . . .



By an act of the colony of Massachusetts, passed in 1642, it was ordered, "that if any man commit fornication with any single woman, they shall be punished either by enjoining marriage, or fine, or corporal punishment." Col. and Prov. Laws 115.

By an act of the province of Massachusetts, passed in 1692, it was enacted, "that if any man commit fornication with any single woman, upon due conviction thereof, they shall be fined, &c. not exceeding the sum of five pounds, or be corporally punished by whipping, not exceeding ten stripes apiece." Col. and Prov. Laws 239.

As of this date, no record has been found of the date and place of their marriage . . . but the birth of their son, Joseph, was recorded as being the 28th day of May in that same year . . . this Joseph is a 7th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . bet his parents never thought this tale would still be being repeated three centuries after-the-fact! . . . and don't you have to wonder who had the job of keeping track of dates of marriage as compared to dates of birth?!?





1 comment:

BeNotForgot said...


DANIEL MERRILL 1671-1725
&/1694 ESTHER CHASE 1674-ca 1751
|
JOSEPH MERRILL 1694-1771
&1718 MARY PALMER 1696-1745
|
DANIEL MERRILL 1727-ca 1790
&ca 1756 HANNAH RUNNELS 1734-ca 1790
|
RUFUS LEVI MERRILL ca 1758-1824
&1781 JERUSHA MILLIKEN 1762-1855
|
PHINEAS MERRILL 1787-1865
&1808 LUCY THURSTON 1791-1821
|
WILLIAM THURSTON MERRILL 1816-1898
&1840 OLIVE JANE GOODWIN 1821-1895
|
PHEBE ANN MERRILL 1848-1927
& ? ?
|
EVA MAY BRACKETT 1874-1936
&1894 THOMAS WARREN ALONZO SMITH 1866-1920
|
ELIZABETH MARILLA SMITH 1912-1932
&1929 ROBERT E HENRY 1905-1976
|
Mom of Keeper
&1950 FORREST LEE POUNDERS 1927-1996
|
Keeper

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