However, despite a state law passed in 1843 saying the opposite, a niece married to her uncle was OK with God according to the Illinois Supreme Court.Īlthough cousin marriage is popular in many parts of the world and legal in about a third of the states, it has been prohibited in Illinois from 1887 to date. Badgley, an 1845 Illinois Supreme Court case, found incestuous marriages contrary to God’s law (and common law). Marriages prohibited with parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and siblings.īonham v.
In 1843 incest was formally defined and prohibited.
These included France, England, Virginia and the Northwest, Indiana and Illinois Territories. In the pre-statehood days, Chicago was considered part of a variety of jurisdictions. Generally whoever and how many people could get married was a matter for the individual and families to decide. In early Chicago, Native American marriage customs prevailed.
I haven’t researched this period in great detail, as marriage did not seem to be overly regulated. As we approach February 26, the anniversary of the day same-sex marriage began in Chicago, it is interesting to take a look at the history of marriage restrictions in Chicago.