Living in Michigan but marrying in Ohio?

[jennywren001]

Hi,
I have four sisters all living in Michigan - Port Huron so not on the border. Each of them gets married in Ohio to men who are all residing in Michigan. Three sisters got married in 1941 the other in 1947. Anyone know what the attraction could be for marrying in Ohio?
Thanks
Jen

[dbree]

Hi,

How old were they when they married? Crossing states lines to marry was sometimes based on
age of consent, which differed from state to state.

Cheers,
DB

[jennywren001]

DB,
They all claimed to be over 21. Discovered the oldest Louise originally got married in Port Huron in 1933 then remarried in 1941 in Ohio - claiming it was her first marriage! Margaret got married in Ohio using her married name 'Akin' claiming she had been divorced in Detroit. Dorothy claims to be 21 but in fact she was not born until around 1923 (showing age 7 on the 1930 census) so was underage. Mary  didn't get married till 1947 aged 24.
Jen

[Erato]

Maybe they all, for one reason or another, wished to avoid having their marriages reported in the local press.

[jennywren001]

Maybe they all, for one reason or another, wished to avoid having their marriages reported in the local press.

Now I've had a closer look at the certificates that would make a lot of sense!

[dbree]

Hi Jen,

States didn't share records, so that would explain Louise and Margaret. Dorothy underage and Mary,
not sure. Perhaps it was family tradition , or perhaps she was in a hurry, as some states had short
waiting periods, or as Erato said, they wanted to keep things quiet.

Cheers,
DB

[RJ137]

I see two marriages occurred in Sandusky County & two in Wood County, Ohio, neither of which border the lake. Also the husbands in all four cases also resided in Michigan. I see Frank & Louise both resided in Detroit at the time, so why worry about local press?

[RJ137]

There was an announcement in the local paper in 1941 where Dorothy's parents announced the marriage of their daughter Dorothy to William. This article appeared three days after the marriage, so the parents seem to be well aware of what was going on and it was no secret.

Perhaps it had to with cost or less hoops to run through in Ohio?

[RJ137]

Just noticed. Even though two of marriage  applications were in a different County all four marriage were performed by a Justice of the Peace in Bowling Green, Wood county, OH. Also all four marriages occurred on the same day  as the marriage license application. NO waiting.

The two applications that were filed in Sandusky County, both were given:

"ENTRY On Application for Good Cause Shown Time Limit is
Waived--Licennse Granted"

and then they married that same day in Bowling Green.