Henry
The prohibition is in Henings May 1730 chap II p. 245, which refers to the
"levitical degrees prohibited by the laws of England.." An almost identical
statute was reenacted in 1788 Dec. 8 1788 chap XXXII p. 688. The current
statute enacted in 1975 is in 20-38.1, which does not contain the
prohibition. I don't have the codes at hand to trace back to see whether
this prohibition was earlier dropped. 
Richard Dixon

-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Henry Wiencek
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 3:05 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VA-HIST] Marriage law & Incest (yikes!)

I was surprised to read in Annette Gordon-Reed's book on the Hemingses that
in the early 19th century Virginia outlawed marriage between a man and his
deceased wife's sister, on the grounds that marrying a sister-in-law was
incest by affinity (not by blood). I don't know the text of the law, but
presumably the reverse was also true: a widow could not marry her
brother-in-law. It's my impression that in the earlier days such marriages
were relatively common in Virginia. My question for the lawyers on the list
is: does anyone know when Virginia repealed this ban - or is it still on the
books? Would Virginia have recognized such a marriage if it had been
solemnized in another state or country? 

Henry Wiencek

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