And in Lynchburg Virginina, abt 1880, my ancestor married the younger of two sisters. When she died shortly after childbirth he then married the elder sister. They had a long married life and in fact as is typical the woman outlived the man. Douglas Burnett Satellite Beach FL On Sat, Sep 19, 2009 at 3:51 PM, Michael B. Chesson <[log in to unmask] > wrote: > And don't forget that Dickens married a sister of his late wife; there is > an attraction sometimes, for some people, to the sibling of a beloved > spouse. > > Michael Chesson > > ________________________________ > > From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history on behalf > of Jon Kukla > Sent: Fri 9/18/2009 3:38 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Marriage law & Incest > > > > Henry, > I dug into this a while back when I was research Mr Jefferson's Women > - but it was one of those things that ended up on the cutting-room floor. > Marryng a sibling of one's deceased spouse WAS a pretty common event in > colonial Virginia - . . . anyone who's done much research in > colonial Virginia families -- I dare say in colonial American families - > has > stumbled across plenty of examples, though of course its hard to put your > hands on them when a question like this arises. The VA-HIST archive may > even have some queries and responses back in 04 or 05. > I had some very helpful email exchanges with Lorri Glover - who treated > some of this in her book _All our relations : blood ties and emotional > bonds > among the early South Carolina gentry (Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University > Press, 2000). > The upshot of it, as I recall, is that after the Reformation the Church > of England retained the Catholic provisions of canon law that > regarded remarriage to the sibling of a spouse as incest, but that those > provisions were loosened in 18th-c Virginia - which would make the 19th law > like the one you describe in effect a _reinstatement_ of mainstream > Anglican/Catholic doctrine. > All best, > Jon > > -- > Jon Kukla > www.JonKukla.com > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 3:04 PM, Henry Wiencek <[log in to unmask] > >wrote: > > > 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 > > > > ______________________________________ > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions > at > > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > > > ______________________________________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > > > ______________________________________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html