CHAPTER 59.
A BILL FOR AN ACT REGULATING MARRIAGES.
Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Dakota:
Section 1. That marriage is a civil contract, requiring the consent of parties capable of entering into other contracts, except as herein otherwise declared.
Sect. 2. A marriage between a male person sixteen, and a female of fourteen years of age is valid: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as to permit of the intermarriage of white persons with persons of color; nor of the intermarriage of persons who are related to each other by blood nearer than second cousins.
Sect. 3. Previous to any marriage within this territory, a license for that purpose must be obtained from the county clerk of the county wherein the marriage is to be solemnized (or of a county to which the same is attached for election and judicial purposes), agreeable to the provisions of this chapter.
Sect. 4. Such license must not in any case be granted where either party is under the age necessary to render the marriage absolutely valid, nor shall it be granted where either party is a minor, without the previous consent of the parent or guardian of such minor, or where the condition of either to disqualify him for making any other civil contract.
Sect. 5. Unless the clerk of the board of county commissioners is acquainted with the age and condition of the parties, for the marriage of whom the license is applied for, he must take the testimony of competent and disinterested witnesses on the subject.
Sect. 6. He must cause due entry of the application for the issuing of the license to be made on the marriage records, stating that he was acquainted with the parties and knew them to be of competent age and condition, or that the requisite proof such facts was made to him by one or more witnesses, stating their names.
