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Date Original
1843 July 2
Description
This is the handwritten proof of a marriage by Justice of the Peace William Clark for Jacob Mading and Clary or Clara Mading. It was sent to the County Clerk for recording and is dated July 2, 1843. Forms for marriage licenses would not become prevalent until the years after the Civil War. It is one of only two marriage licenses for Free Persons of Color in the antebellum marriage records of Hempstead County, Arkansas.
Transcription
State of Arkansas
County of Hempstead
Township of Missouri - Be It Remembered that I
Wm. Clark an acting justice of the peace in and for the
County and Township aforesaid have this day solemonised
[sic] the rights [sic] of matrimony between Jacob Mading aged about
forty years and Clary Mading aged about forty-five
years both of the County and Township aforesaid.
Given under my hand this the 2nd day of July A. D. 1843.
Wm. Clark, J. P.
Physical Description
License, 4.5" x 6"
Subjects
Marriage; Marriage licenses
Contributor
William Clark, J. P.
Geographical Area
Missouri Township, Hempstead County (Ark.)
Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Collection
Hempstead County marriage licenses collection, MSSA.0017
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives
Recommended Citation
Jacob and Clary Mading marriage license, Hempstead County marriage licenses collection, Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives, Washington, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
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Comments
In the document Jacob Mading, about 40, is marrying Clary or Clara Mading, 45. Both were Free Persons of Color who had been emancipated at the death of their master Absalom Mading, the first county judge of Hempstead County, along with his other slaves. Jacob Mading was a very successful farmer and carpenter who commanded the respect of the White community for his farming, building and management skills. He and his wife Clary were the leaders in their group of former slaves who remained together until Free Persons of Color were expelled from Arkansas in the late antebellum period. Jacob and Clary left Arkansas for Kansas and then went on to California. This little piece of paper is a symbol of their status within their unique community. Enslaved persons had no formal marriages until after the Civil War and emancipation. Marriages even among Free Persons of Color were seldom solemnized. Their marriage license is one of only two in the antebellum marriage records of Hempstead County for free persons of color. The former Mading slaves scattered widely. The time and place of Clary's death is not known. Jacob came back to Arkansas after the Civil War and sold his remaining property. He returned to California where he lived until the 1870s. He is buried in San Jose, Santa Clara County, California. His descendants remained in California while other former Mading slaves settled in and around Lawrence, Kansas. - Peggy Lloyd