A New Attractive Illegal Usage (Postage As Revenue)

Illegal use of Scott #76 as a revenue on an Adams County, Illinois marriage license and certificate from 1865.

Very interesting piece. Who do you think made the mistake -- the clerk or the applicant?

The clerk never saw the stamp, or he would not have allowed it. The license was applied for and granted, then the wedding took place and the stamp was applied by either the applicant or the pastor and it was cancelled by the pastor. Technically this document was not legal, since as far as the government was concerned the tax was not paid. This document was taken home and never used in any legal proceeding, so no one in authority ever saw it. Illegal usages always mean that they were not seen by anyone in authority, since they would have demanded a revenue stamp be added.

OK, thanks for the info, Revcollector! I was wondering because the license states "This License and Certificate to be returned within 30 days after the ceremony." The wedding date and the registration date look to be the same on the document. I'm not familiar with the legal procedures from 100+ years ago. Today, the clerk's seal would not have been applied until after the wedding ceremony (at least in the counties I've been in).

Again, a very interesting piece. Thanks for posting it, Revenuecollector!

k

Even if that was true, the document might have been folded already and the clerk might not have seen it. It is also possible that the clerk told them to change it, they agreed to do so and then promptly forgot about it right after they left. I can't imagine a clerk in October of 1865 not saying something if he saw the postage stamp instead of a revenue; the tax was three years old at this point.

Sounds like a good explanation to me.

k

It is also true that there were occasional shortages of revenue stamps in Illinois; there are certainly bisects know from both 1865 and 1866. It is possible that there were no revenue stamps to be had at that moment, and using the postage stamp showed intent to pay the tax and got everyone off the hook for potential tax evasion charges. Alas, until someone gets that time machine working all we can do is guess.

In 1860 Adams County had 41,323 people living in 855.20 square miles of land. It's a rural county with a lot of small towns so I would think that revenue stamps would have been used fairly regularly, but would probably not always be available.

I love it! "(Provided ther mother give her Ritten consent the same)"