Ran across this 1901 news story just now. This sounds like a movie plot! . . A NEIGHBOR SPOILED IT. . Fourteen-Year-Od Girl's Father Would Permit Her Marriage. . Special to the Indianapolis Journal. (10/2/1901 Edition) . ELWOOD, Ind., Oct. 1. A telephone message spoiled a match in this city yesterday. Frank Spencer, who came recently from Ohio, and Miss Alice Van Winkle, the fourteen-year-old daughter of a prominent farmer north of the city, came to Elwood and boarded a car for Anderson to obtain a marriage license. Scarcely had they left the city when George Gains, a farmer, living adjoining the Van Winkles, rode breathlessly into town and telephoned to the county clerk, instructing him not to issue a license to the couple, as the girl was not of age and the man had a wife in Ohio. When Spencer presented himself for the license it was refused. It happened that George Van Winkle, the father of the bride-to-be, was In the courthouse at the time, and the lovers appealed to him. He admitted that the girl was but fourteen years of age, but that she might as well marry if she wanted to. The other objection, however, could not be overcome, and the wedding was postponed. Spencer does not deny that he has a wife in Ohio. . . #bigamy #indianapolisjournal #elwoodindiana #oldnewspapers #newsclipping #marriage #history #historicnewspapers #journalism #stories https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs3XUr4hmXx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=9sjm17tmw2fi
