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Show A MARRIAGE BY THE JUSTICE. 273 There was a Probate Judge and at least one Justice of the Peace for each precinct. The community did not seem to require more. The Justices had but little to do and found their offices sinecures. Now and then a marriage was to be solemnized and this was about all they were called upon to do. " In the fall of 1864 one Thomas A. Johnson was elected Justice of the Peace. He was both verdant and modest, but strictly honest. He didn't find his judicial duties onerous, and pursued his vocation as a ranchman without interruption from suitors in his court. The only change observable in his situation was the appellation of 'Squire, with which he was addressed by the people. "This condition of things continued for about six months, when he was called from his plow to join a couple in the bonds of matrimony. " This being his first call he was considerably embarrassed, being unfamiliar with the ceremony; and there being no lawyer with whom he could consult, he was compelled to depend upon his own resources. " At length he commanded them to stand up and raise their right hands. This order being obeyed, he proceeded, ' You do solemnly swear that you will take each other for man and wife.' " To this they reponded in the affirmative, whereupon the Squire said, ' by the authority invested in me by the Constitution of the United States and the laws of Colorado, I pronounce you man and woman.' " The man protested that they were that before the ceremony, and what the Squire said did not amount to marriage.' 18 |