Museum object · Slavery and Freedom Objects
Marriage license for Gaston Hall and Dido Howard from Talbot County, Georgia
1866
Georgia, United States, North and Central America
Source catalog description
This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.
This is a marriage license between Gaston Hall and Dido Howard from 1866. It consists of a rectangular piece of paper with both pre-printed and handwritten text. Across the top margin is pre-printed text “Georgia” followed by a blank space with handwritten text “Talbot” and pre-printed text “County.” Further down the page pre-printed text reads “You are Hereby Authorized/ to Join” and in handwritten text “Gaston Hall (freedman and /Dido Howard (freedwoman).” This is followed by pre-printed text “In the Holy State of / MATRIMONY/ According to the Constitution and Laws of this State, and for which this shall be your/ sufficient License./ Given under my hand and Seal, this 18 [handwritten] day of Dec [handwritten] 1866 [handwritten]/ Marion Bethune [handwritten] Ordinary.” Two narrow horizontal lines divide the page into a separate section with pre-printed text and faded handwritten text.
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Sources & collection details
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture — original record ↗
Catalog metadata · CC0 · Source checked 2026-10-13
Catalog reference: 2017.108.10.1
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