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Kentucky, Louisiana, and Maryland provided for the marriage of former slaves by the second method enumerated above, the granting of certificates. The Kentucky law^[127] declared that all colored persons who had been living together as husband and wife and who continued to do so should be regarded as legally married and their children legitimate. But the man and woman must appear before the clerk of the county court and declare that they had been living and wished to continue to live as husband and wife. Upon payment of fifty cents, the clerk recorded the declaration, and for twenty-five cents more issued a certificate thereof to the parties. It was not a sufficient compliance with the statute for the parties to continue to live together without appearing before the clerk of the court.^[128]

An interesting case^[129] which arose under this Kentucky statute was as follows: A Negro woman, an ex-slave and living as the wife of another ex-slave, made her promissory note between the time of her emancipation and the date of this law. Under the provision of the statute, the man and woman appeared before the clerk of the court and obtained a marriage certificate. Later, she was sued on the note and pleaded coverture. At that time a married woman could not make a valid contract in her own name. The court held the plea bad, being of opinion that, as between the parties to the marriage, the statute validated their union from the beginning, but as to third parties, the woman was still single and so capable of making a valid contract.

In 1895, the same court^[130] held that, if a Negro man and woman lived together while slaves as husband and wife, a customary marriage was established, the court saying in its opinion: “Since the passage of the Act of February, 1866,... the general tendency of the decisions of this court has been to give that Act of 1866 a liberal construction with a view to effectuate its clearly defined purpose.” And a late statute^[131] of 1898 further modified the law of 1866 by declaring that the children of above marriages might inherit property. If there was a subsequent marriage and children born of it, the slave children shared with them pro rata.

A statute of Louisiana,^[132] in 1868, legalized all private or religious marriages, provided that the parties, within two years, made a declaration of their marriage before a notary public or other competent officer, giving the date of the marriage and the number and ages of the children. Though the statute did not mention Negroes, it must have been passed for their benefit.

In 1873, the following case^[133] came before the Louisiana court: A Negro’s parents, who had lived together as husband and wife, died before Emancipation. The majority of the court held that, if they had lived till after Emancipation, their children would have been capable of inheriting their property, but, since they died before Emancipation, their marriage was never legalized, and their offspring could not so inherit. The dissenting opinion was that, since the slaves had done all they could to be legally married, they should be recognized as married and their children should be legitimated.

Maryland,^[134] in 1867, confirmed and made valid all previous marriages between colored persons, but required them to prove before a justice of the peace that they had been so married; and a certificate to that effect had to be filed with the clerk of the court. Thereafter, colored persons must secure licenses and be married in the same manner as white people.