This is a suit in which plaintiff prays for the annulment of his purported marriage to the defendant because of its invalidity. Defendant in her answer denies the invalidity of the marriage and prays for a divorce. The only question to be determined in this court is the correctness of the district court’s finding that the defendant was the common-law wife of one J. W. Alexander at the time she purported to marry plaintiff and that her marriage to plaintiff was therefore a nullity.
The evidence shows that defendant was the stepdaughter of William J. Joyce, had-adopted his name and had been known as Ethel Joyce during her youth. On March 17, 1914, she was married to R. F. Zimmer, with whom she established a residence at Pipestone, Minnesota. On Janu
The record further shows that in the early part of November, 1921, defendant went with her mother and stepfather to Stephen, Minnesota. They were accompanied by J. W. Alexander and the Joyce children. It appears that Joyce and Alexander entered into a joint business venture in the operation of the Headquarters Hotel at Stephen. The local newspaper announced that J. W. Alexander had arrived to take charge of the hotel, accompanied by his wife and the latter’s parents. One Arthur C. Carlson testified that he met Alexander and the Joyces on the day they arrived in Stephen and that Alexander introduced him to defendant as his wife, with the added statement that they were there on their honeymoon. He further testified that they lived in the same apartment in the hotel for two years as man and wife and that they were generally considered as man and wife during the whole period of their residence in Stephen.
The testimony of Louis Haupt discloses that he was operating a butcher shop in Stephen at the time defendant moved there. He says Alexander introduced defendant to him as his wife and that she was considered and known as “Mrs. Alexander” during the time she lived there. Dr.
Newspaper items in the local paper corroborate this evidence. The issue of December 7, 1922, reports that Mrs. J. W. Alexander was called to her former home because of the illness of her grandmother. Under date of December 28, 1922, the local paper reported that Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Alexander entertained a number of young people at a dancing party. The publisher of the local paper at the time testifies that neither the defendant, nor any one in her behalf, made objection to the contents of these reports.
Defendant produced evidence directly contrary to that of the plaintiff. Defendant herself denies every portion tending to show the existence of the marriage relation. In addition thereto, John W. Alexander and the members of defendant’s family deny the existence of any such relationship. It might be well to point out that defendant denies the truth of the allegations contained in the petition of divorce filed by R. F. Zimmer against her. She also denies any knowledge of the contents of the petition filed by Mary E. Alexander against John W. Alexander. She also claims that she never signed a note at the bank as Ethel Alexander, and that newspaper items identifying her as Ethel Alexander were never called to her attention until she was about to move
Common-law marriages are recognized in the state of Minnesota. In the early case of Hulett v. Carey, 66 Minn. 327, 69 N. W. 31, the supreme court of that state said: “It is mutual, present consent, lawfully expressed, which makes marriage. All that is necessary to render competent parties husband and wife is that they agree in the present tense to be such, no time being contemplated to elapse before the assumption of the status.”
The proof required to establish a common-law marriage in Minnesota has been a subject of legislative action in that state. The applicable statute is as follows: “When the fact of marriage is required or offered to be proved before any court, evidence of the admission of such fact by the party against whom the proceeding is instituted, or of general repute, or of cohabitation as married persons, or any other circumstantial or presumptive evidence from which the fact may be inferred, shall be competent.” Mason’s Minnesota Statutes 1927, vol. 2, sec. 9899.
It is apparent, therefore, that legal sanction is given by the courts of Minnesota to a common-law marriage entered into between legally competent parties by means of a contract presently operative, whether it be oral or written, express or implied. There is no evidence in the present case of an express contract. The question before us is whether the admissions of the parties, the general repute, the cohabitation as married persons, and other circumstantial or presumptive evidence from which the fact may be inferred are sufficient to sustain a finding that a common-law marriage was entered into by the parties.
In the instant case there is evidence in the record of admissions made by Alexander in the presence of defendant that they were man and wife. The evidence of cohabitation as husband and wife and the assumption openly of marital duties and 'obligations are such as to reasonably sustain the inference that the parties agreed to become husband' and wife. The evidence is very convincing that de
It is true that defendant and her relatives deny that the marriage relation existed. It is significant that every disinterested resident of Stephen, Minnesota, who testified gave evidence to the contrary. Defendant concealed from the plaintiff the fact of her previous marriage to Zimmer and did not have it shown in the application for the marriage license which authorized her marriage to him. Her venture with Alexander was likewise concealed and the explanations attempted after it was discovered do not appear to be convincing. At least, we must assume that the trial court came to this conclusion after hearing the witnesses, observing their demeanor on the stand and considering their interest in the result of the litigation. There being ample evidence in the record from which a marriage agreement can be inferred, we find no reason for this court to interfere with the judgment of the trial court.
Affirmed.