Kingstree (SC) County Record, October 31, 1901, p. 8.
HE MARRIED 8000 COUPLES
For more than 20 years John Hause of Jeffersonville, Ind., has been
connected with the business of marrying eloping couples from Kentucky and
Illinois, an industry of which he is practically the creator. Long before
he was elected a "squire," with power to tie matrimonial knots and collect
wedding fees, he was a "runner" for another justice. He met all incoming
trains and steamboats and was said never to make a mistake in picking out a
couple that was looking for a bargain in the matrimonial line.
Finally, nine years ago, he became a justice of the peace, and since that
time he has performed more than 8000 marriages. It is said that his income
from wedding fees is more than $3000 a year. Now "Squire" Hause and the
industry he has built are threatened with extinction by Attorney General
Taylor of the state who is said to have found that the marriage laws of the
state have been violated. -Chicago Tribune.