Family:George Piepenbring and Christina Rowell (1)

Why did George and Christina get their marriage license and get married in Louisville instead of Cincinnati? Louisville is located on the South side of the Ohio River about 100 miles downstream from Cincinnati. It is conjectured that if Christina was actually born 17 July 1837 as extablishyed by the Cincinnati Probate Court, she was only 15 1/2 years old when she married George. Marriage laws in some states prohibited a marriage of a girl younger then 16, in other states, 18. Ohio probably prohibited marriage under 16 while Kentucky had no law on it. This may also account for Christina being unable to read, write, and sign her name in 1864 (she signed with an X). If she came to America from Hannover with her parents at 15 1/2 she would have had very little formal education. Probably Christina was sensitive about her young age and added 2 years to it.