I honestly cannot stand this expression often thrown around: “That was the way it was” when excusing behavior from the past. Sure, society dictated a lot of the norms, but when it comes down to issues such as slavery and child brides, I feel as though at our core, we know the difference between right and wrong. I can’t fully wrap my mind around many of the atrocities that still occur today, let alone some of the egregious stuff that happened in decades past.
In 1937 my grandmother was 11 years old living in Philadelphia with her 12 brothers and sisters. She told me stories about her childhood and they seemed very typically childlike, until her mother fell ill and she quit school to care for her. I remember thinking about how awful that was and how it was such a huge burden to put on a child.
Despite that, she grew up and married in her 20s at a completely appropriate age. Even with the hardships she endured, marriage would have never been on the table for her at the ripe age of 9. But for Eunice Winstead in 1937, it certainly was, and her parents’ reaction to it was purely appalling.
A 22-year-old farmer convinced 9-year-old Winstead to “trick” her mother by saying she was going out to purchase a doll. Instead, Johns took her to a preacher, whom he paid $1, to marry the two of them. At the time, according to The Mirror, their marriage sparked outrage across the state. However there was no minimum marriage age back then, and their nuptials were considered fully lawful. It was her case that resulted in a minimum marriage age of 16 for Tennessee.
Despite being deceived, Winstead’s mother Martha stood by her son-in-law. “Charlie is a good boy,” she reportedly told a local newspaper. “He’s a hard worker. He bought 40 acres a few days ago, so they could have a home. Of course, understand, I haven’t brought my children up to marry what men have got but to marry for love.”
She added, “The Bible says not to disturb those peacefully getting along, and I don’t believe in going against the Bible. If they love one another, then getting married is the thing to do.”
Her father, Lewis, also expressed his approval, saying, “The marriage is all right with me. There’s nothing you can do about it now.”
The Express reported that a writer at the Knoxville Journal once wrote: “The Winstead family seems complacent over the future of the 9-year-old bride because Charlie, the bridegroom, owns 50 acres of mountain land, several mules and he’s a good farmer.”
Winstead’s father-in-law, Nick Johns, was less supportive but for a less-than-noble reasons. He tried to annul the marriage, allegedly telling Time Magazine: “She can’t learn nothin’ in school and she can’t learn nothin’ at home. I tried to learn her at home, but she don’t even know her ABCs. She can’t count to 25 and she don’t know the day of the month or week.”
Winstead was in elementary school at the time, but her husband pulled her out for good after she was reprimanded for behavioral issues.
She had their first of eight children by the time she was 14, and the pair stayed married for 60 years until Johns’ death.
