What Happened To Eunice Winstead? Charlie Johns Wife Who Got Married At 9, What Happened To Eunice Winstead? Charlie Johns Wife Who Got Married At 9
Child marriage back in the day came as a shock to the modern generation.
The news was dated back in 1940 when a census enumerator Neal Harvey recorded the name of a family. The unusual family consisted of four people in Hancock County, Tennessee.
The family of four were farmer, Henry N. Johns, aged sixty-five; wife Mary J., aged sixty-seven, and son Charlie, age twenty-seven. The three-member of the family were normal but the fourth one shocked the census enumerator.
Eunice Winstead, the daughter-in-law of the farmer, and wife of Charlie was just 12 years of age. The census data was not incorrect, and only her name was misplaced on the data. Let’s find out the details.
What Happened To Eunice Winstead?
Eunice Winstead was subject to child marriage at the age of 9 with 18 year age difference husband, Charlie Johns.
The case of child marriage was first reported during the census calculation. Charlie Johns and Eunice Winstead were married there on 19 January 1937.
The news of the shocking wedding spread quickly in the mainstream newspaper, sparking outrage nationwide. The story was covered by big newspapers back in the days with headline-grabbing netizens’ attention.
The story was presented on the front page with pictures of the lanky farmer and his flaxen-haired child bride. The small town of Sneedville was flooded with journalists, reporters, and flashes of cameras.
Eunice and Charlie continued their marriage up until the death of her husband in 1997. She survived nearly a decade more than her husband and then left the world in 2006. However, her name has been put down in history.
Charlie Johns’s Wife Married At 9: Wiki Details Discovered
At the moment, Charlie John’s wife Eunice’s name has not been listed on the official site of Wikipedia.
However, her name has been listed in the history textbooks for child marriage at the age of 9. Court clerk, Will Key said that he would not issue a 9-year-old child a marriage license.
But, both sides of the family were very open and positive about the marriage.
Nine-year-old Eunice Winstead Johns and her husband Charlie Johns, age 22, in Sneedville, Tennessee on this date February 2 in 1937. Photo credit: AP. #OTD pic.twitter.com/uaa8t5aNMu
— Dr. Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) February 2, 2021
Tennessee’s state laws prohibited the issuance of a marriage license if either party were under the age of eighteen without parental permission or that of a guardian.
However, some states didn’t have an age limit if parental consent was provided such as Florida, Indiana, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Social Media Reaction On The Child Marriage At Just The Age Of 9
The modern social media world has gone bizarre after the child marriage of Eunice was discovered. People started giving their opinion on the wedding.
The comment section of the Twitter posts even questioned the nature of pedophilia back in the day. However, the decision of the marriage between the couple was mutual.
This is the weather-beaten shingled house in which 9-year-old Eunice Winstead and her 22-year-old husband, Charlie are living Feb. 2, 1937 in Sneedville, Tenn. They eventually plan to build a home of their own and move out of the dwelling in which the girl’s parents also live. pic.twitter.com/UIC8gSW7Pd
— History in Pictures (@ThisDayinHisto7) February 2, 2020
They eventually plan to build a home of their own and move out of the dwelling in which the girl’s parents also live. The photos of the couple standing together are historic ones.
At first, people thought that the two individuals are brother and sister, only to find their relationship as husband and wife.