In honor of Valentine’s Day and all things romantic, here is Champaign County’s first issued marriage license, filed July 25, 1833.
The marriage of Malinda Busey and John Bryan was conducted by Moses Thomas. The newlyweds honeymooned, by horseback, in Shelby County, Kentucky, the bride’s girlhood home.
The couple had ten children, enjoying thirty years of matrimony until John Bryan’s death in 1863. Malinda Busey Bryan died in 1890 at the age of 78. Her obituary lovingly describes her as a “kind, amiable, unassuming lady, [...] with a great number of warm friends [who] will deeply mourn her loss.” The couple is buried in Bryant Cemetery in Mahomet.
-Sarah L., Archives Assistant