The Marriage That Shocked America
On 19 January 1937, in rural Tennessee, a wedding ceremony took place that would eventually horrify an entire nation and trigger significant legal changes. Charlie Johns, a 22-year-old farmer standing six feet tall, married nine-year-old Eunice Winstead in a legally recognised ceremony conducted by Baptist preacher Walter Lamb.
At that time, Tennessee state law imposed no minimum age for marriage, making this deeply controversial union technically legal despite widespread condemnation. Johns paid Minister Lamb just one dollar to perform the ceremony, while young Eunice told her unsuspecting parents she was going out to purchase a doll.
Family Approval and Public Outcry
Eunice's mother, Martha Winstead, eventually gave her blessing to the marriage, influenced by Johns' property ownership and reputation as a "good farmer" with 50 acres of mountain land and livestock. She defended her decision by stating: "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."
Martha Winstead had herself married young at 16, while one of her daughters had married at just 13. During a journalist's visit, shy Eunice spent the day playing with her two-year-old sister at her parents' mountain home, while her mother attempted to portray her as mature beyond her years.
Johns had falsely claimed his young bride was older to obtain a marriage licence, though the local community quickly recognised she was only nine years old. When the story broke into national news and publications like Life and Time picked it up, public outrage was immediate and intense.
Legal Reforms and Lasting Union
In direct response to the public uproar, Tennessee hurriedly passed legislation in 1937 setting the minimum marriage age at 16, with mandatory waiting periods for girls under 18. Women's clubs across Minnesota and other states pushed for reforms, using the case of the nine-year-old bride as a symbol of what many considered widespread child marriage abuse in America.
Despite the controversy, the couple remained married for more than six decades. In the summer of 1937, Eunice briefly attended elementary school but quit within days due to discipline issues. The pair lived with Johns' parents in Sneedville for several years.
In December 1942, Eunice gave birth to their first child at age 14, and they would eventually have eight more children together. Ironically, Johns became furious when his 17-year-old daughter Evelyn married a 20-year-old man, complaining that her age had been falsified to obtain a marriage licence.
The marriage lasted over sixty years until Johns' death in February 1997. Eunice survived him by nearly a decade, passing away in August 2006. Their union remains one of the most controversial marriages in American history, serving as a catalyst for child protection laws that would prevent similar arrangements in the future.
