A controversial marriage that shocked the nation and spurred legislative changes to prevent its recurrence involved a 22-year-old farmer, Charlie Johns, marrying a nine-year-old girl named Eunice Winstead. The union took place on January 19, 1937, in rural Tennessee, officiated by Baptist preacher Walter Lamb. Despite widespread disapproval, the marriage was technically legal at the time due to the absence of a minimum age requirement for marriage in state law.
Johns paid a dollar to Lamb for conducting the ceremony, while Winstead deceived her parents by claiming she was going to buy a doll. To obtain a marriage license, Johns misrepresented his young bride’s age, although the community later learned she was only nine years old. Records revealed that Winstead’s mother had married at 16, and her sister at 13.
Martha Winstead, Eunice’s mother, eventually consented to the marriage because Johns owned property and was considered a respectable farmer with significant land and livestock. She defended the marriage by citing the Bible’s teachings on peaceful coexistence and love. Despite criticisms, she praised Johns as a hardworking and responsible individual.
Public outrage erupted when national media outlets such as Life and Time picked up the story, portraying it as a disturbing example of child marriage abuse in the US. In response to the public outcry, Tennessee swiftly passed a law later in 1937 establishing 16 as the minimum marriage age, with a mandatory waiting period for girls under 18. Despite the controversy, Johns and Eunice remained married for many years.
Eunice briefly attended elementary school in the summer of 1937 but discontinued due to discipline issues after a few days. The couple resided with Johns’ parents in Sneedville for several years. In December 1942, Eunice gave birth to their first child at the age of 14, and they went on to have eight more children together.
Johns expressed displeasure when his daughter Evelyn, at 17, married a 20-year-old man, alleging falsification of her age for the marriage license. Remarkably, the couple remained married for over sixty years until Johns passed away in February 1997, followed by Eunice in August 2006.