The legislature passed "an act to punish cheats and false personations of others on February 7, 1843. Anyone who shall "fraudulently represent or personate another" in marrying, becoming bail or surety in any civil or criminal proceeding, confess any judgment, acknowledge the conveyance or any real estate, or do any other act by which a person would incur any financial obligation was to be punished by imprisonment for up to five years. Receiving any property or money under an assumed name would be punished to the same extent. Obtaining the signature of anyone under false pretenses was to be punished by imprisonment for up to three years.
1841 marriage record of Berryman Hurt and Sarah True. In an age where a person's word was their bond and there were no standard identification cards, such as driver's licenses or social security cards, a marriage certificate was one of the few legal documents many individuals had in their possession. Kentucky Historical Society Collections.
