8/6/2011:
There was some scandalous gossip circulating in the Fargo area on this date in 1909. It concerned Chris Manos and Lavina Wright. Their crime was called “adultery,” but it’s not what you’d expect. The pair was guilty of nothing more than living under the same roof without an official marriage license. There was nobody else involved, no heartbroken third parties, but the story still made the paper with a huge eye-catching headline describing the “Adultery Case.” By the time the story was printed, the couple had been residing separately for nearly a month -- inside their individual jail cells. And although this was over one hundred years ago, a law banning cohabitation remains on the books in North Dakota to this very day.
Dakota Datebook written by Leewana Thomas
Sources:
Fargo Forum, August 7th 1909, “Adultery Case is Heard Today”
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/news/local/article_a8285590-7ca7-5d94-be60-a00c481f25b8.html