Biography
Hartwell G. Bonner, a 22-year-old Black worker, married Doris Chase in Sioux City, Iowa, on January 8, 1935, with a court-issued license and Rev. C. A. Burke officiating. The January 15 Daily Worker reports that a racist press campaign followed and Bonner was jailed on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Municipal Judge H. R. Kenaston held him on $500 bail for a January 18 trial. He pleaded not guilty. Chase said she was over eighteen; her mother claimed she was seventeen and sought an annulment. These conflicting age claims do not establish a finding that the marriage was illegal. No final result or release is supplied. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1935/v12-n013-not-14-Nat-jan-15-1935-DW-LOC.pdf#page=2