Finally!

Well, it took a while, but I finally tracked down the original quote I excerpted in the post below. The portion that the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force, and many others besides, quote originated thus:

A U.S. representative from Georgia declared that allowing gay marriages "necessarily involves (the) degradation" of conventional marriage, an institution that "deserves admiration rather than execration."

This was from a May 19, 1996 article by Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune, entitled "Marriage Issue Just as Plain as Black and White."

Of course, the original quote that Mr. Zorn picked apart was only partly related to interracial marriage, despite how everyone continues to cite it. So for the record, the original quote in context:

Sir, the whites naturally view this as an attempt at ultimate amalgamation. This necessarily involves their degradation. A mean alliance always begets a progeny far below the level of the better parent. If this is not true, why, when equal facilities for mental improvement are accorded to each race, demand they shall be placed side by side in the same school-room? The pride of the southern whites deserves admiration rather than execration.

This was part of a speech by Congressman James Blount of Georgia before Congress on January 6, 1874. It's available on the Library of Congress's website. This was part of a debate over a proposed Civil Rights Bill.