President's Pen - February 2025
Divorce! Separation! Alienation of Affection! Oh, my! It sounds like something ripped from today’s tabloid headlines. Who knew that something so commonplace today could provide a vast wealth of information about our ancestors who dared convention and filed for the dissolution of their marriages? Clearly, after listening to Christine Cohen’s fascinating presentation, “Alienation of Affection: Divorce in the United States,” we will be digging deep for information on the people in our family trees. Oh, the stories to be discovered! I am looking forward to diving into this unique topic and finding out why my maternal grandfather divorced his first wife after only six years of marriage in 1916.
Christine’s description of the timeframe for divorce in America and the very public embarrassment that frequently followed the individuals involved was a real eye opener. How many of us knew that divorce – though rare – has been available since we were a collection of colonies? Some of the grounds for legally dissolving one of those early marriages are still relevant today – adultery, bigamy, impotence, abandonment – and even the occasional case of wife-beating (or husband-beating), insanity, or imprisonment. Getting a divorce wasn’t a private matter, as the parties had to appear in court and air their “dirty laundry” for the record and often found their lives laid bare in the press. A boon for researchers; an embarrassment for our ancestors.
After the American Revolution, divorce cases were moved from Federal Court to State Court and by 1867 were moved once more to the County Court system. Divorce case files will contain dates, places, maiden names, depositions, children born to the marriage, and the decisions handed down by the court. In addition to court case files, check for blended families and marital information in census records to identify possible divorces or separations. Knowing where to focus your energy will prevent wasted effort.
Upon returning home from Christine’s presentation, I jumped right into my genealogical records to locate the individuals who divorced their spouses. The earliest divorcée I have found is my 3rd great-grandmother, Sophia Elenor (Gueswell) Boeker, who is recorded in the 1880 Illinois census with all her children, no husband, and a capital ”D” under civil condition. As it turns out, the following people in my family have also been divorced: Guy L. Weed, grandfather, divorced in 1916; William R. Glover, 2nd great-grandfather, divorced in 1916; Robert W. Doerges, step great-grandfather, in 1919; Ada L. (Glover) Crockwell, great-grandaunt, in 1925; Charles H. Glover, 2nd great-granduncle, in 1899, 1903, 1907, and 1915 – five wives, four divorces! My next step is to find the court records and newspaper articles to add to their life stories.
Do you have any ancestors who have filed for and received a divorce?