Before no-fault divorce became an available method of getting divorced, a spouse had to show that they were entitled to a divorce because the other spouse was at fault due to abandonment, adultery or some other grounds. While reading a land abstract recently I came across a Petition for divorce that contained the following allegations:
That the said defendant has been guilty of extreme cruelty towards the plaintiff in this to-wit: That from, on or about June 10, 1951, the said defendant has often associated with other men against the will and consent of the plaintiff and said defendant has often manifested by both her words and actions that she did not love or care for the plaintiff any more. That she has stated to the plaintiff that she was going to leave and in fact did leave on July 9, 1951, with another man and has since said time remained away from the home of the plaintiff and has remained in the company of said other man; that during said time, said defendant has often quarreled at and nagged at the plaintiff Without any justifiable cause or excuse, all of which has caused the plaintiff great mental humiliation, pain and suffering and has been such as to utterly defeat the ultimate ends and object of matrimony, and the plaintiff believes that it will be impossible to continue in the marriage relation with said defendant.
That the said defendant has been guilty of gross neglect of duty towards the plaintiff in this to-wit: That from, on or about June 10, 1951, the said defendant, although she has been and is an able-bodied woman, in good health, she has wholly failed, neglected and refused to cook and prepare meals for the plaintiff and to keep house for the plaintiff and to wash and mend the plaintiff’s clothes, and that during said time said plaintiff has been compelled to prepare his own meals at times without justifiable cause and has been compelled to seek assistance in order to keep his home and house in a fair order.
That the said plaintiff has given said defendant no cause, provocation, or excuse whatsoever for her said extreme cruelty, and gross neglect of duty as aforesaid, and he has always done his part and has been a considerate and dutiful husband towards the defendant.
The husband was granted a divorce after publishing notice in the newspaper because he couldn’t find his spouse and presumably had to continue cooking his own meals through no fault of his own.
Image: x-ray delta one
