Some of the more interesting records I
have come across in my genealogy research are divorce records. By
“interesting,” I mean juicy. Of the ten or so divorce records I
have examined, all but one of them included some pretty “interesting”
reading. There was the wife who “did not perform her marital
duties,” nudge, nudge, wink, wink. There were many accusations
that husbands and wives were carrying on with other people, if you
know what I mean. I quote from one such case in which the husband
stated that his wife "disregarding the solemnity of the marriage relations. . . indulged in violent sallies of passion."
There were even a few in which the husbands were
accused of occasionally being physically abusive.
I should note that the records I have
perused encompass the first 25 years or so of the 20th
century. Divorce was becoming more common, but it was still
difficult to obtain a divorce in those days and some states had
stricter laws than others. Grounds for divorce at the time were
limited and included cruelty and abandonment. No-fault divorce was
only introduced in 1970, first appearing in California. Therefore,
it is important to remember that some claims may have been
exaggerated to increase the odds of obtaining the divorce.
My family, not to be left out of a
current trend, jumped on the bandwagon. Divorce seems to have been a
way of life for one group of sisters in my tree. Between the three
of them they married a total of twelve times and divorced eight times
(another husband died and one deserted). One of these records even
cleared up the mystery of why I could not find one of these women in
the 1900 census. While the divorce complaint itself contained
nothing to tell me why the marriage broke up (she just moved out), it
did include the name my relative married under. It was time to
create a new spouse in my family tree and hunt her down in the census
(success at last).
The winner for most husbands in the
shortest period of time goes to Ada Wallace who married five times in
total. She seems to have gone through husbands like a snake sheds
its skin. She married for the first time when she was just fourteen
to a man 29 years her senior, Charles Hoard. Five children and 15
years later she apparently left her husband. Unfortunately, only the
final divorce decrees exist for this time period in Branch county,
Michigan so I don't know the details. Next she married George Alger
to whom she remained married for 4.5 years. Their divorce records
indicated that her husband, George, periodically went away for days
at a time. When he did, Ada sometimes went out dancing (all night)
with Charley Carr. Barely a month after the ink had dried on her
divorce papers Ada married husband #3, who surprisingly, (to me, at
least) was not Charles Carr, but Henry Miner. Within six months he
was also history. A year and a half later she married husband #4 and
again the marriage lasted about six months before the court approved
her fourth divorce. Again, Ada had been seeing Charley Carr, who
even spent the night (when her husband was gone) according to the
landlady. A year later she finally married Charles Carr, and to her
credit, remained married to him for thirty-four years until his
death. I can't help but wonder why she married husband #3 (who was
not mentioned in the divorce records with George Alger) or even
husband #4 if she was frequently going dancing with Charley. Was she
trying to make him jealous? Or at ten years her junior did she think
he was just too young to marry? I'll probably never know.
One question that might come to mind
after finding so many divorces is why some of these women married so
often. It is easy to snicker, but it is useful to remember that
although times were changing, women still didn't have many options.
These probably included moving in with a relative and/or getting a
job, becoming a domestic servant or getting remarried.
So, now that I have piqued your
interest, where can you find divorce records for counties in
southwest Michigan?
Records can be found at:
WMU Archives: chancery records (which
include divorces) for Kalamazoo and many neighboring counties which
may include: Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass,
Kalamazoo, Kent, Muskegon, Ottawa, St. Joseph, and Van Buren . To
make sure they have the records covering the county and time period
of interest I recommend contacting them to ask before planning a
visit.
Kalamazoo county court house (201 W.
Kalamazoo Ave, Kalamazoo, MI): chancery records starting about 1934
(earlier records are at the WMU archives). For a practical guide to viewing records here (what's onsite, copy costs, etc.) be sure to read my post about doing
research at the court house.
Your first step will be to consult the
index (usually on microfilm). Be sure to select the roll with the year range
in which you believe the divorce occurred. While indexes may be
organized differently, the ones I have seen (Kalamazoo county) are
organized as follows. For each initial letter of a surname there are
many pages broken down into names beginning with the same two or
three letters (e.g. Gary, Gardner, Garson, etc.). I advise starting
in the appropriate section, but don't despair if you don't find the
record you are looking for. I have frequently seen names entered in
the wrong section so you may want to peruse all pages for that
initial if you aren't already woozy from staring at microfilm for too
long. If all else fails check a different year range or a different
county.
Once you have identified the record, be
sure to take note of the item number or any other information in the
index. The last thing you want to do is hunt for the entry again.
While you are already there, be sure to note any other court cases
pertaining to your family. You never know what you might uncover.
Armed with this information you can select the appropriate roll of
microfilm and scroll through the records until you find the correct
case number. If you are lucky the file will include both the initial
complaint as well as a cross bill (so you can read both sides of the
story). While a divorce is probably never fun it can make for
interesting reading and above all, teach you more about your
relative's life and character.
If you would like to know more about divorce around the turn of the century, including acceptable grounds, you may want to read
The Rise of Divorce in Michigan.
