Okla-homey
1/5/2010, 07:19 AM
January 5, 1643: First divorce in the colonies
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/4061/divorcedecree.jpg
367 years ago today, in the first record of a legal divorce in the American colonies, Anne Clarke of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a divorce from her absent and adulterous husband, Denis Clarke, by the Quarter Court of Boston, Massachusetts.
In a signed and sealed affidavit presented to John Winthrop Jr., the son of the colony's founder, Denis Clarke admitted to abandoning his wife, with whom he had two children, for another woman, with whom he had another two children.
He also stated his refusal to return to his original wife, thus giving the Puritan court no option but to punish Clarke and grant a divorce to his wife, Anne.
The Quarter Court's final decision read: "Anne Clarke, beeing deserted by Denis Clarke hir husband, and hee refusing to accompany with hir, she is graunted to bee divorced."
For the next 350 years in what would become the US, those desiring divorce generally had to have grounds for dissolving the marriage, such as abandonment as in America's first divorce as described above, or issues like infidelity, cruelty, female infertility, male impotence, failure to provide financial support, imprisonment or drunkeness. Fast-forward to today. Nowadays, every state has what has become known as "no-fault" divorce, which means either spouse may file for, and be granted a divorce, for no reason at all.
Today, approximately half of all marriages end in divorce. Therefore, for those not married, choose wisely, and for those contemplating marriage who are worth something, get a pre-nup (called an antenuptial agreement in Oklahoma). For those unhappily married, don't worry, as there are plenty of firms who would be delighted to get your marriage dissolved, for a fee of course...
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/3041/divorcegallery470x312.jpg
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/4061/divorcedecree.jpg
367 years ago today, in the first record of a legal divorce in the American colonies, Anne Clarke of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a divorce from her absent and adulterous husband, Denis Clarke, by the Quarter Court of Boston, Massachusetts.
In a signed and sealed affidavit presented to John Winthrop Jr., the son of the colony's founder, Denis Clarke admitted to abandoning his wife, with whom he had two children, for another woman, with whom he had another two children.
He also stated his refusal to return to his original wife, thus giving the Puritan court no option but to punish Clarke and grant a divorce to his wife, Anne.
The Quarter Court's final decision read: "Anne Clarke, beeing deserted by Denis Clarke hir husband, and hee refusing to accompany with hir, she is graunted to bee divorced."
For the next 350 years in what would become the US, those desiring divorce generally had to have grounds for dissolving the marriage, such as abandonment as in America's first divorce as described above, or issues like infidelity, cruelty, female infertility, male impotence, failure to provide financial support, imprisonment or drunkeness. Fast-forward to today. Nowadays, every state has what has become known as "no-fault" divorce, which means either spouse may file for, and be granted a divorce, for no reason at all.
Today, approximately half of all marriages end in divorce. Therefore, for those not married, choose wisely, and for those contemplating marriage who are worth something, get a pre-nup (called an antenuptial agreement in Oklahoma). For those unhappily married, don't worry, as there are plenty of firms who would be delighted to get your marriage dissolved, for a fee of course...
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/3041/divorcegallery470x312.jpg