A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. 3 of 3Howard, George Elliott
History
A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. 3 of 3
Howard, George Elliott
Families; Marriage -- History
when it was solemnized, was pregnant by another person without the
intended husband's knowledge; and to the wife, when the man prior to
the marriage or its solemnization had been convicted of a felony or
infamous crime without the woman's knowing it when the marriage took
place. The benefits of this cause may now accrue to both persons;
otherwise no essential change in the statute has been made for half
a century.[238]
[234] Act of May 13, 1807: _Laws of a Pub. and Gen. Nature_
(1842), 1, 90-92.
[235] _Ibid._, II, 360.
[236] _Rev. Stat._ (1835), 225 (Jan. 24). The "indignities" need
not be offered to the person: 5 _Missouri_, 278; 19 _Missouri_,
352; 16 _M. A._, 422; 17 _M. A._, 390; but one or two such acts
are insufficient: 34 _Missouri_, 211.
[237] According to the code, a "vagrant" is "every person who may
be found loitering around houses of ill-fame, gambling houses, or
places where liquors are sold or drunk, without any visible means
of support, or shall attend or operate any gambling device or
apparatus;" and "every able-bodied married man who shall neglect
or refuse to provide for the support of his family, and every
person found tramping or wandering around from place to place
without any visible means of support." Besides being liable to
suit for divorce, such a husband may be sentenced to not less
than twenty days in the county jail, or to pay a fine of 20
dollars, or both: _Rev. Stat._ (1889), I, 917; _ibid._ (1899), I,
621. On vagrancy as a cause see 26 _M. A._, 647.
[238] Act of March 12: _Laws_ (1849), 49, 50; _Rev. Stat._
(1889), I, 1029-32; _ibid._ (1899), I, 741. The circuit courts
have jurisdiction; and process is as in civil suits, except that
the answer of the defendant need not be under oath.
In Florida, since 1828, divorce may be sought only by bill in
chancery; and, since 1885, the equity courts have had exclusive
jurisdiction, granting only complete dissolution of the marriage
bond,[239] although in that state separate maintenance is equivalent
to separation from bed and board. The causes now sanctioned are: (1)
intermarriage within the forbidden degrees; (2) natural impotence of
the defendant; (3) adultery in either party; (4) excessive cruelty;
(5) habitual indulgence in violent and ungovernable temper;[240]
(6) habitual intemperance; (7) wilful, obstinate, and continued
desertion for one year; (8) a divorce obtained by the defendant in
any other state or country; (9) having a husband band or wife living
at the time of the marriage; (10) incurable insanity.
[239] Acts of Oct. 31, 1828, and Feb. 4, 1835, in _Rev. Stat. of
Fla._ (1892), 504; or THOMPSON, _Manual or Digest_ (1847), 47,
222-24. Incurable insanity is made a legal ground of divorce by
_Acts_ (1901), 118-21.
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