Little slice of U.S. history: 19th century divorce

December 12, 2015 6:21 PM

Before "no-fault" divorce laws were enacted in the U.S., married persons seeking divorce had to prove grounds for divorce under extremely narrow circumstances. In the late 19th century, divorce laws were more permissive in some parts of the country than others, leading to a form of "divorce tourism".

Atavist Magazine (long-form article):

"In 1892, the young state of South Dakota was a refuge for divorce seekers. It had among the laxest divorce laws in the country, offering numerous grounds and, more importantly, requiring only 90 days residency to fall under the court’s jurisdiction.
[...]
Historically, the decision to end a marriage was most often the domain of the wealthy man, who had the money and influence to shape, circumvent, or simply ignore the law. Many men could walk away from their wives, secure in their fortunes, their place in society, and the legitimacy of their children. Women, who for centuries lacked economic independence and social standing outside marriage, were often hesitant to divorce. But as Maggie traveled to Sioux Falls, that dynamic was shifting.
[...]
The women and men of the Divorce Colony were unwitting participants in a now forgotten chapter of American social history."

Bonus: Present-day intersection of law and technology - In March this year, a judge in New York ruled that Ellanora Baidoo could serve her husband with divorce summons through Facebook.

posted by cynical pinnacle (23 comments total)

The movie The Women was about a group of women establishing residency in Nevada to get a Reno Divorce.
posted by adamrice at 6:28 PM on December 12, 2015 [9 favorites]

No fault divorce isn't a sacred cow either. It'll be the next battleground along with contraception after abortion is practically abolished from anywhere that isn't deep blue.
posted by Talez at 6:51 PM on December 12, 2015 [10 favorites]

Getting a Reno divorce is called "getting Reno-vated"! Or was by gossip columns of the time. "Sarah Smith is vacationing out West, we hear, to get Renovated."
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:55 PM on December 12, 2015 [9 favorites]

Apparently $3 in 1891 is roughly $76.44 in 2015.
posted by Lexica at 6:57 PM on December 12, 2015

From Talez's link, I'd say Gassman and Deace are begging to be reborn as women under a Sharia regime ...
posted by oheso at 6:57 PM on December 12, 2015

According to the Argus Leader, he pleaded “too much mother-in-law.”

(From the Atavist article)
posted by oheso at 7:12 PM on December 12, 2015

Changing residency is one of the ways to avert covenant marriage restrictions on divorce..well, for the three USA states that enacted covenant marriage.
posted by beaning at 7:13 PM on December 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

The premise of the movie Desert Hearts is a woman living in Reno for a while to get a Reno divorce who ends up falling for the daughter of the ranch owner.
posted by rmd1023 at 7:23 PM on December 12, 2015 [4 favorites]

Here's an interesting article from a 1892 St Paul paper on the subject.
posted by ReluctantViking at 8:13 PM on December 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

While we're not as excitingly reprobate these days, if anyone wants to come visit Sioux Falls, I will show you all the landmarks mentioned in the linked articles. Plus some that aren't mentioned.
posted by yesster at 9:01 PM on December 12, 2015 [5 favorites]

(local churches had an influx of New England money during this period)
posted by yesster at 9:05 PM on December 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Backstory history podcast on Reno divorces.
posted by chinston at 9:49 PM on December 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Divorced a man in Reno
Just to watch him cry.
posted by AugustWest at 10:42 PM on December 12, 2015 [29 favorites]

Reading that article about the Facebook divorce is starting to make me wonder if the man exists at all. That is quite a disappearing act, sir.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:52 PM on December 12, 2015

"A Las Vegas Wedding,
and a Mexican Divorce..."

The Tubes, 1975
posted by mikelieman at 12:27 AM on December 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

I remember studying the history of fault and no fault divorce back in Family Law. It was, and in some places still is, absolutely disgusting how many places try to force unhappy people to remain unhappy for no real reason.
posted by kafziel at 12:30 AM on December 13, 2015 [3 favorites]

The Facebook article made me glad Washington State has a contingency for unreachable spouses in divorce proceedings (also that the filer should hire Jessica Jones to serve his papers).
posted by toomanycurls at 12:37 AM on December 13, 2015

Oh - no hesitation
No tears and no hearts breakin'
No remorse
Oh - congratulations
This is your Haitian Divorce

-- Steely Dan, 1976
posted by oheso at 1:39 AM on December 13, 2015 [5 favorites]

The variation within Europe in divorce law, or at least the speed with which a divorce can be obtained, led to an odd scam uncovered in England a couple of years ago where 180 Italian couples were conned into falsely declaring that one of them lived in an English address that turned out to be a mailbox.

As explained in the detailed judgment, the couples themselves were taken advantage of rather than being the architects of the fraud (a "Dr Frederica Russo" who, so far as I can find, has disappeared, probably with 180 x £4,000, which is what she was apparently charging to help Italians fast-track their divorces). That being said, Sir James Munby (the senior Family judge for England and Wales) had fairly firm things to say at paragraph 96 about people who sign next to an address they know is not theirs or that has been left blank for someone to fill in, especially if it's a legal form from another country.
posted by Major Clanger at 2:49 AM on December 13, 2015

This is your Haitian Divorce

A decade later from the New York Times: A Weekend in Haiti Can Include a Divorce.

Both Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola and are predominantly Roman Catholic countries, began offering 24-hour divorces to foreigners in the early 1970's, when Mexico ended the practice because Government officials felt the national image was being tarnished.

It had been a lucrative business. Thousands of foreigners, mainly Americans, had been getting Mexican divorces, and at first Haiti and the Dominican Republic were flooded.

posted by peeedro at 3:34 AM on December 13, 2015

Getting a Reno divorce is called "getting Reno-vated"! Or was by gossip columns of the time. "Sarah Smith is vacationing out West, we hear, to get Renovated."

Unless Sarah happened to be going a little further west, in which case getting "Renovated" may have an entirely different meaning (...not to say that Sarah couldn't have signed up for the two-stop Starting Over package deal.)
posted by fairmettle at 4:35 AM on December 13, 2015

The movie The Women was about a group of women establishing residency in Nevada to get a Reno Divorce.

It's also why Marilyn's hanging around there at the beginning of The Misfits (1961).
posted by Rash at 7:41 AM on December 13, 2015 [2 favorites]

In states that lacked no fault divorce (New York State up to 2010!) "collusive adultery" was common, also. Basically, it was when a couple jointly decided they should separate but they had no legal grounds to do so; so they would arrange for the husband to have an "affair" and for the wife or for a photographer to conveniently "catch" the husband and the "mistress" in a state of undress. Boom! Adultery and thus grounds for a divorce.

"It all boiled down to a classic formula: one husband, one blonde bombshell, and a photographer with great timing."
posted by andrewesque at 11:00 AM on December 14, 2015