While divorce is somewhat unremarkable these days, in the not-so-distant past, it was remarked upon quite a bit. We forget how relatively recent that attitude shift happened. Divorces were not always easy to obtain. In the early days of this country, it literally took an act of the legislature to grant someone a divorce. While finding that kind of a record is fascinating for a genealogist, for the people involved, it made life quite a challenge. By the mid 1800’s, divorces could be granted by state courts, but every state had different laws, both for what counted as valid grounds, and how long someone needed to live in the state to qualify as a resident, and therefore be able to take advantage of that state’s laws. Some of the newer states had some of the easiest to obtain divorces. For a while, this made South Dakota a popular destination for those seeking to dissolve their marriages.
This book profiles five of the women who took advantage of the divorce laws in South Dakota, and mentions a number of other “colonists” as well. Many of the divorce seekers lived at the main hotel in Sioux City, since they had to be in the state a certain amount of time before they could file. The time frames for these divorces range from 1891 to 1903. Before people started travelling to South Dakota, in the 1840’s and 1850’s, Indiana and Ohio laws were more lax than some Eastern states; in the 1860’s, Iowa became a destination, and then in the 1870’s and 1880’s, Illinois was popular. These states all eventually tightened their laws, leaving South Dakota with some of the shortest residency requirements.
Not everyone was happy with this state of affairs. Of course, some of the spouses on the other side of the equation were not thrilled (although not all of the divorces were contested). But also some of the local clergy were appalled at the reputation their state had acquired. In addition to profiling a number of people seeking a divorce, the author also highlights the career of an Episcopalian bishop, who had made Sioux City his home. When he discovered that preaching fiery sermons was not enough, he tried working with the state legislature to tighten South Dakota’s laws. Even then, there were individuals who realized that divorce could be necessary. The bishop’s anti-divorce arguments sound very outdated today.
If this was your family, how would you research them? If you think a couple you are researching divorced, don’t just assume you will find the record for it in the state they were living in. Review the laws for their state, and possibly neighboring states to see what was allowed at that time. As mentioned above, at various points in time, the residency requirements, and/or justifications for divorce varied from state to state. Of course, a person had to be able to afford to live in a different state for a stretch of time to qualify as a resident, so divorce was out of reach for many.