Lake County, Ohio Divorce Proceedings

FHL film 378331

"My ancestor just dropped off the face of the earth!" When an ancestor seems to have disappeared, he may have died; been institutionalized; moved to a child's home; moved for land, work or gold; or he/she may have been divorced.

This index was created from the Lake County, Ohio Chancery Court (of the Common Pleas Court, under Superior Court), Volumes B and C and half of D. None were noted in Volume A. Chancery court (or court of equity) also handled cases of debt, contested estate settlement, land disputes, etc. These books are available on FamilySearch by Searching Ohio, Lake in the catalog, then under "Court Records," then "Common Pleas chancery record, 1840-1852."

Divorce cases were separated out using the indexes in the front of the volumes where both the plaintiff and defendant had the same surname, a male and female name, and no indication of another type of case. These Chancery Court divorce records provide names, dates, residence, marriage date and place, sometimes maiden names, minor children with ages and often full birth dates, sometimes deceased or other children and other relatives, cause of the action, and outcome. Records often mention where the couple had lived previously, and where one or both moved to later. Divorce was more common than one might assume. These files can be graphic, covering adultery (with names), physical abuse, etc.

One caution: The original complaint, which provided the children's names and ages, may have been months or even years before the decree date given. This may give a false sense of a child's birth year.

Another caution: The image numbers do not always match what was indexed, as they seem to vary from day to day. They are close, but the page numbers on the books will remain true.

More About Early Divorce Records

The laws in 1840 were quite specific. The Supreme Court had sole cognizance of granting divorces. (1) The complainant was required to file a petition in chancery, in the office of the clerk of the Supreme Court.(2) There was no no-fault dissolutionment then and the causes for divorce were

• 1. either party already had a spouse living at the time of the marriage
• 2. either party was wilfully [sic] absent from the other three years
• 3. adultery
• 4. impotence
• 5. extreme cruelty
• 6. fraudulent contract (such as "a pregnant woman induces a stranger to believe her virtuous, &c., and deceive him into a marriage;" or marriage under duress)
• 7. gross neglect of duty
• 8. habitual drunkenness for three years
• 9. person has been imprisoned in a penitentiary (3)

The parties had to show proof of "cohabitation and reputation of the marriage of the parties."(4) They had to file at least two months prior to the court date.(5) The plaintiff was required to live in the county, and have lived in the state of Ohio for one year prior to filing. (6) There are many details about each of these points as well as other legalities of notifications, subpoenas, witnesses, rights of the parties, etc.

In 1852, with the passage of the new Constitution of the State of Ohio of 1851, Probate Court was created as a division of Common Pleas Court, and Chancery Court became part of Probate Court. (7)

Below is an example of one of the less disturbing divorce cases, followed by a transcription of it.

Footnotes:
1. Swan, J. R., Statutes of the State of Ohio, Collated, with References to the Decisions of the courts and to Prior Laws, (Columbus: Samuel Medary, State Printer, 1841), 290-95; image on Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 22 March 2013); 38 v. Stat., 37 1840. 1. Sect. I.
2. Ibid., Sect. 2.
3. Ibid., Sect. I.
4. Ibid., Sect. IV.
5. Ibid., Sect. II.
6. Ibid., Sect. VI.
7. Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, "Ohio Chancery Court Records," web site (https://www.rbhayes.org/research/ohio-chancery-court-records/ : accessed 25 January 2019).

Lake County, Ohio, Superior Court in Chancery, vol. B, pp. 244-45, Marietta Harmon vs William B. Harmon, divorce decree; images 38-40 at FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C37P-5S7R-G?i=37&cat=365751 : accessed 25 January 2019); citing FHL film # 378331, DGS # 008586189.