Does anyone know if it was common back in the middle 1800's on up to 1900 for a man to walk away from one wife and children and take up with another woman and start a new family and continue to live in the same county ? Times were very different from today, Although Im sure if you had $$$ you could afford a divorce you did. But what if you were a dirt poor farming family ? . . . . .Did some men just walk away from their families and take on a new and younger wife and start new families ? I have run across such instances where it seems like that happened. Have found the same man with two different families dating close together. I wonder what the wife left behind did to support herself ? Get remarried if she already had 6 children ? . . . Or did the husband support both families ?. . . Did men back in those days look down on their peers who did such things ? What about the church? The principles back then. Was this an accepted act. Or was it frowned upon ? Im sure some couples had problems living together back then as they do today, Humans are only human. But has anyone else run into this kind of thing in this area with their families ? Would like to have your input and how do you think it was dealt with back in the day. Thanks K. _________________________________________________________________ Keep up with high-tech trends here at "Hook'd on Technology." http://special.msn.com/msnbc/hookedontech.armx

one researcher that i correspond with is looking for a man in his ancestry that did "just walk away from" his wife and 8 children in Maine, and would up in Jacksonville, Florida. he never filed for, or received, a divorce from his wife. it is known that he was in Jacksonville because of a letter that he wrote in 1861 to a family member in Maine. in the letter he recounts the cities he went to (and why he left them) and states that he was in Jacksonville at the time he wrote the letter. past that...nothing. the researcher can find hide nor hair of the man after that letter. and no reason was ever given by the man as to why he left. Julie Thames Howell Jacksonville, Fla ----- Original Message ----- From: southerngirl441 @hotmail.com To: NCROOTS-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 1:46 PM Subject: [NCROOTS] DIVORCE _ SEPARATION Does anyone know if it was common back in the middle 1800's on up to 1900 for a man to walk away from one wife and children and take up with another woman and start a new family and continue to live in the same county ? Times were very different from today, Although Im sure if you had $$$ you could afford a divorce you did. But what if you were a dirt poor farming family ? . . . . .Did some men just walk away from their families and take on a new and younger wife and start new families ? I have run across such instances where it seems like that happened. Have found the same man with two different families dating close together. I wonder what the wife left behind did to support herself ? Get remarried if she already had 6 children ? . . . Or did the husband support both families ?. . . Did men back in those days look down on their peers who did such things ? What about the church? The principles back then. Was this an accepted act. Or was it frowned upon ? Im sure some couples had problems living together back then as they do today, Humans are only human. But has anyone else run into this kind of thing in this area with their families ? Would like to have your input and how do you think it was dealt with back in the day. Thanks K. _________________________________________________________________ Keep up with high-tech trends here at "Hook'd on Technology." http://special.msn.com/msnbc/hookedontech.armx ==== NCROOTS Mailing List ==== Map set, formation of NC Counties: http://www.rootsweb.com/~nccatawb/countyfm.htm