Southwick v. Southwick
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Libel for divorce from the bond of matrimony for alleged desertion ; filed in 1867. The case was reserved by Wells, J., for determination by the full court on a report of facts substantially as follows: The parties were married in 1844, and lived together at North-bridge. They had issue five children, the youngest of whom at the time of this libel tyas fifteen years old.
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Libel for divorce from the bond of matrimony for alleged desertion ; filed in 1867. The case was reserved by Wells, J., for determination by the full court on a report of facts substantially as follows: The parties were married in 1844, and lived together at North-bridge. They had issue five children, the youngest of whom at the time of this libel tyas fifteen years old. In July 1861 the wife, taking offence because the husband allowed their eldest son to enlist in the army, withdrew from the bed-room which they had previously occupied together, and from that time occupied at night a separate…
1Opinion of the CourtBigelow, C. J.
The evidence in this case does not entitle the libellant to a decree of divorce from the bond of matrimony on the ground alleged in the libel. The word desertion in the *329statute does not signify merely a refusal of matrimonial intercourse, which would be a breach or violation of a single conjugal or marital duty or obligation only, but it imports a cessation of cohabitation, a refusal to live together, which involves an abnegation of all the duties and obligations resulting from the marriage contract. In the first statute enacted, by which desertion was made a cause of divorce from the bond of…
2Cited by26 opinions
- Mirizio v. MirizioNew York Court of Appeals · 1926
- Prall v. PrallSupreme Court of Florida · 1909
- Diemer v. DiemerNew York Court of Appeals · 1960
- Nolin v. PearsonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1906
- Reynolds v. ReynoldsWest Virginia Supreme Court · 1910
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