Preview
Identifier
KF 228 .B46 1860
Creation Date
1860
Description
Bennett, George. Bennett Divorce Case, Being a Plain Account of All the Important Facts Brought out on the Trial, and Those Connected with It. New Haven: Published by George Bennett, 1860.
In 1858, Dr. George Bennett and his wife Mary sued each other for divorce. Mrs. Bennett’s petition accused her husband of intolerable cruelty, while both partners cited the other for “misconduct as destroys happiness … and defeats the purposes of the marriage relation.” No-contest divorces did not exist in Connecticut law at the time. Thus, both petitioners sought to discredit the other with descriptions of marital relations. The New Haven case gained much publicity with The New York Times regularly featuring trial transcripts in late 1858. On January 5, 1859, the judge decided in favor of Mrs. Bennett, awarding her custody of the couple’s children. Dr. Bennett published this book in 1860 to rebut the descriptions of his character as portrayed during the trial.