Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Jan[January] 15, 1836.

AN ACT for the relief of the persons therein named.
1

R. H. McGoo and wife.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the bands of matrimony be, and the same are hereby dissolved, between Richard H. McGoon, and Elizabeth his wife.

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J. S. Shaw and wife G. Flower and wife.

Sec. 2. That the bands of matrimony be, and the same are hereby dissolved, between Joshua S. Shaw, and Fanny Ann his wife; George Flower and Jane his wife; and that the name of Fanny Ann Shaw, is hereby changed to “Fanny Ann Kester,” her maiden name; and Glavina, infant daughter of Fanny Ann and Joshua, is hereby changed to Glavina Kester.2

This act to take effect, and be in force from and after its passage.3

Approved, Jan. 15, 1836.

1On December 21, 1835, James M. Strode of the Senate presented the petition of Richard H. Magoon requesting a divorce from Elizabeth Magoon. The Senate referred the petition to the Committee on Petitions. John S. Hacker of the Committee on Petitions introduced SB 44 in the Senate on December 22. The Senate passed the bill on January 4, 1836. On January 6, the House of Representatives agreed to read the bill a second time by a vote of 37 yeas to 7 nays, Abraham Lincoln voting in the affirmative. The House referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on January 7 with an amendment, in which the House concurred. The House further amended the amendment by adding the words “George Flower and Jane his wife,” after the word “wife.” On January 9, the House passed the bill as amended 33 to 11, Lincoln voting in the affirmative. The Senate concurred in the House amendments on January 14. On January 15, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 227, 245, 250, 264-65, 325, 331, 348; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 80, 90, 140, 165, 203, 241, 250, 269.

2On January 7, 1836, the House of Representatives amended the bill by adding the second section.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 250.

3Although rare, legislative divorce was available in Illinois from 1818 until the Illinois Constitution of 1848, although there were no legislative divorces after 1838, when that body granted its last divorce by legislative act. After that time, all divorces in the state fell within the jurisdiction of the circuit courts.
Illinois Constitution, Article 3, Sec. 32 (1848); Eugene L. Gross and William L. Gross, An Index to All the Laws of the State of Illinois (Springfield: E. L. & W. L. Gross, 1869), 13; “An Act concerning Divorces,” approved 1 June 1827, Revised Code of Laws of Illinois (1827), 181.