An act for the relief of Elizabeth Hart
1Whereas a Separation by agreement, has taken place, between William Hart and Elizabeth his wife, by which she agreed, to educate five Children and release her husband,
from all future liability, on her or the Childrens[’] accounts; and gave her some fifteen hundred dollars in property and bonds, made payable
to Elizabeth Hart, which she cannot collect, or recover, without a special law for that purpose; Therefore
Sec[Section] 1 Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly. That the said Elizabeth Hart, be, and she is hereby empowered to protect, maintain[,] and educate her children; collect, sue for, and recover, all demands arrising under the aforesaid agreement and all future demands, in her own name and hereafter
manage, all her affairs and contract and be contracted with, the same as a feme sole. 2
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A Bill for an act for the relief of Elizabeth Hart
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[01]/[19]/[1841]
[01]/[19]/[1841]
2 Com Jud[Committee Judiciary]
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[01]/[21]/[1841]
[01]/[21]/[1841]
Rejected
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[01]/[15]/[1841]
[01]/[15]/[1841]
Engrossed
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[01]/[18]/[1841]
[01]/[18]/[1841]
passed
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14
1On January 7, 1841, Revill W. English in the House of Representatives presented the petition of Elizabeth Hart, which the House referred to a select committee. In response to this petition, English
of the aforesaid select committee introduced HB 105 in the House on January 13. The
House passed the bill on January 18. On January 19, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary
reported back the bill on January 21 with a report, in which it recommended rejection
of the bill. The Senate concurred, refusing to read the bill a third time.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 195, 220, 228, 239, 255; Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 176, 180, 186.
2In its report on the bill, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary noted that under
Illinois law, husbands and wives could not, under coverture, contract with each other.
Under coverture, any deed of land a husband conveyed to his wife was as if he were
conveying the land to himself. The Illinois Constitution did not give the General Assembly power to divest a husband of his rights or to bestow them on another. The committee
felt to legislate on the subject would be a violation of Article 8, Section 8, of
the Constitution providing for due process. The committee argued that Elizabeth Hart should seek redress in a court of chancery where, upon substantiating the facts of
her petition, she could obtain a divorce and alimony out of her husband’s estate.
However, as a married woman in Illinois, whether or not she was living separately
from her husband, Elizabeth Hart had no legal standing.
Reports Made to the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Illinois (1841), 221-22; “An Act declaring what Laws are in force in this State,” 4 February
1819, Laws of the State of Illinois (1819), 3: St. George Tucker, Blackstone’s Commentaries, with Notes of Reference to the Constitution and Laws of
the Federal Government of the United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia, 5 vols. (1803; rpt., New York: Augustus M. Kelley, 1969), 2:442; William Blackstone,
Commentaries on the Laws of England, 4 vols. (1765-69; rpt., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979), 1:430.
Handwritten Document, 2 page(s), Folder 66, HB 105, GA Session 12-2,
Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL) ,