Eunice H. Chapman’s Legislative Divorce

In the early 1800’s a woman by the name of Eunice H. Chapman made history in family law. The events leading to her achievement were not uncommon in that Eunice’s husband, James Chapman, abandoned her and their children.  The response of Eunice was unique because Eunice set out on a crusade to challenge the legal system and Shaker religious leaders in New York by demanding custody of her children and a divorce from her husband.

As one might have guessed Eunice H. Chapman did not have the same legal standing and property rights as women have in modern society.  When Eunice married James Chapman she lost her property rights and legal standing as an individual. As a result, when her husband attempted to reconcile only to be rebuffed by Eunice, her husband took the remaining property and their three children to the Shaker religious group.

It is worth pointing out that Eunice did not want to reconcile for a couple of reasons. First, James was notorious for drinking and wasteful spending, leading to him selling much of the couple’s property before abandoning his family. Second, James claimed to have changed and wanted to live in Shaker society in which the couple would not live together alone as Husband and Wife. Eunice was not interested in the type of life offered by Shaker society, and this refusal set off the battle between Eunice and the Shaker religious leaders of James’ group.

These events leading to Eunice’s extraordinary acheivement are very interesting. At first, Eunice maintained custody of her three children until her husband and the Shaker leaders lured Eunice away from her home and then removed her children and the remaining property from the home. For a couple of years Eunice attempted to settle custody with the Shaker leaders, without success.  Eunice was determined to get her divorce and custody so she sought the assistance of the New York legislature. Around 1817, after years of talking in person and writing to the NY assemblymen, Eunice was given a “legislative divorce” from her husband, and no actual trial occurred. Even Thomas Jefferson noticed and commented on Eunice’s case.

Eunice may have received her divorce, but she did not have custody of her children yet. She reportedly resorted to gathering a mob to go to the Shaker group that had possession of her three children. Again, Eunice remarkably overcame the religious leaders by getting her three children back.

New York law later changed around 1966 so that a divorce was not solely dependent on proving adultery.  In the majority of states the law is either based on a “no fault divorce”, or the divorce law is dependant on a period of separation, as in North Carolina.  However, religion does still play a role in some custody disputes. (For more information see Richard Kern’s Article: Custody and Religion).

The current news is full of interesting court cases about marital rights, multiple marriages, and interstate custody battles, but Eunice H. Chapman’s remarkable legal battle is truly noteworthy. Litigants in 2010 are understandably frustrated by the amount of time required to get a divorce, but their divorce and custody matters usually only last one to two years. In light of the many years spent in pursuit of Eunice H. Chapman’s legislative divorce the modern legal system has come a long way.

Source: For more information on Eunice H. Chapman’s story, read Ilyon Woo’s recently published book, The Great Divorce.