In 1860, Mary Jane Davis, twenty-three years old, sues for divorce from her forty-five-year-old husband, Daniel, a farmer. Mary Jane claims that, shortly after their marriage in 1858, she discovered that her husband "was living in adulterous intercourse with a [hired] slave named Dice," owned by Sarah Blalock. Mary Jane contends that her husband stayed with Dice "until late hours of the Night in the house where she stayed and on one night he remained [there] all night." Moreover, Mary Jane was not permitted to keep the keys to the farmhouse, smokehouse, or other buildings, as they were turned over to Dice. Unable to endure the humiliation, she moved away, while Daniel continued "to carry out his criminal purposes," hiring Dice in 1859 and 1860, and living alone with her on his farm. In his answer to his wife's bill of complaint, Daniel Davis emphatically denies the charge of adultery with Dice or with any other slave. He informs the court that such an act would be against nature given the fact that his wife is young, healthy and very handsome, while Dice is over fifty year of age and has children and grandchildren. He claims that his wife has abandoned him because he has insufficient means, and she has told him so.
Result: Dismissed.
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Repository: Dallas County Courthouse, Selma, Alabama
