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William McKinley Autograph Document Signed Three Times....
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$475.00
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Description
William McKinley Autograph Document Signed Three Times. Two pages of a bifolium (with integral fold at top), 12 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches, Stark County, Ohio; December 8, 1875. A petition for divorce written entirely in McKinley's hand and signed three times as attorney for the petitioner, "W & A McKinley / Attys for Petitioner." McKinley shared a law practice with his brother Abner in Canton, Ohio. The firm was established in 1872 and ran through the mid 1870s.The petition on the recto reads, in part:
"Your petitioner Phillipena L Harrison of Canton in said County, represents that...on the 13th of October AD 1845, she was married to one William Oren Harrison (whom she prays may be made a party defendant to this petition) and that she has ever since conducted herself toward the said William Oren Harrison as a true faithful and obedient wife: yet the said petitioner avers that the said defendant disregarding his marital duties and obligations to your petitioner, has been willfully absent from the said petitioner for more than three years...Your petitioner therefore prays that...said defendant may be compelled to answer all and singular the premises and that on the trial hearing she may be divorced from the said defendant, and for the proper relief."
By 1875, every state but one permitted divorce, though the practice was heavily looked down upon, and the spouse seeking it had to prove the other's fault for the dissolution of the marriage. In Ohio, the law recognized eight possible grounds, including gross neglect of duty and willful absence (the bases Phillipena Harrison cites here). It would be nearly a century before Ohio couples gained the option of no-fault divorce, when the legislature reformed the state's divorce laws in 1974.
Condition: Lightly toned with smoothed folds. Pencil annotation at top left corner. Mounting remnants and a few light stains to docketing panel on verso.
Auction Info
2025 November 8 Historical Manuscripts including Texana Showcase Auction #30152 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
November, 2025
8th
Saturday
Internet/Mail Bids: 17
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 164
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