The Divorce Decree: A Seattle Woman’s Fight for Freedom from Willful Abandonment
In July 1876, Eliza Carakaden was served with a summons in King County District Court, marking one of the earliest recorded legal battles for divorce in the young settlement of Seattle.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Summons.
In the District Court of the Third Judicial District of the Territory of Washington, holding Terms at the city of Seattle, in and for the counties of King and Kitsap.
Milford H. Carakaden, plaintiff, vs. Eliza Carakaden, defendant.
Complaint filed in the county of King, in the office of the Clerk of said District Court.
The United States of America send Greeting to Eliza Carakaden, defendant:
YOU are hereby required to appear in an action brought against you by the above named plaintiff, in the District Court of the Third Judicial District of the Territory of Washington, holding terms at the city of Seattle, in the county of King, for the counties of King and Kitsap, and to answer the complaint filed therein, within twenty days (exclusive of the day of service) after the service on you of this summons, if served within said county of King; or if served out of that county, but in this District, within thirty days, otherwise within sixty days, or judgment by default will be taken against you, according to the prayer of the complaint.
The said action is brought to obtain a decree of the said Court dissolving the bonds of matrimony now existing between the said plaintiff and defendant, and for such other relief as the Court is competent to grant in the premises.
The cause and ground of said action is willful abandonment of said plaintiff by the said defendant for more than one year.
And you are hereby notified, that if you fail to appear and answer the said complaint as above required, the said plaintiff will apply to the said Court for the relief demanded therein.
Witness the Hon. J. R. Lewis, Judge of said Court, and the seal thereof, this 1st day of July, A. D. 1876.
[SEAL] AMOS SEAVY, Clerk. By Barnard Brown, Deputy. Wm. S. Asbury, Attorney.
This 1876 summons reveals that the legal mechanisms for divorce—specifically citing 'willful abandonment'—were already in place in Washington Territory just two years after its creation. While the language is stiff and procedural, it highlights the precarious position of women like Eliza Carakaden, whose marital status and legal identity were entirely dependent on court decrees, a stark contrast to modern no-fault divorce laws.
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