The Price of Matrimony in Territorial Seattle
A public court summons from 1877 highlights the rigid legal and social standards for marriage and family in the Washington Territory.
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. Patrick J. Cull, plaintiff, vs. Isabella Cull, defendant. The United States of America send greeting to Isabella Cull: You are hereby required to appear in an action brought against you by the above-named plaintiff to obtain a decree of divorce forever, fully, finally, and absolutely dissolving the bonds of matrimony now and heretofore existing between you and plaintiff, on the ground of your frequent adultery; also for the care and custody of Charles Edward, the minor son of you and plaintiff; also to procure an adjudication of property rights as between you and plaintiff. If you fail to appear and answer within sixty days, judgment by default will be taken against you.
“The said action is brought to obtain a decree of divorce forever, fully, finally, and absolutely dissolving the bonds of matrimony.”
While divorce proceedings today are private civil matters, in 1877 they were printed as public legal notices in local newspapers, exposing personal allegations like 'frequent adultery' to the entire town. This archaic practice reflects a time when marriage was a matter of public record and moral policing, a stark contrast to the privacy of modern family law.
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