Domestic Discord

So, Internet, I admit it - I was distracted from my mission. When I set off for the Free Library early this afternoon, my goal was to search old newspapers for some "This Day in History"-type content. But then I came across this, in the June 19th, 1840 edition of the Public Ledger, a daily Philadelphia paper:

NOTICE - All persons are cautioned against trusting a woman
calling herself my wife, SARAH GRAUEL, on my account,
as I am determined not to pay any debts of her contracting.

DANIEL GRAUEL

So, what's te story here? Is dear Mr. Grauel in the process of divorcing said wife and is separating his assets from hers? Or did she do something to make him mad and now he's cut her off from the money flow? (And how did poor Mrs. Grauel feel, getting called out in public like that?) Or - and the plot thickens - is there an impostor Mrs. Grauel, a lady of mystery who is running around all willy-nilly, buying linens and tea pots and rose water for her freckles while the real Mrs. Grauel lays in bed recovering from a lingering illness? Or, better yet, is Mr. Grauel not even married!

I would have left it there and gone on with my search, but then, Internet, I came across another one:

CAUTION - Whereas my wife, Ann Donally, having left my bed and board,
this is to caution all persons from harboring or trusting her on my account,
as I am determined to pay no debts of her contracting from this date.

his
John Donally
mark

Does two make a trend? Well, maybe not, but there's a theme developing here (cue music): Domestic Discord: Drama in the Dailies." Check this next one out, from the Public Ledger on June 19, 1860:

A WIFE SUES FOR WAGES - A woman in Detroit has
brought action against her husband to recover wages as a domestic.
It seems he procured a divorce from her eight months ago.
She knew nothing about it, and lived with him, performing her usual domestic duties.
He recently told her of the divorce, and she, much exasperated, seeks to punish him,
or at least makes (sic) him pay for the eight months' service
from which his own act had legally released her."

Now, hold up here, Internet. Let's think about this: This man divorced his wife and didn't tell her. (Full stop.) What was the benefit of that? Yes, she was performing domestic services essentially for free, but she was still spending his money and he still had to deal with her every day. (I realize this man was probably no prize - he did divorce his wife without telling her, after all - but I'm trying to look at things from his perspective.) So...why? In any case, she was probably feeling a little more than just "much exasperated." Makes you wonder how the husband fared, both in court and out.

For this last story, from the April 1, 1852 anti-slavery paper the Pennsylvania Freeman, we don't have to wonder about the outcome, but one does wonder a bit about the back story:

THREE MARRIED LADIES in St. Louis, last week,
met a young man upon the street, and gave him a severe cowhiding.
They said he had been enticing their husbands away from home at night,
and taking them to doubtful places.

Lesson: Don't mess with the Real Housewives of St. Louis.

Question: Did the husbands get a severe cowhiding, too? And, given their penchant for visiting "doubtful places," did they like it?

Signing off with a wink and a laugh,

Miss History