State: North Carolina Year: 1803
Location: Beaufort Location Type: County
Abstract: The relatives of Euphan Alston Rhodes ask that the said Euphan be granted a divorce from Captain Arnold Rhodes. They recount that their relative married Rhodes in 1795 when she was seventeen years old; at the time, Euphan possessed "a valuable Estate in Lands &c besides a number of valuable Slaves.” The petitioners lament that the said Rhodes wasted his bride's property shortly after their marriage, losing all the slaves and a large portion of the real estate. They further decry that Rhodes has "abandoned himself to Idleness, Intoxication, gambling &c." Of the belief that "a mutual loathing possess them Each towards the other," the petitioners pray "that a Law may be passed by your Honorable body disolving the band of marriage between the Said Arnold, & Euphan Alston Rhodes & thereby fully Divorcing them for Ever from Each other."
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The Digital Library on American Slavery, website University of North Carolina at Greensboro