08 December 2013

Lucy And The First Ohio Divorce


Lucy was the daughter Dudley and Lucy (Backus) Woodbridge and the wife of Dr. John [Jean] Gilbert Petit, a native of France.


Before Ohio became a state, the obtaining of a divorce was no matter of the Court of Common Pleas, but to be taken before the House of Representatives and the Council of the Territory, and a divorce could be granted only by their act by and with the approval of His Excellency, Arthur St. Clair, governor. Almost the first, if not the first divorce granted in the territory, was by an act of the Legislature and Council, on the 8th day of December, 1800, the day before the session of the Territorial Legislature closed. The divorce, which thus became an event in the history of Chillicothe, Ross County, was entitled "An Act for the relief of Lucy Petit,"... ". [Source - click to see the details of the divorce action]


Source
Lucy Petit died November 9, 1816, and is buried in Mound Cemetery, Marietta, Washington County, Ohio, according to FindAGrave.

Lucy (Backus) Woodbridge (Lucy Petit's mother) was the daughter of Elijah Backus and Lucy Griswold.

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