[131] Act of March 4, 1836: Laws (1835-36), chap. 128. Twelve months' residence is required by this act.
[132] Act of March 9, 1841: Laws (1840-41), chap. 238.
[133] For the numerous cases of legislative divorce see the Index to the Laws of Maryland, 1826-31; ibid., 1832-37; ibid., 1837-45, 224-29.
[134] The constitution of 1851, Art. III, sec. 21, declares that "no divorces shall be granted by the General Assembly."
[135] Act of Feb. 17, 1827: Acts of the Gen. Assembly (1826-27), 21, 22. The same act is repeated in Supp. to Rev. Code (1833), 222, 223. The law of 1827 appears to be the first legislation of Virginia on the subject of divorce, although "lawful divorce"—meaning doubtless that of the legislature—is incidentally mentioned in the act of 1792: Acts (1794), 205. The act of 1827 provides in all cases for an appeal to the court of appeals, but, apparently, not in divorces granted by the assembly.
[136] Thus, on Jan. 25, 1827, Macy, alias Amasa Gay (formerly Birdsong), got a divorce from her husband Charles. The cause is not mentioned, but he is not permitted to marry during her lifetime: Acts (1826-27), 126. On Jan. 27, 1827, David Parker, of the county of Nansemond, was released from his wife Jane, who likewise was not allowed to remarry: ibid., 126.
[137] Act of March 18, 1848: Acts of the Assembly (1847-48), 165-67.
[138] Constitution of 1851, Art. IV, sec. 35: see Code (1860), 48.
[139] Laws (1814), chap. 5; also in Haywood's Manual of the Laws of N. C. (1819), 174-78.
[140] Acts (1818), chap. 968.