Episode 162 - The Legal Genealogist On Divorce in the 19th Century

Published: Oct. 24, 2016, 9:30 a.m.

b'Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org.\\xa0 The guys begin by discussing how DNA has tied the 300-year-old remains of a baby boy to his well known father. Then David shares news of a Spanish woman\\u2026 age 62\\u2026 who has given birth to a baby girl! You\\u2019ll be amazed by her story. Next, they\\u2019ll have the story of a pair of World War I soldiers whose bodies have only recently been recovered. They were thought to have been buried somewhere else. Hear the plans for their century-in-the-waiting homecoming. \\xa0Fisher then shares with David the news that Levar Burton will be a key note speaker at this year\\u2019s Roots Tech conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. David will of course have another genealogy tip for you, and another free guest member NEHGS database. Next, Fisher has discovered something odd about his great grandfather\\u2019s 1874 divorce in New York, which \\u201cproved\\u201d his wife\\u2019s adultery.\\xa0 It turns out that one of the men who testified to having been with his wife was present with the great grandfather when he died nineteen years later, even supplying information for his death certificate. How could they still be friends after what was confessed to in 1874? What was going on here? \\u201cThe Legal Genealogist,\\u201d Judy Russell drops in for two segments to explain why it\\u2019s probably exactly what Fisher thinks\\u2026 a divorce by fraudulent testimony.\\xa0 Judy then talks generally about divorce in the 19th century in various parts of the country, and what it took to get a divorce in those times. She also talks about the states and territories that were very much in the business of divorce and how they worked. Then Tom Perry from TMCPlace.com returns to talk preservation. He discusses a listener question about the best do-it-yourself way to approach digitizing over 100 voice cassette tapes. That\\u2019s this week on Extreme Genes, America\\u2019s Family History Show!'