Craig v. Craig

• Decision Date: 22 March 1909
• Citation: 117 S.W. 765,90 Ark. 40
• Parties: CRAIG v. CRAIG
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

117 S.W. 765

90 Ark. 40

CRAIG v. CRAIG

Supreme Court of Arkansas

March 22, 1909

Appeal from Sebastian Chancery Court; J. Virgil Bourland Chancellor; affirmed.

Decree affirmed.

Sam R Chew, for appellant.

Thomas B. Pryor, for appellee.

OPINION

FRAUENTHAL, J.

The plaintiff, who is the appellant in this court, instituted this suit asking for a divorce from her husband on the ground that he was guilty of such cruel and barbarous treatment towards her, and offered such indignities to her, as to render her condition in life intolerable. He filed an answer in which he denied every allegation of her complaint, and also filed a cross complaint in which he asked for an absolute divorce on the ground of wilful desertion. The Sebastian Chancery Court, in which the suit was instituted, entered a decree denying the prayer of the complaint and granting the prayer of the defendant upon his cross complaint; and from that decree plaintiff now prosecutes this appeal.

The defendant was a widower with six children who, at the time of his marriage to the plaintiff, were living with him, and whose ages ranged from seven years to twenty years. He was reputed to be a man of some considerable property; and although the parties lived within five or six miles of each other for a number of years, the plaintiff had never visited at the home of the defendant prior to their marriage. Plaintiff was a woman of considerable sentiment and some temper. She had been keeping house for her father for a number of years, and seemed to be greatly devoted to him. The plaintiff and defendant were married in February, 1904, and within a few weeks they disputed, and then quarreled; and in May, 1904, they bickered and quarreled more bitterly until, on May 16, 1904, plaintiff left the home of her husband and returned to the home of her father. It would appear from the testimony that she was disappointed in the home of the defendant, in its furnishings and surroundings and the style in which it was maintained; and to some of the witnesses she said that "if she had known that things were just like they were she would not have married him," and to other witnesses she said that she did not love the defendant. He upon his part did not manifest those deep sentiments towards plaintiff for which her nature sought. So that within a very short time after their marriage a coolness sprang up between them and seemed to stay; and this separation might have been the wish of both, although she was active, and he was only negative, in the parting. Within a short time after she left him, the defendant went to her father's home to request and persuade her to return to his home; but neither evinced that strong affection towards the other which would secure a reconciliation. They remained separated; and in August, 1905, defendant instituted a suit for divorce on the ground of desertion; and in September following, at the taking of depositions on his part, a proposal of reconciliation was made by him, and they then agreed to live together and, to use their language, "let the past be the past, we will bury it." The defendant then dismissed his suit, and they lived together until June 1, 1906, when plaintiff again left the defendant.

It would serve no useful purpose to go into the details of their conduct towards each other during the time they lived together. To speak in general terms, she claimed that he treated her harshly and cruelly by his cold manner and lack of affection, and sometimes by offensive language. But her testimony is not corroborated by any witness in these particulars. She does not claim, however, that he ever placed a heavy hand on her, or that he failed to provide well for her. Her testimony indicates that they had bickerings and quarrels, and that the defendant was not demonstrative in his affections; but the testimony does not show any studied neglect on his part that the steadfast love of a wife could not and would not overcome. The testimony of witnesses other than the defendant shows that at times she spoke harshly to the defendant, and coupled his name wrongfully with disreputable persons, and sometimes spoke in an offensive manner of his first wife; and some of the witnesses testified that she said that she did not love the defendant, and her manner indicated that she was sorry that she had married him. Finally, about June 1, 1906, after some misunderstanding, they quarreled again, and she again left defendant's home and returned to her father. She says in her deposition, which was taken more than a year after she left him, that on that occasion she left the defendant forever. One of the defendant's sons, who was called as a witness by the plaintiff, testified that at the time she was preparing to leave the defendant told him to go to the house and speak to the plaintiff and try to persuade her to stay,...